DebateGate
General Category => 3DHS => Topic started by: Christians4LessGvt on March 30, 2010, 09:16:28 PM
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(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y273/ItsZep/Media%20Logos/abcnews_genericfull.jpg)
EXCLUSIVE: Iran Nuclear Scientist Defects to U.S.
In CIA "Intelligence Coup"
Shahram Amiri Disappeared Last June in Saudi Arabia,
Reportedly Now Resettled in the United States
By MATTHEW COLE
March 30, 2010
An award-winning Iranian nuclear scientist, who disappeared last year under mysterious circumstances,
has defected to the CIA and been resettled in the United States, according to people briefed on the
operation by intelligence officials.
(http://a.abcnews.com/images/Blotter/ht_shahram_amiri_100330_mn.jpg)
Shahram Amiri, a nuclear physicist in his early 30s, went missing last June three days after arriving
in Saudi Arabia on a pilgrimage, according to the Iranian government.
The officials were said to have termed the defection of the scientist, Shahram Amiri, "an intelligence coup"
in the continuing CIA operation to spy on and undermine Iran's nuclear program.
A spokesperson for the CIA declined to comment. In its declassified annual report to Congress, the CIA said,
"Iran is keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons though we do not know whether Tehran eventually
will decide to produce nuclear weapons."
Amiri, a nuclear physicist in his early 30s, went missing last June three days after arriving in Saudi Arabia on a
pilgrimage, according to the Iranian government. He worked at Tehran's Malek Ashtar University, which is closely
connected to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, according to the Associated Press.
"The significance of the coup will depend on how much the scientist knew in the compartmentalized Iranian
nuclear program," said former White House counter-terrorism official Richard Clarke, an ABC News consultant.
"Just taking one scientist out of the program will not really disrupt it."
Iran's Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, and other Iranian officials last year blamed the U.S. for
"kidnapping" Amiri, but his whereabouts had remained a mystery until now.
According to the people briefed on the intelligence operation, Amiri's disappearance was part of a
long-planned CIA operation to get him to defect. The CIA reportedly approached the scientist in
Iran through an intermediary who made an offer of resettlement on behalf of the United States.
Since the late 1990s, the CIA has attempted to recruit Iranian scientists and officials through
contacts made with relatives living in the United States, according to former U.S. intelligence
officials. Case officers have been assigned to conduct hundreds of interviews with Iranian-Americans
in the Los Angeles area in particular, the former officials said.
Amiri has been extensively debriefed since his defection by the CIA, according to the people
briefed on the situation. They say Amiri helped to confirm U.S. intelligence assessments about
the Iranian nuclear program.
In September, President Barack Obama announced the U.S., the United Kingdom and France had evidence
that Iran "has been building a covert uranium enrichment facility near Qom for several years."
One Iranian web site reported that Amiri had worked at the Qom facility prior to his defection.
The New York Times reported Saturday that international inspectors and Western intelligence agencies
suspect "Tehran is preparing to build more sites in defiance of United Nations demands."
Officials at Iran's mission to the United Nations did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
"The Americans are definitely letting the Iranians know that they are active in going after Iran's
nuclear program," said Hooman Majd, an Iranian-American journalist.
A colleague of Amiri's at Tehran University called the disappearance "a disturbing sign" and blamed
the Saudis for helping the U.S., according government-approved English-language web site Press TV.
"The Saudi regime has effectively discredited itself and will be seen by those who know what has gone
on in the region as being confined to American demands and effectively abiding by American wishes,"
said Mohammad Marandi, a Tehran University professor, according to the Iranian web site.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/exclusive-iran-nuclear-scientist-defects-us-cia-intelligence/story?id=10231729 (http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/exclusive-iran-nuclear-scientist-defects-us-cia-intelligence/story?id=10231729)
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hmm
I wonder what caused it?
despite the standard" america is the best " most people come here for much different factors.
people overall simply don`t leave thier country for something better.
a very large percent of immigrants I know can to america under a threat of death
most likely something really really spooked him to do something this rash.
a very large percent of immigrants I know can to america under a threat of death
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i think...most immigrants to the United States come here
for a better....more free life....
a place where they have a bettter chance to reach for their dreams
not because of death threats....
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dreams,very doubtful
I`ve met way too many ex-lawyers & doctors to think they come here to be guards.
but then the majority of immigrants I know are serbians,russians & brits.
most chinese are here by invitation,just like in cuba & canada
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There are many factors influencing people to immigrate. Some come here to avoid problems where they are. Some come here because they are ambitious,and the US offers better facilities and education. Schwartzenegger certainly had fewer opportunities as prospective career muscleman in Austria than here. I would imagine that any Polish person wishing to become a pro golfer would prefer Los Angeles to Crakow, being as there are no golf courses in Crakow. I don't think that there are not blanket statements that cover everyone.
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thats true.
I just don`t understand why so many americans want to live in france.
it`s not exactly paradise there.
everybody i know says the people thier are not friendly, but then I`m only talking about paris.
possibly the rest are not like that
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everybody i know says the people thier are not friendly, but then I`m only talking about paris.
possibly the rest are not like that
The "nice" part of France (IMHO) is the Provence region (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provence); the food is better there, as well.
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often I hear people say don`t bother going
tuscany has comparible food, cech republic actually has recreated areas of france in them .
with the exception of the art made decades ago.thiers very little need to go there.
even the food is not that big of a draw.
kind of hard to impress people with food most folks can`t afford to eat.
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even the food is not that big of a draw.
kind of hard to impress people with food most folks can`t afford to eat.
The food in Provence is mostly peasant food, and actually similar to that of Tuscany (Provence borders Italy). Also, it's mostly pretty cheap.
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i really gotta go to italy.
way too many good food reference about it.
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i really gotta go to italy.
I found a "cooking tour" of Tuscany one time. I want to do it. It's like 5 days, and each day you have a cooking class with a different chef, touring some of the best restaurants.
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that sounds fantastic
learning to cook anything is always a treat for me.
my next project is braising
specificly curry lamb.
I`m devoting a very large amount of my time to this
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Alton Brown just did an episode about lamb curry. He cooked it Tandoori style.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/lamb-tikka-masala-recipe/index.html (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/lamb-tikka-masala-recipe/index.html)
Of course, if you watch the show, he also demonstrates how to turn a backyard grill into a Tandoori oven using a large clay pot.
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I really gotta see more of his stuff
he actually explains how it`s done, to cut down on errors.
ex, heat momentum and eggs.
because of him I don`t make tough scrambled eggs anymore.
but I still disagree about his opinion on oysters and clams
I hate raw clams,but love oysters
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I hate raw clams,but love oysters
Me, too, but my wife is the opposite. My wife also hates mussels, but I love 'em. Though I did find one place that made mussels that my wife thought were pretty good. Ozzie's Crabhouse in Grant, FL.
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I love mussel your side of the country.
for some reason it has a cleaner taste than here in the pacific.
pacific and atlantic seafood are quite different in flavor.
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I visited Paris, Burgundy and Pau, and found nearly everyone to be as friendly or friendlier than people here in Miami. If you have Johnny Depp's, Jodie Foster's or Robert Crumb's money, I am sure that a small provincial French village has it all over places in the US, like Stuttgart, Arkansas, Orrick, Missouri, or Buckhannon, WV.
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I visited Paris, Burgundy and Pau, and found nearly everyone to be as friendly or friendlier than people here in Miami.
I'm not so sure that is a comment about the French, or more of a comment about Miami.
I've found Miami to be about as unfriendly as NYC (probably because Miami is pretty much the southernmost borough of NYC...)
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The reputation is that the French in general and Parisians in particular are especially rude. I find that this is not the case.
Miami is not especially friendly, but that is not just because of the New Yorkers. There are hostile people from all over here.
But by and large, asking directions, asking for help, conversing with people in parks and museums, one finds friendly people both in Miami and in France.
Argentina, Honduras, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Mexico are friendlier than here, as is anywhere in the US W. of the Mississippi or in most of the South (so long as you are the color of the person you are speaking to).
I simply meant that the reputation that the French have for being rude is not warranted, at least if you speak French a bit.
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to be fair some people considered rudness as a sign of high culture.
so that maybe the reason for the attraction.
ok, maybe rude is the wrong word
quick to insult is more like it.