What's this? Iran losing terrorists? Surprise: Jihadists may remain neutral during any Israeli strike

By Aaron Klein
2011 WND


TEL AVIV – Iran may be losing one of its key allies and sources of influence in the Middle East – the Hamas terrorist organization.

According to well-placed sources within Hamas speaking to WND, the jihadist group has been asked by the Egyptian military to stay out of any future confrontation between Israel and Iran.

For the first time in recent years, Hamas, feeling confident from major Muslim Brotherhood gains in the region, is considering distancing itself somewhat from Iran, the sources said.

The group may even remain largely neutral if Israel strikes Iran's suspected nuclear sites, the sources said. The sources added, however, that no decision has been made.

Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood belong to the Sunni stream of Islam while Iran's leadership espouses fundamentalist Shiite Islam. While Iran has long supported Sunni groups like Hamas, the major differences in Islamic ideology and practice have always caused some unease.

Indeed, one of the most senior Hamas officials, speaking previously to WND on condition of anonymity, once said he would ultimately be pleased if Israel strikes Iran's nuclear sites even if it means scaled-back Iranian funding to his group. The Hamas official said he fears Iran would use a nuclear umbrella to enforce a Shiite superpower in the Middle East at the expense of Sunni ideology.


According to several Hamas sources, there has been tension between the jihad group and Iran over Hamas' decision to not aid Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in fighting an insurgency targeting Assad's regime.

That uprising has been supported by the Muslim Brotherhood. Syria is a major Iranian partner in the region.

Some Hamas leaders even speculated the group may move their political headquarters from Syria. Hamas chieftain Khaled Meshaal currently resides in Damascus.

According to recent Arabic language news media reports, Hamas has been quietly scaling back its Damascus headquarters.

Speaking last month to WND, Ahmed Yousef, chief political adviser to Hamas' de facto prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, confirmed reports his group is looking to move the headquarters of its top leadership from Syria.

"There are many places in the Arab world [that would welcome the] Hamas politburo," Yousef said.

Asked specifically where Hamas headquarters can move, Yousef replied: "There are many other countries. Jordan is there. Sounds like they are trying to open dialogue with Hamas. They might offer a place. Turkey, Egypt, Qatar; there are many places where [Hamas leaders] can find a safe haven to work and try to help their people in Gaza and the West Bank."

While Hamas might not come to Iran's aid in the event of an Israeli strike, sources in the Islamist group told WND the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad terror organization in the Gaza Strip is still firmly in Tehran's camp.

The Hamas sources said Islamic Jihad has very similar weaponry to Hamas, including a massive rocket arsenal capable of causing much damage to Israel.

WND reported in October on Iran's missile training in Gaza. Egyptian security officials said Iran has been preparing Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon to retaliate in the event of Israeli strikes against Tehran's nuclear sites.

The chatter about Hamas' allegiances come after the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamist Salafi movement's Al-Nour Party saw considerable gains in Egypt's recent parliamentary vote.

Why? WND IMAM, BASEBALL AND APPLE PIE Muslim leaders to boycott NYC mayor's breakfast Concerned by NYPD efforts to infiltrate mosques

NEW YORK – Several Muslim leaders have declined invitations to the mayor's annual year-end interfaith breakfast, saying they're upset at police department efforts to infiltrate mosques and spy on Muslim neighborhoods.

The imams and activists said in a letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg that they're disturbed at his response to a series of stories by The Associated Press detailing New York Police Department intelligence-gathering programs that monitored Muslim groups, businesses and houses of worship.

Bloomberg has defended the NYPD, saying last week it doesn't take religion into account in its policing.

Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser acknowledged Wednesday that about a dozen people turned down the breakfast invitation. But he said "a couple dozen" more said they plan to attend.

The letter to Bloomberg contained the names of several dozen Muslim leaders and organizations and said they believe such police measures "threaten the rights of all Americans, and deepen mistrust between our communities and law enforcement."

"Mayor Bloomberg, the extent of these civil rights violations is astonishing, yet instead of calling for accountability and the rule of law, you have thus far defended the NYPD's misconduct," the letter said.

The Muslim leaders said they appreciate the mayor's staunch support a year ago during an uproar over a planned Islamic center near the World Trade Center site. But they said they were disappointed by what he said after the AP stories since August about the police department's efforts to infiltrate Muslim neighborhoods and mosques with aggressive programs designed by a CIA officer who worked with the department after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The stories disclosed that a team of 16 police officers speaking at least five languages was assigned to use census information and government databases to map ethnic neighborhoods in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Documents reviewed by the AP revealed that undercover police officers known as rakers visited local businesses such as Islamic bookstores and cafes, chatting up store owners to determine their ethnicities and gauge their views. They played cricket and eavesdropped in ethnic cafes and clubs.

The AP stories also revealed that one of the CIA's most experienced clandestine operatives began working inside the police department in July as the special assistant to the deputy commissioner of intelligence.

The CIA is prohibited from spying domestically. Its unusual partnership with the NYPD has troubled top lawmakers and prompted an internal investigation.

Bloomberg in October defended the arrangement, saying it was necessary in a dangerous world.

"There are people trying to kill us," he said. "And if the CIA can help us I'm all for getting any information they have and then letting the police department use it as -- if it's appropriate to protect you and to protect me."

The letter noted that Muslims comprise at least 10 percent of the city's population. It said the Muslims leaders were seeking a meeting with the mayor to discuss the issues raised by the reports.

"We believe it is unequivocally wrong and fundamentally misguided to invest law enforcement resources in religious or racial profiling, rather than investigating suspicious activity," it said. "We seek your clear, unambiguous, public support for the rights and privacy of all New Yorkers, including Muslims; and a condemnation of all policies that profile and target communities and community groups solely based on their religion or the color of their skin."

It also said: "We are deeply disturbed that to date we have only heard your words of strong support for these troubling policies and violations of our rights. We are equally disturbed by (police Commissioner Raymond) Kelly's denials of what we know to be true as verified by the leaked documents."

Kelly, meanwhile, met Wednesday evening at a Bronx mosque with two imams who weren't listed on the letter and with young fans of an NYPD youth soccer league, whose winners were presented with a trophy.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/12/29/muslim-leaders-to-boycott-nyc-mayors-breakfast-over-nypd-concerns/#ixzz1hxIgy5Qi

'Drive to kidnap IDF soldiers up since Schalit deal'

Warning Hamas it will be hit hard in a future conflict, a senior IDF commander said on Wednesday that motivation to kidnap Israeli soldiers has significantly increased since the prisoner swap for Gilad Schalit.

According to Col. Tal Hermoni, commander of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip are working to abduct Israeli soldiers and are digging tunnels that could be used in such an attack.


RELATED:
IDF trains for soldier abduction scenario
'Hamas refuses to abandon policy of IDF kidnappings'

“We believe that since there are additional Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails that these groups are working to kidnap soldiers,” Hermoni said during a briefing to reporters along the border with Egypt.

Hermoni said the abduction of a soldier would have “strategic significance” for Israel, and the IDF was working on several levels to prevent such an attack and to thwart one if it were launched.

He said orders about how commanders and soldiers should operate in an abduction attack were being clarified and explained to all the relevant ranks within the IDF.

The Jerusalem Post recently revealed that the General Staff was working to codify procedures that soldiers will be expected to follow if they have the opportunity to thwart the abduction of a comrade, even at the risk of endangering his life.

Turning to the border with Egypt, Hermoni said the IDF was investing new resources and putting in place intelligence- gathering systems to prevent attacks from Sinai. In August, eight Israelis were killed when terrorists crossed into Israel.


“We are speeding up the closure of the border with the [Sinai border] fence and plan to compete it by the end of 2012,” Hermoni said. “The challenges along the border are great. We are facing an increase in African migrants seeking refuge and work in Israel as well as criminal smuggling of drugs in addition to potential terrorist attacks.”

Senior IDF sources said, though, that with the closure of the Egyptian border, there was a fear that terrorists would try to cross into Israel from Jordan.

Turning to the third anniversary of the Cast Lead offensive, Hermoni said the IDF believed the deterrence that was created following the operation was still in place, and that Hamas was currently not interested in a renewed large-scale conflict with Israel.

“The IDF created a new security reality after Cast Lead; before then dozens of rockets were fired daily. Today that is not the case,” Hermoni said.

The brigade commander stressed that the army was prepared to carry out a large offensive if needed.

“We are ready at all times” he said. “Hamas will be the one to pay the price.”

Satellite image the word " a - Mahdi" carved in the facility. Mahdi is the name of the Shiite's 12th Imam and the last Islamic

Two massive blasts on Nov. 12 that hit near Tehran, the Iranian capital, and rocked the city may have been an attempt to assassinate the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had been scheduled to be there at the time of the explosions, sources suggest.

Now the question is whether the Iranians will retaliate.

At the time of the explosions, Iranians found themselves wondering if Israel had attacked. The International Atomic Energy Agency's recent report on Iran's nuclear weapons program and the warnings of military action by Israeli officials have alarmed Iranians about the possibility of war.

The simultaneous explosions, which hit the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' base 28 miles west of Tehran, not only shook the surrounding area but were heard and felt throughout Tehran, even breaking car and building windows.

Revolutionary Guard officials soon announced that the explosions occurred at one of their ammunition depots while ammunition was being moved and claimed at first that 15 people were killed.

Iran's state-owned media rapidly changed the story multiple times on the number of fatalities and the cause of the incidents, but they all ruled out the possibility of a plot and stated that the explosions had nothing to do with Iran's nuclear program. Then they announced that Brig. Gen. Hassan Tehrani-Moghadam, the "architect of Iran’s missile program," was one of those killed.

The shock was palpable among the Iranian leaders, and soon sources within Iran revealed that the correct number of casualties was well over 100. It also was reported that right after the explosions, tanks and armored vehicles mobilized in and around Tehran and in other provinces.

Photos reveal that at the site where the explosions happened, there was an image created on the ground that referenced the "Madhi," the "12th imam" expected by Shia Muslims who describe him as their "Islamic messiah." They believe he will appear at the end of time to reign. Further, the belief is that Muslims can hasten the appearance of the Madhi by bringing about cataclysmic violence on earth.

The "Madhi" reference, therefore, at the site of the still-unexplained explosions raises an ominous possibility that Iran may believe its best next move is violence, Western observers

Khamenei attended the funeral of those killed and described the severity of the incident: "The bloody incident, which resulted in the martyrdom of some of our best, including the superior commander and scientist Hassan Moghadam, is truly bitter and sad."

Although Iranian officials claimed the explosions were accidental, their statements later indicated that there was more to the incident.

One explosion "set back the manufacture of the (Guards') researched product only for two weeks, which could be a punch in the mouth of the global arrogance (forces of imperialism) and the occupying (Zionists)," said Maj. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, the chairman of Iran's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Referring to Israel, Guards Gen. Masoud Jazayeri said the "Zionist regime" should expect shocking explosions in Tel Aviv and other cities. Iran is blaming the explosions on Israel.

Interestingly, a little more than a week later, a similar explosion occurred at a weapons' depot of the terrorist group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. And there have been subsequent reports of more explosions.

But most revealing was the statement reflected on the Revolutionary Guards' media outlet, Javan Online, by Mehdi Taeb, the head of the Ammar Garrison and one of the most fanatical figures in the Islamic regime. He stated that "a big event will take place after the martyrdom of Hassan Moghadam." He added that the deceased general was working on a project that, despite his absence, will soon come together and result in the "big event."

As reported in May, Khamenei ordered the Guards to arm their missiles with nuclear warheads before the end of the Iranian year – March 2012 – and that the Guards were already in possession of two nuclear-capable warheads. According to the agreement between the Revolutionary Guards and the Ministry of Defense, eight more nuclear warheads will be produced and delivered to the Revolutionary Guards within the next several months.

It is now clear that the missile project the Guards were working on was the one Khamenei ordered that would weaponize their missiles. Even though there is no evidence pointing to a nuclear blast, sources indicate that IRGC missile experts were working on a new warhead that could carry a nuclear payload, and the explosion not only caused major devastation to the Guards' base but much of the surrounding area.

Sources within Iran also indicate that Khamenei may have been the target of the explosion. At the time, he was scheduled to arrive at the site to witness the Guards' advancements. If true, this shows deep infiltration within the Iranian leadership and a direct warning that assassination of the highest ranks in Iran is on the table.

It was not the first successful attack on Iran's nuclear and missile programs. There have been several others – from the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists, to Stuxnet and other viruses infecting their nuclear facilities, to mysterious explosions. In 2008, an explosion destroyed a Revolutionary Guards convoy carrying military equipment destined for Hezbollah in Lebanon, and in 2010 Iran's Shahab-3 ballistic missiles depot inside a Revolutionary Guards' base in the western Iranian province of Lurestan was struck.

However, the most recent incident has shaken the Iranian leaders to the core. Out of security concern, Khamenei and Guards' top commanders immediately canceled an important event commemorating Eid-E-Ghadir, which recalls Muhammad's purported appointment of Ali as the first of his hereditary successors. Last year on that occasion, Khamenei delivered his sermon to all top commanders and tens of thousands of Guards and Basiji forces.

I always feel like somebody isn't watching me? Who's watching?

Declassified US Spy Satellites Reveal Rare Look at Secret Cold War Space Program

CHANTILLY, Va. – Twenty-five years after their top-secret, Cold War-era missions ended, two clandestine American satellite programs were declassified Saturday (Sept. 17) with the unveiling of three of the United States' most closely guarded assets: the KH-7 GAMBIT, the KH-8 GAMBIT 3 and the KH-9 HEXAGON spy satellites.

The vintage National Reconnaissance Office satellites were displayed to the public Saturday in a one-day-only exhibit at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport, Va. The three spacecraft were the centerpiece of the NRO's invitation-only, 50th Anniversary Gala celebration held at the center last evening.

Saturday's spysat unveiling was attended by a number of jubilant NRO veterans who developed and refined the classified spacecraft and its components for decades in secret, finally able to show their wives and families what they actually did 'at the office' for so many years. Both of the newly declassified satellite systems, GAMBIT and HEXAGON, followed the U.S. military's frontrunner spy satellite system CORONA, which was declassified in 1995. [See photos of the declassified U.S. spy satellites]

Big spy satellites revealed

The KH-9 HEXAGON, often referred to by its popular nickname "Big Bird," lived up to its legendary expectations. As large as a school bus, the KH-9 HEXAGON carried 60 miles of high resolution photographic film for space surveillance missions.

Military space historian Dwayne A. Day was exuberant after his first look at the KH-9 HEXAGON.

"This was some bad-ass technology," Day told SPACE.com. "The Russians didn't have anything like it."

Day, co-editor of "Eye in the Sky: The Story of the CoronaSpy Satellites," noted that "it took the Soviets on average five to 10 years to catch up during the Cold War, and in many cases they never really matched American capabilities."

Phil Pressel, designer of the HEXAGON's panoramic 'optical bar' imaging cameras, agreed with Day's assessment.

"This is still the most complicated system we've ever put into orbit …Period."

The HEXAGON's twin optical bar panoramic mirror cameras rotated as the swept back and forth as the satellite flew over Earth, a process that intelligence officials referred to as "mowing the lawn."

Each 6-inch wide frame of HEXAGON film capturing a wide swath of terrain covering 370 nautical miles — the distance from Cincinnati to Washington — on each pass over the former Soviet Union and China. The satellites had a resolution of about 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to nearly 1 meter), according to the NRO. [10 Ways the Government Watches You]

According to documents released by the NRO, each HEXAGON satellite mission lasted about 124 days, with the satellite launching four film return capsules that could send its photos back to Earth. An aircraft would catch the return capsule in mid-air by snagging its parachute following the canister's re-entry.

In a fascinating footnote, the film bucket from the first KH-9 HEXAGON sank to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in spring 1972 after Air Force recovery aircraft failed to snag the bucket's parachute.

The film inside the protective bucket reported contained high resolution photographs of the Soviet Union's submarine bases and missile silos. In a daredevil feat of clandestine ingenuity, the U.S. Navy's Deep Submergence Vehicle Trieste II succeeded in grasping the bucket from a depth of 3 miles below the ocean.

Hubble vs. HEXAGON

Former International Space Station flight controller Rob Landis, now technical manager in the advanced projects office at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, drove more than three hours to see the veil lifted from these legendary spacecraft.

Landis, who also worked on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope program, noticed some distinct similarities between Hubble and the huge KH-9 HEXAGON reconnaissance satellite.

"I see a lot of Hubble heritage in this spacecraft, most notably in terms of spacecraft size," Landis said. "Once the space shuttle design was settled upon, the design of Hubble — at the time it was called the Large Space Telescope — was set upon. I can imagine that there may have been a convergence or confluence of the designs. The Hubble’s primary mirror is 2.4 meters [7.9 feet] in diameter and the spacecraft is 14 feet in diameter. Both vehicles (KH-9 and Hubble) would fit into the shuttle's cargo bay lengthwise, the KH-9 being longer than Hubble [60 feet]; both would also fit on a Titan-class launch vehicle."

The 'convergence or confluence' theory was confirmed later in the day by a former spacecraft designer, who declined to be named but is familiar with both programs, who confided unequivocally: "The space shuttle's payload bay was sized to accommodate the KH-9." [Infographic: NASA's Space Shuttle from Top to Bottom]

The NRO launched 20 KH-9 HEXAGON satellites from California's Vandenberg AFB from June 1971 to April 1986.

The HEXAGON's final launch in April 1986 — just months after the space shuttle Challenger explosion — also met with disaster as the spy satellite's Titan 34D booster erupted into a massive fireball just seconds after liftoff, crippling the NRO's orbital reconnaissance capabilities for many months.

The spy satellite GAMBIT

Before the first HEXAGON spy satellite systems ever launched, the NRO's GAMBIT series of reconnaissance craft flew several space missions aimed at providing surveillance over specific targets around the world.

The satellite program's initial system, GAMBIT 1, first launched in 1963 carrying a KH-7 camera system that included a "77-inch focal length camera for providing specific information on scientific and technical capabilities that threatened the nation," according to an NRO description. A second GAMBIT satellite system, which first launched aboard GAMBIT 3 in 1966, included a175-inch focal length camera. [Related: Anatomy of a Spy Satellite]

The GAMBIT 1 series satellite has a resolution similar to the HEXAGON series, about 2 to 3 feet, but the follow-up GAMBIT 3 system had an improved resolution of better than 2 feet, NRO documents reveal.

The GAMBIT satellite program was active from July 1963 to April 1984. Both satellites were huge and launched out of Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The satellite series' initial version was 15 feet (4.5 m) long and 5 feet (1.5 m) wide, and weighed about 1,154 pounds (523 kilograms). The GAMBIT 3 satellite was the same width but longer, stretching nearly 29 feet (9 m) long, not counting its Agena D rocket upper stage. It weighed about 4,130 pounds (1,873 kg).

Unlike the follow-up HEXAGON satellites, the GAMBIT series were designed for extremely short missions.

The GAMBIT 1 craft had an average mission life of about 6 1/2 days. A total of 38 missions were launched, though 10 of them were deemed failures, according to NRO documents.

The GAMBIT 3 series satellites had missions that averaged about 31 days. In all, 54 of the satellites were launched, with four failures recorded.

Like the CORONA and HEXAGON programs, the GAMBIT series of satellites returned their film to Earth in re-entry capsules that were then snatched up by recovery aircraft. GAMBIT 1 carried about 3,000 feet (914 meters) of film, while GAMBIT 3 was packed with 12,241 feet (3,731 meters) of film, NRO records show.

The behemoth HEXAGON was launched with 60 miles (320,000 feet) of film!

HEXAGON and GAMBIT 3 team up

During a media briefing, NRO officials confirmed to SPACE.com that the KH-8 GAMBIT 3 and KH-9 HEXAGON were later operated in tandem, teaming-up to photograph areas of military significance in both the former Soviet Union and China.

The KH-9 would image a wide swath of terrain, later scrutinized by imagery analysts on the ground for so-called ‘targets of opportunity.' Once these potential targets were identified, a KH-8 would then be maneuvered to photograph the location in much higher resolution.

"During the era of these satellites — the GAMBIT and the HEXAGON — there was a Director of Central Intelligence committee known as the 'Committee on Imagery Requirements and Exploitation' that was responsible for that type of planning," confirmed the NRO's Robert McDonald, Director of the Center for the Study of National Reconnaissance.

NASA's Rob Landis was both blunt and philosophical in his emotions over the declassification of the GAMBIT and HEXAGON programs.

"You have to give credit to leaders like President Eisenhower who had the vision to initiate reconnaissance spacecraft, beginning with the CORONA and Discoverer programs," Landis said. "He was of the generation who wanted no more surprises, no more Pearl Harbors."

"Frankly, I think that GAMBIT and HEXAGON helped prevent World War III."

Editor's note: This story was updated on Sept. 19 to correct the name of Phil Pressel, who designed the HEXAGON spy satellite camera system.

Rick Santorum Speaks! Who Mr 2.5% in the polls?

JUPITER ISLAND, Fla. – The Republican presidential candidates appearing in last Monday's tea-party debate in Tampa made plenty of news when it came to issues such as Social Security, job creation and Big Brother mandates, but one subject that was not brought up during the event was the constitutional eligibility of Barack Obama.


Rick Santorum Mr. 2.5% in the polls has ruled the crash in Roswell NM, The Kennedy Assassination, and Obama eligibility questions as now closed cases! WELL THANKS SIR, BUT IS ANYONE REALLY LISTENING TO YOU?


Presidential candidate Rick Santorum gets swarmed by news media following the first-ever tea-party debate in Tampa, Fla., Sept. 12, 2011 (WND photo / Joe Kovacs)

Yet once the debate was over, some were willing to address the matter.




Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum told WND, "My understanding is that issue was solved. If there's evidence to the contrary [showing Obama is not eligible], they should bring it forth."

Autographed copies of Jerome Corsi's "Where’s the Birth Certificate?" are available only from the WND Superstore

The Constitution requires a president to be a "natural-born citizen," which many legal analysts believe means being the child of two U.S. citizen parents at the time of birth.

When that was pointed out to Santorum, he responded, "I don't think that's what the Constitution requires, and he (President Obama) was born in the country, so it doesn't matter."

President Obama's father was never a U.S. citizen, but rather a subject of Britain, which had control over Kenya back in 1961.

Meanwhile, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona's Maricopa County has appointed a team of retired officers and lawyers to look into allegations that the birth certificate Obama released in April at a White House news conference may be forged.

His constituents asked for the investigation because of the damage that could be done should a 2012 candidate be placed on their election ballot based on a fraudulent document.

Businessman and presidential contender Herman Cain told WND Obama's eligibility "should have been something that the United States Congress took up before he took office or up to this point. Now at this particular point, my focus is, 'What do we do to get this economy going?' If he is not eligible, that is not gonna be something that I am gonna focus my energies on because I want to get elected president to help people get jobs.

"If the United States of America didn't do its homework and its due diligence, shame on us! I hope we don't allow that to happen again just in case there's something there to that."

When asked if he personally thought Obama was constitutionally qualified to hold the office, Cain said, "I have not studied all of the information on his eligibility, so I don't have an opinion on that. I've seen only some of the stories, but I have not studied all of the evidence weighing both sides in terms of his eligibility."

Shortly before the debate commenced, a plane soared over the Florida State Fairgrounds trailing a banner demanding, "Where's the Real Birth Certificate?," a reference to Obama's release of what many experts believe is a fraudulent record of the president's birth.

The Tampa debate was co-hosted by the Tea Party Express, a group which prides itself on championing adherence to the Constitution.

But its chairwoman, Amy Kremer of Atlanta, was not high on addressing the natural-born-citizen matter during this campaign.

"There are so many issues out there, and I know that there are people who are focused on that issue, [but] I think we need to focus on the next 14 months in getting a conservative candidate – a Republican conservative candidate – that can defeat Barack Obama, and that's where I think we need to go."

When WND asked her if the issue were even relevant, Kremer nearly parroted her previous remark, stating, "I know that it's definitely an issue that people are focused on, but that's not something I'm focused on. That's not something our organization is focused on. We want to send a conservative to Washington and we're gonna do that through the election process."

Is revolution hitting U.S. streets tomorrow? Protesters training to incite violence, resist arrest, disrupt the legal system ??

By Aaron Klein
© 2011 WND

Fight "market dictatorship"

"People of the world rise up!"

"We are legion."

"Take to the streets."

These and other battle cries were posted on the recent Twitter feed of a group calling itself Take The Square. The organization is one of the social media planners behind the "Day of Rage" protest slated to target Wall Street on Saturday.

WND previously reported how the U.S. section of the protest, complete with a planned tent city in downtown Manhattan, is closely tied to the founders of ACORN and leaders of major U.S. unions, including the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU.

Here's the rundown on Obama's ties to "communists, socialists and other anti-American extremists" – all in "The Manchurian President."

While protest leaders claim they are non-violent, there are indications the protesters are training to incite violence, resist arrest and disrupt the legal system.

The protest aims to take root nationwide.

Activists are advertising on social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter for a "Day of Rage" on Sept. 17 to begin with the "occupation" of Wall Street and continue with protests across the nation.

Planners have their own website – USDayofRage.org – which tells protesters to "bring your own tent."

The website is not specific about the purpose of the "Day of Rage" other than calling for "integrity" to be "restored to our elections."

The site accuses corporations of using "money to act as the voices of millions, while individual citizens, the legitimate voters, are silenced and demoralized by the farce."

Advertisements claim the protests at Wall Street and nationwide will be "non-violent." However, the official website provides resources, including videos and detailed written instructions, for protesters to engage in "civil disobedience."

The resources provided include instructions on how to resist police arrest and disrupt court hearings.

This week, the 'Day of Rage' twitter feed posted links to what it called "nonviolent civil disobedience training talks."

Similar instructions are provided on the website of an affiliated organization, which calls itself "Occupy Wall Street" and is also involved in planning the Sept. 17 protests.

The use of the term "Day of Rage" recalls the "Days of Rage" organized in the 1960s by the Weather Underground domestic terrorist organization co-founded by Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, close associates for years of President Obama.

Numerous radicals, many with direct ties to Obama, are linked to planned protests and other activism scheduled for the coming months.

In March, ACORN founder Wade Rathke announced what he called "days of rage in 10 cities around JP Morgan Chase." Rathke was president of an SEIU local in New Orleans.

The planned Sept. 17 protest appears to be the culmination of Rathke's efforts.

Those efforts are being organized by Stephen Lerner, an SEIU board member who reportedly visited the Obama White House at least four times.

Lerner is considered one of the most capable organizers of the radical left. He recently organized the SEIU's so-called Justice for Janitors campaign.

As part of his planned protests, Lerner called for "a week of civil disobedience, direct action all over the city."

His stated aim is to "destabilize the folks that are in power and start to rebuild a movement."

In an interview about the planned protests, Lerner outlined his goals: "How do we bring down the stock market? How do we bring down their bonuses? How do we interfere with their ability to, to be rich?"

Forecast for American cities: Confrontation, intimidation?

There are other indications a coalition of radicals and unions are planning chaos using the current economic crisis.

Last month, WND reported that a slew of extremist organizations, some tied to Obama, are preparing protests to coincide with major NATO and G-8 summits in Chicago next May.

Foreshadowing possible violent confrontations, some of the same radical trainers behind the infamous 1999 Seattle riots against the World Trade Organization have been mobilizing new protest efforts geared toward world summits as well as the current economic crisis.

Some of the activists are tied to Obama.

The NATO and G-8 summits are not the only focus of radical groups.

WND reported Heather Booth, director of a Saul Alinsky-style community organizing group, the Midwest Academy, was among the main speakers at the "2011 State Battles Summit" in June at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Booth's husband, Paul, also was a speaker at the union summit. Paul Booth co-founded Midwest Academy in the 1970s.

The four-day summit was organized by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, with participation from the AFL-CIO, the nation's largest union.

An official schedule for the event, obtained by WND, declared: "Our union is under unprecedented attack in every state. Extremist politicians want to weaken us as we head into 2012. Their tactics include budget cuts, layoffs, privatization and the denial of our very collective bargaining rights."

Continued the flyer: "New challenges require new energy and new thinking. We encourage union activists to attend this conference and bring their creative ideas on how to overcome the challenges ahead."

Heather Booth participated in a panel entitled "Our Message, Alliances and Best Practices."

Paul Booth delivered the opening remarks for the union conference.

Another speaker at the union event was John Podesta, who co-chaired President Obama's transition team.

Podesta is president of the Center for American Progress, which is heavily influential in advising the White House. The center is funded by billionaire activist George Soros.

Mideast revolutions coming to U.S.?

Citizen Action of Wisconsin, an arm of Booth's Midwest Academy, is part of the Moving Wisconsin Forward movement, one of the main organizers of the major Wisconsin protests in February, as WND was first to report.

The protests were in opposition to Gov. Scott Walker's proposal for most state workers to pay 12 percent of their health care premiums and 5.8 percent of their salary toward their own pensions.

WND reported at the time that speakers at the rallies likened the Wisconsin protests to the ongoing revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa while calling for similar uprisings in the U.S.

'Redistribution of wealth and power'

Obama himself once funded Midwest Academy. He has been closely tied to Heather Booth.

Booth has stated building a ''progressive majority'' would help for ''a fair distribution of wealth and power and opportunity."

Her husband Paul is a founder and the former national secretary of Students for a Democratic Society, the radical 1960s anti-war movement from which Ayers' Weather Underground splintered.

In 1999, the Booths' Midwest Academy received $75,000 from the Woods Fund with Obama on its board alongside Ayers, In 2002, with Obama still serving on the Woods Fund, Midwest received another $23,500 for its Young Organizers Development Program.

Midwest describes itself as "one of the nation's oldest and best-known schools for community organizations, citizen organizations and individuals committed to progressive social change."

It later morphed into a national organizing institute for an emerging network of organizations known as Citizen Action.

Discover the Networks describes Midwest as "teach[ing] tactics of direct action, confrontation and intimidation."

WND first reported the executive director of an activist organization that taught Alinsky's tactics of direct action, confrontation and intimidation was part of the team that developed volunteers for President Obama's 2008 campaign.

Jackie Kendall, executive director of the Midwest Academy, was on the team that developed and delivered the first Camp Obama training for volunteers aiding Obama's campaign through the 2008 Iowa Caucuses.

Camp Obama was a two-to-four day intensive course run in conjunction with Obama's campaign aimed at training volunteers to become activists to help Obama win the presidential election.

Also, in 1998, Obama participated on a panel discussion praising Alinsky alongside Heather Booth, herself a dedicated disciple of Alinsky.

The panel discussion following the opening performance in Chicago of the play "The Love Song of Saul Alinsky," a work described by the Chicago Sun-Times as "bringing to life one of America's greatest community organizers."

Obama participated in the discussion alongside other Alinskyites, including political analyst Aaron Freeman, Don Turner of the Chicago Federation of Labor and Northwestern University history professor Charles Paine.

"Alinsky had so much fire burning within," stated local actor Gary Houston, who portrayed Alinsky in the play. "There was a lot of complexity to him. Yet he was a really cool character."

With research by Brenda J. Elliott