Wish we had more time to devote to this latest episode of Spies Lies and those wacky Iranian guys, but quite frankly the enemy within is far more threatening. Americans have been fighting a losing battle against an invisible wealthy power base for decades.
Finally, the people have identified the source of their misery and now taking action to regain control of their government. For the administration to dilute its own momentum to mix it up with the Iranians seems counter productive.
Most nations with a capable intelligence apparatus in place engage in these type of operations all the time. They happen everyday, everywhere, by everybody. Every now and then, somebody gets sloppy and things are seen by people who shouldn't have seen them.
Case in point: The assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, (February 14, 1961 – January 19, 2010) took place on January 19, 2010, in a Dubai hotel room. Al-Mabhouh—a co-founder of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamist Palestinian militant group Hamas—was wanted by the Israeli government for the kidnapping and murder of two Israeli soldiers in 1989 as well as purchasing arms from Iran for use in Gaza; these have been cited as a possible motive for the assassination.
But wait there's more: His assassination attracted international attention in part due to allegations that it was ordered by the Israeli government and carried out by Mossad agents holding fake or fraudulently obtained passports from several European countries and Australia.
The photographs of 26 suspects, and the names they used, have been placed on Interpol's most-wanted list. According to Dubai's authorities, there are up to 29 suspects, 12 of whom carried British passports, six Irish, four French, one German, and four Australian, and another two Palestinians who were arrested. Interpol and the Dubai police believe the suspects stole the identities of real people, mostly Israeli dual citizens.
Then of course there is this: Alexander Litvinenko was a former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service, FSB and KGB, who escaped prosecution in Russia and received political asylum in the United Kingdom. He wrote two books, Blowing up Russia: Terror from within and Lubyanka Criminal Group, where he accused the Russian secret services of staging Russian apartment bombings and other terrorism acts to bring Vladimir Putin to power.
On 1 November 2006, Litvinenko suddenly fell ill and was hospitalized. He died three weeks later, becoming the first confirmed victim of lethal polonium-210-induced acute radiation syndrome. According to doctors, “Litvinenko’s murder represents an ominous landmark: the beginning of an era of nuclear terrorism”.
Litvinenko’s allegations about the misdeeds of the FSB and his public deathbed accusations that Russian president Vladimir Putin were behind his unusual malady resulted in worldwide media coverage.
Subsequent investigations by British authorities into the circumstances of Litvinenko’s death led to serious diplomatic difficulties between the British and Russian governments.
Unofficially, British authorities asserted that “we are 100% sure who administered the poison, where and how”, but they did not disclose their evidence in the interest of a future trial. The main suspect in the case, a former officer of the Russian Federal Protective Service (FSO), Andrei Lugovoy, remains in Russia. As a member of the Duma, he now enjoys immunity from prosecution. Before he was elected to the Duma, the British government tried to extradite him without success.
One must admit, it does make copy less boring to write, for this tale has all the elements of a Robert Ludlum thriller. The suspense, the intrigue, the subterfuge of shadowy figures lurking about Washington DC plotting to assassinate a foreign diplomat on US soil. If it were not for throwing in Los Zetas, the Mexican drug cartel as the trigger crew, the story might have appeared more plausible. Its overplaying international incidents like this that leads to war.
In our opinion, making a public spectacle of a failed plot (such as this) having little chance of success seems silly, especially if one considers the fact President Obama has authorized more hits than Al Capone.