In repeated aerial attacks, the Israeli air force bombed Hezbollah’s al-Manar television station in Beirut and its broadcasting infrastructure in the Bekaa Valley, a Hezbollah stronghold. The bombing of al-Manar is part of an Israeli counteroffensive against Hezbollah and its Lebanese assets precipitated by the firing of hundreds of missiles by Hezbollah into Israeli cities and towns, the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers and the killing of eight others by Hezbollah guerillas. According to sources, while the IAF destroyed part of the al-Manar infrastructure, the station continues broadcasting.

Al-Manar television is the communications arm of Hezbollah, owned and operated by Hezbollah guerillas and financed by the Iranian regime. No mere propaganda tool, al-Manar is used by Hezbollah to broadcast its message of hatred, recruit suicide bombers, raise money for its terrorist activities and those of its Palestinian affiliates, conduct operational surveillance, and incite attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians and American soldiers in Iraq. Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, head of Hezbollah, used al-Manar to first announce the kidnapping of the Israeli soldiers and recently appeared on al-Manar to declare open war against Israel.

Established in 1991, and responsible for more American deaths before 9/11 than any other terrorist organization including al-Qaeda, Hezbollah was the first terrorist organization to create a television station to be used as an operational weapon. One high-ranking al-Manar official revealed its purpose with chilling clarity: to “help people on the way to committing what you call in the West a suicide mission.” At its height, al-Manar reached an estimated 10-15 million viewers daily with 24/7 worldwide coverage through a network of ten satellite providers and advertising sponsorship from numerous western corporations.

Its programming includes children’s shows glorifying suicide bombers, videos calling for jihadists to kill Coalition soldiers in Iraq, and vile anti-American and anti-Semitic material—including the infamous “blood libel” falsely accusing Jews of slaughtering Christian children to make food for the Passover holiday. (I saw a clip of this while researching for this blog entry and it was extremely disturbing, or should I say sickening. It kind of reminds me of some of the Roman propaganda against Christians two thousand years ago that led to countless deaths in the Roman arena.)

The Israeli aerial attack at what is effectively Hezbollah’s and Iran’s communications ministry in Lebanon follows a March 2006 decision by the U.S. government to designate al-Manar as a terrorist organization. In that decision, the U.S. Treasury Department placed al-Manar on the same terrorism list as Hezbollah itself, al Qaeda, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey said that al-Manar is an “entity maintained by a terrorist group” and therefore “as culpable as the terrorist group itself.”

In the past three years, appalled by the station’s incitement to violence and racist and anti-Semitic programming, the European Union and the governments of France, Spain, and Holland have determined that al-Manar violated European law. This led four European satellite providers to discontinue transmission of the station. Four other satellite providers, based in Hong Kong, Australia, Barbados, and Brazil, also terminated their broadcasting of al-Manar. And, after being alerted to their advertising on the terrorist station, some of the world’s best-known multinationals discontinued almost $2 million in annual corporate advertising.

U.S. Designates Al-Manar as a Specially Designated Global
Terrorist Entity

Television Station is Arm of Hizballah Terrorist Network

The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated pursuant to Executive Order 13224 al Manar, a satellite television operation owned or controlled by the Iran-funded Hizballah terrorist network. Additionally designated today were al Nour Radio and the Lebanese Media Group, the parent company to both al Manar and al Nour Radio.

{e;bullet}Al Manar and al Nour are the media arms of the Hizballah terrorist network and have facilitated Hizballah’s activities.

“Any entity maintained by a terrorist group – whether masquerading as a charity, a business, or a media outlet – is as culpable as the terrorist group itself,” said Stuart Levey, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

Al Manar has employed multiple Hizballah members. One al Manar employee engaged in pre-operational surveillance for Hizballah operations under cover of employment by al Manar.

Al Manar and al Nour have supported fundraising and recruitment efforts by Hizballah.

Al Manar raised funds for Hizballah through advertisements broadcast on the network and an accompanying website that requested donations for the terrorist organization.

As recently as late 2005, Hizballah-affiliated charities aired commercials on al Manar, providing contact information and bank account numbers for donations. Moreover, Hizballah Secretary General Nasrallah publicized an invitation for all Lebanese citizens to volunteer for Hizballah military training on al Manar and al Nour.

In addition to supporting Hizballah, al Manar has also provided support to other designated Palestinian terrorist organizations, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, notably transferring tens of thousands of dollars for a PIJ-controlled charity. PIJ is listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. Government, and is also named on the European Union’s list of terrorist entities.

Hizballah Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah, along with Hizballah’s Executive Council, managed and oversaw the budgets of al Manar and al Nour.

The Lebanese Media Group is the parent company of both al Manar and al Nour. Prominent Hizballah members have been major shareholders of the Lebanese Media Group.

Background on Hizballah

Hizballah is a Lebanon-based terrorist group. Until September 11, 2001, Hizballah was responsible for more American deaths than any other terrorist organization. Hizballah is known or suspected to have been involved in numerous terrorist attacks throughout the world, including the suicide truck bombings of the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut in September 1984. Hizballah also executed the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 en route from Athens to Rome and assumed responsibility for the suicide bombing of the Israeli embassy in Argentina in 1992. It also attacked the Israeli cultural center in Buenos Aires in 1994.

On January 25, 1995, the Annex to Executive Order 12947 listed Hizballah as a Specially Designated Terrorist. The Department of State designated Hizballah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997. Additionally, on October 31, 2001, Hizballah was designated as a Specially Designated Global terrorist under Executive Order 13224.

Today’s action prohibits transactions between U.S. persons and the designated entities and also freezes any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction.

Hezbollah is the first organization of its kind to establish its own television station and use it as an operational weapon. In addition to al-Manar, Hezbollah maintains a number of media properties including a newspaper, a radio station, and various websites. Terrorist media organizations differ from private or state-owned newspapers, broadcasters, and on-line news sources and should not be granted the same free speech considerations. Hezbollah uses al-Manar to incite violence, recruit suicide bombers, and communicate with its soldiers in the field. In other words, al-Manar is just one tool, like car bombs or assassinations, by which Hezbollah operates.

Funded and controlled by Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based worldwide terror organization, Al-Manar is a television station with global reach.

Each day, it is viewed by 10-15 million people around the world.
Al-Manar’s stated purpose is to wage “psychological warfare” against its enemies, including the United States.

According to on al-Manar official, its programming is meant to “help people on the way to committing what you call in the West a suicide mission.” (THAT’S WARPED.)

Many of al-Manar’s videos aim to recruit terrorists. Viewers are told that “the path to becoming a priest in Islam is through jihad.” (AT THE RISK OF REPEATING MYSELF….THAT’S WARPED.)

Al-Manar is more than a propaganda tool. It is the communications arm of a known terrorist organization that has sleeper cells in the United States and throughout the world.

Spreading Hatred, Recruiting Terrorists, and Inciting Violence:

Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah uses al-Manar to call for “Death to America!” and denounce America as the “Great Satan” and a “beast that is hungry for power and hungry for blood.”

Al-Manar programming has called on Jihadis to kill American soldiers in Iraq. One video, set to martial music, proclaims: “Down with the mother of terrorism! America threatens in vain, an occupying army of invaders. Nothing remains but rifles and suicide bombers.” The video ends with an image of a suicide bomber’s belt detonating.

In one al-Manar video, the Statue of Liberty transforms into a knife-wielding ghoul dripping blood. It concludes: “America owes blood to all of humanity.”

Al-Manar ran videos during afternoon television glorifying suicide bombing to children.

Al-Manar ran a shockingly anti-Semitic movie falsely and viciously accusing Jews of killing children to make Passover Matzah. (IT’S SICKENING AND INFURIATING.)

Al-Manar’s worldwide presence:

Al Manar maintains a correspondent in Washington, D.C. It also has correspondents in France, Russia, Belgium, Sweden, Iraq and other nations.

Al-Manar is currently broadcast throughout the Middle East, Europe and North Africa by two satellite providers: ARABSAT, owned by the government of Saudi Arabia, and Nilesat, whose largest shareholder is the government of Egypt. The Coalition Against Terrorist Media has been instrumental in removing al-Manar from seven satellite providers. As a result, al-Manar is no longer broadcast to North America, South and Central America, Asia, Australia, and much of Africa.

Al-Manar receives advertising from global companies. Until recently, al-Manar even had American sponsors.

In the footage, American correspondent Steve Centanni, 60, and cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, of New Zealand, said they were being cared for and appealed for help in winning their release. The footage was the first sign of the journalists since they were kidnapped Aug. 14 from their TV van in Gaza City.

“Our captors are treating us well,” Centanni said.

The statement issued by the Holy Jihad Brigades marked the first time a Palestinian group in Gaza made demands on a foreign country other than Israel. Militant groups have routinely tried to limit the conflict to a fight between Palestinians and Israel. (They call themselves the Holy Jihad Brigades. That bothers me. There is nothing holy about jihad. There is nothing holy about kidnapping and murder.)

Although Palestinian militant groups have often seized foreigners, including members of the media, this is the longest any have been held.

In the video footage, the men, sitting cross-legged on the floor in sweat suits, appear to be in good health. No armed men were seen.

Centanni said the two men had access to clean water, showers, bathrooms, food and clothing.

“So, just want to let you know I am here and alive and give my love to my family and friends and ask to do anything you can to try to help us get out of here.”

Wiig called for help to get them freed.

“If you could apply any pressure on the local government here in Gaza and the West Bank that would be much appreciated by Steve and myself,” Wiig said.

In an attached statement, the Holy Jihad Brigades demanded that Muslim prisoners in U.S. jails be released within three days in exchange for Centanni and Wiig. The group did not say what would happen if the deadline passed unanswered, Ramattan reported.

“We are going to exchange the Muslim female and male prisoners in American jails in return for the prisoners that we have. We are going to give you 72 hours, beginning midnight tonight, to take your decision,” the statement said. “If you implement and meet our condition, we will fulfill our promise. If not, wait, and we are going to wait with you.”

It was not clear whether the group was referring to prisoners being held by the United States in Guantanamo Bay or Iraq, where the U.S. is holding large numbers of Muslim prisoners. (There is the ransom they want to negotiate for. It’s insane. How many times has that been done by terrorists – kidnapping and demanding the release of prisoners? Al Qaeda does it. Hamas does it. Hezbollah certainly does it. They are crimes against humanity.)

Earlier, Ramattan said the kidnappers had demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Past Gaza kidnappings — more than two dozen foreigners have been snatched in the past two years — have followed a clear pattern.

Militants boast of their success within hours, followed by demands for jobs or freedom for jailed relatives, then brief negotiations and finally the release of those abducted, often the same day. Abductees routinely bear tales of being served tea and robust meals of rice and meat, passing the time watching TV or chatting with their captors.

But this kidnapping has not followed that pattern. Until Wednesday, no group had claimed responsibility for the seizure, and the whereabouts of the Fox News journalists remained a mystery despite emotional appeals from family members.

Palestinian government officials, including Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, have called for the release of Centanni and Wiig. (I seem to remember not to long ago when the Palestinian government was having trouble negotiating with its own Hamas militant (terrorist) branch. They are still holding Gilad Shilat hostage. Now they are trying to negotiate with other terrorists for the release of hostages.)

“It’s not like I haven’t been patient,” said God, who is also known as Lord, Yahweh, Allah, Creator, and the Unnamed One. “I make and give to humans this beautiful gift called Creation. I give them the ability to think and love and imagine. I send them messengers who teach. I provide food for all, sunsets, cute babies, music, even the Internet! But the minute I turn my back, they all start fighting. Holy War this, Crusade that, and Jihad, blah, blah, blah,” He/She said.

Citing the recent war in Lebanon as the final straw, God declared that, until further notice, each of the world’s major religions would be punished. God then sent the religious leaders, with their faiths, to their rooms so they could “sit and think about all the ways they’ve been bad. They can take their sacred books with them to read,” continued God, “but that’s it. No TV, no cellphone, and no iPod.”

God was quick to assure the world that the good works of religion, including peacemaking, disaster relief, healthcare, education, and aiding the poor and downtrodden, would not be affected by the time-out order. “It’s not that everything they do on my behalf is bad,” noted God. “They do a lot of good. But just when you think humanity gets it and has learned how to live with one another, they start bombing each other. They stamp their feet and say, `My faith is better than your faith, my country matters more than your country.’ They act like each owns me and knows my mind. But not anymore. I’m back in town and taking charge!”

Responding to questions, God offered various opinions about life on earth, including reality TV (“No comment: Ask the Devil”), global warming (“I didn’t turn up the thermostat”), and the recent Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees series (“I had to turn it off. It was too painful to watch”).

Asked when religious leaders and their faiths might be allowed down to the dinner table, God responded, “When they learn how to share and get along.” Leaving the press conference through a hole in the clouds, God failed to respond to questions about when He/She might return. The clerics, struck speechless, went to their rooms.

Around the world, wars ceased, poverty plummeted, and millions of people used the time they had scheduled for criticizing others — in God’s name — instead to clean up the earth, get involved in their communities, and wipe out disease.

Kait’s family believes she was killed because she was a potential Whistle Blower. In the months directly preceding her murder, Kait was in a position to have gained information about a number of illegal activities involving dangerous and corrupt individuals. Among those activities were the following:

Asian Crime in New Mexico and California

Drug Smuggling

Drug Activities Involving New Mexico VIPs

On the night she was killed, Kait came by our home to tell us that she was breaking up with her live-in Vietnamese boyfriend, Dung Nguyen. She said she was going to visit a friend and if Dung called trying to find her not to say where she was. When she left her friend’s house at 10:30 p.m., driving in the direction of our house, she was shot to death in her car.

While we were at the hospital waiting for Kait to die, a friend of Kait’s told us that Dung Nguyen and his friends were involved in an interstate insurance fraud ring that Kait had threatened to expose. The following night we called police to our home and gave this information to the case detective. The report of that meeting, (the only one APD ever had with our family), was withheld from Kait’s case file.

With the help of private investigators and insurance claims investigators, we uncovered extensive information about this crime ring. An Quoc Le, the Albuquerque control man for the insurance scam, was Dung’s alibi for the night of the shooting. The capper in Orange County, CA, has been identified as Bao N. Tran, housemate of convicted arsonist, Hong Phuc Duy Van. An Quoc Le would hire people from Albuquerque to fly to California, rent or steal cars, and then stage wrecks, claiming fake injuries. Bao Tran would pay the participants $1,500, while he and the crooked doctors and lawyers would rake in the Big Money. At our insistence, the case detective interviewed Dung, who confessed to personal involvement in two staged wrecks, one of which Kait witnessed. Dung subsequently told Deputy D.A. Susan Riedel that he knew of up to 20 other people in Albuquerque who were also involved. APD did not question these people and did not share the information with law enforcement authorities in California. Several members of this crime ring have since been identified as car thieves, interstate drug dealers and participants in a racket to steal and sell computer chips. APD has never taken statements from any of those subjects.

Examples of other information that APD has refused to follow up on:

An affidavit from a witness stating that Dung phoned her before midnight to tell her Kait was dead. This was three hours before police informed Dung of the shooting.

An affectionate note Dung told police Kait left for him that police consider evidence that Kait wasn’t breaking up with him. A handwriting expert has verified that the note is not in Kait’s handwriting.

Phone calls made by An Quoc Le from Kait’s apartment as soon as Kait died to inform Bao Tran, the insurance fraud capper in California.

Information in Kait’s apartment file that she was terrified of Dung’s friends and shortly before her murder had her locks changed to keep them out, but they broke in anyway, and she fled to the manager’s apartment for fear of physical assault.

The fact that within days after Kait’s murder, five people closely linked to her case suffered mysterious slashings and stabbings, apparent attempts to intimidate witnesses.

A statement from Kait’s neighbor that he saw her followed from her apartment on the night of her death by a VW bug. Witnesses saw a VW bug leave the crime scene immediately after hearing shots. (An Quoc Le owned a VW bug.)

The presence at the crime scene of Paul Apodaca, a man who is linked to An Quoc Le and is also linked to APD through his alleged drug dealer, Lee, who is the brother of an APD undercover narcotics agent. Police allowed Apodaca to leave the scene, and never questioned him as either a suspect or witness, despite the fact that Apodaca had a long court record of violent assaults upon women.

Private investigation has revealed that Dung Nguyen’s criminal group was linked to a small group of rogue cops, several of whom have since been convicted of such felonies as burglary, bank robbery and murder of a witness. Those cops held late night parties at an auto body shop one half block north of the crime scene. That establishment has since been raided by the F.B.I.; Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; APD; and the Department of Public Safety; guns were confiscated, and the owner’s son was arrested for drug dealing. Vietnamese in expensive cars frequented that body shop, which was also reportedly a chop shop for stolen vehicles. When the VW bug fled the crime scene, it went directly to that body shop.

A police cover-up appears to have started at the crime scene when the first officer at the scene, APD Violent Crimes Detective Ronald Merriman, ignoring the bullet holes in Kait’s car and a blood drenched girl sprawled across the front seat with her brains blown out, called in a report of an accident with no injuries. Statements from Merriman and the second officer at the scene are a tangle of contradictions, and both officers allowed Paul Apodaca to leave the scene without getting his identifiers. Most bewildering of all, both officers then left the scene themselves. The medics who transported Kait to the hospital have stated in an affidavit that they almost missed the scene because there was no one there to wave them over. There were no cops or police cars — just Kait all alone in her car on an empty street with two bullets in her head. The ambulance driver said, “It was so quiet it was eerie!”

Six months after the shooting, as the result of a Crime Stoppers tip, police arrested three Hispanic men for Kait’s murder. Those men were apparently set up, as APD’s “eyewitness” was in jail on the night of the shooting. The district attorney dropped all charges against the Hispanics and directed the police to investigate the Vietnamese. Instead, APD terminated their investigation stating that they would never make further arrests.

In 1992, when police dropped off Kait’s unsolved case, her mother, Lois Duncan, wrote a book, WHO KILLED MY DAUGHTER?, to motivate informants. That book elicited a flood of new information that convinced our family that the criminal activities Kait was planning to expose were not confined to the Vietnamese community. We were told by several unrelated sources that Kait was playing a dangerous game of Nancy Drew. Certain members of her boyfriend’s group allegedly leaked information about political VIPS involved in the New Mexico drug scene, and Kait was attempting to confirm their identities.

In 1999, our private investigator attempted to turn over all the new information from our extensive personal investigation to the APD Cold Case Squad, but they refused to review it. They said Kait’s case has been closed as a random drive-by shooting and they will not follow up on any information that indicates otherwise.

Update, July 2004:

The Arquette family has long believed that Kait was killed because she had learned too much about influential people involved in the New Mexico drug trade. It now appears their suspicions might be justified. In May 2004, Chief Judge John Brennan of Albuquerque was arrested on narcotics charges. That opened a can of worms that may affect a number of cases on this web site.

In June 2004, KRQE TV aired information from a confidential narcotics report about drug activities involving, not only Judge Brennan, but numerous other prominent NM judges, attorneys and members of the state legislature dating back to before Kait was murdered. “It draws on a variety of sources and reads like a Who’s Who of the New Mexico drug underworld,” the reporter said. “Judges, lawyers, politicians, sports celebrities and prominent businessmen appear in the report right along side the State’s narcotics kingpins.” David Iglesias, US Attorney for New Mexico, called the detailed document about drug smuggling and money laundering in New Mexico “a page-turner I couldn’t put down.”

Kait also said that she was breaking up with her live-in Vietnamese boyfriend, Dung Ngoc Nguyen, and if he called trying to find her, not to say where she was. When Kait left Sharon’s home at 10:45 p.m., driving east on Lomas Blvd. in the direction of her parents’ house, she was shot twice in the head. Her car jumped the median and came to rest against a pole at the intersection of Lomas and Arno Streets. Kait survived 20 hours in a coma and died the next evening.

The first officer at the scene, violent crimes detective Ronald Merriman, (not in uniform–just passing by) observed two vehicles parked on the sidewalk, Kait’s red Ford Tempo and a second vehicle (later determined to be a VW Bug). He also saw a man (later determined to be Paul Apodaca), standing next to Kait’s car. Merriman drove past the vehicles while he radioed in to ask about an accident (none reported). He called in a report of an accident with no injuries and returned to the scene to investigate.
It was then that he discovered an unconscious, blood drenched girl, lying across both front seats of the Ford.

The first officer dispatched to the scene, Mary Ann Wallace, arrived within 40 seconds. Wallace observed only one vehicle on the sidewalk — Kait’s Ford Tempo, with Merriman standing behind it, chatting with Apodoca. Merriman told her the driver of the Ford had been injured in a traffic accident and he had called for an ambulance. (No record has been found of such a call.) Wallace took one look at the bullet-shattered driver’s window, recognized that this was a crime scene, and radioed the station for back-up. Neither Wallace nor Merriman took any information from Apodaca other than his name and an incorrect phone number. To this day, no police officer has ever interviewed Apodaca. Nor have police questioned the disappearance of his VW Bug between the time Merriman saw it parked next to Kait’s car and the time Wallace arrived. (See “Possible Suspect – Paul Apodaca.”)

Merriman and Wallace have stated that, accompanied by Apodaca, they opened the passenger’s door of Kait’s vehicle and observed a girl sprawled across the two seats, bleeding profusely from the head. Wallace noted that the victim was “moaning and crying.”

Merriman, Wallace, and Apodaca, then, left the scene. The medics with Albuquerque Ambulance, who transported Kait to the hospital, have stated in individual affidavits that they responded to a routine 10-44 call to find no cops, no police cars, no bystanders, just Kait alone in her car, unconscious and bleeding from two head wounds.

Reports by Merriman and Wallace indicate that they were there when rescue arrived. Merriman has specifically stated that he couldn’t interview Paul Apodaca, because he “had to stay with the victim.” Yet, according to the rescue team, he did NOT “stay with the victim.” Officer Wallace has stated that Merriman told her not to interview Apodaca, because he had already done so, and she busied herself “directing traffic.” Yet, according to the rescue team, she was NOT directing traffic. The medical team has stated that they almost missed the scene, because there were no police cars and there was nobody there to wave them over.

Police maintain that Kait was chased down on Lomas and shot twice in the head at a stop light at the corner of Lomas and John streets. Her car then proceeded to travel 719 feet, cross two traffic lanes, bump over the median, cross three more lanes, go up onto the sidewalk past the Arno intersection, and crash into a light pole. They say the location of the shooting was defined by a large pile of broken glass at Lomas and John. However, there is nothing to document the existence of that glass. It was not gathered up as evidence, nor was it photographed.

The Arquette family and their investigators speculate that the crime scene may have been altered before investigators got there. APD criminalistics arrived late, because they had been at a police shooting. According to their report, they were met at the scene by Sgt. John B. Gallegos. Much of the content of the criminalistic report apparently was based upon information from Gallegos rather than personal observations. Sgt. Gallegos was reportedly one of the rogue cops who partied at the chop shop on Arno one half block north of the crime scene. He has since been fired from APD for burglarizing a liquor store while on duty.

Since bullets and casings were never found, there is no way to determine if the small caliber bullets that shattered in Kait’s head were of the same caliber as the bullet that struck the door frame of her car. The size of the hole in the door frame seems to suggest otherwise.

In 2003, after reviewing copies of APD reports, forensic reports, scene photos, etc. a member of the Bernallilo County Cold Case Squad, (not to be confused with the APD Cold Case Squad who have no interest in the case), came up with the following interpretation of the crime scene:

On the basis of review of available material in the matter of the death of Kaitlyn Arquette, the following observations are made:

1) This was not a random drive-by shooting

2) The shooting occurred after Kaitlyn’s vehicle had struck the utility pole

3) The accuracy of the shots suggests they were fired at a very close range, at a non-moving target.

4) Had the shooting taken place while victim’s car was in motion, it would have veered to the right of the roadway due to the left-to-right camber of the pavement. Also, the victim’s falling to the right would have turned the steering wheel in that direction if she was grasping the steering wheel at the time of shooting.

5) Damage to the left end of the rear bumper suggests the rear of her vehicle was struck and pushed to the right by a second vehicle which veered her car across the median and into the utility pole.

July 21, 1989 (the day of Kait’s funeral) Sharon Smith, the last person to see Kait before the shooting, missed the funeral because she was in the emergency room with a severely wounded arm. (Allegedly bitten by her own dog, although the scar suggests otherwise, and Sharon will not sign a permit to allow the release of the emergency room report.)
July 21, 1989 (the evening of the day of Kait’s funeral), Dung Nguyen was stabbed in the abdomen in the room of one of the men who were his alibis for the night of the shooting. (Alleged suicide attempt, although circumstances indicate otherwise.)

August 2, 1989 (two weeks after Kait’s murder), Ray Padilla, Dung’s close friend and drug supplier, had his wrist slashed. (Alleged suicide attempt).

August 2, 1989 Ray Padilla’s friends, Elena Chavez and Kathy Sanchez, who were with him when his wrist was slashed, had their own arms and wrists slashed. (Allegedly suicide attempts to keep Ray Padilla company.)

February 11, 1990 (3 wks. after his arrest with Miguel Garcia and Juve Escobedo), Dennis “Marty” Martinez was found lying in the doorway of his home with his wrist slashed. (Alleged suicide attempt.) He survived.

February 4, 1992 (shortly after charges were dropped and he was released from prison), Miguel Garcia was shot in the lower portion of the right abdomen. The bullet came out his back. It was so close to the spine that doctors thought he was going to be paralyzed. He survived. (Alleged suicide attempt.)

“I just want my children to live in peace, not to spend every day hiding below the ground.

“If Hizbollah isn’t destroyed now, then that is what is going to happen to us, day in and day out, for the next generation?”

Ari, from Russia, plays table tennis with his friends in a shelter deep below the ground in Borochov Street as the all-too familiar sound of rockets thud overhead. The teenager and his friends live in the shelter now. He says: “I know when the rockets are coming close. You can smell them.

“There is a football pitch close by which I would love to play on, but when we started a game once, we played for five minutes before the siren went off. We don’t bother now.

“At least down here you are safe – and I am getting very good at table tennis.”

Ari has no friends in the rest of Israel so there is nowhere else for him to go. The town council organises daily coach trips out of the city to the seaside, to Tel Aviv, an hour’s drive away for about 200 people. “It just gives some sort of respite from living every day in the shelters,” says the deputy mayor.

“But although we get complaints from people about the living conditions, they all want this war to go on until it is finished. It is the price we must pay for a lasting peace.”

They want lasting peace, and I hope for the children’s sake they can find it after the Security Council agreed unanimously on Friday on a measure calling for a full cessation of hostilities in Lebanon, deploying 30,000 Lebanese and United Nations forces in southern Lebanon and calling upon Israel to withdraw its forces “in parallel.”

The measure also calls for the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, a reference to Hezbollah, but it does not specify how this should be done. The language of the resolution calls for an immediate cessation of “all attacks” by Hezbollah but only of “all offensive military operations” by Israel.

The resolution does not define “offensive military action,” but both American and Israeli officials said that Israel would be able to address threats to citizens in Israel and its armed forces in Lebanon, and that it could respond to attacks from Hezbollah. If faced with an imminent threat, a senior American official said, “then yes, Israel can respond.” Nonetheless, she added, “We expect a large-scale reduction in violence, and we’d expect the large-scale bombing to stop.”

More columns of Israeli ground forces, supported by armor, started moving into southern Lebanon Friday evening, while forces already inside, in a strip about five miles from the border, prepared to move forward to the Litani River and beyond.

Most of Hezbollah’s thousands of rockets are short-range Katyushas. Pushing Hezbollah beyond the Litani would take most of Israel’s cities out of range, and would make it easier for an international force to take up positions in the south, Israeli officials argued.

{http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/12/world/middleeast/12nations.html?th&emc=th}

Due to its presence in mainstream Lebanese politics and the vast array of social services it provides in southern Lebanon, some European governments have resisted considering Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, to the consternation of the Bush administration. Putting Hezbollah on official terrorist group lists would prevent them from raising money through charities in those countries. The Netherlands, Italy and Poland, however, have agreed to consider Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

Using cover names such as ‘Islamic Jihad’, ‘The Revolutionary Justice Organization’ and ‘The Islamic Resistance’, with the blessings of its religious leaders, Hizballah has carried out a series of high profile attacks against Israeli targets in southern Lebanon and American and Multinational Forces targets in Lebanon. Only later did their attacks become more intensive as well as demonstrating better planning, especially immediately prior to the opening of the peace process.

In 1991, the Hizballah was responsible for 52 attacks, as compared to 19 attacks the organization carried out in 1990. In 1992, the Hizballah launched 63 attacks and in 1993, 158 attacks, when during the course of ‘Operation Accountability’ they fired hundreds of Katyusha rockets into the Security Zone and Israeli territory. In 1994 a total of 187 attacks against Israeli troops and positions by Hizballah were recorded. There were 119 instances of artillery fire, 31 detonations of explosive charges and 2 frontal assaults on IDF positions. In 1995 a total of 344 attacks against Israeli troops and positions by were recorded. There were 270 instances of artillery fire, 64 detonations of explosive charges and 2 frontal assaults on IDF positions.

Syria serves as a conduit for the massive amounts of weapons the Iranians give Hezbollah. Iranian arms-bearing planes land in Damascus and from there the weapons are transferred to Hezbollah in Lebanon . The arsenal of Iranian missiles stockpiled by Hezbollah in Lebanon could not exist without Syrian support. Therefore, Iran and Syria can be expected to replenish the arsenal when the current confrontation ends.

In this situation, Syria plays a pivotal role. Syria—rather than Iran—has been the most important source of support for Hizballah’s terrorist and guerrilla activity against Israel from the north. Without Syria’s help—in the form of an overall strategic umbrella; specific military and political coordination; and pressure on Beirut to give the organization free rein in southern Lebanon—Hizballah could not have achieved its current status. Indeed, Syrian aid in heavy weaponry, in addition to that provided by Iran, has effectively transformed Hizballah into a strategic partner and operational arm of the Syrian army.

In retrospective, Israel’s unilateral withdrawals from South Lebanon and Gaza proved to be major strategic errors, because they were not implemented by agreements with moderate and strong partners which could ensure the stability of the peace process, and were seen by the members of the destabilization axis as Israeli military, political and psychological defeats. Moreover, Israel was deterred for years by Hizballah and did not challenge its continuous attacks on Israeli territory and sovereignty and more so did not challenge the significant intervention by this organization and Syria in the Palestinian terrorist activity. The present Israeli leaders, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defence Minister Amir Peretz are probably perceived as “lame ducks” compared with the previous Israeli premiers with rich military backgrounds.

Three strategic goals should guide the international community in resolving the present crisis:

1. Stop the Iranian nuclear project at all costs;

2. Neutralize the very negative role of Syria in the region and put maximum pressure on its regime; this should be the focal point at this stage due to Syria’s central position in the destabilization of the Palestinian and Lebanese arenas;

3. Work to prevent a victory of Hizballah and Hamas in their respective arenas, as such a victory would signal the weakness of the moderate forces in the region and would give a boost to the radical Islamist movements globally.

One leaflet, which a Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. reporter showed on the air, said that “terrorist elements … are using you as human shields by launching rockets toward the state of Israel from your homes.”

The translated leaflet continued, “All cars and of any type will be shelled if seen moving south of the Litani River because it will be considered a suspect of transferring rockets, military ammunitions and those causing destruction.

“You need to know that anyone moving in any type of car will put their life in danger.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross has been exempted from the Israeli targeting, said Roland Hueguenin-Benjamin, a spokesman for the group. He said the Red Cross has negotiated “freedom of movement” for its convoys, which have been providing aid to people in the region.

The area has been a launching point for Hezbollah’s Katyusha rockets, about 40 of which had landed by midday Tuesday in Israel, an Israeli police spokesman said.

As combat between Israel and Hezbollah continued unabated Tuesday, diplomats heightened their efforts to end the 28 days of fighting.

At a press conference after a meeting with President Moshe Katsav, Olmert said that since the beginning of the military operation Israel has said its goals were the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for the deployment of the Lebanese army on the border with Israel, and the dismantling of Hizbullah.

The “force” – UNIFIL – is still on the scene, turning its usual blind eye to the flow of arms that has kept Hezbollah in business.

In September of 2004, Resolution 1559 demanded “the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias.”

Well that seemed like a good idea at the time.

Day after day TV journalists have captured on film the arsenals of Hezbollah rockets stashed in bunkers and in backyard gardens in areas abandoned by the terrorists as some flee north. The arsenals were built, sustained and deployed even as a hapless Lebanese military and their U.N. enablers stood idly by.

Will the next “international force” go in and clean out the nests of these terrorists? If they can not or will not, then this resolution – like those that preceded it – will be an exercise in futility.

While Israel waited for a United Nations Security Council resolution on a cease-fire, not now expected to come up for a vote until at least Thursday, the next stage will be a second resolution – one that calls for the deployment of a multinational force to replace the IDF in southern Lebanon and to prevent Hizbullah from reestablishing itself there.

Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz, have spoken with enthusiasm about a multinational force, but the high-ranking officer said Monday that Hizbullah had not been damaged enough and still retained enough “diplomatic power” to thwart the deployment of such a force.

“Hizbullah has not been sufficiently weakened,” the officer said. “And there may be no choice but to expand the ground operation in the direction of the Litani River to achieve that goal.”

According to intelligence information, the Hizbullah command-and-control array is still functioning even after nearly four weeks of fighting. So are the logistical command centers – still operating and succeeding in directing the smuggling of weapons into Lebanon from Syria.

The officer said that Hizbullah still had the ability to fire short-range rockets, of which the guerrilla group has already fired 2,500 since the beginning of the war.

But Israel could prevail in this conflict. Israel could silence the Katyusha launchers. What it would need do is resort to one of those two options – a much greater use of air power or a larger ground offensive.
Either of those avenues, however, would necessarily involve death on a far larger scale than we have seen thus far. Pulverizing air power would likely create Lebanese civilian casualties of a number that would dwarf the toll to date. Wider use of ground forces, on Hizbullah’s home territory, would likely dwarf the IDF toll hitherto sustained in the close-quarters fighting.

With every day’s evidence of underwhelming military success, the chorus swells in Israel that this is a no-brainer. The army is being humiliated, the argument runs; Israel’s critical deterrent capability is being shattered. Israel simply must ratchet up its military response to the daily rain of incoming rockets. And while some experts favor the ground-forces option, for others the choice is no choice at all: Dead Lebanese or dead Israelis? Why the hesitation?

And yet Israel hesitates. It certainly does not want to put more of its ground forces into harm’s way. But it also does not want to inflict civilian casualties on a more drastic scale in Lebanon.

This is partly because of a sense of short-term gain and long-term loss. A much more forceful use of air power might indeed shatter Hizbullah’s Katyusha capability and bring a respite to the North. But it also might leave Israel friendless internationally, and thus utterly vulnerable.

The so-called “catch and release” policies have allowed more than 45,000 illegal aliens from countries that are well known for their anti-American views or considered “hotbeds of Islamic fundamentalism” to be freed.

A number of rockets later landed on the Israeli port of Haifa, killing three people and injuring dozens. Reports said at least one building collapsed.

Meanwhile, the UN is debating a draft resolution on the crisis, demanding Hezbollah halt all attacks and Israel stop all offensive military operations. (Words, words, words!)

However, Lebanon has formally asked the UN Security Council to revise its proposed resolution and diplomats in New York say a vote might not now come until Tuesday. (Another delay…and more words.”

Eyewitnesses said the Hezbollah rocket barrage on northern Israel had lasted more than 15 minutes.

Shortly after dark, several rockets landed in residential areas of Haifa, Israel’s third largest city, killing at least three and injuring dozens.

One rocket hit an apartment block which partly collapsed, trapping residents inside. Rescue teams were shifting rubble by hand to free them.

2. Calls upon all remaining foreign forces to withdraw from Lebanon; (I believe that would mean Syrian forces and the forces they back…Hezbollah.)

3. Calls for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias; (This is the one they are talking about…more words…Why in the past couple of years has Hezbollah been able to further entrench itself and increase its arms cache with provisions from Iran?)

4. Supports the extension of the control of the Government of Lebanon over all Lebanese territory; (I believe that includes southern Lebanon where Hezbollah has entrenched itself.)

5. Declares its support for a free and fair electoral process in Lebanon’s upcoming presidential election conducted according to Lebanese constitutional rules devised without foreign interference or influence;

6. Calls upon all parties concerned to cooperate fully and urgently with the Security Council for the full implementation of this and all relevant resolutions concerning the restoration of the territorial integrity, full sovereignty, and political independence of Lebanon; (Hezbollah has not cooperated and abided by the resolution.)

Their complaints came on one of the heaviest days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas. The United Nations says 800,000 people have been displaced by Israeli ground, air and artillery attacks.

The U.N. World Food Program, which began moving supplies into Lebanon from Syria on Saturday, said it has delivered aid to 80,000 people — roughly 10% of those it has deemed in need.

Israeli officials have not agreed to safe delivery corridors, insisting instead that each convoy get permission to travel and limit its stay, program spokesman Robin Lodge said.

The group’s warning follows a Supreme Court decision made earlier this week, ordering police to allow whoever wants to visit the Temple Mount during regular visiting hours on the Ninth of Av.

Two MKs from the Islamic Movement, Sheikh Ibrahim Sarsur (Ra’am-Ta’al) and Sheikh Abbas Zkoor (Ra’am-Ta’al) sent an urgent letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, requesting that the government prevent members of the Temple Mount Faithful from reaching the area outside the Al Aqsa Mosque.

“Extremist Jewish groups may damage the Al Aqsa Mosque. If this were to happen, heaven forbid, it would inflame the region,” the MKs wrote.

The Islamic Movement’s Northern Branch also warned of what could take place Thursday in the vicinity of the Temple Mount. The head of the movement, Sheikh Raed Selah, said in a radio interview that the Supreme Court does not have the authority to rule on the matter.

Shamir’s previous films include the critically acclaimed documentary “Checkpoint,” which showed the daily travails facing Palestinians at crossings in occupied territory interspersed with interviews with Israeli military personnel.

On Friday, Jewish life in Baltimore appeared to be business as usual, but nevertheless something was different. Park Heights Blvd., which extends from the center of the city northward, is the address of many Jewish institutions. The community is vibrant and represents the full range of Jewish expression. Arthur Abramson of the Baltimore Jewish Council was appointed official community spokesperson on the incident. He explained that the community was aware of the constant need to protect its institutions and that, in times of crisis in the Middle East, this need increases.

Gil Kleiner, executive director of the Conservative synagogue Beth El Congregation of Baltimore told Haaretz before the Sabbath that Shabbat prayers would take place in a state of “heightened alert,” but he repeatedly stressed that the Molotov cocktail was a lone incident and not part of a trend. Many signs point to the amateur nature of the attack, perhaps on the part of neighborhood teens who have had run-ins with the community in the past.

All of which leaves the so-called war on terror exactly where? Muddled beyond measure. For the war on Hezbollah is, if it is anything, a crucial front of the “terror” war. If the Israelis lose — and by lose I mean if the Israelis allow the crooked court of world opinion to bar them from crushing Hezbollah and its ability to make war — we all lose. That is, “we” who wish to triumph over “terror” all lose. And here we go again, bumping up against the clumsy imprecision of politically correct language that fails to define the enemy as adherents of the doctrine of Islamic jihad. Such as Hezbollah, for instance. In addition to destroying Israel, the vicious Iranian proxy also aims at imposing an Iranian-style Shariah state in Lebanon. As just one more contemporary manifestation of jihad doctrine, Hezbollah, which has killed more Americans than any jihad group except al Qaeda, should easily make the blacklist of enemies in a post-September 11 world.

[Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Commander] There is a need to topple the phony Zionist regime, this cancerous growth [called] Israel, which was founded in order to plunder the Muslims’ resources and wealth

[Iranian President Ahmadinejad at an “emergency” meeting of the 57 Muslim member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Malaysia] …the main solution is for the elimination of the Zionist regime

These pronouncements from Iran’s Shi’ite regime and President Ahmadinejad, complemented by an independent statement from the immensely popular Sunni cleric, and “spiritual” leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Yusuf Qaradawi, make clear that this jihad transcends the sectarian Shi’ite-Sunni divide within Islam. “The Lebanese resistance is a Jihad (holy war). It is being waged by Shiites, who are also part of the Islamic Ummah [global community]” Qaradawi maintained. He further stated, “Shiites agree with almost all the fundamental principles of Islam, and the differences [between Sunni-Shi’ite] are only in supplementary matters.”

Moreover, Yemen’s President Ali Abdallah Saleh speaking on Al-Jazeera TV Tuesday, August 1, 2006 expressed the hope,

…that all the countries bordering with Israel, not just Syria, would enter the war…We will not enter the war officially, but we will open the borders to the fighters. We will allow the transfer of money and equipment, to support the Lebanese resistance and the Palestinian resistance in Gaza.

In accord with the principles of jihad, President Saleh further stated,

Mugniyah has been implicated in many of terrorist attacks in the 1980s and 1990s, primarily American and Israeli targets. These include the April 18, 1983 bombing of the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, which killed 63 people including 17 Americans. He was later blamed for the October 23, 1983 simultaneous truck bombings against the French paratroopers and US Marine barracks (see: Marine Barracks Bombing). The attacks killed 58 French soldiers and 241 Marines. Almost a year later on September 20, 1984, he attacked the US embassy annex building. The United States indicted him for the July 14, 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847, which resulted in the death of U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem. He was also linked to numerous kidnappings of Westerners in Beirut through the 1980s, most notably that of Terry Anderson. Some of these individuals were later killed such as U.S. Army Col William Francis Buckley. The remainder were released at various times until the last one, Terry Anderson was released in 1991.

Mugniyah has been accused of being an ally of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda. According to the testimony of Ali Mohamed, he arranged security for a meeting between Mugniyah and al-Qaeda operatives in 1993. This connection has lead some to believe he was also behind the 1996 attack on the Khobar Towers complex, which resulted in the deaths of 19 American service members, 1998 attacks on the U.S. embassies in East Africa and the USS Cole bombing in 2000.

Many foreign policy experts including Michael Ledeen have speculated that Mughniyah has had a strong working relationship with Al Qaeda and Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, especially in recent years with the invasion of Iraq. However, other experts speculate that Zarqawi’s intense hatred towards Shia Islam, which Mughniyah belongs to, would have prevented such an alliance.

He has also been linked to Palestinian actions, such as the Karine A incident in 2002, where the Palestinian Authority was accused of importing fifty tons of weapons. He was previously a member of Force 17, an armed branch of the Fatah movement charged with providing security for Yasser Arafat and other prominent PLO officials.

On October 10, 2001 Mugniyah appeared on the initial list of the FBI’s top 22 Most Wanted Terrorists, which was released to the public by President Bush. A reward of $25 million dollars was offered for information leading to his arrest.

The Israeli government has also made several alleged attempts to assassinate Mugniyah. His brother Fuad Mugniyah was killed in 1994 by a Lebanese allegedly working for Israel.

In 1999, the Argentinean government issued an arrest warrant for Mugniyah for his involvement in the 1994 AIMA culture center bombing.

Mugniyah has been formally charged by Argentina with participating in the March 17, 1992 bombings of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, which killed 29 and the AMIA cultural building in July 1994, killing 86 people. He has been accused of orchestrating the 2000 abductions of three Israeli soldiers in the southern part of Lebanon and abduction of Israeli Colonel Elchanan Tenenbaum, and the more recent attack on israel, killing 8 soldiers and abducting two.