ZGram - 1/17/2003 - "Raimondo: 'Watch Your Back!'"

[irimland@zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

January 17, 2003

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

The article below is in response to the UPI release at 
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=3D20030115-035849-6156r

I am glad that Justin Raimondo is speaking out so forcefully on this 
one!  Of course assassinations by Mossad have happened in so-called 
"friendly" countries for years - what is new is the brazen, 
in-your-face statement of escalation!

We'll see how  the American government and the American press is 
going to handle this hot potato!

Meanwhile, here is Justin Raimondo, one of the most outspoken and 
articulate antiwar.com writers:

[START]

WATCH YOUR BACK
Mossad assassinations on American soil? Say it ain't so=8A.

I was working out in the gym the other day, when Richard Rodriguez, a 
friend of mine, came in, greeted me, and remarked: "I told some 
friends of mine about your book on the Israeli connection to 9/11, 
and do you know what they told me?"

"Uh. Nope."

"They said that you'd better watch your back."

I laughed. But Richard looked dead serious.

A couple of days later, I stumbled on a UPI story that made me think 
of Richard's comment in a new light: "Israel to kill on U.S., allies' 
soil."

Say, what?!

UPI intelligence correspondent Richard Sale reports:

"Israel is embarking upon a more aggressive approach to the war on 
terror that will include staging targeted killings in the United 
States and other friendly countries, former Israeli intelligence 
officials told United Press International=8A.

"The Israeli statements were confirmed by more than a half dozen U.S. 
foreign policy and intelligence officials in interviews with UPI."

If the Israelis are now killing people on the soil of "friendly" 
countries, just think what they might do in enemy territory. To call 
this "a more aggressive approach" is putting it mildly. What it 
amounts to is a declared strategy of international terrorism as an 
instrument of Israeli foreign policy. It is, in effect, a declaration 
of war on the whole world. So what is the response of U.S. law 
enforcement agencies to this threat to commit mayhem on U.S. soil? 
UPI reports:

"'Mossad is definitely being beefed up,' a U.S. government official 
said of the Israeli agency's budget increase. He declined to comment 
on Tel Aviv's geographic expansion of targeted killings.

"An FBI spokesman also declined to comment, saying: 'This is a policy 
matter. We only enforce federal laws.'"

So how about enforcing federal laws against murder? I suppose it's 
too much to expect the Keystone Kops of our FBI to protect us against 
any sort of terrorism, including the Israeli variety, given their 
record on this score. You would think that our politicians would at 
least make some pretense at protesting the declared intent of a 
foreign power to turn the U.S. into their happy hunting ground. But 
no dice:

"A congressional staff member with deep knowledge of intelligence 
matters said, 'I don't know on what basis we would be able to protest 
Israel's actions.' He referred to the recent killing of Qaed Salim 
Sinan al Harethi, a top al Qaida leader, in Yemen by a remotely 
controlled CIA drone.

"'That was done on the soil of a friendly ally,' the staffer said."

So because we targeted enemy terrorists in Yemen, Israel now has the 
right to target anyone it chooses in the U.S.? The logic of this 
syllogism is elusive, to say the least. If that anonymous staffer is 
at a loss to explain how we could possibly protest the killing of 
U.S. citizens on U.S. soil by agents of a foreign power, then perhaps 
his "deep knowledge of intelligence matters" is more than balanced by 
his sheer ignorance of other matters. Such as the primary 
responsibility of the U.S. government - which is to guard the 
integrity of its own borders, and protect its citizens from foreign 
invaders.

The UPI story, if true, is bone-chilling in its implications. Will we 
now have the Mossad rampaging through the U.S., eliminating the 
alleged enemies of Israel, with an increasingly nutty and desperate 
claque of Likudniks acting as judge, jury, and executioner? It's 
unthinkable - isn't it?

I'm not so sure. UPI cites a source in the Israeli government who claims

"In the past Israel has not staged targeted killings in friendly 
countries because 'no one wanted such operations on their territory.'

"This has become irrelevant, he said."

The denial of past instances of Israeli terror on "friendly" soil 
rings false. Surely the ghosts of Robert Maxwell, the British 
publishing magnate many suspect was offed by the Mossad, and Gerald 
Bull, the Ontario-born scientist and U.S. citizen who worked on Iraqi 
arms production and was killed in Belgium, are crying out in protest. 
There can be no doubt that "no one wanted such operations on their 
territory," but one has to wonder how and why this has suddenly 
become "irrelevant." Is it because these "friendly" countries are 
proving their friendship by agreeing to it - or because they have no 
way to prevent it?

The new thug-in-chief of the Mossad, Meir Dagan, nicknamed "the gun," 
seems ideally suited to implement this new policy of kill-at-will:

"Former Israel Defense Forces Lt. Col. Gal Luft, who served under 
Dagan, described him as an 'extremely creative individual - creative 
to the point of recklessness.' A former CIA official who knows Dagan 
said the new Mossad director knows 'his foreign affairs inside and 
out,' and has a 'real killer instinct.'"

This is the man who has given himself carte blanche to pursue 
"terrorists" and carry out assassinations on American soil. A 
creative killer, and reckless to boot, stalking Israel's enemies in 
America, both real and imagined. And our government has "no comment" 
on this "geographic extension of Tel Aviv's targeted killings." It 
would be funny if it wasn't so sinister. UPI cites another former 
Israeli government official who averred that, under Sharon,

"Diplomatic constraints have prevented the Mossad from carrying out 
'preventive operations' (targeted killings) on the soil of friendly 
countries until now. He said Sharon is 'reversing that policy, even 
if it risks complications to Israel's bilateral relations.'"

Beleaguered politically, facing a possible delay in the 
much-anticipated Iraq war, and increasingly put on the defensive by 
an organized opposition in the U.S., Sharon cannot afford to have any 
compunctions about offending his allies. Nor does he have much reason 
to worry about "complications" that might arise from American 
displeasure at such illegal activity. That's what the "special 
relationship" between the U.S. and Israel is all about: we'll cover 
their asses no matter what.

Widespread reports of an Israeli spy ring that may have been tailing 
the 9/11 hijackers and simultaneously penetrating U.S. government 
facilities, were denied by the Department of Justice, disdained by 
U.S. government spokesmen as an "urban myth." This denial occurred as 
a 61-page report by the DEA's internal security bureau detailing the 
activities of hundreds of Israeli spies was circulating among 
journalists and over the internet. Our media was no less opaque. As 
Jane's Intelligence Digest remarked at the time:

"It is rather strange that the U.S. media, with one notable 
exception, seems to be ignoring what may well prove to be the most 
explosive story since the 11 September attacks - the alleged break-up 
of a major Israeli espionage operation in the United States which 
aimed to infiltrate both the justice and defence departments and 
which may also have been tracking Al-Qaeda terrorists before the 
aircraft hijackings took place."

Look, I suppose that a book reporting and expanding on this story - 
that the Mossad knew more about the 9/11 conspiracy than they ever 
told us - might make its author a target. Not of violence, 
necessarily, but of a smear campaign, especially given Dagan's 
inclinations. As part of the new policy, and aside from purging 
moderates and packing the highest echelons of the Israeli spy 
apparatus with like-minded hard-liners,

"Dagan is also urging that Mossad operatives rely less on secret 
sources and rely more on open information that is so plentifully 
provided on the Internet and newspapers. 'It's a cultural thing,' one 
former Israeli intelligence operative explained. 'Mossad in the past 
has put its emphasis on Humint (human intelligence) and secret 
operations and has neglected the whole field of open media, which has 
become extremely important.'"

Israel's above-ground amen corner in America has been among its most 
valuable assets, and Dagan wants to make more use of it. Character 
assassination, and not physical assassination, is the preferred 
method when dealing with Israel's American antagonists. You don't 
kill an author - just his book.

So, no, I'm not afraid that they'll get me in an alley somewhere. 
After all those hours in the gym, I'm pretty buffed out, bud, and 
those muscles aren't just for decoration. But, just in case this UPI 
story is true - and Dagan "the gun" is more "creative" than I'd like 
to think - I'll be watching my back all the same=8A.

ALL OUT THIS SATURDAY!

Okay, so I've been critical of the leadership of the antiwar 
movement, especially the A.N.S.W.E.R. group, but I wouldn't miss 
Saturday's demonstration for the world. I know, I know, I once wrote 
that "I ain't marchin' anymore," but my regular readers know me well 
enough to realize that nothing - not even a mild case of the flu, or 
a looming book deadline - is going to keep me from being where the 
action is. Besides, when the speakers start droning on about Mumia, 
or blaming capitalism for the war, you can always put on your 
headphones and break out the picnic basket.

It's important that the media and the politicians begin to realize 
that the antiwar movement in this country is not only strong, but 
getting stronger even as the prospects of war loom larger. So, get 
out your "Patriots for Peace" placards, guys and gals - all out on 
January 18!

-Justin Raimondo

( Source:  =1Fhttp://www.antiwar.com/justin/justincol.html )