Iran’s Push Into Nicaragua: Why Is No One Concerned?
I am pretty sure that I remain the only American reporter to have traveled to leftist President Daniel Ortega’s Nicaragua to find out what the Iranian government is doing there. I apologize if I missed something out there. While I appreciated having the exclusive at the time, more than a year after my travels I continue to wonder why there there is such a persistent lack of curiosity from my mainstream press corps colleagues.
The press, quite rightly, has swarmed like migrating wildebeest all over the the Islamic Republic of Iran’s burgeoning economic and diplomatic ties to Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela and, to a certain degree, Iran’s spread to other anti-U.S. countries in South America, such as Bolivia. But with the exception of my own coverage, there’s been hardly a peep about the fact that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad planted the Iranian flag so far north in Nicaragua as soon as the time-tested American nemesis Daniel Ortega took office in January 2007. In fact, Ahmadinejad considered Ortega’s ascension so important that he was in Nicaragua to attend the inauguration. Within months, Iran was promising hundreds of millions in economic projects — and quickly set up a diplomatic mission in a tony Managua neighborhood where it could all supposedly be coordinated. Now Iran is extending its reach even further north, right into Mexico City with equally under-covered proposals to vastly expand tenuous ties to America’s immediate southern neighbor.
The national security implications of Iran forging paths throughout America’s southern sphere of influence are striking. Iran has long been known for using Hezbollah — the U.S.-designated terror organization it sired — to sow mayhem against its perceived enemies from the diplomatic cover provided by Iranian embassies. When considering Iran’s move to Nicaragua, it is important to remember that Iran had Hezbollah blow up the Israeli embassy and a Jewish center in Argentina not so long ago, killing and wounding hundreds. This is according to a recent 800-page Argentine indictment and still outstanding arrest warrants for top Iranian officials and Revolutionary Guards who carried out the bombings under diplomatic cover provided by Iran’s Buenos Aires embassy.
But unlike those fairly distant countries, Nicaragua is close to the U.S. southern border and also to Mexico’s vast oil and gas infrastructure, which a small home-grown Mexican militant group was easily able to bomb at least half a dozen times in 2006 and 2007. Thousands of Nicaraguan laborers routinely cross the Mexican border and make their way over the U.S. border in search of work. It’s a pretty doable trip. And the mullahs, in addition to pushing for a greater presence in Mexico, keep on expanding in Nicaragua even now. If Iran ever got mad again about anything, couldn’t the ruling mullahs stage an Argentine repeat performance closer to home?
With all this in mind, and Bush saber rattling over the Iranian nuclear program, I persuaded my newspaper to send me to Nicaragua in October 2007. What I found should have been enough to pique the imagination of other reporters, more investigation, or even just some shallow coverage. But to date, there has been nothing more about Iran in Nicaragua, while there’s still plenty about Iran in distant Venezuela. The Iranians must be thrilled to operate in such a blackout.
Todd Bensman:
Interesting report. Is the CIA doing something about it?
Reporters can do so much. This is a game for the big boys. Maybe you just started something . . .
Scary thoughts…With all the Chinese influence in central and south America (don’t forget that Jimmy Carter is going to hell for giving away the Panama Canal, oh and the Chinese run the locks now) and now Iranian, it is just a matter of time before we end up in a REAL war in the south. When I was in the intel game (1996-2006) no one wanted to listen to my ravings of Muslim influence in Columbia and Venezuela, particularly after 9/11 since the ‘real’ war was over in the mideast. Amazing, buy beans, bullets, and gold. Prayer also helps.
Fascinating: so Russia builds Iran’s reactor, Leninists win in Nicaragua, Iran moves in to Nicaragua. CIA of course knows much about it. Unfortunately they seem dedicated to avoiding overtly addressing incipient Communist alliances when the infrastructure is weak and the habits green, and prefers allowing it to become a crisis in which the Democrats can politically benefit once the Republicans, their hands tied by the media and the sheer enormity of such a problem, fail to convert the Leninists into blithe and bourgeois Kansans.
Really interesting though, I agree. Seems we should be hearing more reports about, say, Hezbollah’s efforts in the Golden Triangle, Russia in Venezuela, Equador, Cuba…. Seems like something is being planned, eh? Something big-ish.
“The American authorities haven’t been particularly helpful to me…”
Ah – this is because you stumbled on Russia, not Iran, and here, in the USA, we don’t talk about Russia. After all, someone might call us McCarthyist or paranoid, and then what could we do but melt into a puddle of girlish urine? Someone would then point out that Iran is Shia revolution, and Russia is pragmatic totalitarianism, and anyway doesn’t everyone just do everything for money, anyway? What is all this romantic nonsense about conspiracy? Pishposh – we have our millions and iPhones, what does it matter? The USA is invincible and more eternal than Roma. Everyone knows that.
Scary stuff. Thanks for the report
Why so glum, everybody?
I mean, sure, the dangers to global security outlined in the article are certainly serious. But you’re all forgetting that that’s why we Americans are such a serious people — we understand that as the world’s pre-eminent power, we are responsible for meeting these challenges. That’s why 55% of us just voted in the community organizing Senior Lecturer with the great abs!
Don’t worry…be happy!
Our slanted media are simply not interested in anything but gushing over Obama. They have failed their country.
We, the people may as well face facts. The Obama machine is not going to do anything to protect us. They may prop him up in front of his teleprompters and have him read some “inspirational” claptrap but it is meaningless. He is weakening us in every way, day by day, he is not interested at all in the military or their well-being, we are in this on our own. The sooner the American people realize this, the better our chances of survival.
Imagine the number of people who have lived the childish fantasy that if we JUST elected someone like The One, that the Chinese and Iranians and Marxists et al would simply have NO REASON to plot against us, etc etc. After all, WE were basically the only ones to act in such a cynical manner, etc etc. The world is inherently the garden of eden, we are the serpent. Just elect someone like our CommunityActivist-in-Chief, and all these issues and problems will fall to dust.
There are actually people who are legal adults, legally mind you, who not only think this way, but much of their lifetime world outlook is founded on it, as others is based on Christianity or Islam. There are millions of such people in America and the West.
Just how big will the catastrophe have to be to shake them out of this religious faith?
That question I do not know. That question I fear.
I was in Nicaragua Dec 2007. We were fortunate to have a very open and candid guide for four days. He was a forced conscript into the Sandinistas during the Contra/Sando conflict. Yanked out of high school and a week later he is on the Honduran border shooting people. He still has a hard time sleeping. By his own words Ortega is the worst of the worst and told us in no uncertain terms that the Iranians were there along with Russians. Of course Cubans were all over the country in any number of roles. The foothold gets stronger and more influential as time passes. Bush paid little heed, Obama will even less. Interesting that the average person in rural areas thought highly of the US, in Managua it was just the opposite.
Costa Rica is the only nation in the region that is, so far, free of this plague, as least as far as I can observe.
Wasn’t this pretty much the set up to “Red Dawn”? Scary stuff…
What foolishness. So the Americans can build bases in bahrian and the UAE to threaten Iran but Iran can’t do the same? What a load of crock. Americans wake up and smell the coffee. If you’re going to do it to others, they sure as hell will do it to you.
Remember the golden rule, do unto others as you would like done unto you.
Maybe Iran should set America up with a brutal dictator just like the US did to Iran.
Something tells me the Iranians have been reading John Perkins’ book, “Confessions of an Economic Hitman”.
If I may propose an alternative opinion, the fact embassy officials have shut off contact and no one wants to speak of this matter only tells me the spooks are already on the scene. I guarantee they have been down there “inspecting” the banana trade well before Mr. Bensman’s journey. Whether this is just another Iranian ploy to force our intellegence agencies to scatter more resources or a true staging ground to future development is left to be seen. However, I feel most comfortable when our shadow warriors are left to the shadows.
Randall’s comment above about Costa Rica being the only nation down there free of plague is more insightful than he perhaps realizes. I live in the Southwest and I know quite a few people who have visited Costa Rica. I don’t know anyone who has visited Nicarauga or Venezuela, for example. I think no one from here wants to have anything to do with those places, which is a shame because they would be much better off aligning themselves with America as opposed to letting themselves get used by Iran and their ilk. Of course, American liberals would call Ortega an agrarian reformer and they think there is something noble in opposing America.
Remember the golden rule, do unto others as you would like done unto you.
Awesome. I look forward to the Iranian embassy in D.C. being stormed and its inhabitants paraded around for 444 days as prisoners.
After that, we choose an Iranian embassy in a nearby nation, drive a truck bomb up to the front door and blow it sky high.
Great idea, dolt.
From my vantage point in Costa Rica this is even more worrying. Someone needs to start making these covert Iranian operatives disappear.
And as for #11: if we did unto Iran as they would wish to do unto us then the whole country would be a radioactive puddle of glass.
Katchem.
Nah.
People in that part of the world are perfectly capable of “setting themselves up with a brutal dictator” all by themselves. They seem to be able to do it much more often on their own than with anyone else’s help.
That’s kinda the problem, actually.
Along with Costa Rica, and El Salvador, Nicaragua has a growing Arab population composed chiefly of Palestinians and Lebanese. Don’t forget that in the past the Arabs Shafik Handal of El Salvador and Moises Hassan of the Sandinista Junta were Palestinians who fought as guerrilla commanders in their adopted Central American countries long civil wars.
Though the Iranianas are Shiites, what the Mullahs are interested in specifically in Nicaragua is political influence and the use of military bases that enhances their geographical military strategy. If the Americans can go over there, then they can come over here. For one thing Nicaragua is strategically situated south of the USA, and any Iranian presence in that country will divert American military resources away from the Middle Eastern war on terror to protect America’s southern flank. Nicaragua has several first class airports that were built with the aid of the Russians and the Cubans, so imagine if the Iranians decided to launch cruise missiles from Nicaraguan air bases. The Nicaraguans also want to build their own Panama Canal so Iran and Venezuela can help finance Nicaraguan projects. Its no secret to anyone who lives along the Mexican border that terrorists do not have to come to the USA to cause havoc- all they have to do is set up shop on the Mexican side of the border and start shooting SAMs at airplanes flying into El Paso and San Diego.
Iran is projecting its power into Latin America, while the Sunni Saudi Arabians have a history dating since 1973 of building mosques in the region and financing madrassas, and with Hezbollah in Venezuela, Central America appears ripe for growing terrorist cells.
Intellectually it is important that Americans realize and understand that the Muslims are engaged in a propaganda war of ideas in the form of a religious Reconquista between them and Latino Americans. In essence they are trying to re-write history by attempting to recruit Spanish people to return to Islam as their religion- Muslim historical revisionism makes false claims that Christianity was forced on them in the 15th century, but that in fact Hispanics are all really Muslims. Historical revisionism begins with indoctrinating the youth- Lenin said to Trotsky to ‘go to the children.’ There us a Mexican Muslim Mosque in Fresno, California.
If the USA has not done anything in Latin America to prevent the growth of Iranian and Muslim influence in South America, it may be because American leaders still refuse to admit to our own people who the enemy is whom we are fighting against. That enemy is Islam.
Complaints about the news media are both old and no longer useful. The real issue is getting such stories into the definition of what an educated, normal person needs to know to be considered informed about the world.
Create a foreign policy threat matrix widget that provides briefs that everybody will digest with their morning coffee and the noncoverage problem is solved. Can you do it and be profitable? The newspapers used to be able to but now they can’t and we’re in the end game of the traditional MSM. People understand that they need to know a bit about this stuff. Give them free headlines, links to free stories, and paid for analysis for stories that tickle a particular user’s fancy. It’s not so different than what Pajamas Media is doing today.
Did someone say Red Dawn? Viktor Suvorov has a thought or two on that:
“[Widespread terrorist and sabotage operations in advance of World War III] are known officially in the GRU as the ‘preparatory period,’ and unofficially as the ‘overture.’ The overture is a series of large and small operations the purpose of which is, before actual military operations begin, to weaken the enemy’s morale, create an atmosphere of suspicion, fear and uncertainty, and divert the attention of the enemy’s armies and police forces to a huge number of different targets, each of which may be the object of the next attack.The overture is carried out by agents of the secret services of the Soviet satellite countries and by mercenaries recruited by intermediaries. The principal method employed at this stage is ‘gray terror,’ that is, a kind of terror which is not conducted in the name of the Soviet Union. The Soviet secret services do not at this stage leave their visiting cards, or leave other people’s cards. The terror is carried out in the name of already existing extremist groups not connected in any way with the Soviet Union, or in the name of fictitious organizations.” (Written in 1984 by one who defected in 1978.)
“Why Is No One Concerned?”
Because in his avant-garde ™ foreign policy, Barack Obama has decided, Jimmy-Carter-style-like, that having enemies is reactionary and clueless and backward-looking and, if we in America and in the West can only make an effort, we will see that we are all equal and no one is actually an enemy.
(No one is an enemy, that is, except reactionary, clueless, American conservatives, who are too backwards to understand this stirring new policy of hope and change that will bring in a new world…)
We can see that this brave new foreign policy is already going forward, with openings (and mea culpas) to Russia and Iran and the Muslim world. Meanwhile, again in typical Jimmy Carter fashion, Obama is choosing to play tough with… our friends (such as Britain)!! (It’s going to be a long four years…)
Why is no one concerned?The idea of proxies and or geopolitical moves by our adversary’s is so 1970′s.Many of our elites didn’t care then.Why ,in the age of Obama, should they care now?
See the 02/16/09 entry for more on Suvorov and other east-bloc defectors trying trying trying to get heard, above the cacaphony here in cloud cuckooland.
(also re Dan/19, see ‘grey terror’ @ the 05/13/04 entry, same link)
Mule @ 12
I wish I could buy some of your relaxed attitude. We are safe because the CIA might already be on scene? Really? Do you know who the head of the CIA is? Leon Panetta!!! Have you seen the photos of Panetta’s daughter with Chavez and Ortega??? Very chummy indeed. Still feel safe? I want some of what your drinking!
10. Don’t Deny Tha Funk:
Just what I was thinking.
19. dan:
It’s already started. Mexican drug cartels have moved into Phoenix, Arizona in force and are carrying out multiple murders there.
——————————————
Who is John Galt?
Its time we demonstrate US abilty to change regimes on this side of the planet. Ortega say hello to my little friend…
I’ll see your Panetta and raise you a John Deutsch –Obama’s newly-appointed spy satellite advisor (czar-to-be?) is the same guy cashiered and charged as Clinton’s CIA director, for removing super-top-secret from CIA and taking it home, where he downloaded in onto an unsecured home computer. Oh, yes, he was pardoned by Bill Clinton on Clinton’s last day in office.
Now he’s back, and perfectly positioned to do God-only-knows-what to our absolutely critical eyes in the skies.
I’m frankly very, very worried. My internal danger lights are starting to flash like crazy. Crazy –i fervently hope i am. However, this is this:
http://www.disinfo.com/archive/pages/dossier/id279/pg1/index.html
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=22082
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=s1&oq=john%20deutsch?&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLL_en&q=john+deutsch+cia
…just to skim the topic.
Why in the world ? The world full of experts that are NOT dirty –not caught red-handed, not facing felony charges had not he been saved by the last day antics of our new Sec of States’s hub-the-ex-pres. So, at best a moron at worst a traitor, and now holding in his hands the data link of data links.
Mexico in bed with iran sounds like a opportunity to annex everything north of tampico to the U.S.
China is forcing us out of their sea. North Korea is firing their missile test. Add those to your list of Soviet Satelites.
I trust SKorea, Japan, Australia, Poland, Czech Republic, Georgia, UK, and a few others, but that’s about it.
I just want to add: I’m not sure who will end up on our side, India or Pakistan?
I’m joining the Army.
11 Katchem – Of *course* the Iranians are entitled to build bases in Nicaragua, just like we’ve built bases in Bahrain! I fully expect them to try to counter us in Bahrain; let’s try to counter them in Nicaragua. Bring it on & may the best nation win. It’s called The Great Game. All that you and I probably really differ on is who the best nation is.
Good on ya, Eric B.
ps, please count Colombia –Uribe is a hero, and with us. Well, with some of us.
If I were a very handsome charismatic Muslim President of the US, I would systematically bankrupt the nation, conspire with Muslim nations, deplete the US military, borrow more and more money from Communist China, encourage abortion and homosexuality, giving Muslims further reason to detest the west, and encourage Socialism,.
@ Eric (#29)
India is actually the best choice for the US, since its a lot more stable than Pakistan and the Indian military has had extensive experience dealing with insurgents. The only problem is that India’s intelligence apparatus is piss-poor and internal political rumblings hamper any good developements. Also, India has had, for a very long time, a pro-Russia tilt. I blame Nixon for that.
As for Iran, I’d like to see them actually try something here. Seems that people have forgotten the Monroe Doctrine. We need to amend it to include nations of the Middle East. Then we’ll enforce it, with extreme prejudice.
The author is a jew and pro-israel. What do you expect? So lies and deception.
I think #11 is right but the new generation of Americans dont know what happened in the 50′s with the US installing the Shah in Iran to have access to their oil reserves. It hurts I know, but most of this extremism has been caused by the US foreign policy. I am sure even though most of the readers will be offended that, if the US were to stop playing Age of Empires with the Army in other countries none of this would of happen anymore. Russia is acting aggressively because obviously they feel their sphere of influence threatened by the missile defense system. What would Americans do if the Russians were putting a missile defense system in Cuba again under the pretense of protecting its “regional allies” against “external threats” from economic collapses or any other silly excuse like the US pretense of protecting Czech Reoublic and Poland from Iranian missiles? It is way too absurd that Iran will target those countries. Even India that has some serious nuclear missiles could barely reach those countries and they are far more advanced in nuclear missiles than Iran. Iran can not reach those countries even if they wanted to. If the US was REALLY concerned about the security of the countries in the AREA they will put the MDS in the UAE, SAUDI ARABIA and the likes instead of all the way thousands of miles to the north but a few hundred miles away from St Petersburg and Moscow. I think Ortega is basically the puppet of Chavez, although If I am wrong I’ll accept the insults later but basically if you have access to Chavez you have basically almost everyone in South America. Chavez is giving subsidies to Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia so that means he has all of them in his pocket. I dont doubt the Iranians might have bad intentions and that they might be trying to get closer and closer and perhaps to develop mutual convenient relationships with these countries but its all because of the US pushing for all these nonsense. If the US was really concerned about the threat of nuclear missiles, than seriously look to China. About the drug cartels in Mexico, well its not the fault of the Mexicans or Colombians really. The market for these drugs is in the US and as long as the US keeps having this strong demand, the cartels will take over. If the US were to legalize marijuana the cartels would have no more reason to exist. When you prohibit something you make it more desirable. If you legalize marijuana you also bring back the HEMP industry which by the way has 25,000 industrial and other uses that will employ hundreds of thousands of people here in this country.
i strongly believe we will be held hostage. also believe that we will lose our right to bear arms within a year. that is the only thing that keeps our country from being invaded-290 million armedcitizens. we are going to hell in a hand basket. i say nuke the camel jockeys and take their oil! saudi arabia, iran, iraq, venzulela and nicauaga. send some cruise missles to north korea, and china and blow them back to the stone age. show them who the world power is, like ronald reagan would have done…
leave it to a texan to stir the pot. well it needs stirring. trouble with missiles and such is a little far fetched at this time , but the type of incidences like argentina and heroin from the afganis which passes through iran are not. trouble is msm is so far out of whack that this kind of reporting will only be viewed by folks like us. iran can indeed create turmoil in mexico and by doing so take our limited national attention from somewhere it needs to be instead of having to look south. ants usually get smushed and while i’m not advocating such a move when it comes time we need to do it right and take out all the bad guys old west style.
The big question in all this is:
Why is it that Sth American, Europeans, Russians, Middle Easterns and Asian governments all hate America?
Find the answer and perhaps you’ll stop worrying about being played at your own game.
#11
Maybe Iran should set America up with a brutal dictator just like the US did to Iran.
Well, we should have nuked Iran when we really had the chance, but we didn’t and here we are….And you like the way iran is today??? Let’s ask the women and minorities in iran how great their collective lives are???
About this article, timely and not so surprising only because some of us are quite aware of what has been taking place in our own backyard. Many of our enemies have been testing the waters for some time now. With election of the ignorant one, the messiah of arrogance, the fool of the new camelot, said enemies are pushing the limits and boundaries like we have not seen in the past few years. The commies, islamofacists(islam in general)know an opportunity when they see one. The mullah obamaham is one easy target right now. Just look at his Carter like actions based on appeasement and trying to make everyone like us if we are just oh so nice to them.Yeah, we can all remember how well that worked for Carter and his clowns.
Whether it be the communists or the islamodacists, we know that bad things result when one tries to bargin, whine and grovel with our enemies ala Obuma style. This may be harsh and some may not like this but when the U.S. used to target the bad guys, then knock them off
it was much easier to kill these threats off. But we do not do that anymore and we won’t because of the one in the White House. As this administration reduces our defenses through reduction of defense spending, castrating our intelligence agencies worse than they are now and pushing a pro islamic agenda down our throats, things weill not get better in these areas any time soon. The attacks on our southwestern states is appalling and shameful.
these drug lords and other scum are often times better armed and equipped than the local police, state troopers, sheriffs and border patro; agents that so many depend on to keep us safe.The past administrations share the blame for this situation but Obuma will not make it better, only worse. Our enemies can only be salivating with joy at the bungling and stupidity come from D.C. I did not vote for this clown and his policies but we will all suffer from his election.
Yes, Uribe is a HERO and should be counted as our ally, for now. As Obuma has already shown us with Israel, he thinks NOTHING of throwing our staunchest allies under the bus of change and ignorance.
I can see the end of America as a world power.
When surrounded by enemies you do not raise one furry paw and say “I surrender”You fight to the end because outcome is usually the same.America would soonbe a sleeping giant like NIG….
tony b, you do realize don’t you, that almost every sick dictator (find an exception!) and every evil political movement (find an exception!) as a first order of business invariably targets the Jews?
Weird, ain’t it.
I’ve arrived late to this blog. I am so sorry to have read all the other statements because there is terrible suffering ahead. I am over 80 years old and survived the great depression, WW2, Korea,Vietnam and am surviving retirement. I have lived through the best of times, and I am grateful. My time here if nearly over and I am no longer concerned with future developments. You have my heart felt solicitude. I don’t want to experience what you young people will now go through. I will never understand why young people have voted over the last 20 years for governmnet control and Socialism. Too bad.
#33 Tony
So not too hard to tell you are anti-semitic and hate the Jews. Wake up, islam and islamofacism are the real lies and one of the BIGGEST threats to the west and USA, to ALL of us. Have you, do you study islam? I have and continually do so. You must be very pleased with your president and his cowardly actions of tossing our allies under his bus. He is not my president and never will be.
There IS NO PEACE in islam and with islam there can BE NO PEACE!
Brilliant assesment. As a US citizen who came to the US from Nicaragua, I welcome your correct assesment of what is going on in Nicaragua, and about to start in Honduras and El Salvador (two states newly aligned with Chavez and Cuba). The threat is not only from Iran, but Russia, which has announced that they want to place military bases in both Venezuela and Cuba.
In January of this year, the Russians and dictator-wanna-be Ortega rekindled their communist era alliance and signed an agreement to re-explore the creation of an interoceanic canal in Nicaragua, capable of handling warship-size ships across the southern part of the country. No one in the American media or in our political establishment seemed to care.
The threat to America’s security is now not just being affected by the crazies in Al Queda, but also by Iran and Russia from other continents, and the Chavez aligned states in the Americas (El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Venezuela). This is going to get significantly uglier.
There is a verse in the Bible that says, the wicked hear foot steps when no man persueth. America has been involved in the over trow of more government, not the least Iran, than any other country on the planet. No wonder they are consern about Iran been in their back door. Stop the holr grail. Only those who do little reading are not aware of America´s mischiefs around around the world. Its OK for America to always meddle in other countries affairs, but its not accepted when its been done to America. Get real.
Well the days when everyone was afraid of America are gone!
“The past administrations share the blame for this situation but Obuma will not make it better, only worse. ”
The one thing Obama does understand is that energy independence is crucial to security of this country. Iran and Ortega would not have the money to be doing there dirty deeds if we didn’t keep sending them our petrodollars..
What a childish story from the CIA man. Please come on..The US Army is on every angle of the globe, yet you guys are worried about the friendship between Iran and Nicaragua. Please do not throw stones when you live in a glas house. As a head of state the iranian president has the right to make friends with any other head of state of his choice, He does need and i mean need any permssion from The US. This is 100% arroganz and has always been the case with the US. You guys think you have the right to do and undo. You have fought wars and are still fighting unjust wars , you are killing innocent children, women and kids. You stay quiet when Israel kills palestinians and destroy homes. Please Obama you were elected to change all the rubbish and to ensure that the US stays within its borders. Don’t forget the world is watching. Obama please do not forget your roots becuase we are all waiting for you to change the mess and sufferings that Isreal and the US have caused to innocent lives.
At a time like this , what do you think G.Bush would do. (KABLOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!) HE WOULD PROBABLY BE SENDING TROOPS OUT THERE SOMEWHERE,MAKING THE BADASS SUPERPOWER PRESENCE BEING FELT!!!!!!!
#47
If Obama and the Dim’s actually thought as you stated, we would be drilling our own oil, converting our own coal and shale, and building up an advanced nuclear energy industry. Are we doing that? Or just imagining fairy dust and unicorns will somehow provide the energy for a 21st century superpower?
I think you know the answer to that question.
8. Andrew X:
Imagine the number of people who have lived the childish fantasy that if we JUST elected someone like The One, that the Chinese and Iranians and Marxists et al would simply have NO REASON to plot against us, etc etc. After all, WE were basically the only ones to act in such a cynical manner, etc etc. The world is inherently the garden of eden, we are the serpent. Just elect someone like our CommunityActivist-in-Chief, and all these issues and problems will fall to dust.
Who is “we” anyways? I would suspect the Obamatons don’t count themselves as the serpent, probably anyone who voted for Republicans the last 30 years.
The sins of the fathers are falling on the children. Now the children are yelling “it’s not fair”. Its not, but this is how Karma works. It is said that the country will be destroyed from within. It will be the so called “Patriots” with their internal racial issues, who will allow their closet issues to get the best of them, causing them to rise against this administration and find a new home in the FEMA coffins placed all around America. Let blame OBAMA for these coffins as well. Lets also blame him for the patriot act and homeland security and the removal of our rights, which we gave away in God Bushy era. Russia landed in Cuba on Bush watch and they act like they didn’t see it. It’s a game being played on the highest level. Some are conditioned and blinded by FOX news, others by CNN. These guys are all being pulled by the same string. It’s you guys that are stuck behind the color line and cloak yourself under the banner of PATRIOT. If you cared about the country and the direction its going, you should have rose up decades ago. When I read these blogs, I hear the voice of puppets like Savage, Bortz, Hannity, Rush and many more. Take the television and radio off and READ.
Obviously the ‘controllers’ agenda to re-align the world is proceeding apace. Too bad we sold the free press.
Oh, Tony b — you are a real disappointment. Is that really the very best that you can do? That is not even an intelligent point to make in this rather important subject. If you can’t improve your future comments, better turn in your keyboard.
i’m not sorry. all patriots are not racists. many i know, believe in all the rights for all the citizens, and are ever aware of all attacks on our liberty, of all tyranny , abroad, and at home, no matter from where in politics it may emanate. also, to question a political leader about his , or her, motives and policies, is not racist, it is prudent, and american. the only thing new in this world, is the history you don;t know. read it
corr. don’t know. i’m not sorry, all patriots are not racists, but many liberals seem to be.
tony b
Please enlighten us with the real truth. I’m sure we’d all like to read it.
#56
Hawkeye
Thanks for the supoprt and what you wrote in your posts is true. So many flaming liberals accuse anyone who claims to be a PATRIOT(and I am, so don’t tell me about reading and standing up!)of being blinded by radio, tv msm “news.” Well, I do read #52, I read and get most of my news online and from many sources. I also READ alot of books, history, religions, islam, warfare etc.. My questioning and criticism of the OBUMA administration has NOTHING to do with race. It has to do with the person and what he is doing politically. It is our right to do so.
also, to question a political leader about his , or her, motives and policies, is not racist, it is prudent, and american.
Ya got that AMERICAN! We can do this because of the freedom and liberty that we have here in the USA.Rights that I hold sacred and dear. Rights that many have fougt and died for just so we have the freedom to express ourselves, our opinions. Try doing this in say saudia arabia, or iran, or Venezuela. Oh yeah, trot out the same garbage that it is all Bush’s fault. Get over that already. Still mad about the elections that were “stolen”?
It will us so called PATRIOTS that come to your defense when and if things go sour. I do not look to this corrupt administration to defend me or my family. I have already taken care of that, along time ago. I just keep adding to the stockpile. Go drink some more KOOL AID and send another check to George Soros and his ilk.
Foreign Policy For Dummies
When freedom and personal liberty are embraced and protected, a nation will prosper. When more nations prosper, there is less suffering for all. As an American, I support promoting freedom worldwide. Some nations who do not excercise or promote freedom resent this, and Iran is one of them. By their words and actions, they are now on our bad guy list. I’m adding the authors report to my database. To maintain freedom, we need to be vigilant.
#44 Carlos from Cypress…”This is going to get significantly uglier.” Agreed.
When it comes to foreign policy, Obama is a deer in the headlights. For months during the campaign he ranted about domestic issues, but days before his inauguration, he was unable to express a position regarding the Gaza War.
When he does speak on foreign policy issues, he looks like Jimmy Carter, Part II: All foreign policy crises can be resolved if we all just sit down, hold hands, and talk about it. I’m sorry, Mr. President, the world stage is not like the one on Oprah. It’s hard to talk to nations that have sworn to destroy you. It’s no coincidence that Carter’s four year presidency saw the rise of the mullahs in Iran, the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. 30 years later, we’re still dealing with the fallout. I wonder which Obama blunders our children will be dealing with, 30 years from now.
Obama claims that at this moment he must concentrate on domestic, not foreign issues, failing to see how the two are inextricably linked. Whatever gains he makes on the domestic front could be rendered moot by the losses on the international front. Excess government spending won’t help if the Iranians paralyze our economy by closing the Strait of Hormuz, or if the North Koreans threaten us with ICBMs, or if the mullahs threaten us or our allies with nuclear weapons.
Good comments above.
1. Lebanese and Palestinians have lived in Central America for a while. Think about it.
2. Iran doesn’t need permission from USA to establish contacts in C.A.
3. CIA on top of this?
4. A nation that prospers decreases the dangers of aggression.
“Rogue” countries are trying to expand their business influence, the US is just a competitor. Obama needs to pay attention to the needs of Latin America and deal with the appropriate response. With our internal problems, that could be tricky.
Please permit this long quote; it is on-topic, if from a distance:
To be a policymaker today you don’t have to know anything. All it takes is a teary eyed concern for a suffering planet and sacrificial victims like rich folk or Jews to placate an angry Gaia. Placebos are preferred to real solutions, since the political climber imagines that an ongoing crisis will clear his way to Olympus. Let’s see how high the budget deficits will go. The sky is the limit, until the sky begins to fall. And let’s see which political party is eager to commit suicide by taking away all the entitlements and benefits with the suggestion that “the people” take responsibility for themselves. To say there is a solution for a system so predicated would be, in plain truth, to utter an imbecility. We live well today, for the moment, because centuries of freedom are propelling us from behind.
So what is the solution for the young idealist sent to Congress by an electoral fluke? Like any condemned man there is only the option of a blindfold.
The trouble of our time can be spelled out in many ways. Simply put, socialism isn’t dead, neither is the parasitism of its economics nor the tyrannical end point of its politics. The individual is weakened, the state is strengthened. The producer is punished, the parasite is fattened. Stupidity is flattered, intelligence is feared. From the supposed collapse of communism in Eastern Europe to the welfare sepulcher of Western Europe – the underlying theme is the same. And that theme is decline, senility and death.
To say the truth in these things is not defeatism. Who said the battle for liberty would be easy? Who misled us into thinking that history would consist of an uninterrupted string of glorious victories? Every struggle entails losses, and men must be strong enough to accept the worst as they struggle toward the best. If you cannot run, you walk. If you cannot walk, you crawl. If you cannot crawl, you wriggle. You fight on even if all around you have given up. Things are going to get very nasty before they get better. And don’t expect a political leader to say anything truthful about the situation until our illusions are thoroughly extinguished.
(Above: the concluding paragraphs of JR Nyquist’s 12/22/06 column titled “Socialism Again”)
Why would Obama be concerned out Iran being a stronger influence in Mexico and Nicaragua. It cuts into his time filling out his march madness basketball bracket. He did find time to send billions of american tax dollars to German banks and other countries in the form of bailout money. But that was after playing basket ball with his security.
Obama being on TV all the time tells me he is not behind the desk solving american issues. If he wanted to be on TV, become an actor.
In all seriousness. I read what people are saying about the fear of Muslims. Why then did our country elect a president with a Muslim name?
I don’t know, but is there a tie here with what is in the article and our Muslim named white house leader? I have nothing to back this up but it makes me nervous
Todd Bensman, randel, brian
wish i had seen this earlier. saved u effort. to address a few of the above’s comments
1. i corresponded with roger and miniter over 2 years ago on this issue sending more info to them than you have here. it is old. i have also posted links to this issue multiple times here in comments to many articles.
2. i am a gringo expat with a home and other property in Rivas Nicaragua, barrio atras inglesia San Francisco, en el cuadro de restaraunte Messon. 1000′s of gringos live in Managua, Masaya San Juan, Granada etc. news is ez to get you can write me, or call me by tomorrow late afternoon on your dime.
gcblues_coolazul@yahoo.com
5056879926
3. i also have a Quinta in Playas Del Coco Costa Rica, barrio Segovia. i split time in both. the essay author and posters here write uncorroborated assertions covering vast points about Nicaragua and Costa Rica. one is this, the other is that. the author’s and poster’s assertions have so little solid info to back them they all must be wrong. think about it. why is Punta Del Mono important, the energy scams, the vote and mayaoral elections, the pacto. you interview no one? many gringos there have been there for yrs and are hip to Punta de Mono, the energy scams, the pacto, and on and on.
4. just some random points of info. on my second passport, first 26 pages, extended 26 more on the 2nd. most tico policia, and nica policia national en penas blancas, the southern frontera to costa rica know me. in and out a lot for 7 years or so. frankly, other folks here know much more than i. i could intro you to a few dual citizens of the USA and Nicaragua with real info. Nicas that fled to the USA and have now returned. Nicaragua is the largest C.A. nation. it has the most culture and history. certainly further developed in art, architecture music, literature music than any C.A. nation. see gcblues youtube acct for examples. or frankly search Nicaragua and search Costa Rica. there is in Nicaragua a highly educated class of folks. Costa Rica is much richer in income. however the Tico government is deteriorating at record speed i see no future in Costa Rica. higher taxes, crazy tax and labor law. gringos leaving, most to Panama, fewer but many to Nicaragua. Ortega does not wish to go, there could be war. have you covered the USA denying foreign aid previously agreed to due to election fraud? hey i have a beautiful quinta 400 meters from the beautiful beach in costa rica…. 7,000 sq meters, nice pad, please buy it from me so i can go live in Rivas Nicaragua. crazy as crazy is. in Nicaragua the taxes are lower. the rules are fewer. things are dicy despues daniel, but it beats dogging the punk cops you have on the highway in the united states, and don;t start me on yer punk immigration cops. what jerks! the point is, there is no paradise, or place where it is all bad. quick overviews never are correct. it pays to have a Nica love that is a well known attorney. ok, so i am a tad biased. but glean a few points of info. Nicaragua is an amazing diverse place with a history and culture really worth knowing. googlearth or youtube Omeoteppe.read the history of the nation.
p.s. the CIA is and always has been the worse thing the USA has ever done. right wingers like me are outraged at the damage they have done in our name. communists here at 6am 7 days a week work like true capitalists. like in Iran, we have missed opportunity here due to ill served ethnocentric generalizations. we shoulda coulda done mo better.
64. gcblues:
Good posting.
There may be a link to the escalating drug cartel “wars” in northern Mexico. There are several reasons to think that Iran may be using the drug cartels. First, Iran already has experience funneling weapons into Iraq, Lebanon, and Gaza. Funding increased instability on the U.S. southern border would advance Iranian interests by diverting U.S. attention and resources from the Middle East. Second, the cartels have recently begun using more “military” weapons such as RPGs that are not available in the U.S. or easily stolen in Mexico. If you hear a report of a cartel using an EFP, that would provide further support for this idea. Finally, the Iranians have not been happy, to say the least, about our inconsistent efforts to control drug production in Afghanistan. Much of the opium produced in Afghanistan is consumed in Iran which has the highest proportion of heroin addicts in the world. It’s hardly far-fetched to think that the Iranians believe turnabout is fair play.
What utter rubbish…. Wake up and take a look at the big picture…. How many countries have we in the “USAEL” attacked? how many countries have they attacked?.
Waldo, someone had to get weapons to the Gazaans, or their 1776 would have no hope. What you have against self-defense, the right to bear arms and revolution is a mystery.
vivo ty.
daniel has just ordered immigration to allow tourists into Nicaragua from ANY nation on earth with no visa, just a stamp on the passport. play dot to dot with daniel. the USA has no handle on anything in Latin America
This article seems to be spurious fearmongering. There is something in the world known as the Non-Aligned Movement, of which Iran is a respected member. There is nothing sinister in diplomatic relations between members of this movement.
The Argentina bombings – tragic events which have been condemned by most in the world community, including Iran – have not been conclusively solved as to those responsible. Fingers have pointed to Iran/Hezbollah – but there is no evidence beyond speculation.
Americans are naive and most ignorant people on the planet.95% of americans don’t see there country as an empire and throughout history empires rise and fall and america is falling and falling hard.Even the British saw there country as an empire.The reason your little empire is falling is because Israel and don’t say oil because Hugo Chavez is anti-american as Saddam and has more oil then Iraq. Your country was taken over by Zionist and they know your empire crumbling they are moving to there next host China like a virus.
The newspapers are too busy writing puff pieces for Obama so that they don’t have the time or resources to do real news reporting. This is also why people stopped reading them and they are going out of business.
realspark21: Maybe us peons would have a little more faith in the practitioners of the “intel game” if those with the supposed knowledge and experience to play these “games” would at least know how to spell the names of the countries they are dealing with. It’s Colombia; not Columbia. Sheesh!
wow, if true it means the iranians are playing the usa at their own game, as well as taking the game to an away location in their backyard, so why worry? you do the same, bomb the iranians in israel to smithereens, the giveaway is that they all speak hebrew, get them, and you get all
The new novel, “Raging Fire!” (subtitled) “Fuego Furioso” tells the truth about World Bank corruption and American Corporate puppets that rule and crack the whip against their own people. Will American publishers keep this important book hidden from the people? Demand they publish it. Read about the truth, told by fictitious characters in an exciting and heart rendering manner. Read about the brutal treatment of honest citizens of El Salvador and how they were tortured, imprisoned, and labeled terrorists for demanding their government do what is right.
71. mike honcho:
“Americans are naive and most ignorant people on the planet.”
This used to be true just recently, but I think some people are awakening now.
“Your country was taken over by Zionist”
This has been said for many, many years. I think it’s partly true, but there are other forces in motion. One of the modern taboos in America.
Whew! The Moonbats sure are out tonight.
I take this report as critical to the security of America and its interests in Mexico, Nicaragua and throughout the Americas. More specifically, Jewish community leaders need to see its collateral importance and begin planning accordingly. To Mr. Bensman: Thank you for your provocative analysis. I hope you forward a courtesy copy to the Central American desk at the CIA, NSA, FBI, the State Department and the appropriate committees in the Senate and House. I am sure there are many other entities that would appreciate a heads up. But appropos of other news organizations–forget them. Most are not worthy of the name, particularly when it comes to foreign news reporting.
One characterization in this otherwise excellent analysis gives me a minor stomach upset that is probably idiosyncratic of me alone. I resent the speculation that the Iranians in Nicaragua give the Jews a case of the cold sweats. Rather I suggest that the appearance of the Iranians affords the Jews opportunity and motive to exercise a cold-blooded appraisal of Iranian intentions that will ultimately cause some Persian dampness. Make no mistake about it, both the Mossad and its American counterparts are probably already gaming a variety of responses, as well as selective preemptive actions that will neutralize an Iranian threat in Central America. But will Obama implement the Bush Doctrine? When the situation calls for action, I’m betting he will. Although his administration and its congressional supporters will laud any action as a new Obama foreign policy initiative and the liberal press will take pains to draw non-existent distinctions with the Bush Doctrine–clearly a modern example of the emperor’s new clothes.
Would not everyone agree that Mr. Bensman should follow up with additional reports and do you not think that he should be nominated for a Pulitzer?
Why would we be concerned? Iran is no threat to America, neither is any other third world country.
They are a threat to Americans and kill millions of us if they put their mind to it. While a tragedy, killing a few million Americans will not destroy America.
It will piss us off to the point where we turn some 3rd world pesthole into a parking lot.
you guys are scaring me. how can conservatives be so ill informed. so ignorantly bellicose.
typo. your idea of what is and is not 3rd world is based on nothing more than your lack of knowledge about the world. turning country’s 3rd world or not into parking lots is not a foreign policy that even the worst admin would choose. grow up.
mike. your sew behind every bush not only stupidly characterizes the USA, but Iran as well. foreign policy is not determined by Jihad, Zionists or any ism. sure red meat is fed to people like posters here. however, this is supposed to be a thoughtful forum on Geo political projection. Geo politics is about “interests” not isms or even alignments. i know many Iranians, they care about their interests. they will work with anyone, as will the USA, if it is in their interest. jihad and Zionism are simply stupid meals for the uninformed
libertad
i am sure mr. bensman is a nice guy, but not even close to Pulitzer material. come on. no ground is broken here. his article contains very little. for the record all sides are working on their interests in Nicaragua, this includes the non aligned group including Russia and Iran, it includes ALBA, the Bolivaran fantasy, it includes Daniel and the Sandinistas, Aleman, the fat pig liberal whose house Daniel lives in, it includes various agencies of the USA objecting to the last Mayoral election fraud, specifically withholding millions of dollars Daniel needs. do not leave out Eduarado, the other Nica liberal. Aleman also a liberal and a criminal, convicted, has made a “pacto” with the left, it is how Daniel was elected. this is old news. all these various sides are working on their interests. none care about the words they use about this or that group movement, that is for your consumption. pay attention to deeds not words.
point of clarification for Americans with little knowledge of the world. in most of the world and Latin America, “liberal” or liberales, are the RIGHT WING, not leftys as in the USA, so read the above with that in mind. you will see Daniel came to power the same way Obozo did. by splitting the right, or as in Nicaragua and most of the world, splitting the liberals.
ok. read a little ok. do none of you read the news in spanish?? come on, take some responsibility for understanding. this stuff is so elementary.
bad typo, my bad
my post should have read
mike, your JEW behind every bush, not sew. i plead.
laptop on the road error.
at this moment i am writing on hi speed wireless in the central park in Riva Nicaragua in front of an incredible 17th century French colonial church. yeah, real 3rd world typo r us.
Rivas Nicaragua. damned HP American laptops %^%*^#$*#$&$@#$@
Iran could easily threaten America, though not by infiltrating Nicaragua.
Consider this: About a third of the world’s oil shipments travel through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that leads out of the Persian Gulf. In the past Iran has threatened to close the Strait if attacked by the US. Though the US gets most of its imported oil from Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela, the price of oil is set at a world market. A severe disruption in Middle Eastern oil deliveries would make prices here in America skyrocket just as well. If you think things are bad now, imagine what oil at $200 a barrel would do to our economy.
Shutting down the Strait is relatively simple. Iranian naval speedboats torpedoing and sinking a few supertankers sailing through the shallow shipping lanes could create a major shipping bottleneck. Of course, Iran may have difficulty delivering its own oil. But at $200 a barrel (or more), what does get through would sell for a handsome profit.
America has already declared that closing the Strait would be an act of war. Iran thus knows if it ever did this, the US retaliation would be brutal. But what if Iran could counter this retaliation with the threat of a nuclear attack, on Tel Aviv, our allies in the gulf, or the US army in Iraq? And even if we managed to retaliate, reopening the Strait could take weeks. All the while, the world’s economies would be paralyzed.
Granted, this is a worst case scenario, though not too far fetched. The naïve “no blood for oil” slogans belie the fact that, until we get serious about weaning our oil dependence, it is the fuel that powers our economy. Imagine a sudden quadrupling of home heating oil, gas, of airfares, trucking fees and the resulting price rise on everything you buy at the supermarket. The steady flow of oil is a national security concern. And yet Iran has its hand on the spigot.
So while concerning that Nicaragua could become a launching pad for sporadic terrorist attacks on regional Jewish or American interests, or even a devastating repeat of 9/11, it would not be the end all of American existence. An increasingly hostile and soon-to-be nuclear armed Iran bordering on the world’s most important oil shipping lanes could.
chile
1. Iran has no pipeline, no other port exit. no refineries, nada. closing the strait closes off them. plus it would easily be opened and is not defensible. so they threaten but would not likely try that.
2. Iran has promised Nicaragua money in exchange for a port as a rasp to the west. irritating the west is an Iranian interest.
3. islands of Venezuela are used as Islamic training centers for insertion into the USA, so Iran has important linkage with AlBA, of which Nicaragua is an important member. it is one of the few joint Hezbollah Al queda operations, not really joint, but both use the island. they generally avoid each other. indeed iran has helped us with al queda because we killed Saddam and the Taliban, both in Iran’s interest. while of course they also held al queda operatives. here they clearly worked both sides. Iran does anything with anyone that serves their interest
4. hell Iran and Israel have traded and sold weapons since the revolution. they bought TOW missiles from Israel
Iran is aligned with Iran. only. they only care about their interests. daniel, likewise, needs to prove himself a player to advance his interests. so he does what he can to play all sides. one side is anti USA. he does what he can, to think that is nothing is not in your or the USA’s interest.
closing the gulf is not easy. not in Iran’s interest. it is a talking point.
Thanks for posting these useful information. Keep them coming
The Middle East is winning the war because they have an objective and they are determined to make their plan work. We have Obama. He seems to be in agreement with their objective and is equally determined to make their plan work.
Unless or until the present administration is overthrown we stand no chance of maintaining a free and democratic society. I’m afraid that we are witnessing the end of our civilization and not unlike others who came before us, we are not willing to rally the troups.
Far too many Americans are blinded by Obama’s color and most will never take their eyes off of their prize. These ignorant, racially motivated sycophants will be the catalyst that destroys everything that America stands for and everything that Americans have fought for over 200 years. Others of us who can see Obama for what he is, we recognize the problems but we don’t know what to do about it. We talk about it day in and day out but nothing ever gets advances past talk.
I’m becoming resigned to accept a fate without a future. It’s just all getting to be too much to handle without a government that stands staunchly behind us.
Gcblues
You make a valid argument, much of which I’d agree with.
1) As I said, closing the Strait of Hormuz is a worst-case scenario. It’s unlikely, but entirely feasible. The topic is extensively discussed in this article from International Security from last year: http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/18409/closing_time.html
It’s true that closing the Strait would hamper Iran’s own oil exports, and that 50% of the Iranian government income comes from its oil receipts. Closing it could be Iran’s “equivalent of cutting off its nose to spite its face.” Yet if the mullahs feel sufficiently threatened, say after a US attack on their nuclear facilities, the feasibility exists.
“Iran does possess significant littoral warfare capabilities, including mines, antiship cruise missiles, and land-based air defense. If Iran were able to properly link these capabilities, it could halt or impede traffic in the Strait of Hormuz for a month or more. U.S. attempts to reopen the waterway likely would escalate rapidly into sustained, large-scale air and naval operations during which Iran could impose significant economic and military costs on the United States—even if Iranian operations were not successful in truly closing the strait.”
Iran need not shut down the Strait entirely, merely make it difficult to traverse, to the point oil delivery is disrupted. Apparently it’s difficult to sink a supertanker, but perhaps other ships could be sunk in the relatively shallow shipping lane, which is only 6 miles wide.
A combination of the above strategies could disrupt oil delivery enough to wreak havoc on world oil prices. Consider this: “when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, temporarily halting the export of oil in both countries, the world price of oil more than doubled merely on the expectation of future shortages. Although excess global supply combined with increased Saudi production helped lower the price within a few months, it did not return to the preinvasion level for nearly a year. Blockage of the strait would pose a vastly greater threat to the flow of gulf oil, and at a time when excess global capacity is lower and the price of oil higher.”
The US undoubtedly would be able to reopen the Strait, but at what time and at what cost, especially given how thinly US military capabilities are presently stretched.
2) Iran does import 40% of its refined oil products. But this is not to say Iran has no refining capacity, with several refineries in Abadan, Isfahan, Bandar Abbas, Tehran, Arak, and a few others
3) After hearing Ahmadinejad address the “World Without Zionism” conference in Tehran in 2005, where he agreed with a statement that said the Israeli “occupying regime” had to be removed, and referred to it as a “disgraceful stain [on] the Islamic world”, that needed to be “wiped from the pages of history,” it’s hard not to see Iran as threat to Israel.
4) I’d agree that Iran, as well as Daniel, are looking out for their own interests, which at times may align with American interests. I’d agree that Iran is looking for ways to advance its own interests, in detriment to the general interests of the West. This may include infiltrating America with dangerous terrorist cells. Imagine 10 shopping malls across America suffering simultaneous Mumbai-like attacks. This is not a threat to be ignored. Yet it would not cripple our economy, would not pose an existential threat to our society, as would a less likely, albeit real possibility, of a strangling of world oil supplies.
1. my response primarily was about Iran’s interests in the western hemisphere which you minimized with your Hormuz comment.
2. you are correct. my refining statement was not complete. they have no refining capability to refine anywhere near for their needs. yes they have minimal ability to refine far less than their needs.
3. i could care less about Israel. Israel is quit capable and should handle their interests. in relation to their asset vs liability list in OUR interests. their assets are overstated. i view the whole Zionist occupier vs they are our vital ally debate as hot air.
4. you overstate the Hormuz threat by 10, and understate the threat in our own hemisphere equally in the other direction. to suppose taking out 10 malls is not as effective in damage as the strait closing overlooks the obvious. what response do we have to infiltration destruction ex post facto? vs what response is available in Hormuz. that analysis destroys your assessment. the strait would not be closed for long. as long as no boots on the ground are required in Iran, and they would not be, their threats would dissolve in hours. from Kilos to air defense they would have nothing left. no navy. no missiles. no air defense. in hours. however, domestic infiltration is not easily countered and the counter measures taken would shut our entire economy down. review post 9 11 and multiply port closing and air traffic ceasing by months.
the point is… re this article. the USA since JFK has been unbelievably stupid about our Latin interests and their potential. we create our own problems and then follow them with responses that make our position worse and worse, and we do it over and over again. Cuba through CA through Buenos Aires through Brazil through Mexico, we have chosen every wrong response. consequently the southern hemisphere now today is indeed a serious threat. Daniel, AlBA and the non aligned movement including the Russians see it clearly. apparently you do not.
today’s pjm article about how bad jfk was financially ignoring his real toxic leavings re the bay of pig’s fiasco and the USA AGREEING TO ALLOW FOREIGN POWERS TO WEAPONIZE LATIN AMERICA AS LONG IS IS WAS NON NUKE IS A GIFT TO THE EVIL PARTS OF THE WORLD THAT KEEPS ON GIVING AND GIVING. chew on that threat a while. 30 years and increasing daily. when do you decide it is a danger chile? attacks on this continent have been going on for 30 years and are now increasing, a domestic attack would end the USA Geo politically as we know it. be certain, the attackers feel they have been attacking us even if you do not.
Stop the whinning people!!! who cares what anybody thinks if the threats, whether real or not, are expanding and becoming more prominent closer to “home” and nobody is doing anything real to resolve the issue?
By the way, Americans are ALL of those people from the one continent America, which is divided between North, Central and South America. So remember, we are all Americans, even those people from the “3rd world pesthole” ingnorant typos_R_us is willing to turn into a parking lot.
This whole situation is just ridiculous, if any of you really feel in danger or that something should be done then it’s time for the people in Congress to do their jobs, we put them there and pay them handsomely, not it’s their turn to prove us all they’re there to present us.
I meant “now”
not it’s their turn to prove us all they’re there to present us.
From January 2006:
from the January 26, 2006 edition – http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0126/p01s01-woam.html
Why Mexico helps US fight terror
Its new border checkpoints snagged seven Iraqis trying to sneak into the US last year.
By Faye Bowers | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
TUCSON, ARIZ. – A top priority of the United States government is to prevent a determined terrorist from crossing the US- Mexico border. It is also becoming a primary mission for Mexico – and the first place it’s focusing on is the 375-mile, desolate stretch of land that abuts Arizona.
In addition to sharing intelligence and cooperating on investigations with its US counterparts in Arizona, Mexico last year set up three checkpoints along known human-smuggling routes on its side of the border and plans to add two more.
Between August, when the checkpoints became operational, and December, Mexican officials stopped 1,277 non-Mexicans (OTMs, for “other than Mexicans”) from crossing into Arizona, according to a Mexican government report obtained by the Monitor. The report shows that most of the OTMs came from Central and South America, but seven are listed as Iraqis.
FBI officials decline to say if they know what became of the Iraqis detained in Mexico. The seven – believed to have been apprehended simultaneously at one checkpoint – could be members of a single family or unrelated individuals simply trying to find a better life in the US. But they also could have been trying to illegally cross the southern border for nefarious purposes.
That’s where the additional checkpoints could prove crucial.
The Mexican government has “an immense interest in making sure terrorists don’t cross from Mexico into the US,” says Ben Peres of the FBI office in Tucson, the bureau’s liaison here with Mexico on cross-border issues. “If something were to harm the US, it would harm them, too.”
Government officials and terror experts have long fretted about the porous border between the US and Mexico. With the onset of the Iraq war in 2003, they worried that teams of Iraqis might cross the border to set off terror attacks inside the US, and they say they know that people tied to Al Qaeda have entered the US through Mexico using false identities. One they cite is Mahmoud Youssef Kourani, who paid to be smuggled across the US-Mexico border in 2001 and later was convicted and imprisoned for providing material support to Hizbullah, which is on the US list of terror groups.
Last March, US officials intercepted a letter purportedly written by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Al Qaeda leader in Iraq, who suggested to his acolytes that it would be easy to infiltrate the US through the southern border.
For its part, the US government is apprehending record numbers of illegal immigrants on the Arizona side of the border. In 2005, Border Patrol officials nabbed 577,418 illegals. Of those, 14,323 were non-Mexicans – up from 9,974 in 2004. Most OTMs came from Central and South America. But 407 came from elsewhere, some from nations designated as “countries of interest,” meaning those that are known to harbor terrorists.
US Customs and Border Patrol officials say the number of OTMs from “countries of interest” is small. But they don’t divulge these because of “national security and law-enforcement sensitivity issues,” says Michael Gramley, Border Patrol spokesman in Yuma, Ariz.
“Borders inherently are dangerous places where the state has the least amount of control and supervision,” says Adrian Pantoja, a political scientist at Arizona State University in Tempe. Measures that have been put into place to secure the border so far, he says, are largely symbolic.
“If the US wanted to seal the border with Mexico it could. Look at the demilitarized zone between South Korea and North Korea,” Dr. Pantoja says. “The dilemma is really between political will and economic necessity. How do you protect the nation’s security while ensuring its economic well-being?”
Still, cooperation between Mexico and the US is steadily improving on the issue of illegal entry of OTMs, FBI officials say. Although they cannot discuss the Iraqis’ case specifically, the officials explain how the current system works.
OTMs detained on the Mexican side of the border are screened by Mexican officials for possible criminal or potential terror activities. If evidence of wrongdoing surfaces, Mexican intelligence officials, in turn, share that information with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
ICE officials then pass that information to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, in a weekly meeting. In Tucson, the JTTF is made up of an FBI official, who leads the effort, and representatives from Border Patrol, ICE, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Arizona state police, and two county sheriff’s departments.
“It would be our job to corroborate that information and act appropriately, or debunk it,” says the FBI’s director of the JTTF in Tucson.
FBI agents in Tucson describe a successful operation in which they have worked with their Mexican counterparts to stop a cross-border people-smuggling ring, one with potential terrorism risks. A joint sting operation led to the arrest last May of Iranian-born Zeayadali Malhamdary, a legal permanent resident of the US. Mr. Malhamdary is now in Arizona awaiting trial on charges of smuggling illegal immigrants into the US. Officials say he smuggled in about 60 Iranians via Mexico – and provided high-quality fraudulent documents for entry into the US. The FBI says it is tracking down the 60 Iranians.
Daniel Ortega has little in common with the Iranian Mullahs other than the fact the CIA worked against the Sandinistas via the Contras and the CIA overthrew Mossadek in Iran and put in the Shah. Anyway it is all over for Israel because Iran has enough radioactive material to construct and RDD, radiological dispersion device, and empty out Tel Aviv. Farewell Israel.
al
you are absolutely right, Iran and Ortega have little in common. Iran and Latin America have little in common. proving, it is not about commonality or ideology. it is about interests. the non aligned movement, ALBA, including Daniel have mutual interests. they revolve around you.
really this is the same error FDR made in regards to japan. we worried that they were tyrants and dictators and ignored our mutual interests. it costs us dearly in ww2. read newt’s 2 historical novels on pearl. often it is a novel that fleshes out the cultural and political realities better than political texts themselves. anyway you slice it, ignoring interests in favor of ideology es muy muy peligroso. if we had looked for mutual interests instead of trying to impose ideology in Latin America we would have a different hemisphere. Now apply that to Iraq and our pseudo democracy building with boots on the ground miniter.
you know when things are not working out the way you want em to….. maybe you need to examine you, not them.
Given the ink expended about Iran in South America, the mullahs’ furthest reach north continues to go oddly — and conspicuously — unexamined.
Maybe by the press, but not by the CIA. You know, is easier for American spies to hide in Nicaragua than for the Iranians. What do I mean, you say? That a gringo spy won’t stand out in Managua and a dark haired Iranian will? Yes, that’s what I mean.
Americans could pose as tourist or retirees, since that country is the latest retirement haven for not so wealthy Americans. Backpackers and scuba divers are found everywhere. Iranians? As soon as they open their mouth they’ll be identified as “turcos” (in Latin America every middle eastern is called a “Turk” no matter where they come from).
So I bet you that U.S. intelligence agencies have the mullahs on their sights in Nicaragua, in Venezuela and in Bolivia. Hell, they probably know by now what are they up to. The MSM is not looking into the matter? You think the CIA needs the publicity..?
Regards,
Ulises
By the way, just reading some of the comments make it clear how little some people know about people in Latin America. So you really thing that Iran setting up an embassy is all that is needed and every Latin America will become a Muslim terrorist?
And all that red down crap… have any Latin American country ever attacked the U.S.? The U.S. is Latin America largest investment and trade partner, far above China and Europe. How do you guys think that came along?
Did you guys know that even during El Salvador war in the 80′s, American soldiers who were there assisting the government could walk freely on the street, with no escort whatsoever…? As it happens, there was a deal between the U.S. and the guerrillas that they would not attack American soldiers as long as they limited their activities to providing training for Salvadoran soldiers.
You guys really need to hit the books, the web or whatever and learn a little bit more about your neighbors in the south before making fools of yourselves with “Red Down” conspiracy theories…
Regards,
Ulises
P.S. I repeat, don’t mind Nicaragua.. The CIA has the mullahs where they want them…
gcblues – I think we’re splitting hairs, but here goes.
From the beginning my position was that closing the Strait would be an unlikely, yet devastating scenario. To state that we could take out Iran’s defenses “in hours” is naïve.
I do not minimize Iran’s interests. I do minimize Iran’s threat capacity to the US via Latin America, which you exaggerate. A “domestic attack would end the USA Geo politically as we know it” is a paranoid thought. As terrible as 9/11 was, the nation carried on. The US is still the only global superpower, despite the resources it has expended on security and war.
Besides the 1993 and 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, can you point to any successful foreign terrorist attack on US soil? (Besides the 1976 car bomb assassination of Orlando Letelier perpetrated -to my embarrassment- by the Chilean secret police.)
The fact is virtually all terrorist attacks on US soil have domestic roots: the 1984 cult bioterrorism attack, the Oklahoma City Bombing, the Centennial Olympic Park Bombing, the 2001 Anthrax letter attacks, the Unabomber, assorted ecoterrorists, Puerto Rican nationalists, Black militants, Viet Nam War protests, and even lone Islamists, like the 2002 Beltway Sniper attack, were all home grown.
The other attack Al Qaeda attempted in the US was the 2000 LAX bombing plot, where the suspect tried to enter the US through Canada, not Mexico.
But all this is not to say I’d ignore a potential threat. SLOHomemaker’s excellent article posted above shows how porous our southern border is, and how imperative it should be to seal it. It’s amazing to think over 1,500 illegal immigrants are caught at the border every day, not to mention the ones that get through.
I agree Iran and the Latin American hard Left are not aligned in ideology, but merely in the common interest of harassing the US. And it’s for this reason that Daniel & Co. would not risk their countries being used as a launching pad for major offenses into the US. It would not be in their interest to be seen as the home of Islamist terrorists, as the U.S. does not treat these homes kindly.
I agree the US, to its detriment, has ignored Latin America -particularly in the past 8 years. When it wasn’t ignoring Latina America, it was lecturing it on how to stop the drug trade, foolishly thinking the drug problem could be contained by stopping supply abroad, while there was persistent demand at home.
But you can’t pin all of Latin America’s problems on the US. The rise of the Latin American hard Left is, on many occasions, the product of decades of inept or corrupt governance by the local political elites. The repressed, impoverished masses grew tired of these elites, and opted for “change.” Demagogues like Chavez tap into the poor’s frustrations, and have used democracy to dethrone these elites, in countries like Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia. Little do the poor know that what they’re getting is often worse than what they had before.
I agree that the US has to stop imposing ideology and look for mutual interests. Carter withdrew support of Somoza’s dictatorship, and we ended up with something worse, just as how his withdrawal of support for the Shah ushered in the mullahs. But at the same time, it would be hypocritical of the US to completely disregard ideology and openly support dictatorial regimes simply because of “interests.” How hypocritical did Hillary Clinton sound when she stated that she would not let the Chinese human rights record “interfere” with US-China trade relations? Of course, if George Bush would have said that, the Left would be howling.
Finally, your personal opinion is to trivialize the US alliance with Israel, the home to the 4th largest US expatriate community (after Mexico, Canada, and the UK), with over 150,000 US citizens living in a country the size of New Jersey. US tendency to turn around and forsake its one-time allies is precisely one of the reasons many nations distrust the US.
And I don’t understand why you have to CAPITALIZE YOUR PHRASES. La razon no se grita, porque la razon convence.
Ulises Jorge – Having said all the above, I would not put all my faith in the possibility that “the CIA has the mullahs where they want them.” The US intelligence community was unable to warn us of 9/11, provided data that “conclusively” proved Saddam Hussein still had WMDs, and is still unable to provide the whereabouts of Bin Laden. There hasn’t been another attack on US soil since 9/11, but this may have more to do with deterrence than intelligence. And deterrence is factor that may have shifted dramatically now that we have a rookie from Chicago in the White House.
Chileno,
Great post, but I’m still convinced that the U.S. intelligence agencies are pretty much on top on what the Iranians are doing in Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua. I do not have evidence to prove that, but logic and common sense tells me that Americans operating on their neighborhood have a natural advantage against the Iranians in the intelligence games.
Besides, some if not most of the assets that the CIA recruited during the cold war years should still be around. Now there’s another matter that I also disagree with you:
“I agree the US, to its detriment, has ignored Latin America -particularly in the past 8 years.”
During the last 8 years the U.S. signed and/or procured free trade agreement with each and every Latin American country that wanted one. The Colombia FTA is being held up by the democrats; The FTA with Panama because of that politician that killed a U.S. soldier.
As I mentioned in my previous post, the U.S. is Latin America largest trade and investment partner and that didn’t happen by chance. It happened because both the U.S. and Latin America working to further their own self-interest made it happen.
What exactly didn’t happen during the last 8 years that gave rise to this myth of U.S. neglect of Latin America? O.k., I remember that Condi Rise once cancelled a meeting because some other crisis required her attention somewhere else. I imagine that the Latin American dignitaries that were stood up are still mad about it. Is that it..?
I mean, if we Latin American are to be taken seriously, we have to stop sweating the small stuff and see the big picture. We have excellent trade ties and although nobody speaks about it, we’ve benefited for ages from the U.S. security umbrella. Nobody dares to come to our neighborhood to cause problems because the big, bad Yankee cop lives here.
Ulises Jorge – I wish I could share your confidence in the US intelligence community, but I do not. The past few years have shown significant gaps in intelligence gathering, as I mentioned above. Granted, we may never know how many intelligence successes occur, as many operations are covert. I guess only time will tell how effective our intelligence apparatus really is. I hope you’re right, but have my reservations.
You are correct in assessing the scope of US trade relations with Latin America, and that some (not all) Latin American nations enjoy excellent trade ties with the US. But there is more to foreign relations than just trade.
A 2001 article I read asserted that “the United States sells more goods to Latin America and the Caribbean than to the entire 15-member European Union,” with Canada and Mexico being the two largest US trading partners. Three of the four top U.S. energy suppliers (Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela) are in this hemisphere. And “no countries have a bigger impact on U.S. domestic issues such as immigration, drugs or the environment than Mexico, El Salvador and Colombia.”
But despite this reality, US foreign policy is directed at Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Latin America is hardly mentioned. And when it is, it’s less as an ally or trading partner, and more in patronizing terms, advancing a one-sided American agenda.
The US lectures Latin America on ideology while pursuing its own interests. The stalled Colombia FTA you mention is a case in point: Pelosi & Co. blocked the agreement on the grounds that there were serious “human rights issues” to be addressed with Uribe’s government. Yet no such concerns arose when Hillary Clinton discussed trade with China, and in fact stated that she would not let human rights issues “interfere” with trade relations. The US engages in trade with dictatorial, communist regimes like China and Viet Nam, but continues to embargo Cuba. The US expects Latin America to follow its lead and embargo a fellow Latin nation to satisfy its own political agenda.
The US sees Latin American relations in terms of open markets for its industrial goods, or cooperation in the drug war and the war on terror. Yet the US is reluctant to open its markets to Latin American agricultural products, or to remove unfair subsidies on its own agricultural goods. It pays lip service to issues important to Latin America, such as immigration or strengthening long term development with projects to help end poverty, foster democracy, or curtail corruption.
In addressing the Wharton School of Business’ 4th Latin American Regional Alumni Meeting in Miami in 2003, former Bolivian president Jorge F. Quiroga said, “It’s a great danger for Latin America because the United States is concentrating on security issues that are not necessarily in Latin America’s backyard… There’s a danger that between the debates for funding and resources that flow for security and the ones that flow for poverty, Latin America … may fall through the cracks.”
The following quote is an excerpt of Quiroga’s remarks (you can find it at
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/printer_friendly.cfm?articleid=816):
“The single most painful issue that Latin America needs to pursue with the U.S. is trade, according to Quiroga. Much of Latin America depends upon exports to the U.S. to improve standards of living, yet the region faces enormous barriers in two of the areas in which it could be most productive: labor-intensive manufactured goods and agricultural products. Labor-intensive manufactured goods face particularly onerous barriers that heavy penalize the very countries that would most benefit from increased trade flows.
Quiroga said that nations in which the average citizen earns over $2-a-day face 6% tariffs on labor-intensive manufactured goods while those countries in which the average wage is less than $2 a day must overcome 14% tariff barriers. At the same time, agricultural subsidies paid by the United States, Europe and Japan to their farmers make similar products from Latin America uncompetitive. Quiroga recalled that when he was trying to negotiate an agreement for textile trade between the U.S. and Bolivia, he was told that Bolivia – a landlocked nation seven hours by air from the United States – would have to use U.S.-grown cotton.
…
Quiroga suggested that the United States might be a little more understanding of Latin America’s struggle to modernize if U.S. politicians were aware of the alternative to improved agricultural trade. Consider cocaine as a cash crop: There are four harvests a year, the resulting product is lightweight and easy to transport, it has high value-added content for the producers and there are no real tariffs or import barriers.”
In El Salvador, recently win the ex guerrilla party FMLN. President Obama and many people of his administration run to congratulate the winner. They said that is no problem if El Salvador enforce its relation with Venezuela. Today El Salvador has very bad relation with this country, because Hugo Chávez. But now they will run to give the hand to Chavez and Ortega and other left people of south america.
El Salvador its a very important focus because maras, the level of the organization of the gang its no comparable with Nicaragua. There no gangs. And in Guatemala the gangs depend of the narcotrafic. In El Salvador they are more independence and has relations with fmln, now in the presidence of the country. When 9/11 the vicepresident of fmln runs to the street to celebrate. This is no a risk, very big risk? I don´t understand the foreign affairs of US.
Excuse my poor english
René
The USA empire and the right wing lunatics have to get used to the idea that CHINA-RUSSIA-IRAN-INDONESIA-BRAZI-VENEZUELA are the new industrial axis of the world. The paper tiger DOLLAR is losing its value. The USA empire brings only wars and guns to the countries they invade. The empire its bleeding to death and its coffin is already being manufactured in CHINA the country that OWNS the empire. Realistically the USA Empire can not pay the money it owes to CHINA. China is buying its time and soon will pull the rug and that will be the end.
Latin America is now nearly independent. The oligarchies and Army Generals are on the run. The Empire can do nothing and starting more wars is nearly impossible. Afghanistan and IRAQ were suppose to be the easy wars but now it seems they will be the beginning of the END.
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