In early December I received a call from Fred Burton, Stratfor's vice president of intelligence. He told me he had received information indicating our website had been hacked and our customer credit card and other information had been stolen. The following morning I met with an FBI special agent, who made clear that there was an ongoing investigation and asked for our cooperation. We, of course, agreed to cooperate. The matter remains under active investigation.

Iran’s 30-year war against the United States may be reaching its decisive moment. Signs of the worsening crisis abound. Iran just announced it has begun enriching uranium at the Fordo underground nuclear site, a key step to producing more quickly fissile material for a nuclear warhead. As Europe moves closer to embargoing Iranian oil, deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guard Ali Ashraf Nouri threatens, “ If enemies block the export of our oil, we won’t allow a drop of oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil passes. In support of this threat, the regime continues to stage war games in the area and to warn American warships from passing through the strait into the Persian Gulf. Meanwhile the U.S. and Israel have announced a joint missile defense exercise, as Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visits America’s enemies in Latin America, bearding the U.S. lion in its own hemisphere of influence.     

Boko Haram extremists take credit for bloody assaults in three towns.

GOMBE, Nigeria, January 9 (Compass Direct News) – The number of Christians killed in an Islamic extremist attack here on Thursday (Jan. 5) has risen to nine, and over the weekend the same terrorist group killed at least 21 Christians in neighboring Adamawa state, sources said.  

Members of the Boko Haram group that seeks to impose sharia (Islamic law) on Nigeria emerged from a mosque near the Deeper Life Bible Church in the Boso area of Gombe, capital of Gombe state, at about 7:30 p.m. and shot Christians attending a weekly meeting known as “The Hour of Revival,” area sources said.

Yesterday, Iraq was hit with another wave of bombings as sectarian strife continues to dramatically increase following the withdrawal of U.S. forces. At least 70 Shiites were killed, presumably by Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Across the Middle East, tension and bloodshed between the region’s various communities is increasing, prompting Turkey to warn of a new Cold War.

Three of the explosions took place in Sadr City, the Shiite stronghold in Baghdad of Moqatada al-Sadr. Another two explosions happened in Kadhimiyah district and near Nasiriyah, targeting Shiites celebrating the holiday of Arbaeen by traveling to Karbala. On December 22, 60 Iraqis were killed in terrorist attacks in Baghdad.  

Thirteen months after a Tunisian street-vendor immolated himself and sparked the revolutions in the Middle East dubbed the “Arab Spring,” the bipartisan celebrations that attended those events last year appear premature, if not delusional. Now that Islamist parties are consolidating their power in the wake of the regime changes in those countries, President Obama’s claim that Egyptians merely wanted “a government that is fair and just and responsive,” or Senator John McCain’s assertions that Libyans were aiming for “lasting peace, dignity, and justice,” or Senator Joseph Lieberman’s article in Foreign Affairs that summarized the Arab Spring as a struggle for “democracy, dignity, economic opportunity, and involvement in the modern world” each reflects dangerous wishful thinking rather than sober analysis.    

News of Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict | (December 28, 2011 – January 3, 2012)

Summary:

This past week the Israeli Air Force struck terrorist operatives planning and carrying out terrorist attacks against Israel, killing four of them, three of them apparently operatives of global jihad-affiliated networks and one Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative. Palestinian terrorist organizations attacked the western Negev with six rockets and two mortar shells, all of which fell in open areas.