| Author | Message | | Alpha | | Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2004 10:42 pm Post subject: Regime Change in Iran? |
| The fully formatted report may be found at
http://wanniski.com/showarticle.asp?articleid=3845
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Regime Change in Iran?
Sep 21 2004
Memo To: Senator Rick Santorum [R PA]
From: Jude Wanniski
Re: What about those Iranian Nukes?
Dear Senator, I see that you are sponsoring legislation supporting
"regime change" in Iran, which suggests you have had the neo-cons
whispering in your ears again about the "axis of evil." You are probably going
to get support for your bill for the same reason the neo-cons led us
into the unnecessary war in Iraq, which is the propaganda that Iran is
developing nuclear weapons. You should be careful, Senator, especially
what you read in the newspapers, including the NYTimes, as most general
assignment reporters covering these issues don`t know the difference
between a nuclear power plant and a nuclear weapons program. I`m afraid our
Secretary of State does not either.
In yesterday`s Times, Steve Weisman makes a crucial error in his report
on how Bush officials are divided on how to handle Iran: "Like Iraq in
its final years under Saddam Hussein, Iran is believed by experts to be
on the verge of developing a nuclear bomb. In Iraq, that proved to be
untrue, though this time the consensus is much stronger among Western
experts."
The fact is, Senator, that no nuclear "experts" believe Iran is on the
verge of developing a nuclear bomb, least of all the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). As I wrote to Weisman, a reporter whose work I
admire when he is not covering topics outside his realm of expertise:
The problem is John Bolton, the Undersecretary of State for
non-proliferation, who broadcasts this kind of stuff all over the world in the
service of his real boss, Richard Perle, the neo-con looney who cooked up
the war with Iraq and now would like to do Iran. In his plan to run the
world via his neo-con network, Perle made sure Bolton, a fellow
"fellow" at the American Enterprise Institute, got the job at State in order
to poison the mind of Colin Powell. How does Powell know Iran has a nuke
program? The IAEA doesn`t know that. And Senator Kerry`s position is
exactly the same, as I understand it, as the Russians, Germans and Brits,
who propose guaranteeing Iran the fissile material it needs to run its
power plants. The Bush (Bolton) position seems to be that Iraq must
waive the rights it is supposed to have as an NPT signator (or maybe the
Israelis will have to bomb the Iranian power plant at Bushehr). As a
matter of fact, Dr. Gordon Prather, a nuclear physicist who was the top
scientist for the army in the Reagan years, tells me that Iran has not
only been living up to the letter of its commitment to the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty, but going beyond the commitment in order to satisfy
international concerns.
Prather points to another piece in yesterday`s NYTimes by Craig Smith,
which has an ominous headline, "A Defiant Iran Starts Enriching
Uranium," but which includes the following:
Iran has offered to accept any safeguards imposed by the United Nations
agency to ensure its enrichment activities do not go beyond the 3.5
percent concentration of the uranium-235 isotope needed for its power
plant.
But some American analysts warn that the international community has
only a year or so left to stop the Iranian program from achieving
self-sufficiency. After that, they warn, the country will have the means to
create a nuclear arsenal without outside help, forever altering the
Middle East balance of power.
The atomic energy agency is trying to force the country to voluntarily
accept limits to its rights under the nonproliferation treaty without
setting off an Iranian withdrawal from the accord.
Iran, however, says it is reluctant to accept such limits, arguing that
such discrimination is specifically prohibited under the treaty and
that accepting any such limits would set a dangerous precedent for other
treaties that it has signed.
"We are determined to obtain peaceful atomic technology even if it
causes a halt to international supervision," President Mohammad Khatami of
Iran said in Tehran today. He reiterated the country`s claim that it
has no interest in developing nuclear weapons and wants a nuclear
capability only for peaceful purposes, such as power generation. The country
is nearing completion of a 1,000-megawatt light-water nuclear reactor
and plans to build seven more. In other words, Iran is willing to do
anything it is required to do under the terms of the NPT, to which it is
signator, but that it will not submit to international pressure that it
"voluntarity" give up its right to enrich uranium to a rate suitable for
use in a power plant, but not nearly enriched to a point where it
becomes suitable for a nuke.
You`ve known me for many years, Rick, and know I am not a man who plays
fast and loose with the facts. Before I take a position on a matter of
this great importance, I spend as much time as I need to satisfy myself
that I am on solid ground. It was because of this due diligence on my
part that I concluded before the pre-emptive war decision by President
Bush that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction, that he had
in fact destroyed what he had in 1991 and did not reconstitute them,
and that he had not operational ties to Al Qaeda. You were snookered by
the Perle Cabal at the time and came to believe that the war was
justified, and now must admit you were wrong. Don`t make the same mistake a
second time. Before you proceed, please ask a lot more questions than you
have so far. In fact, give Dr. Prather a call if you are really serious
about getting to the bottom of things.
* * * * *
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Last edited by Alpha on Thu Sep 23, 2004 10:47 pm; edited 1 time in total | |  | | Alpha | | Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2004 10:45 pm Post subject: Israel says Iran is next for U.S.agenda |
| From: BGJDAVID
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 15:06:10 EDT
Subject: Israel says Iran is next for U.S.agenda
While the Israelis refuse to join the nuclear non-proliferation treaty as required by those who maintain nuclear weapons, and while they purchase another 5000 smart bombs from the U.S., and while they refuse to adhere to more than 60 U.N. Resolutions, they have the nerve to accuse Iran as the world's primary exporter of "terror, hate, and instability." How long will it be before the U.S. succumbs to Israel's demands that America must attack Iran? When will the American people wake up and see why other nations in the Middle East would desire nuclear weapons to protect themselves from Israel's nuclear arsenal?
Israel charges Iran replaces Saddam as terror exporter
By Carol Giacomo
UNITED NATIONS, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Israel charged on Thursday that Iran had replaced Saddam Hussein as the world's primary exporter of "terror, hate and instability."
Stepping up a war of words between the Middle East's two most implacable enemies, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom challenged the U.N. General Assembly to "end its obsession" with the Jewish state and focus instead on "the active involvement of Iran and Syria in terrorism."
"Indeed, Iran has replaced Saddam Hussein as the world's number one exporter of terror, hate and instability," Shalom asserted at the world forum.
Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said on Wednesday that Israel, not Iran, was the greatest threat to all countries in the Middle East because of its "nuclear bombs as well as other weapons of mass destruction."
Israel is widely believed to have the only atomic arsenal in the Middle East, although it maintains a policy of refusing to confirm or deny its nuclear capability .
Iran insists that its own nuclear program, the object of intense scrutiny by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, is purely for peaceful purposes. Israel and the United States charge it is a front for efforts to produce the bomb.
Shalom said in his speech there was a time when the problems of terror, Islamic fundamentalism and Iran's nuclear ambition were seen as "local problems, Israel's problems."
The international community now recognized, he contended, that Iran, with missiles that could reach London, Paris, Berlin and southern Russia, threatened the whole world, not just Israel.
FRUSTRATION
On Wednesday, Shalom told reporters the United Nations should move toward sanctions against Iran because Tehran was never going to abandon its alleged quest for nuclear weapons.
Security sources in Israel reported this week said the Jewish state was planning to buy 500 U.S. "bunker buster" bombs that could be effective against Iran's underground facilities.
Tehran defied a resolution by the agency's board on Tuesday by announcing it had begun converting a large amount of raw uranium to prepare it for enrichment, a process that can be used to develop atom bombs.
European Union states engaged in a dialogue with Iran on its nuclear program expressed frustration and warned that time was running out for Tehran to stop all activities that could give it a military nuclear capability.
"As (French Foreign Minister) Michel Barnier was saying yesterday, the moment of truth is approaching and will arrive in November at the International Atomic Energy Agency board meeting," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told reporters.
Shalom also accused the Palestinians of expending "more energy fighting Israel here at the U.N. than it does fighting the terrorists in its own territory."
In the aftermath of the Sept, 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, "this is not acceptable" and Palestinians must stand up against Islamic groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, he said.
The Israeli minister defended the barrier Israel is building to cut off Palestinian areas, saying: "The fence does not take lives. It saves them. Where there is a fence, there is no terror. Where there is no fence, there is terror."
The World Court has said the fence's route through occupied Palestinian territory is illegal.
Shalom called on the General Assembly should convene a special session to address the growth of anti-Semitism, racism and other forms of intolerance.
09/23/04 13:42 ET | | | | Alpha | | Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2004 10:48 pm Post subject: Iran Tests 'Strategic Missile' |
| Iran Tests 'Strategic Missile'
2 hours, 25 minutes ago
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran said Saturday it successfully tested a "strategic missile" and delivered it to its armed forces, state-run radio reported.
The report did not say whether the missile was the previously announced new version of the Shahab-3 rocket, which already was capable of reaching Israel and U.S. forces stationed in the Middle East, or was a new missile.
Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani declined to give details about the missile for "security reasons," but said Iran was "ready to confront all regional and extra-regional threats," the report said.
Defense Ministry officials could not be reached for comment on the report.
"This strategic missile was successfully test fired during military exercises by the Revolutionary Guards and delivered to the armed forces," Shamkhani was quoted as saying. The exercises were held Sept. 12-18.
The announcement came four days after Israel said it was buying about 5,000 U.S.-made smart bombs, including 500 one-ton bunker-busters that can penetrate 6-foot-thick concrete walls.
In 1981, Israel bombed Iraq (news - web sites)'s nuclear facility before the reactor could begin operating and the smart bombs are believed capable of destroying Iranian nuclear sites. Iran is suspected by the United States and others of developing nuclear arms and is under increasing international pressure to cease some atomic projects.
The maneuvers conducted by Iran's Revolutionary Guards this month near the border with Iraq were described by top military officials as being designed to reinforce the country's resolve to defend itself against "big powers."
During the maneuvers, state-run radio said a "long-range missile" would be test fired, but there had not been any official confirmation of the test.
The military exercises came a few weeks after Iran said it had test fired a new version of the Shahab-3. Iran's Defense Ministry didn't give the missile's new range, but Israeli sources speaking in Jerusalem later said it was more than 1,200 miles, or about 400 miles longer than its previous range.
The development of the Shahab, whose name means "shooting star" in Persian, has raised fears in Israel about possible attack by the Iranian government, which strongly opposes the Jewish state's existence.
Earlier this month, Israel launched a spy satellite meant to monitor Iran but the Ofek-6 plunged into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after launch.
Last edited by Alpha on Sat Sep 25, 2004 4:12 pm; edited 1 time in total | | | | Alpha | | | | Alpha | | | | Alpha | | Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2004 5:00 pm Post subject: Oil and Iran |
| From: Tool
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 12:17:15 EDT
Subject: Oil and Iran
An Israeli strike, and the wider war it might touch off, also could send oil prices skyrocketing and jeopardize the global economy, analysts say.
Jay Greer, an official at the State Department's political-military bureau, which oversees arms sales and transfers, said giving the weapons to Israel "will in our view enhance U.S. national security and foreign policy interests and help maintain Israel's qualitative military edge in the region."
Asked whether the transfer makes sense amid the growing confrontation over Iran's nuclear program, Greer said, "I can't talk about that."
http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/wood092304.html
NATIONAL SECURITY
U.S. to Sell Precision-Guided Bombs to Israel
BY DAVID WOOD
c.2004 Newhouse News Service
\
More Stories by David Wood
WASHINGTON -- Amid growing concern that Israel might launch a pre-emptive strike against Iran's budding nuclear program, the United States is moving ahead with the transfer to Israel of 5,000 heavy, precision-guided bombs, including 500 "earth-penetrating" 2,000-pound bombs designed for use against underground facilities.
The $319 million arms transfer, proposed by the Bush administration June 1, went ahead after Congress took no action during its 30-day review period, Jose Ibarra, a spokesman for the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, said Wednesday. The deal is being financed from this year's $2.16 billion military assistance grant to Israel.
The transfer also includes 2,500 2,000-pound Mark-84 bombs, 500 1,000-pound Mark-83 bombs, 1,500 500-pound Mark-82 bombs and live fuses. All the bombs are being fitted with the Joint Direct Air Munitions (JDAM) kit which uses inertial guidance and beacons from U.S. military Global Positioning Satellites for deadly accuracy.
"That's an arsenal for war," said Joseph Cirincione, senior associate for non-proliferation at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. He said any attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, clustered in three major complexes and dozens of other sites, "wouldn't be a pinprick strike; it would have to be a large-scale military airstrike that would result in large-scale casualties."
Asked Wednesday about Iran's nuclear program and the potential for an Israeli pre-emptive strike, Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters the United States is trying to use "diplomacy and political efforts to stop this movement on the part of the Iranians toward a nuclear weapon." He did not directly address U.S. transfers of advanced munitions to Israel.
Some U.S. officials acknowledge privately that the Bush administration is split on how to react to Iran's apparent intention to obtain nuclear weapons, with some advocating forceful military action and others pushing for concerted international diplomatic pressure. Powell said Wednesday he expects the issue to be referred to the U.N. Security Council if there is no resolution within a month. Economic sanctions against Iran could follow.
War games run at the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency to examine the repercussions of a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities have consistently reached a chilling conclusion: Iran would unleash a wave of terrorism against Israeli targets worldwide and against U.S. troops in the Middle East. Some 140,000 American military personnel are currently stationed adjacent to Iran in Iraq and Kuwait.
Iranian missiles have the range to hit U.S. bases in the region.
An Israeli strike, and the wider war it might touch off, also could send oil prices skyrocketing and jeopardize the global economy, analysts say.
Jay Greer, an official at the State Department's political-military bureau, which oversees arms sales and transfers, said giving the weapons to Israel "will in our view enhance U.S. national security and foreign policy interests and help maintain Israel's qualitative military edge in the region."
Asked whether the transfer makes sense amid the growing confrontation over Iran's nuclear program, Greer said, "I can't talk about that."
Israeli officials have said allowing Iran to develop nuclear weapons would threaten Israel's very existence. Last fall, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz was reported saying that "under no circumstances would Israel be able to tolerate nuclear weapons in Iranian possession."
Iran, which insists its efforts are aimed only at developing reliable electric power sources, this week said it has begun a critical step in processing uranium into nuclear reactor fuel or nuclear bomb material: converting uranium ore, or "yellowcake," into gas. In gas form, uranium can be run through high-speed centrifuges to separate out the concentrated or "enriched" uranium.
That material, which terrorists could pack around a conventional explosive to make a "dirty bomb," is highly regulated by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
This past weekend, the agency demanded that Iran immediately stop all uranium-enrichment processing. In reply, Iran announced Tuesday it was starting the process of converting some 37 tons of yellowcake into gas.
Military analysts say any Israeli pre-emptive strike would entail destruction not only of Iran's nuclear reactors under construction at Bushehr and Arak and the gas centrifuge facility at Natanz, but would target mobile missile launchers, strike aircraft and other weapons in order to prevent a retaliatory attack.
An attack of that scope would take two to three days of continuous airstrikes. Intelligence assessments suggest Israel would drop at least 3,000 precision-guided munitions.
Under the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, countries receiving American weapons are allowed to use them for internal security, legitimate self-defense or for "preventing or hindering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction."
An Israeli source in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israel purchases military equipment "on an ongoing basis" from the United States but added, "We cannot confirm any specific deals."
A Pentagon memorandum discussing the arms transfer said it would help "improve the security of a friendly country that has been and continues to be an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East."
Sept. 23, 2004
(David Wood can be contacted at david.wood@newhouse.com)
Last edited by Alpha on Sat Sep 25, 2004 4:09 pm; edited 1 time in total | | | | Alpha | | | | Alpha | | Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 5:45 pm Post subject: The President's Comedy Routine |
| http://www.antiwar.com/reese/?articleid=3649
September 28, 2004
The President's Comedy Routine
by Charley Reese
President George Bush's denial of the reality of Iraq is beginning to sound like a stand-up comedy routine.
"Mr. President, the insurgency has spread to the whole country."
"We're making great progress."
"But Mr. President, the attacks against coalition forces have escalated dramatically."
"We're making great progress."
"But Mr. President, all but two percent of the Iraqi people want us to leave."
"We're making great progress."
"And the interim government has no support and in fact can't step outside the Green Zone without being surrounded by American security."
"We're making great progress."
And so forth. Whether the president is actually in denial or is misleading the public for partisan purposes, I will leave to your judgment. It would be less dangerous if he were engaged in deliberate deception. That, at least, is a sign of sanity.
Some are now speculating that the president's solution to the morass in Iraq will be to launch an attack against Iran – after the election, of course. There can be no other reason to sell Israel bunker-buster bombs. The only possible target would be Iran's nuclear reactors. The Iranians would retaliate, and, of course, the United States would join the war in defense of Israel. Widening the war to a country with 60 million people might sound stupid, but with this administration's record of stupid decisions, it's not to be ruled out.
Nothing would destroy the democratic movement in Iran quicker than an attack by Israel and the United States. The same stupid people who thought we would be greeted as liberators in Iraq, however, might actually think Iranians would welcome an attack. People who spend their lives in academic surroundings can be forgiven for not knowing much about human nature. The most basic response of all humans is to rally around their country's government when it is attacked by a foreign power. The Iranians would certainly do that, as they demonstrated in the 1980s when Saddam Hussein attacked them.
As all democratic nations do, we have uneven luck in choosing our leaders, but this is the first administration that actually scares me. There is nothing so stupid and wrongheaded that I can't visualize them doing it.
Bush has no real compassion. That's why he forbids ceremonies for returning dead. According to Ollie North, President Reagan was at the airport every time a dead American serviceman's body came home. The British also formally greet their returning dead with honor and respect. Only in the United States does the government even forbid news organizations from greeting the dead.
Bush and his corporate cronies care for Bush and his corporate cronies. If Reagan was the Teflon president, Bush is the irresponsible and unaccountable president. Not only has he created a bloody mess in Iraq, his economic policies have forced many American working men to endanger their lives by going there to work. | | | | Alpha | | Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 6:31 pm Post subject: Jane's: Israeli Moles Penetrate Pentagon |
| Jane's: Israeli Moles Penetrate Pentagon
A mole called Mega
The scandal over a suspected Israeli mole in the Pentagon who allegedly passed highly sensitive policy documents on Iran to Israeli agents in Washington has rekindled suspicions long held by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and others in Washington, that Israel systematically spies on its strategic ally and benefactor.
The FBI probe currently under way goes far beyond the allegations that a lone analyst was providing the Israelis with US secrets.
Shortly before George Tenet retired as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in June, he alleged that an Israeli agent was operating in Washington. Tenet was challenged to identify the agent but for reasons that were never explained apparently did not do so. For years, the FBI has been convinced that there is at least one high-level Israeli mole in Washington.
The Tenet episode underlined growing unease in some quarters in Washington about the influence that Israel's right wing has in US President George W Bush's administration through the pro-Likud neo-conservatives, largely in the Pentagon, and the politically powerful America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and loosely associated organisations, such as the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service, is known to seek out Jews around the world to serve as informal agents, known in Hebrew as sayanim or 'helpers'.
The Israeli government and AIPAC have strenuously denied that they were involved in the current scandal. But Israel's intelligence organisations have been spying on the US and running clandestine operations since Israel was established. These operations range from spiriting an estimated 200 lbs of weapons-grade uranium for its secret nuclear arms programme in the 1960s to widescale industrial espionage.
Much of this is conducted by the secret Scientific Liaison Bureau, known by its Hebrew acronym Lakam, run by the Ministry of Defence and its equally little-known successor, Malmab (the Security Authority for the Ministry of Defence).
http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/fr/fr040929_1_n.shtml | | | | Alpha | | | | | ©2002-2009 WarWithoutEnd.co.uk |
