From The World Tribune:

The U.S. military has reported that Iran has smuggled advanced surface-to-air missiles into Iraq for the purpose of downing U.S. combat aircraft. 

Officials said Iran has transported man-portable SAM systems to Shi'ite allies in Iraq. They said some of the missiles have already been fired at U.S. Army helicopters.

To read this article, please visit The World Tribune 

From The New York Times: 

"BAGHDAD, Oct. 17 — Iraq has agreed to award $1.1 billion in contracts to Iranian and Chinese companies to build a pair of enormous power plants, the Iraqi electricity minister said Tuesday. Word of the project prompted serious concerns among American military officials, who fear that Iranian commercial investments can mask military activities at a time of heightened tension with Iran."

Please visit The New York Times to read this article: New York Times 

From Fox News:

" Dramatic video produced by Iraqi insurgents and captured in a raid earlier this week by U.S. troops clearly shows a battery of sophisticated Iranian-made rocket launchers firing on American positions east of Baghdad, Pentagon officials said Wednesday."

To read this article, please visit Fox News 

From The Washington Post: 

In a troubling report on the execution of minors in Iran, Amnesty International said yesterday that at least 71 child offenders are on death row and more than 24 have been executed since 1990, more than in any other country.

To read this story, please visit The Washington Post 

From Breitbart.com: 

"Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces have been spotted by British troops crossing the border into southern Iraq, The Sun tabloid reported on Tuesday.

Britain's defence ministry would not confirm or deny the report, with a spokesman declining to comment on "intelligence matters"."

To read this article, please visit Breitbart.com 

 From MSN Money:

"Gov. Charlie Crist signed the Protecting Florida's Investments Act into law at a Boca Raton synagogue on Friday. The bill makes Florida the first state to require divestiture from such companies."

To read this story, please visit MSN Money 

 From Sacbee.com:

Assembly sends the Senate a measure with mandates for CalPERS and CalSTRS.

"California lawmakers took a step closer Tuesday toward ordering the state's two giant public pension funds to unload more than $2 billion in retirement money invested in foreign companies doing business in Iran."

To read this article, please visit Sacbee.com 

 From Pension & Investments:

"The Illinois Senate passed an Iran divestment bill Thursday, sending it to Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The bill affects only the five state retirement systems, which would have to divest holdings in Iran-connected companies in energy and other natural resource areas."

To read this article, please visit Pension & Investments 

A great statesman once said, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing”.  Sadly before the start of WWII, we faced a threat similar to the one posed by Iran, but we failed to act. Winston Churchill referred to it as the “Gathering Storm”. Because we failed to act, millions died and millions more suffered. Iran poses a grave and growing threat not only to our troops who are serving in Iraq, but to our country as well. 

So which companies have ties to Iran?

 From KansasCity.com:

"A senior U.S. diplomat accused Iran on Tuesday of transferring weapons to Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan - the most direct comments yet on the issue by a ranking American official."

To read this story, please visit KansasCity.com 

As to Honda’s investment in Iran.  This is a serious issue (see: Director of Moms For Ohio Testifies In Support of Iran Divestment Bill). Honda owns a small, minority share in a company called Tizro, which manufactures motorcycles.  Although Honda has not taken an actual position on the Iran Divestment bill, Jeffrey Smith, Assistant Vice President for Corporate Affairs at American Honda, has said that “Due to the tough motorcycle business environment and other factors, Honda is currently in discussions as to the future of their relationship with Tizro.”   We’re glad to hear it, very glad.  For nothing is more important to us than ensuring that our troops are kept as safe as possible while they are serving our country.  And we will be checking with Honda in the future as to the status of their concern in Iran, and hope that the issue of their involvement with Tizro will be resolved in the near future.

It is also important to note that in talking with Jeffrey Smith, Assistant Vice President for Corporate Affairs at American Honda, it is clear that American Honda Motor Company is deeply concerned for those serving in Iraq, and indeed all of the members of our armed forces.  Since September 11th, there have been a number of Honda associates that have been deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and many other countries.  In Ohio, the Honda Motor Corporation actually provides health benefits for the families of those serving in our armed forces, even after they have been deployed and until they are able to return to work.  Honda also makes up the difference between the amount the military pays their service personnel and the amount they would have made had they been able to continue in their position in Honda.  In addition, employees who are called to active service keep both their seniority and their benefits.  And lastly, Honda stays in touch with the families of those who are serving in the military, in case there is a way that they can be of assistance.   One issue that we desperately need to address in this country is that we need to take better care not only of those men and women that we send overseas to serve, but also of their families, and we are sure that the families of those serving in the armed forces are deeply grateful for their support and we commend Honda for their efforts.

From Fox News:

"I think we've got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq," Lieberman said. "And to me, that would include a strike over the border into Iran, where we have good evidence that they have a base at which they are training these people coming back into Iraq to kill our soldiers."

To read this article, please visit Fox News 

From The Plain Dealer: 

"Columbus- State pension fund managers have agreed to sell off half of the stock they hold in dozens of companies doing business in Iran and Sudan by the end of the year. The move to divest more than $500 million worth of stock by officials from the five state public pension funds came Thursday afternoon as they met a 48-hour deadline to accept a deal brokered by House Speaker Jon Husted."

To read this story, please visit The Plain Dealer 

From The Columbus Dispatch:

"Ohio's five public pension systems capitulated yesterday to demands from lawmakers that they give up investments in companies that do business with Iran and Sudan.

After resisting calls to divest as an affront to their ability to make money for government employees, the executives of the five pension funds told House Speaker Jon A. Husted that they would work to pull most of their money out of companies with ties to the two Islamic nations."

To read this story, please visit The Columbus Dispatch 

From The Columbus Dispatch:

"Ohio's five public pension systems capitulated yesterday to demands from lawmakers that they give up investments in companies that do business with Iran and Sudan.

After resisting calls to divest as an affront to their ability to make money for government employees, the executives of the five pension funds told House Speaker Jon A. Husted that they would work to pull most of their money out of companies with ties to the two Islamic nations."

To read this story, please visit The Columbus Dispatch 

From The STRS Website:

"STRS Ohio’s executive director, Damon Asbury, testified in opposition to the bill."

To read more about the State Teachers Retirement System's position on HB 151 (the Iran Divestment Bill), please visit STRS 

We are here today to urge you to support HB 151.  We live in difficult times and balancing our country’s need for security with our need to maintain an open and free democracy can at times be challenging, but it’s only commonsense that we ensure that Ohio’s taxpayer dollars are invested in ways that will strengthen both our state and country.  Ohio’s hard earned taxpayer dollars should NOT be used to benefit those who would harm us.  Investing Ohio’s taxpayer dollars, even indirectly, in Iran is risky and it’s wrong-and it must be stopped.

As to the question, “Does Iran pose a genuine threat to our nation’s security?”  The answer to that question is absolutely-YES.  According to news reports, just months after September 11th, chants of “Death to America” resounded through out Iran during a demonstration in which demonstrators burned the American Flag.  USA Today reported that in Iran, “Shouts of ‘Death to America!’ rang out in the conservative-dominated parliament after lawmakers voted to advance the nation's nuclear program”.  So much for Iran’s claim of wanting a nuclear program for peaceful purposes only.  Since then Americans have seen numerous, hate filled news reports from Iran in which demonstrators chant “Death to America” over and over again.  The question has never been, “Does Iran pose a threat to
our country?”  The question has always been and continues to be, “What should we do about it?”

From The Plain Dealer:

"The United States is talking with Iran. Depending on who you are, some good may very well come of it.

If you're an Iranian who wants your country to have nuclear weapons and thereby instantly become the Middle East's undisputed chief bully, you've got to think you're closer to your goal. From your point of view, that's good."

To read this article, please visit The Plain Dealer 

From The Dayton Daily News:

"A battle is brewing over Ohio public pension and workers' compensation funds being indirectly invested in Iran and Sudan — two countries that U.S. Department of State says sponsor terrorism."

To read this article, please visit The Dayton Daily News 

From The New York Times: 

"Inspectors for the International Atomic Energy Agency have concluded that Iran appears to have solved most of its technological problems and is now beginning to enrich uranium on a far larger scale than before, according to the agency’s top officials.

The findings may change the calculus of diplomacy in Europe and in Washington, which aimed to force a suspension of Iran’s enrichment activities in large part to prevent it from learning how to produce weapons-grade material."

To read this story, please visit The New York Times 

Gunnery Sergeant Mark DePhillips Testifies In Support of Ohio's Iran Divestment Bill

Posted on 04/26/2007 4:07:33 PM PDT by LSUfan

The following testimony on the merits of divestment from Iran was given in front of the Ohio State Assembly on April 25, 2007.

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee:

I am Gunnery Sergeant Mark DePhillips with 3rd Batallion/25th Marines, based out of Brookpark, Ohio with companies in Akron, New York, West Virginia, and Lima Company here in Columbus.

I drove down from Cleveland this morning to testify in support of H.B. 151, the Iran Divestment bill.

I would like to start off by reading some headlines that have appeared in the news over the past six months:

Iranian Weapons Arm Iraqi Militia
ABC News
November 30, 2006

Iran arms Iraqi insurgents
The Washington Times
February 12, 2007

U.S. Accuses Iran of Arming Iraqi Insurgents
NPR.org
April 11, 2007

U.S. military: Iran training Iraqi bomb makers
MSNBC.com
April 11, 2007

Iraqi insurgents being trained in Iran, U.S. says
CNN.com
April 12, 2007

General sees Iran's hand in Iraq fight
Associated Press
April 13, 2007

I read these headlines to you because I believe it is important for you to understand that the Islamic Republic of Iran is contributing to the death of young Americans in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Iran Divestment Testimony of R. James Woolsey

"Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee, I am R. James Woolsey and I’m honored to testify before you today on this important issue.

By way of background, I have served in the federal government on five occasions, holding Presidential appointments in two Republican and two Democratic administrations, most recently as Director of Central Intelligence for two years during the first Clinton administration. 

Today, I am Vice President of the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, where I work principally in the field of energy.

I also serve as co-chair of the Committee on the Present Danger, a bipartisan organization that seeks to stiffen American resolve to confront and defeat what we call “Islamist totalitarianism,” or “militant Islamism,” and the terrorism it breeds.  The other co-chair is former Secretary of State George Shultz.  We are an organization of over 100 former White House officials, Ambassadors, Cabinet Secretaries, academics, and other foreign policy experts who have come together to educate free people about this threat to the United States and the free world; to counsel against appeasing terrorists and the states that sponsor them; to support policies to confront this menace; and to encourage the development of civil society and democracy in regions from which the terrorists emanate.

I am pleased to talk to you today about why we must use every possible tool in the fight against this menace."

From Ohio.com:

"COLUMBUS, Ohio - Several companies with strong Ohio ties would be affected by a legislative proposal to pull state pension investments from international companies doing business in Iran, according to one pension system's research.

To read this story, please visit Ohio.com 

 From The Washington Post:

 Wednesday, June 21, 2006; Page A01

According to residents of Yusufiya and a relative of one of the victims, the soldiers were beheaded. An Iraqi official said they had been brutally tortured before their death, but provided no further details. "

To read this article, please visit The Washington Post 

Editorial, Theresa Fleming, Director of Moms For Ohio 

We live in difficult times and balancing our country’s need for security with our need to maintain an open and free democracy can at times be challenging, but it’s only commonsense that we ensure that Ohio’s taxpayer dollars are invested in ways that will strengthen both our state and country.  Ohio’s hard earned taxpayer dollars should NOT be used to benefit those who would harm us.  Investing Ohio’s taxpayer dollars in Iran is risky and it’s wrong-and it must be stopped.

As to the question, “Does Iran pose a genuine threat to our nation’s security?”  The answer to that question is absolutely-YES.  According to news reports, just months after September 11th, chants of “Death to America” resounded through out Iran during a demonstration in which demonstrators burned the American Flag.  USA Today reported that in Iran, “Shouts of ‘Death to America!’ rang out in the conservative-dominated parliament after lawmakers voted to advance the nation's nuclear program, an issue of national pride that provides a rare point of agreement between conservatives and reformers”.  So much for Iran’s claim of wanting a nuclear program for peaceful purposes only.  Since then Americans have seen numerous, hate filled news reports from Iran in which demonstrators chant “Death to America” over and over again.  The question has never been, “Does Iran pose a threat to our country?”  The question has always been and continues to be, “What should we do about it?”

Please take a moment to view the video below, it is one that every American citizen should watch.

To view the video, please use this link:LiveLeak
 

To help keep members informed, we will continue to post news reports from a variety of news outlets.  Please keep in mind that these links do take visitors outside of MomsForOhio.com.  Please be aware that Moms For Ohio does not endorse, and can not be responsible for the views, content or accuracy of information contained on these sites.  Thanks for visiting Moms for Ohio!

USA Today:

Iranian lawmakers OK uranium enrichment

“Shouts of "Death to America!" rang out in the conservative-dominated parliament after lawmakers voted to advance the nation's nuclear program, an issue of national pride that provides a rare point of agreement between conservatives and reformers. “

To read this article, visit USA Today

Guest Column From State Representative Shannon Jones

Editorial 

If I told you that your tax dollars are supporting terrorism you probably wouldn’t believe me.  The very idea sounds absurd in this age of increased homeland security and terror threat levels.  But sadly it is true. 

As you may know, the state of Ohio has several pension funds that support our teachers, fire fighters, police officers, and other government workers.  Preserving the hard-earned retirement dollars of those who protect and serve us is an extraordinarily important task.  You can only imagine, then, how shocked I was to learn that billions of these pension dollars are currently invested in foreign companies doing business with the terrorist-sponsoring government of Iran. 

By Fred Thompson 

Oil prices fell. The stock market rose. Video images of smiling British soldiers with Iranian President Ahmadinejad were everywhere. So were pictures of the 15 freed hostages embracing family members back home. The relief over the return of the Brits was so tremendous; you could almost hear birds singing.

Maybe it's because military action won't be needed or maybe it's just because the ordeal won't drag on and on, but the world is breathing easier now. A lot of folks are happy. The problem, as I see it, is that Ahmadinejad seems to be the happiest. And why shouldn't he be? He has shown the world that his forces can kidnap British citizens, subject them to brutal psychological tactics to coerce phony confessions, finagle the release of a high-ranking Iranian terror coordinator in Iraq, utterly trash the Geneva conventions and suffer absolutely no consequences.

ABC News:

"MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia plans to sell more than $1 billion worth of tactical surface-to-air missiles and other defense hardware to Iran, media reported on Friday."

To read this story, please visit ABC

Reuters:

"The White House on Wednesday demanded the immediate release of two Israeli soldiers captured by Lebanon's Hizbollah guerrillas and blamed Syria and Iran for the attacks."

To read this story, please visit Reuters 

From The Telegraph:

"North Korea is helping Iran to prepare an underground nuclear test similar to the one Pyongyang carried out last year."

To read this story, please visit The Telegraph 

Breitbart.com: 

"Americans' fears about Iran have grown sharply over the last few months as efforts by the United States and Europe to slow Tehran's nuclear program have been firmly rejected, a poll found."

To read this article, please visit Breitbart.com 

Moms Commend State Representatives Josh Mandel & Shannon Jones For Their Efforts To Safeguard Ohio’s Taxpayer Dollars & Our Children’s Future

-Theresa Fleming, Director of Moms For Ohio

We live in difficult times and balancing our country’s need for security with our need to maintain an open and free democracy can at times be challenging, but it’s only commonsense that we ensure that Ohio’s taxpayer dollars are invested in ways that will strengthen both our state and country.

As Moms, the security and safety of our children are our #1 priority.  Ohio’s hard earned taxpayer dollars should NOT be used to benefit those who would do us harm.  Investing in companies who are willing to do business with Iran is risky and it’s wrong and as Moms, we are deeply grateful that there are State Representatives such as Josh Mandel and Shannon Jones who have the commonsense and courage to ensure that our state’s investments are used to strengthen our state and country, instead of weaken it.   For more information on the bill, please see below or contact State Representative Josh Mandel at 216-647-7575 or State Representative Shannon Jones at 614-644-6027.  Thanks!