I also post it because I have personally noticed that there seems to be at least some overlap between the pro-gun and right-wing Islamophobia. So I find a certain satisfaction in the very excellent track record of excellence by the Obama administration in both forging a better relationship of respect for and from the Muslim countries of the world that could otherwise be persuaded to be our enemies, and at the same time, successfully fighting terrorism, both foreign and domestic. Further, this highlights that the Muslim parts of the world are far from homogeneous or monolithic, as they are so often erroneously presented by the right.
From MSNBC.com, Reuters and the AP:
US: Iran faction plotted to kill Saudi ambassador
Saudi, Israeli embassies were also targeted, U.S. says; two men chargedNBC, msnbc.com and news service
updated 2 hours 7 minutes ago
men allegedly working for "factions of the Iranian government" have
been charged with plotting to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the
U.S. and to attack the Saudi and Israeli embassies, Attorney General
Eric Holder said Tuesday.
The criminal complaint, unsealed Tuesday in federal court in New Yorkbeen charged with plotting to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the
U.S. and to attack the Saudi and Israeli embassies, Attorney General
Eric Holder said Tuesday.
City, identified the two as Manssor Arbabsiar and Gholam Shakuri.
Holder said Arbabsiar, who was arrested on Sept. 29 in New York, was
working for the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard and had confessed to
a plot.
Shakuri, who is based in Iran, remains at large, Holder said. He
allegedly is a member of Iran's Quds Force, a special unit of the
Revolutionary Guard.
Both are originally from Iran and Arbabsiar, 56, is a naturalized U.S. citizen, the complaint said.
The Obama administration will be "taking further action" against Iran as a result, Holder said.
Nicholas Kamm
/
AFP - Getty Images
Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir was the target of an alleged plot by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, the U.S. said Tuesday.
The indictment is the result of a sting operation conducted by the FBI, Holder said.
The case started when Arbabsiar, who lived in Texas, allegedly made
contact with an undercover DEA informant in Mexico and asked for
assistance from the Zetas drug cartel to assassinate the ambassador by
blowing up a restaurant that he frequented.
No explosives were actually placed, and no one was in any danger, officials said.
A Justice Department statement
said Arbabsiar claimed he was being directed by his cousin in Iran,
described as a "big general" in the Iranian military and within the Quds
Force.
Arbabsiar allegedly wired $100,000 to the informant as a down payment on a $1.5 million assassination fee.
Other sources told ABC News that he reportedly told the informant that Iran could provide "tons of opium" to the Zetas.
Arbabsiar was to make a first court appearance later Tuesday. He could face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The Quds Force was designated a terrorist group by the United States
in 2007, in part because of alleged support of the Taliban and other
extremist groups.
A senior U.S. official told NBC News to look to Treasury and the State Department for the immediate response against Iran.
The official also said that U.S. intelligence has a "high-degree" of
confidence that the "Quds Force at the highest levels" was involved in
the alleged plot and that this was not some "rogue operation."
President Barack Obama was first briefed on the alleged plot in June,
said White House spokesman Tommy Vietor."The disruption of this plot is
a significant achievement by our intelligence and law enforcement
agencies, and the president is enormously grateful for their exceptional
work in this instance and countless others," Vietor said.
NBC's Pete Williams and Jim Miklaszewski, as well as the Associated Press and Reuters, contributed to this report.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Petard
You could win a bet hands down by predicting that John Bolton will be spinning this on CNN in the next 12 hours by making a lame analogy about the death of Lenin and how it didn't cause the demise of the Soviet Union....irrrelevant? well yes of course, but anything to change the subject.
ReplyDeleteIt would certainly beat watching him bawl his eyes out as a distraction.
ReplyDeleteI figure Cantor will be beside himself as well.
It is good to see the gunrunning of Fast and Furious finally paying off, thousands of guns and hundreds of deaths, all of that for one good tip.
ReplyDeleteI think you wildly overestimate the deaths and guns from fast and furious, while drastically under crediting the tips and effectiveness of the Holder DoJ.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry Fringie; there is a name for your condition; it is discalculia. Sometimes referred to coloquially as 'Republican math'. There are tests for it, and remediation is available.
(http://www.dyscalculia.org/)
dog gone...I think you think I meant Boehner...he will be bawling, I'm sure...but Bolton was the ex UN Ambassador under Bush who is still a talking head for the conservatives and he made the irrelevant statement about the death of Lenin and the non demise of the Soviet Union on CNN a few weeks ago when al-Awlaki was killed by the CIA in Yemen. He is busy feverishly looking up another irrelevant ambiguous analogy in his big book of ambiguous irrelevant analogies even now as I write....
ReplyDeleteI think you wildly overestimate the deaths and guns from fast and furious,
ReplyDeleteOh I forgot Mexicans don't matter in your world......
while drastically under crediting the tips and effectiveness of the Holder DoJ.
No I'm not undercutting the tips received by the DOJ just the price paid for that information.
And for such a fabulous result Holder is sure acting the prissy little prima donna.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5I5Z0deBsM&feature=youtu.be
I think you wildly overestimate the deaths and guns from fast and furious...
ReplyDeleteIssa told reporters that Mexican Attorney General Marisela Morales has confirmed that 200 or more Mexicans have been killed by weapons that were allowed to “walk” across the southern border and end up in the hands of dangerous drug cartels.
But I know in your book they are all just filthy criminals.... so this could not possibly be true.....
Shall not, You're the one who discounts criminal deaths, not us. You should keep your position consistent at least.
ReplyDeleteIt would seem that Mr. Shall be wearing a fringed lampshade is providing some ammunition for the opposition.
ReplyDelete" 200 or more Mexicans have been killed by weapons that were allowed to “walk” across the southern border and end up in the hands of dangerous drug cartels."
Illegally diverted guns in the U.S. kill a far greater number than 200--but that's prolly a statistical irrealavancy.
You are correct, democommie. All gun deaths are a tragedy, and a kind of failure. Fringe face just wants to divert attention away from ANY, EVERY Obama administration accomplishment,whether it is thisone, or killing bin Laden.
ReplyDeleteThe gun crazies can't have it both ways - that there are lots of gun deaths from guns stolen by the law abiding careless gun owners, used in crime, and then......that there aren't.
It is funny to watch them hoist by their own petard.
Bonus reader points if you correctly know what the heck a petard is.
Double bonus points if you know the origin of the phrase, and in what famous play it was used that made it part of common English usage.
Fringie, this post is about a terrorist plot.
ReplyDeleteIf you wish to address a comment to the problems with fast and furious, I posted something in support of the congressional inquiry here, just so you could properly direct your interest.
http://mikeb302000.blogspot.com/2011/10/fast-and-furious-inquiry.html
Your trying to divert attention from an Obama administration success. No one here has expressed a disregard for people killed by firearms that were sold across the border, legally or illegaly.
Not ever. Now go direct your comments appropriatey, and try to stay on topic.
Or you will find even more of your comments deleted.
By me. Or by the other admins.