This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/489
The political expediency of terrorism : 'Someone who will kill you will also lie to you'
March 11, 2005
MIM: The 'president' of a non existent country Mahmoud Abbas, has brought Hamas into his Paid Assassins authority and will also bring in other terrorist groups like the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. Given that the myth of a 'Palestinian State' and 'Palestinian People' has been given credence up till now, it is to be expected that the hoax of a 'goverment' dedicated to peace and justice will be formed by terrorist groups who have proclaimed their goal is the destruction of Israel.
The initially optimistic prognosis by political pundits who were predicting the imminent ouster of Syria from Lebanon, and the birth of a truly democratic independent state was mitigated by the support seen for Hizbollah at yesterday's rally in Beirut now has the US and other countries spinning faster then derwishes to condemn the group as terrorist and signal that they will be accepted as a legitimate political party if they indicate they will behave themselves by 'disarming'.
Mahmoud Abbas,whose 'nom de guerre' is Abu Mazen, revealed the terrorist face of the PA and showed that he is, in the words of Dr.Daniel Pipes who warned the new PA leader is; "a more formidable enemy of Israel then the flamboyantly evil one note Arafat"
"...This is a good step toward participating in the Palestinian political work," .... "We were not surprised by the decision made by Hamas because it follows a series of meetings we had with them over the past few weeks regarding this issue."
Hizbollah, the Iranian and Syrian backed organisation which has just raised it's the payment for suicide bombers from $20,000 to $100,000 might attract new members but the question remains as to if the new adherents will be in a position to vote if the terrorist group runs in an election.
MIM:"The German strategist Von Clausewitz made the famous observation that war is the continuation of diplomacy by other means"
. In 1990 a Jerusalem Post op ed stated that: " The Israelis have grounds to suspect that, for the PLO, the so-called peace process is the continuation of war by other means." http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/index.jsp?section=papers&code=077
MIM: Suicidal new Israeli offers to 'recognize terrorist groups' if they renounce violence, and the US capitulation to Hizbollah, on the condition they 'disarm' and be recognized as a legitimate political entity. are proof that a decade and a half after a 'so called peace process' which left thousands dead and maimed, the 'politics of terror' has triumphed over common sense and self defense.
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MIM:In a recent article Dr.Daniel Pipes asks "Can Hezbollah and Hamas Be Democratic? "and answers that both "are unacceptable because of their goals".
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/2479
Can Hezbollah and Hamas Be Democratic?
by Daniel Pipes
New York Sun
March 22, 2005
[Original NY Sun title: "Methods Matter Less Than Goals"]
If Al-Qaeda renounced terrorism, would the U.S. government welcome its running candidates in American elections? Had the Nazis denounced violence, would Hitler have become an acceptable chancellor for Germany? Not likely, because the tactics of Al-Qaeda and the Nazis matter less than their goals.
Similarly, Hezbollah and Hamas are unacceptable because of their goals. These organizations are important elements of the Islamist movement that seeks to create a global totalitarian order along the lines of what has already been created in Iran, Sudan, and in Afghanistan under the Taliban. They see themselves as part of a cosmic clash between Muslims and the West in which the victor dominates the world.
Washington, trying to be consistent in its push for democracy, prefers to ignore these goals and instead endorses involvement by Hezbollah and Hamas in the political process, pending their making some small changes.
These signals began last week when President Bush stated that although Hezbollah, a Lebanese group, is "a terrorist organization," he hopes it will change that designation "by laying down arms and not threatening peace." White House spokesman Scott McClellan then elaborated on this comment by specifying the two alternatives: "Organizations like Hezbollah have to choose, either you're a terrorist organization or you're a political organization."
Bush himself explained further what he meant a day later, presenting elections as a method to shed the terrorist designation:
I like the idea of people running for office. There's a positive effect when you run for office. Maybe some will run for office and say, vote for me, I look forward to blowing up America. I don't know, I don't know if that will be their platform or not. But I don't think so. I think people who generally run for office say, vote for me, I'm looking forward to fixing your potholes, or making sure you got bread on the table.
Hamas a Palestinian organization, Secretary of State Rice then noted, could also evolve in the right direction once it enters the democratic process:
When people start getting elected and have to start worrying about constituencies and have to start worrying not about whether their fire-breathing rhetoric against Israel is being heard, but about whether or not that person's child down the street is able to go to a good school or that road has been fixed or life is getting better, that things start to change.
The theory implied here is that running for office – with its emphasis on such mundane matters as fixing potholes and providing good schools – will temper Hezbollah and Hamas.
Count me skeptical.
The historical record does not support such optimism. When politically adept totalitarians win power democratically, they do fix potholes and improve schools – but only as a means to transform their countries in accordance with their utopian visions. This generalization applies most clearly to the historical cases (Adolf Hitler in Germany after 1933, Salvador Allende in Chile after 1970) but it also appears valid for the current ones (Khaleda Zia in Bangladesh since 2001, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey since 2002).
Then there is the matter of their undemocratic intentions. Josef Goebbels explained in 1935 that the Nazis used democratic methods "only in order" to gain power. Looking at Islamists, then-assistant secretary of state for the Middle East Edward Djerejian explained in 1992, "While we believe in the principle of ‘one person, one vote,' we do not support ‘one person, one vote, one time'." Khomeini's Iran indicates that Islamists do manipulate elections to stay in power.
Washington should take a principled stand that excludes from the democratic process not just terrorists but also totalitarians using the system to get into power and stay there. It is not enough for Islamist organizations to renounce violence; being irredeemably autocratic, they must be excluded from elections.
In a famed Supreme Court dissent in 1949, the eminent justice Robert H. Jackson argued for the arrest of a neo-Nazi rabble-rouser in Chicago on the grounds that not doing so "will convert the constitutional Bill of Rights into a suicide pact." The same imperative for self-protection applies also to international politics.
Even if Hezbollah and Hamas promise a change in tactics, America – or for that matter, Israel and other Western states – should not accept them as legitimate political parties.
From www.danielpipes.org | Original article available at: www.danielpipes.org/article/2479
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http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=78253
Abu Mazen: Hamas to Join Gov´t and Back Cease-Fire
Thursday, March 10, 2005
(IsraelNN.com) Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) said Thursday afternoon that he expects Hamas terrorists next week to announce they will halt attacks against Israel in return for receiving a role in PA decision making. He added that other terrorist groups also will agree to a cease-fire that the PA announced almost two months ago at a four-way summit meeting with Israel, Jordan and Egypt.
The terrorist organizations and the PA are scheduled to meet in Cairo next Tuesday with Egyptian officials to discuss the future of Gaza after the planned Israeli withdrawal.
Abu Mazen conceded that while the PA will try to prevent violence, it may not be able to stop all terrorist attacks. He also criticized Israel's Thursday morning killing of a terrorist who helped organize the suicide bombing in Tel Aviv three weeks ago. Israeli forces killed him after he refused to surrender.
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He told reporters that the move would contribute to the participation of all Palestinians in political life.
Hamas said it was a way of stopping the mainstream Palestinian grouping, Fatah, from dominating the political scene.
A spokesman said Hamas would not become a political party or give up its military campaign against Israel.
Hamas boycotted the first Palestinian parliamentary election in 1996 but won overwhelming victories in local elections in the Gaza Strip in January.
In another development, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is due to visit the Middle East on Sunday for talks about the peace process, beginning with a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Israel's plans to withdraw from the Gaza Strip are likely to come up for discussion both with Mr Sharon on Sunday and Mr Abbas on Monday, the BBC's James Reynolds reports from Jerusalem.
'No surprise'
Mr Abbas said the entry of Hamas into the election race was a "good step" but "not really a surprise" since the group had taken part in the local elections.
Hamas beat Fatah - the traditional party of power founded and led by the late Yasser Arafat - convincingly in those polls.
Mohammad Ghazal, a Hamas political leader, told reporters that the group had still not decided on whether to be a part of the Palestinian government and whether to hold talks with Israel in the future.
He stressed that the group still regarded "resistance as a strategic choice".
Hamas has spent years building up a considerable following.
It operates a social programme, like building schools, hospitals and religious institutions, as well a military wing that has been behind many of the suicide bomb attacks against Israelis.
http://www.israelnn.com/print.php3?what=news&id=76630
Abu Mazen Reports an "Understanding" With Hamas and Islamic JihadTuesday, February 8, 2005
(IsraelNN.com) PA leader Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) announced that despite statements of rejection released by Hamas and Islamic Jihad regarding today's Sharm el-Sheikh Summit, he has reached a ceasefire "understanding" with the terror organizations.
Abu Mazen added he plans to discuss the results of the summit with the various "factions" towards reaching a better understanding.
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Hamas leader Mahmoud a-Zahar raises one finger signifying one God during a rally in Gaza City
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1110597564456
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday welcomed Hamas's decision to participate in July's election for the Palestinian Legislative Council.
Buoyed by a strong showing in recent municipal elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and a growing rift in the ruling Fatah faction, Hamas leaders announced on Saturday that the movement would participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Hamas refused to participate in the first and only PLC vote in 1996 for fear that such a move would be interpreted as recognition of the Oslo Accords.
"This is a good step toward participating in the Palestinian political work," Abbas told reporters outside his office in Ramallah. "We were not surprised by the decision made by Hamas because it follows a series of meetings we had with them over the past few weeks regarding this issue."
Abbas said the Hamas representatives who would be elected as legislators would be able to join the PLO's executive committee and other PA institutions.
Tayseer Nasrallah, a member of the Palestine National Council, the PLO's parliament-in-exile, welcomed the decision, saying it would bolster Abbas's efforts to build democratic institutions. He said the decision would also serve as an incentive for Fatah to change its old policies and elect new leaders who enjoy the support of the people.
PA National Security Adviser Jibril Rajoub hailed the "historic" decision as a victory for democracy.
The Hamas announcement comes on the eve of the resumption of talks between the PA and all Palestinian factions in Cairo on Tuesday. Abbas spent the past few days in the Gaza Strip, where he held talks with leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad about the possibility of announcing a formal cease-fire with Israel.
Explaining his movement's decision to run in the legislative election, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said the move was designed to fight corruption and not guarantee cars and salaries for the candidates.
"By joining the Palestinian Legislative Council, Hamas is laying the foundations for a strong government that will fight against corruption," he said. "We want to help the Palestinians who have been affected by the Israeli aggression. We want to rebuild houses that have been demolished. Our earlier decision to participate in municipal election was aimed at serving the interests of the people."
Muhammad Ghazal, a senior Hamas official in the West Bank, said the decision to participate in the election came after consultations between the Hamas leadership in the PA areas and the movement's leaders in Syria and Lebanon.
He expressed hope that the European Union, which had exerted pressure on Hamas to take part in the election, would not include Hamas in its list of terror organizations. He added, however, that Hamas's decision does not mean that the movement has given up the right to continue fighting against Israel.
Hamas plans to campaign "on the basis of sticking to the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and protecting the program of resistance as a strategic choice until the occupation is swept away," Ghazal told a news conference in Nablus. "Participating in the legislative elections on July 17 doesn't necessarily mean recognition of the Oslo Accords that Hamas rejected 10 years ago."
The Hamas announcement came as the group marked the first anniversary of the killing of its founder and leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
Thousands of Hamas supporters attended a rally in Gaza City on Friday to commemorate Yassin.
"We came here to tell the martyrs and their families that Hamas will continue to work toward the goals that they died for, the liberation of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Jerusalem," Zahar told the crowd.
He threatened that if the Palestinians failed to reach an agreement on a truce with Israel, "armed resistance against Israel would resume."
He said that Israel had not yet responded positively to demands of releasing prisoners and withdrawing from Palestinian cities.
"Our demands are very clear. The gradual release of all prisoners from Israeli jails, the withdrawal from all the areas that Israel occupied at the beginning of the intifada, and an end to all its security measures," Zahar added.
Yassin's eldest son, Abdel Hamid, told the rally: "My father didn't die; he is living inside me and inside every Palestinian. We will follow his legacy to keep the national unity among our people and continue with resistance until ending the occupation."
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=78297
Hamas Burns US & Israeli Flags, Threatens to Renew AttacksSaturday, March 12, 2005 / 1 Adar 5765
Hamas terrorists and supporters burned American and Israeli flags over the weekend, and threatened to continue attacks against Israel if the government does not offer more concessions.
The terror group also formally announced it plans to participate in the scheduled Palestinian Authority (PA) parliamentary elections this July. Hamas recently scored major victories in local PA elections.
Saturday's protest came prior to an anti-PA demonstration protesting the high unemployment among Arabs in the PA. Stone-throwers broke windows of the PA council building in Gaza, and PA police shot in the air to keep the crowd from forcing its way inside the building.
"No one is optimistic about continuing this cooling down period indefinitely," Hamas leader Mahmoud a-Zahar told reporters. "Israel must offer something in return or the resistance will continue." He said that Hamas would not agree to disarm, contrary to PA Chief Abu Mazen's promises to repress terrorism.
A-Zahar added that Hamas is depending on Egypt to support its demands. A meeting of several terrorist organizations is scheduled this week in Egypt. Israel has prevented Islamic Jihad terrorists from attending, but Hamas members will be allowed to go.
Another terror leader, Muhammad al-Hindi of Islamic Jihad, said. "This march is a message saying yes to the intifada. Everyone knows that there will be no cease fire." The Islamic Jihad was behind the recent suicide bombing in a Tel Aviv nightclub which killed five people, as well as other very recent attempted attacks that were thwarted by Israeli security forces.
Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz said Saturday night that he is aware of the danger that a wave of terror attacks will resume, but said Israel "must take the chance."
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http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=78366
Hundreds of Thousands at Anti-American Hezbollah RallySunday, March 13, 2005 / 2 Adar 5765
(IsraelNN.com) Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese chanted, "Death to America, death to Israel" at a rally organized by the Hebollah in Nabatiyeh, a southern Lebanese town not far from the border with Israel.
The rally was directed against American efforts to promote a total Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon.
The demonstration was staged to coincide with a meeting between UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, and Lebanese officials and opposition leaders on Sunday in an effort to implement UN resolution 1559 that calls for foreign forces to leave Lebanon and for militia groups to be disarmed.
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US will accept disarmed Hizbollah
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12511376-23109,00.html
THE Bush administration would accept a political role for the Lebanese group Hizbollah if it disarmed, US officials said today, a stance they said was not new but reflected recognition of the political clout of the militant Shiite Muslim organisation.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice carefully avoided the stock US phrase that Hizbollah is a terrorist organisation in remarks to reporters, two days after Hizbollah showed its political power by drawing hundreds of thousands of people to central Beirut for a pro-Syria rally.But she insisted that "the American view of Hizbollah has not changed" and other US officials were quick to call the group a terrorist organisation.
Ms Rice said US policy was focused on getting Syria to pull its 14,000 troops and its intelligence personnel from Lebanon so the country can have parliamentary elections in May without outside interference.
"We're going to do one thing at a time. Lebanon is a very complex place with a lot of complex political factors but those cannot begin to come into harmony until you have Syrian forces out and we see what the real balance of forces and the real balance of interests in Lebanon look like," she said.
Hizbollah is funded and armed by Iran and receives support from Syria. It began as an anti-Israel militia but is now also a political party with deputies in the Lebanese parliament and a network of charities.
"Obviously we'd like to see them disarmed as UN Security Council Resolution 1559 requires. Once disarmed they could undertake any political role in Lebanon that they can win democratically at the polls. This doesn't constitute any change in the US position," a senior Bush administration official said.
A State Department official, who asked not to be identified, said there was a recognition among US officials of Hizbollah's political power but denied any policy change.
"We do have to live in the real world and unfortunately in that world people we really don't like do sometimes get into elected office. Hizbollah - just like Hamas in the Palestinian territories - is a political force. But just because we recognise - as we always have - that reality does not mean we have changed our policy toward them," the official said.
US officials denied a New York Times report that the administration had made a sharp policy shift and was grudgingly going along with efforts by France and the United Nations to steer the party into the Lebanese political mainstream.
"The report suggests that our view has changed on Hizbollah. It has not," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
Hizbollah is on the State Department's list of terrorist organisations and has been singled out by President George W. Bush and others as one of the biggest obstacles to peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians by sponsoring attacks against Israel.
The Times report drew criticism from a number of lawmakers reminded of the Hizbollah role in the 1983 Beirut bombing in which more than 200 US Marines were killed.
"The plain truth is that Hizbollah is an armed terrorist militia, responsible for hundreds of murders, including many Americans," said Jane Harman, ranking Democrat of the House of Representatives intelligence committee.
Mr Bush told EU leaders last month it was not in the best interest of the United States or Europe for Iran to fund "terrorist organisations like Hizbollah, which has the desire to stop the Middle East peace process from going forward".
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http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=76426
Hezbolla Lifts Pay for Sucide Attacks to $100,000 Sunday, February 13 2005
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/print.php3?what=news&id=76863
Hizbolla has announced that it's raising the compensation it pays out to families of suicide attackers from $20,000 to $100,000.
Hizbolla has announced that it's raising the compensation it pays out to families of suicide attackers from $20,000 to $100,000, according to bank transfers and e-mail intercepted from the organization.
Hagai Huberman of Arutz 7 reports that according to Israeli intelligence officials, PA forces are checking into how the Hizbolla finances terrorist activity within the PA by examining and intercepting messages the Hezbolla has been forwarding to terrorists.
Senior officials of PA armed forces based in the territories they occupy in Judea and Samaria claim that the Hezbolla presents the number one threat to the continued lull in attacks against Israel. The Hezbolla is attempting to enlist terrorists from the Fatah organization, the main governing party in the PA, and from Fatah offshoots such as the Al Aksa Brigades, a terror group closely aligned with Mahmud Abbas, that is responsible for the murder of hundreds of Jews since the outbreak of the intifada in September, 2000. A recent attempt by a suicide bomber to blow himself up at an army roadblock in Shechem has been linked to these Hezbolla efforts.
PA military officials have admitted to reporters from the Associated Press that the Hezbolla, which has in the past funded hundreds of PA terrorists, has been intensifying its recruiting efforts, offering to pay thousands of dollars to armed men willing to attack Israeli targets.
One PA terrorist (who defined himself to the AP as a former terrorist) disclosed how a Hezbolla operative contacted him a day before the Sharm e-Sheik summit and offered him a substantial sum of money in exchange for carrying out violent acts. According to this source, groups of 5-6 Hezbolla recruits are paid from $5000 - $8000 for weapons, ammunition, and ongoing terror activities. Payment includes free use of a cellular phone.
A PA military officer charged with supervising "radical" groups has pointed out that the Hezbolla attempts to find out the bank account numbers of its operatives in the PA as well as the names of terrorist perpetrators by way of e-mail exchanges. The officer claims that he has read some of these exchanges and that the "humanitarian" bureau within the PA "supervises" the bank transfer of money from the Hezbolla to terrorists within the PA. The officer also claims that he has notified the PA leadership of the Hezbolla activity, but has not received any instructions to intervene in order to preclude such operations or arrest terrorists.
Hagai Huberman points out that the revelations regarding the Hezbolla's operations in the PA result from a "media offensive" which the PA has put on over the past few days, in order to expose the methods the Hezbolla uses to recruit Arab terrorists in Yesha. The purpose of the PA media blitz was to defuse the pressure on PA leader Abbas who claims ostensibly that the PA is trying to stop violent acts against Israel and engage in negotiations.
Hezbolla leader Hasan Naserallah declared last week that violent opposition to Israel will continue and will not stop under any circumstances. He was quoted by Almanar television on February 9th saying, "This is the year of unrelenting opposition, preserving the opposition and standing firm in opposition, which is our choice, our way and faith, and a pan-Arab, Islamic national struggle."
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http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=10912
Wikipedia
ISN SECURITY WATCH (10/03/05) - The administration of George Bush is prepared to accept the presence of the militant Hizbollah group in mainstream Lebanese politics, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing US officials who asked to remain anonymous because of the administration's long-standing opposition against the group and its calls for the EU to place it on its terrorist blacklist.
Administration officials told the daily that Washington was going along with efforts by Paris and the UN to legitimize Hizbollah, which the US has long campaigned against, calling the radical Shi'ite party a terrorist organization.
"Hezbollah has American blood on its hands," an administration official told the New York Times, referring to such events as the truck bombing that killed more than 200 US marines in Beirut in 1983. "They are in the same category as al-Qaida. The administration has an absolute aversion to admitting that Hizbollah has a role to play in Lebanon, but that is the path we're going down."
"The main players are making Hezbollah a lower priority," a diplomat who is closely tracking the negotiations told the New York Times. "There is a realization by France and the United States that if you tackle Hezbollah now, you array the Shi'ites against you. With elections coming in Lebanon, you don't want the entire Shi'ite community against you."
US officials said that the shift in policy should be viewed as reluctant recognition that Hizbollah is a strong political force in Lebanon and could use its clout to stop Western efforts to pressure Syria to withdraw its some 16'000 troops from Lebanon.
Earlier this week, Syrian troops began to redeploy closer to the Syrian border, and Syrian officials promised a complete withdrawal by the end of March.
But Hizbollah, which had remained relatively quiet during mass anti-Syrian protests following the 14 February assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, made a show of force on Tuesday by organizing a mass pro-Syria rally in the center of Beirut.
On Wednesday, tensions increased in Beirut after parliament nominated Omar Karami for the post of prime minister, only nine days after he had resigned, a move perceived by the opposition as signaling that the protests that ousted the government would not be taken seriously.
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http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=78564
Hezbollah Rejects Bush's Plea To DisarmWednesday, March 16, 2005 / 5 Adar 5765
(IsraelNN.com) Pro-Syrian Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Wednesday the terrorist group will remain armed because of "Israeli aggression" against Lebanon. He rejected President George W. Bush's call yesterday that Hezbollah give up its weapons and try to influence through the political system.
Hezbollah is considered a major Syrian force in Lebanon and its influence may grow if Syria continues to withdraw its troops. Several units have returned to Syria recently and others have redeployed in the eastern mountains.
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MIM: This article came from the Teheran News and was published in the Gulf- News and it is hard to ascertain how reliable the report is, and how much of this news is being welcomed by potential martyrdom candidates.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=42080
Would be martyrs can register on Hizbollah's new website
23/02/02
Mohsen Asgari
Ready to be a martyr? You can register on our web site!" That is what is offered by the Iranian Ansar Hezbollah, a militant paramilitary group.
Members of this group are mostly former volunteer soldiers who participated in the eight-year war against Iraq (1980-1988). Anticipating an attack by U.S. on Iran, their web site (www.ansaronline.com) asks "who is ready to be a martyr in the name of God and commit a probable suicide attack in order to defend Iran's territory and Islam."
A red box has appeared this week on the left side of the homepage, permitting would-be martyrs to send an e-mail to the organisation.
"This new online service is a direct reaction to the U.S. President George W. Bush's State of the Union speech in which he descibed Iran, Iraq and North Korea as "axis of evil".
Iranian reformists and conservatives tried to react as a single man to the new U.S. policy, but it seems that they couldn't control the radicals on both sides.
As for the conservatives, Mohammed Bagher Zulqadr, Deputy Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, said that "If Iran becomes insecure, no place will be secure in the Gulf", which will be the graveyard of the U.S. warships and soldiers."
He added: "If the U.S. attacks Iran, we will definitely threaten the American oil sources in the area because in that case we won't content ourselves simply defending inside the country."
Speaking at Ahwaz University this week, Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor-in-chief of Keyhan, Iran's most conservative daily, said that "if the U.S. wants to target Iran with chemical and biological bombs, the U.S. and Israeli cities might face a similar danger."
Meanwhile, the reformist faction of the Parliament declared that they would use their legal authorities to investigate the accusations made by the U.S. and deal with the violating government officials, if there were any.
This would be a very significant move in the full-scale war between conservatives and reformists in Iran.
The presidential camp have been suspecting their conservative rivals of delivering weapons to Afghan warlords and Palestinian activists (the Karine A case) in order to undermine Iran's foreign policy of detente with Europe, which is perhaps the only real success of Khatami's years in office.
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/489