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-- Thread about a possible War on Iran
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| Originally posted by atbell Man that guy in the tie is terrifying. He's got the light of faith in his eyes if I've ever seen it. That hard core armour that makes all his decisions right. Sometimes I wonder if people like him ever scruitinize thier own stance, even a little bit. |
Re: Re: Iran War = Inevitable
| quote: |
| Originally posted by DevilDogUSMC 6)Iran is a power-hungry terrorist death machine |
Re: Re: Re: Iran War = Inevitable
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| Originally posted by TheDemon Uh...I would watch that last part their buddy. I am Iranian but that doesn't mean I want death on everybody. Why are you being so Stereotypical? Fucking people get your facts straight. |
Iran to fire 11000 rockets to enemy bases if attacked
| quote: |
source:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21389599/ Iran to fire '11,000 rockets in minute' if attacked Chaharbaghi did not specifically identify the bases or the enemy and did not refer to arch foes Israel or the United States by name. But the U.S. has 40,000 troops on various U.S. bases in other Persian Gulf countries and 20,000 in Mideast waters. Another 160,000 U.S. troops are in neighboring Iraq and about 25,000 are in another one of Iran's neighbors, Afghanistan. Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency also quoted Chaharbaghi as saying that Iran's radar-avoiding rockets cover the entire Persian Gulf and the entire Iran-Iraq border. Both on state-run TV and in Fars, he only used the word rocket, not missile. A rocket is normally an unguided weapon whereas missiles usually have guidance systems. Chaharbaghi was quoted by Fars as saying that rockets with a range of 250 kilometers 155 miles will be delivered to the Guards ground force soon. He didn't elaborate. |
Rockets have been raining down on Israel for years and the casualties were slight to say the least. Rockets suck.
Well hopefuly Israel will be smart enough not to attempt to bomb Iran since there 11000 rockets are waiting for them if thats the case.
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| Originally posted by Trancer-X That's Bill Kristol, cofounder of the Project for a New American Century |
I'll be very happy if Iran stands up for itself.
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| Originally posted by The Arbiter Rockets have been raining down on Israel for years and the casualties were slight to say the least. Rockets suck. |
Someone should tell the George this doesn't work on Iran...
Russia and China should continue to oppose these sanctions. What we need to do is take all preconditions for negociations off the table. That'll get things moving. We also need a different president; so do the Iranians.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071025...gDZbDaa9IKyFz4D
New sanctions levied against Iran
By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer 54 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The United States announced harsh new penalties on the Iranian military and state-owned banking systems Thursday, raising pressure on the world financial system to cut ties with a regime the West accuses of bankrolling terrorism and seeking a nuclear bomb.
The U.S. sanctions on elements of Iran's vast armed forces and its largest bank are the most sweeping since 1979, when the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran ruptured diplomatic, business and military ties.
The sanctions are the first of their type imposed by the United States specifically against the armed forces of another government. They are part of the Bush administration's two-track approach to its chief adversary in the Mideast that offsets diplomatic overtures with sanctions, bellicose rhetoric and the implicit threat of military action.
U.S. officials insisted Thursday that the new moves do not hasten war and that the United States remains committed to finding a way to talk Iran out of a nuclear program the U.S. claims is hostile.
The punitive moves directly target Iranian organizations and people the U.S. accuses of supporting terrorism or spreading weapons of mass destruction, but the main effect is likely to fall elsewhere � on European and other overseas banks and firms that do business with oil-rich Iran.
"As awareness of Iran's deceptive behavior has grown, many banks around the world have decided as a matter of prudence and integrity that Iran's business is simply not worth the risk," Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said.
There has been grumbling, mainly in Europe, about earlier U.S. financial sanctions on Iran that overseas bankers found heavy-handed, but Paulson is right that some of Iran's former financial partners have already distanced themselves from Tehran under hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Paulson and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced the penalties together, a recognition that a year-old effort to levy unilateral Treasury sanctions has had far greater effect than the diplomatic channels Rice has pursued with Iran.
"Unfortunately the Iranian government continues to spurn our offer of open negotiations, instead threatening peace and security," through its nuclear program, export of ballistic missiles, Rice said, along with what she charged is backing for militants in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.
The latest sanctions will cut off more than 20 Iranian entities, including individuals and companies owned or controlled by the powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps, from the American financial system.
State-owned Bank Melli, Bank Mellat and Bank Saderat were named supporters of global terrorist groups for their activities in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East.
Any assets found in the United States belonging to the designated groups must be frozen. Americans are also forbidden from doing business with those designated organizations.
Bank Melli is Iran's largest. The United States says it provides services to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Bank Mellat serves the state Atomic Energy Organization and Bank Saderat routs money to terrorist or militant groups, the administration said.
The administration did not lay out any new evidence for the allegations.
The penalties, some of which have been long expected, were announced an hour before Rice faced scathing questions from congressional Democrats on Iraq, and in the midst of embarrassing revelations about lapses in the State Department's management of private security guards in Iraq.
The designations put companies outside the United States on notice that doing business with the designated groups could put them at risk of U.S. financial penalty.
The United States has the world's largest economy and the most influential banking system, and much of the world's business is done in dollars.
Paulson said it is nearly impossible for overseas businesses or banks to "know one's customer" in Iran and avoid unwittingly funding terrorism or other illicit activities.
Iran's Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics were designated proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile technology.
The Revolutionary Guards is the largest component of Iran's military and has influence in business and other spheres. The defense ministry entity is the parent organization for Iran's aerospace and ballistic missile operations.
The Quds Force, which was named a supporter of designated terrorist organizations, is a part of the Guard Corps that Washington accuses of providing weapons, including powerful explosives blamed for the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
In Iran, the Guards' chief shrugged off the U.S. pressure.
"They have applied all their efforts to reduce the efficiency of this revolutionary body," General Mohammad Ali Jafari said, according to the state news agency IRNA. "Now as always, the corps is ready to defend the ideals of the revolution more than ever before."
The United States has long labeled Iran a state supporter of terrorism and has been working for years to gain support for tougher global sanctions aimed at keeping the country from developing nuclear weapons.
The Bush administration has won two rounds of watered-down U.N. Security Council sanctions but has been frustrated by months of delay in seeking a third, tougher set of penalties.
Iran has ignored the U.N. sanctions and an offer from European nations that do extensive business with Iran would give the oil-rich country economic and other incentives in exchange for dropping nuclear activities that could produce a bomb.
Iran is continuing work on its nuclear program, which it says is peaceful.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin warned Thursday against new international sanctions on Iran, saying they would lead to a dead end.
"Why worsen the situation by threatening sanctions and bring it to a dead end?" Putin said, referring to the U.S. push for the third set of penalties. "It's not the best way to resolve the situation by running around like a madman with a razor blade in his hand."
Russia and China, which hold veto power at the U.N. Security Council, are allies or business partners of Iran and are the chief holdup for the new sanctions sought by the United States.
wow these fuckin assholes dont realise that these fuckin sanctions wont hurt the government at all.The ones they will suffer from this are the people.All these sanctions will backfire at them without a doubt.The people will start taking sides with the regime.I highly doubt the U.S wants this to happen but thats exactly what the sanctions will do.
The Bush admin's philosophy of regime change for non-conforming oil producing nations will fly back right their faces... The Iranian people will never choose an Iraq-style regime change over their own government. Additionally, it is not just Iran we have to worry about, but Iran's major trading partners who both are on the UN Security Council providing a power balance to the West. That is China and Russia.
I believe the solution is...
1. Withdraw from Iraq
2. Take all preconditions for negotiation off the table
3. Exhaustive diplomacy with Iran and Syria
Instead the administration is ratcheting up tensions. Remember just before World War II, the USA slapped sanctions on Japan preventing trade in oil and other essential goods for Japan. This much more likely pushed Japan towards war than towards peace. Sanctions are best used in situations that are appropriate such as violation of sovereignty or genocides. But these sanctions on Iran are premeditated, without Iran ever violating another country's sovereignty, nor are they committing a genocide. There is no reason for these sanctions...
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071025...IGjcScTAZSROrgF
Iranians complaining about economic woes
By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer Thu Oct 25, 4:39 PM ET
TEHRAN, Iran - Despite the government's insistence that U.S. and U.N. sanctions aren't causing any pain, some leading Iranians have begun to say publicly that the pressure does hurt. And on Tehran's streets, people are increasingly worried over the economic pinch.
The sanctions have heightened resentment of the United States among some in the public. But they are also fueling criticism among Iranian politicians that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is mismanaging the crisis with hard-line stances that worsen the standoff with the West.
Washington announced new sanctions Thursday, targeting Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, which the U.S. accuses of supporting terrorism by backing Shiite militants in Iraq. The sanctions ban U.S. dealings with the extensive network of businesses believed linked to the Guards � and put stepped-up pressure on international banks to cut any ties with those firms.
The sanctions come at a time when Iran's economy is struggling, with dramatic price rises this year. The cost of housing and basic foodstuffs like vegetables have doubled or even quadrupled. The government also has imposed unpopular fuel rationing in an attempt to reduce expensive subsidies for imported gasoline.
Word of the U.S. move angered people in Tehran.
"The sanctions will damage us, our children and our people and not the government. Prices of everything increased up to double after former sanctions by the U.N.," said Morteza Morovvati, a 45-year-old teacher. "Who in the world and the Iranian government is going to care about ordinary people?"
Hashem Nazari, a retired clerk for an electricity equipment company, said that even before the new U.S. sanctions on some Iranian banks, his son living in Germany could not send him money through the banks.
"For the past two months, he has sent me money through private money exchangers," Nazari said.
Still, much of the anger appeared focused at the West.
"This will be another step by (President) Bush toward igniting war in the region," Mansour Rasti, 28, a graduate student in political science, said of the new sanctions.
Marzieh Aghai, a 37-year-old government bureaucrat, said she would support her country no matter what. "They (the Americans) don't know the Guards. We are proud of them."
Ahmadinejad and his allies are likely counting on sanctions to rally Iranians against the United States.
"Hard-liners in Tehran were looking forward for the sanctions. It helps them hide their incompetence behind the embargo," said political commentator, Saeed Laylaz.
But the new sanctions could worsen Ahmadinejad's political woes. Many conservatives who once backed him have joined reformers in criticizing Ahmadinejad. They point to his failure to fulfill promises to repair the economy � despite increased oil revenues � and say his fiery rhetoric goads the West into punishing Iran.
Ahmadinejad's sudden replacement of Iran's top nuclear negotiator with a close loyalist over the weekend also angered many conservatives in parliament.
Worry over sanctions has been increasingly expressed by figures high up in Iran's clerical leadership. Earlier this month, Hasan Rowhani, who sits on two powerful cleric-run bodies, the Experts Assembly and the Expediency Council, said that "the economic impact is felt in the life of the people." He said Ahmadinejad has just been making more enemies for Iran.
On Sunday, Ahmadinejad's predecessor as president, Mohammad Khatami, a reformer who remains influential, complained that Ahmadinejad claims "problems have been resolved but we see that problems remain unresolved."
The Bush administration hopes its new sanctions will push companies around the world to cut their business ties with Iran. "It is increasingly likely that if you are doing business with Iran you are doing business with the IRGC," Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said, referring to the Guards.
So far, the response of Ahmadinejad's government to sanctions, including past rounds by the United States and the U.N. Security Council, has been defiance.
Ahmadinejad on Wednesday called earlier U.N. sanctions, which similarly punish a list of Iranian companies believed linked to the nuclear program, "a pile of papers that have no value."
On Thursday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad Ali Hosseini, called the new U.S. measures "worthless and ineffective" and said they were "doomed to fail as before."
But the sanctions could increase Iran's isolation from international financing.
Most notably, the new sanctions ban dealings with two major Iranian banks, Bank Melli and Bank Mellat, adding them to a list of already banned banks. That means the banks will have difficulty turning to European banks for dollars, said Matthew Levitt, a former U.S. Treasury Department terrorism expert now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Great article Krypton.
Iam so upset and sad for the people of Iran who have to suffer from all this.
Do they truly believe these sanctions is going to cripple the revolutionary guard?
Despite a lack of direct evidence, several western governments are already making it out as if the Iranians are hell-bent on a nuclear weapon. My issue isn't whether they are right or wrong; my issue is that there is no evidence to support the view that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon. That assertion is mere speculation and is NOT justification for war at all. If the Bush admin attacks Iran, the entire region might descend into a war. Turkey is already mobilized on Iraq's northern border. The PKK are pissing both Iran and Turkey off. Shiite and Sunni militias are the norm rather than exception in Iraq. Things are ugly now; but things could get disfiguratively ugly...
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071028/ap_on_re_us/us_iran
Anti-Iran rhetoric raises UN concerns
Sun Oct 28, 4:32 PM ET
WASHINGTON - The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Sunday he had no evidence Iran was working actively to build nuclear weapons and expressed concern that escalating rhetoric from the U.S. could bring disaster.
"We have information that there has been maybe some studies about possible weaponization," said Mohamed ElBaradei, who leads the International Atomic Energy Agency. "That's why we have said that we cannot give Iran a pass right now, because there is still a lot of question marks."
"But have we seen Iran having the nuclear material that can readily be used into a weapon? No. Have we seen an active weaponization program? No." Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Iran this month of "lying" about the aim of its nuclear program. She said there is no doubt Tehran wants the capability to produce nuclear weapons and has deceived the IAEA about its intentions.
Vice President Dick Cheney has raised the prospect of "serious consequences" if Iran were found to be working toward developing a nuclear weapon. Last week, the Bush administration announced harsh penalties against the Iranian military and state-owned banking systems in hopes of raising pressure on the world financial system to cut ties with Tehran.
ElBaradei said he was worried about the growing rhetoric from the U.S., which he noted focused on Iran's alleged intentions to build a nuclear weapon rather than evidence the country was actively doing so. If there is actual evidence, ElBaradei said he would welcome seeing it.
"I'm very much concerned about confrontation, building confrontation, because that would lead absolutely to a disaster. I see no military solution. The only durable solution is through negotiation and inspection," he said.
"My fear is that if we continue to escalate from both sides that we will end up into a precipice, we will end up into an abyss. As I said, the Middle East is in a total mess, to say the least. And we cannot add fuel to the fire," ElBaradei added.
Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, agreed that the current "hot rhetoric" from the U.S. could prove dangerous.
"We ought to make it clear that there's always a military option if Iran goes nuclear, but that we ought to just speak more softly because these hot words that are coming out of the administration, this hot rhetoric plays right into the hands of the fanatics in Iran," said Levin, D-Mich.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said strong action might be needed because he does not believe the United Nations adequately has kept Iran in check.
"I think the United Nations' efforts to sanction Iran have been pitiful because of Russia and China vetoing a resolution. The European Union has some sanctions. They're fairly weak."
"So in this regard, I agree with the following, that the diplomatic efforts to control Iran need to continue. They need to be more robust but we're sending mixed signals," Graham said.
ElBaradei spoke on CNN's "Late Edition," and Levin and Graham appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation."
Key point here: NO PROOF THAT IRAN IS MAKING A NUCLEAR BOMB"
Now good luck trying to explain this to those fucktards in the whitehouse.
Would this be a nuke fight? For real?
It depends on who gets into the white house after Bush.
I doubt he has the gonads to press the button with the support he has, the strain on the millitary already, and his beaten presidency.
...
But...
The Neo-Cons have been agressive and beligerent in the past. The Bush family has a property in Central America, and Haliburton has moved it's head office to Dubai. Do the members of the administration have any reason to leave the US in better condition then they found it?
Isn't it in thier best intrest to ensure that none of thier enemies have the infrastructure / power to seek them out for war crimes after they leave office?
By dropping nukes on Iran they assure a chaotic middle east for years to come and possibly the comencement of a holy war against the US. But if all the administration has cut thier ties with the US (a country where only 30 odd percent of people like them), why would they care if the US and Iran were at war, so long as Dubai and Central America are safe havens?
I hate to say it but this seems to be part of a Macheovelian tactical analysis of the US administration. Seeing as they have practiced real politik in the past it's not a completely un-realistic view.
Short answer....
It all depends on how much Bush has left in the US and the strenth of his ties to Saudi.
If the Bush admin really is going to do it, wouldn't they need Congressional approval? He definitely wouldn't get it. That executive order is pretty powerful though. Just my speculation. I really don't get the logic of these neocons in Washington...
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Iran warns U.S. of "quagmire"
By Fredrik Dahl Wed Oct 31, 7:58 AM ET
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran warned the United States on Wednesday it would find itself in a "quagmire deeper than Iraq" if it attacked the Islamic state, and Russia stepped up efforts for a diplomatic solution to Tehran's nuclear row with the West.
The warning by the head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, a target of new U.S. sanctions announced last week, added to angry rhetoric between the two old foes that has prompted speculation of possible U.S. military action.
U.S. President George W. Bush this month suggested a nuclear-armed Iran could lead to World War Three but the White House said on Tuesday it remained determined to resolve the stand-off peacefully.
"If the enemies show inexperience and want to invade Islamic Iran, they will receive a strong slap from Iran," Jafari said in comments carried by the semi-official Fars News Agency.
"The enemy knows that if it attacks Iran it, will be trapped in a quagmire deeper than Iraq and Afghanistan, and they will have to withdraw with defeat," he told a parade in north-central Iran, without mentioning the United States by name.
Major powers are expected to meet in London this week to discuss a possible third round of U.N. sanctions against Iran over its refusal to halt work which it says is aimed at generating electricity but could also be used for making bombs.
Iran, hoping to ward off any further sanctions on its oil-dependent economy, agreed with the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in August to clear up suspicions about its past secret nuclear activities.
The United States, saying the deal failed to address the core U.N. demand that Tehran suspend work Washington suspects is aimed at making bombs, is pushing for tougher U.N. sanctions.
Tensions over Iran's nuclear program are one of the factors that have pushed oil prices to record highs of over $90 a barrel in recent days.
"TRUST"
Russia, a veto-wielding member of the U.N. Security Council, says dialogue rather than punishment or talk of military action offers the best way to ease tension. It says the IAEA process should be given time to run its course.
Speaking after talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday evening, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, according to a transcript from his ministry:
"We encouraged the Iranian leadership to undertake further -- and preferably more active -- work with the IAEA to clear up those questions which have been raised by the agency with regard to the Iranian nuclear program's past."
Lavrov, visiting two weeks after a trip to Tehran by President Vladimir Putin, said he "underlined the importance of closing these questions as soon as possible, in order to restore trust in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's activities."
Ahmadinejad said Iran was "determined" to continue its cooperation with the agency, the ISNA news agency said.
Lavrov's visit coincided with vital talks in Tehran between officials from Iran and the Vienna-based IAEA on implementing the August agreement, entering their third day on Wednesday.
Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei will report to the agency's 35-nation board of governors in mid-November. If Iran has not answered sensitive questions by then, Western powers say they will move to have harsh U.N. sanctions adopted.
In Washington, U.S. officials said they expected the five permanent U.N. Security Council members -- the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia -- as well as Germany to meet later this week in London to discuss new sanctions.
Britain and France back a tough line on Iran. China, like Russia, has opposed an early move to tighten economic sanctions, saying Iran should be given longer to cooperate with the IAEA.
The U.N. Security Council has already imposed two sets of limited sanctions on Iran for its refusal to halt enrichment, a process to make fuel for nuclear power plants that can also, if refined further, provide material for bombs.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by hardcore trancer Key point here: NO PROOF THAT IRAN IS MAKING A NUCLEAR BOMB" Now good luck trying to explain this to those fucktards in the whitehouse. |
I'd wager that it would be near impossible logistically for the Iranians to build a nuke, especially without being detected. It's bullshit, plain and simple.
First off, we don't even know if what we're told the method is, is actually the method at all.
Secondly, you would most likely need entire towns built around the trial and error construction of these highly theoretical magnetic purification fields.
It's simply not going to happen. It's just bullshit to rally the sheep into feeding on the war.
Now on the other hand, the US, Russia, or China might sell them one... and each has reasons they might want to do so, but hopefully would be intelligent enough not to do so. There is no evidence suggesting that they are.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by The Arbiter Thing is if you provoke you have to accept the consequences. If you hint at nuclear weapons but never actually say you have them which are your enemies going to assume? If Iran continues to be so provocative then wether they actually have the nuclear weapons or not becomes irrelevant and is only a question the US will have to answer for long after the invasion has taken place. Military action is inevitable wether now or later aslong as they continue to act like the child of world politics. |
If you can't properly communicate in politics your fucked.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by The Arbiter If you can't properly communicate in politics your fucked. |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by The Arbiter Thing is if you provoke you have to accept the consequences. If you hint at nuclear weapons but never actually say you have them which are your enemies going to assume? If Iran continues to be so provocative then whether they actually have the nuclear weapons or not becomes irrelevant and is only a question the US will have to answer for long after the invasion has taken place. Military action is inevitable whether now or later as long as they continue to act like the child of world politics. |
This makes me even more certain of a possible US-led campaign against Iran:
http://www.protectionline.org/Eynul...-Outspoken.html
quote:
(New York, October 30, 2007) - The eight-and-a-half-year prison sentence handed down to Eynulla Fatullayev, editor of Azerbaijan�s two largest independent newspapers, for terrorism and other charges, reflects the growing government hostility toward freedom of expression and the press, Human Rights Watch said today.
On October 30, Azerbaijan�s Grave Crimes Court convicted Fatullayev, the outspoken editor-in-chief of the independent Realni Azerbaijan and Gundelik Azerbaijan newspapers, for terrorism, inciting ethnic hatred, and tax evasion. The conviction is a culmination of a concerted effort by the Azerbaijani authorities to silence Fatuallyev and his newspapers.
"Fatullayev�s prosecution was politically motivated, and his conviction should be quashed immediately and he should be released," said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The steady rise of politically motivated criminal charges, as well as violent attacks against journalists, is obviously aimed at silencing critical voices in Azerbaijan."
The terrorism and inciting ethnic hatred charges derive from an article Fatullayev wrote in Realni Azerbaijan, in which he argued that the government�s support of the United States� position on Iran makes Azerbaijan vulnerable to attack from Iran, and he speculated on likely targets of such an attack.
�Fatullayev�s conviction on terrorism charges is absurd,� said Cartner. "Similar articles routinely appear in US and British papers, saying that the pursuit of the war in Iraq is increasing the likelihood of terrorist attacks on Britain or the United States. That is legitimate political commentary, not the fomenting of terrorism."
Fatullayev�s conviction comes six months after the Yasamal District Court in Baku sentenced him to two-and-a-half years for having committed �criminal libel� and �insult� with an internet posting, which he denied writing. Shortly after this conviction Realni Azerbaijan and Gundelik Azerbaijan, the two largest circulation print outlets in the country, were effectively shut down after Emergency Ministry and National Security Ministry personnel evicted the staff from the papers� premises, confiscated their computer hard drives, and sealed the office shut. Such actions flout Azerbaijan�s obligations as a party to the European Convention on Human Rights, and its commitments to respect fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.
Fatullayev is the eighth journalist in Azerbaijan imprisoned for defamation and other criminal charges. Human Rights Watch has also documented numerous cases of violence and threats of violence against opposition and independent journalists in the country.
BACKGROUND:
Eynulla Fatullayev is known for his frequent criticism of Azeri officials and for exposing instances of government corruption. Pressure on Fatullayev to stop his journalism had been building for over a year. Fatullayev was forced to suspend publication of his newspapers on October 1, after his father was kidnapped. The kidnappers threatened to kill both Fatullayev and his father if he continued publishing the newspapers. The editor had to stop publication of the paper in exchange for his father�s release. Fatullayev renewed publishing only two months later, but acknowledged that he did so at his own peril, since the kidnappers remained at large.
In March 2007, after publishing an article accusing the Azeri authorities of obstructing the investigation into the murder of Monitor editor Elmar Huseinov, Fatullayev reported death threats against him and his family. The Azeri authorities refused to investigate these claims or offer to protect Fatullayev.
In February, soon after a statement attributed to Fatullayev about the Khojali massacre began to circulate on the internet, protestors organized several rallies in front of the Realni Azerbaijan office and threw eggs and stones at the office windows. Police did nothing to stop the protestors.
In recent months, high-ranking state officials have initiated criminal defamation charges against Fatullayev. In September 2006, Fatullayev was handed a two-year suspended sentence and forced to pay damages in a criminal libel case brought by Interior Minister Ramil Usubov. Usubov has brought similar charges against numerous other independent journalists and newspapers.
The conviction of Fatullayev comes amid the Azerbaijani government�s growing hostility toward independent and opposition media, which raises serious concerns about the future of independent media and the security of journalists in the country. Violence and the threat of violence against journalists have become frequent in Azerbaijan, and often such crimes are committed with impunity. A dramatic increase in defamation charges brought against journalists by state officials has further contributed to the deteriorating environment for freedom of expression.
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