Justice Department Indicts Indian Intelligence Officer in Assassination Plot

Today, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed and announced a superseding indictment against Vikash Yadav, an employee of the government of India, in connection with United States v. Gupta, a case from last year involving an Indian national attempting to hire a hitman to kill a prominent Sikh separatist residing in New York City. While the top line of the announcement article doesn't say it, the indictment alleges that Yadav is a senior field officer with responsibilities in security and intelligence, employed by the Cabinet Secretariat, which houses India's foreign intelligence services. The indictment alleges that Yadav hired Nikhil Gupta, an international drug and weapons smuggler, to contract a hitman to assassinate the alleged victim in New York, directing the plot from India. While India extradited Gupta when he was the sole defendant, it seems highly unlikely that they will do similarly for his handler. The Modi government should take a moment to seriously consider two things: First, if this is how they treat the Sikhs, it's no wonder there's a secession movement in the Punjab. Second, whether or not they want to antagonize the United States in this way with China pressing on their Himalayan border. Canada last week expelled multiple diplomats of the Indian embassy delegation alleging they were involved in similar plots against Sikhs on Canadian soil, and allege that the plots were directed from as high up as Prime Minister Modi's cabinet, knowledge that likely could have come only from American intelligence. Attempting to (or actually, in at least one Canadian case) murder its expatriates willy nilly on foreign soil can only serve to isolate India at a time when it looks increasingly likely to need friends.

Conservatives and President Obama

Long time no post, but I've been musing on something lately. Writing helps me order my thoughts, and as long as I'm writing on this topic, it might as well go on the ol' blog. This is much in the same vein as my post on conservative opposition to John McCain four years ago.

I've noticed something about the Obama administration since 2009. Republicans in general tend to hate the man (see my point on party loyalty being the ultimate factor in the post on McCain), of course, but at least the neoconservative wing of the party, marginalized as it is presently, really shouldn't.

Why? They (we, I would have said a few years ago, though I've changed ever so slightly since) are basically getting what they want out of him. Osama bin Laden is dead at the hands of the American military, the Iraq war is being honorably ended according to the schedule President Bush agreed to with the Iraqis without a precipitous withdrawal, the Afghanistan campaign has been robustly supported (more so than it was under Bush, I might add) with substantial measurable progress, the United States is standing up to Iranian threats regarding the Strait of Hormuz and its nuclear program, democracy is indeed sweeping across the Middle East, and American and NATO assistance has helped to overthrow one of the most noxious dictators of Northern Africa in the person of Muammar Gaddafi without having to put a single boot on the ground. In short, the neoconservative position, that American power should be used in furtherance of liberty throughout the world, is being more or less obliged by this President, and good on him for that. (As I said, slightly.) Since neoconservative philosophy properly referred to is a foreign policy philosophy, without regard to domestic issues, this should be making that part of the Republican establishment essentially headed by Dick Cheney and the (now largely defunct) Project for the New American Century extremely happy; I daresay that Obama has been more effective at implementing their policies than Bush, who it must be said did a deeply flawed if enthusiastic job of it.

It won't, though, because Obama is a Democrat. Party loyalty, you see. This is why I've been a lifelong independent; I don't have to feel obligated to anybody's tribe over the issues. But that's another rant.

The Sri Lankan civil war is at its end.

BBC, Prabhakaran's obituary

The Sri Lankan civil war, which has raged for as long as I have been alive, is finally at its end. Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the Tamil Tigers and longtime de facto dictator of the territory the rebels and terrorists controlled, has been killed by the Sri Lankan Army; may he rest in pieces.

Since I've never before discussed Sri Lanka in this space, a brief outline of the conflict is in order. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, more commonly called the Tamil Tigers, are (or now, hopefully, were) a radical guerrilla army, hellbent on carving out 40% of Sri Lanka's land area as a homeland for the Tamil minority population of the island, which comprises less than 10% of its people. The Tigers invented suicide bombing as it is known today, as cited by the New York Times, and used it extensively in their terroristic campaign against the Sri Lankan government and people. They also, at the height of their power, managed to become a conventional threat, with artillery, a naval flotilla, and even a small air wing, which they used to conduct aerial bombings until just a few months ago, when the last of their planes were shot down.

The Tamil Tigers negotiated many ceasefires and truces with the Sri Lankans during the course of the war when strategically convenient for them, using each one to rearm and then breaking it when they were prepared to resume their offensive. The current Sri Lankan government, to its very great credit, decided enough was enough, and pressed on to destroy the Tigers once and for all despite international calls for another ceasefire. The LTTE stayed true to form even in their last days, resorting to using their remaining artillery to shell civilians behind their own lines so that they could attempt to blame the Sri Lankan government and step up international pressure for a truce.

The world is better off without this scourge. May the rebuilding move swiftly and without recrimination towards those ethnic Tamils who did not take up arms.

Since I've apparently accidentally encouraged a "Truther..."

Well. In my last post, I embedded a video of a debate between the makers of the film Loose Change and the editors of Popular Mechanics magazine. Unfortunately, I failed to realize that some people are too dense to recognize a good intellectual thrashing when they see one, and instead side with the guy who shouts the most (when in actuality, being reduced to shouting in a debate usually means you've lost), so I've decided to correct that oversight.

So I am posting to promote the "9/11 Debunked" video series by R.K. Owens. These lay out, in simple format, precisely why the various 9/11 conspiracy theories do not stand up to the facts. I heartily recommend watching at least some of them to anyone interested in the issue, whether you believe the conspiracy theories or not.

The videos may be found here. Highlights include this video on why the fires in the World Trade Center didn't have to melt steel to collapse the buildings, this one handily shows that the towers did not fall at free-fall speed as frequently claimed by conspiracy theorists, and this one showing that the damage to the Pentagon is entirely consistent with a 757 hitting the building.

Be warned: Many of the videos, including the first two I linked, show the World Trade Center's collapse multiple times from multiple angles. If this is an emotional subject for you, as it is for me, you may wish to not take it in all at once.

My, but the Iranians love Photoshop.

First, Iranian stringers Hezbollah had a hand in the Reuters fake photo scandal.

Then, Iranian state-run news agency PressTV presented a photoshopped protest sign as the genuine article.

And now, Iran is photoshopping images of their missile tests of the past few days.

I think this is hilarious. It's grim that the Iranians are threatening Israel and American interests with missile tests, of course, but that they feel the need to alter images of their tests for whatever reason is just funny. Do they think that Photoshopping a double of the missile will make a missile defense system miss or something? Because I can't find a practical purpose for altering the pictures in such a way, especially for such a bad job of it. (The editor could have at least sourced the duplicate smoke cloud from a different frame so it didn't look exactly the same.)

And that's about all there is to say. The more aggressively Iran behaves, the more likely they make it that Israel or the Unites States might attack. I suppose they're having difficulty figuring that out.

Hezbollah tries to take over Beirut

BBC, Reuters

The terrorist group Hezbollah has launched an all-out assault on the government of Lebanon, seizing the western half of Beirut, attacking pro-government and anti-Syrian media outlets, and firing rocket-propelled grenades at ministers' homes and government offices.

Hezbollah also happens to lead the minority opposition in the government. That they respond to political problems within a government they are a part of with violence against that government is incredible, or would be if they didn't have a history of it. They have thrown aside all pretense of caring for the Lebanese people, as though they hadn't already during their recent conflict with Israel.

The Bush administration has stated support for the Lebanese government, but the support Lebanon needs right now is the absolute crushing of Hezbollah as a fighting force. They have thoroughly demonstrated that no other measure will keep them from using terrorism as their first resort in political disputes.

National Guardsmen overrun by gunmen on Mexican border

I wondered when this would happen back in March, when the National Guard was first ordered to the border. Seems my question has been answered.

Breaking from local Arizona News 12

A patrol of four National Guardsmen was overrun by armed men at the border somewhere between Nogales (AZ or Mexico; they're right across from each other) and Lukeville, AZ, a 120 mile stretch of desert in the western part of the state's border with Mexico on the night of January 3rd. No one was hurt and the gunmen retreated back to Mexico when Border Patrol reinforcements were called. It's unclear whether shots were fired. The Guard is currently deployed along the border on orders from the Arizona governor, and is in an observation and support role, supplementing the Border Patrol rather than directly acting against border incursions.

I will post updates later today as information warrants. I haven't slept all night and am too tired to go hunting for additional sources at the moment.

Update: MSNBC now has a more detailed article up.

Arizona National Guard ordered to Mexican border

Associated Press

'Bout damn time. The border is about as effective as a seive. I just wish a border state governor had grown some balls sooner. Border security is essential.

Of course, I've been told Phoenix can't function without illegal immigrant labor. My solution to that: Expand legal immigration while locking down the illegal crossings; make it easy to come get a job but hard to bring in drugs or other criminal enterprises.

I'm just waiting for the inevitable shootout between Guard infantry and drug smuggling Mexican army units.