Israel’s military chief of staff says he has ordered his forces to step up covert operations in enemy countries, AP reports. Time magazine says the opposite… assassinations of scientists and other such activities are being stopped by the lovely Bibi Netanyahu … AP story from the Washington Post extract below Israel’s chief of staff says [...]
Don’t Bomb Iran
“We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program” – US National Intelligence Estimate, Dec 2007
Featured News » Latest news and happenings.
Iran’s oil exports shut down by cyber attack
The famous Kharg Island, home to 90% of Iran’s oil exports, has apparently been shut down by a cyber-attack, according to the BBC. Extract below from BBC story Iranian oil terminal ‘offline’ after ‘malware attack’ Iran has been forced to disconnect key oil facilities after suffering a malware attack on Sunday, say reports. The [...]
US secretly trained MEK ‘terrorists’ in Nevada: Seymour Hersch
A longing piece in the New Yorker reveals that US special ops trained a group of MEK members (on the US list of terrorist organisations) in communications and combat techniques. “We did train them here, and washed them through the Energy Department because the D.O.E. owns all this land in southern Nevada,” a former senior [...]
Richard Clarke says US built Stuxnet, blew up centrifuges
“I think it’s pretty clear that the United States government did the Stuxnet attack,” says Richard Clarke, the ex-head of US counterterrorism under three presidents. The writer wrongly asserts that Natanz is producing weapons-grade uranium in a weapons programme. Clarke worries that the virus did not self-destruct as planned, and will blow back badly [...]
Turkey voices support for Iran nuclear programme
The Turkish PM flew direct to Tehran from the Korean nuke weapon talkfest, to say “Turkey has always clearly supported the nuclear positions of Iran” and will keep doing so. The crucial P5+1 talks starting on April 15 may be in Istanbul. Remember that Turkey helped the Israeli air force in its attack on [...]
Israel’s plan to attack Iran put on hold until next year at the earliest – Haaretz
Haaretz reports that last week’s war simulation at the Pentagon has forced “ Ehud Barak to reconsider attack plans; Americans pledge more money for Iron Dome antimissile system”. If an attack has been delayed, it could also be due to White House pressure on Azerbaijan to cancel vital Israeli air force access to Azeri airbases on [...]
Azerbaijan denies granting Israel access to air bases on Iran border
The prestigious magazine Foreign Policy reports that Israel’s air force has use of Azeri airbases, which would avoid the mid-air refuelling problems involved in an attack from Israel. The US has not been keen to openly supply Israel with tanker aircraft (although they have trained together in Nevada) , but an Azeri airbase would [...]
Iran nuclear timeline – Guardian
Timeline from Guardian July 1968 Iran joins nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) August 2002 The rebel group the National Council for Resistance in Iran reveals the existence of undeclared nuclear sites, including an enrichment plant in Natanz and a heavy-water production plant in Arak. Iran acknowledges existence of sites and asks the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to [...]
Ex-staff accuse IAEA chief of pro-western bias over Iran
Former IAEA officials warn of parallels between IAEA approach to Iran and mistakes over Iraq’s supposed WMD, saying that the new IAEA head has stifled debate in the agency and is prepared to report rumours. Former IAEA chief Hans Blix warns of a tendency to “base conclusions on information that has not been verified”. Another [...]
German taxpayers to help buy sixth Dolphin submarine for Israel
Germany has apparently agreed how much it will contribute to Israel’s next nuclear-weapons-capable submarine, a sale which is almost certainly in breach of EU arms trade regulations, in my opinion. Click here for related posts . Extracts from Reuters story: Germany sells sub to Israel but warns on attacking Iran 20 Mar 2012 18:07 Source: Reuters BERLIN, [...]
War game predicts Israel-Iran conflict disastrous for US
A two week Pentagon war game exercise modelling an Israeli attack on Iran seems to have spooked top brass, and its dire forecasts are leaked to the NYT. War game predicts Israel-Iran conflict disastrous for US. NYT Mark Mazzetti, Thom Shanker March 21, 2012 WASHINGTON: A classified war simulation exercise to assess the repercussions [...]
Redefining ‘Imminent’ attack and ‘due process’: US Attorney General on drone assassinations
US Attorney General Eric Holder, says the hundreds of drone strikes worldwide are legal self-defense against imminent attack – some international lawyers suggest Holder may be preparing a legal justification for a strike on Iran. On assassination of US citizens: “The Constitution guarantees due process,” he coldly added, “not judicial process.” According to Wikipedia due [...]
Majority of Israeli cabinet now support Iran attack
Google Translate of NRG story Evaluation: Most of the cabinet for Iran attack Eight ministers tend to support the position of Netanyahu and Barak for attack Iran, against six opponents. Cabinet members told the Knesset, Netanyahu’s speech yesterday: “It sounds like a speech preparation for attack.” A senior official: “The prime minister will not wait for U.S. elections in [...]
Israel teams with terror group to kill Iran’s nuclear scientists, U.S. officials tell NBC News
“Deadly attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists are being carried out by an Iranian dissident group that is financed, trained and armed by Israel’s secret service, U.S. officials tell NBC News, confirming charges leveled by Iran’s leaders.” Israel teams with terror group to kill Iran’s nuclear scientists, U.S. officials tell NBC News Thu Feb 9, [...]
How Mossad Justified Its Murder of an Innocent Iranian Electrical Engineer | Truthout
Iranian Electrical Engineer Saturday 17 March 2012 by: Gareth Porter, Truthout | News Analysis via How Mossad Justified Its Murder of an Innocent Iranian Electrical Engineer | Truthout. On July 23, 2011, a 35-year-old Iranian electrical engineering student named Darioush Rezaeinejad was gunned down as he and his wife, who was also wounded in [...]
Israel stations nuclear missile subs off Iran – Times
“Three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline” reports the Sunday Times. Israel allowed an interview with one of the captains, so it would seem that Israel is abandoning it’s nuclear ambiguity policy. The Times reported a similar deployment last year; and as [...]
Israeli bomb sale to S. Africa – documentary evidence published
The Guardian has published documentary evidence that Israel’s current President offered to sell nuclear weapons to South Africa’s apartheid regime in 1975. Shimon Peres’ signature in the photo below will make it very difficult for western countries to continue pretending that Israel does not have nuclear weapons or that it is not a proliferation threat. [...]
US intel’s 2009 report on Iran
US intel to Congress: We continue to assess Iran is keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons though we do not know whether Tehran eventually will decide to produce nuclear weapons.
“Iran does have a nuclear weapons program”: Australian PM
so says Kevin Rudd on national TV, while explaining why he has secretly stopped shipments of equipment to Iran. The media reported that pumps “which might have been used” in a nuclear weapons program were stopped, but that is apparently secret information.
Neutron initiator – smoking gun or forgery?
The Times in London recently published a major story about a document showing Iran is researching neutron initiators – smoking gun proof of a nuclear weapons program if it’s genuine. Intelligence agencies and the IAEA have known about the document for years and are not sure if it is a fake.
Brazil’s new uranium enrichment and old bomb
Brazil’s new uranium enrichment plant, refusal to sign an IAEA Additional Protocol, current military research on nuclear weapons designs, and its new nuclear submarines should clearly be seen as having nuclear weapons implications as strong or stronger than Iran’s nuclear plans. The enrichment technology was developed as part of Brazil’s secret nuclear weapons program, abandoned [...]
Bolton suggests Israeli nuclear attack on Iran
“So we’re at a very unhappy point — a very unhappy point — where unless Israel is prepared to use nuclear weapons against Iran’s program, Iran will have nuclear weapons in the very near future.” So said Bush’s former UN ambassador John Bolton at the University of Chicago. “Bolton’s use of the n-word is, I [...]
Obama Reafirms He Will Keep Israel’s Nukes ‘Secret’
Obama has reportedly ‘reaffirmed’ a secret understanding whereby he will not reveal the existence of Israel’s widely known nuclear arsenal, nor will he pressure Israel to join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Last week at the UN he called on all states to join the NPT, except Israel. Story from antiwar.com
Australia’s uranium enrichment goes commercial – SILEX
Few people realise that revolutionary Australian laser technology is on the verge of producing enough enriched uranium to supply all of Austalia’s electricity needs, under licence in the US. For years SILEX have semi-secretly developed laser uranium enrichment at Lucas Heights in Sydney, and their “test loop” commercial prototype is already operating in America, under [...]
North Korea says uranium bomb near completion
The NORKS say they are about to build nuclear weapons using highly enriched uranium, in addition to the plutonium bomb which they tested recently. They say they are on the “completion stage” of uranium enrichment capacities, but I think that could take some years; so this could be a negotiating stategy. Another article extract: North [...]
Israeli Navy in Indian Ocean for possible attack on Iran
Confirming earlier reports that an Israeli nuclear-weapons Dolphin submarine crossed the Suez canal for a potential attack on Iran, The Times now reports that two missile-carrying warships have joined it. It also alleges that “Western diplomats are offering support for an Israeli strike on Iran in return for Israeli concessions on the formation of a Palestinian state”
Iran arming Taliban – Washington officials renew false Bush allegations
White House officials repeat doubtful claims of Iranian supply of weapons to Taliban for attacks on ISAF forces in Afghanistan. No evidence has been supplied, and the Pentagon disputed similar Bush administration claims.
U.S. grants support Iranian dissidents
Western politicians and media scoff at accusations of foreign meddling in Iranian politics. But the Obama administration is openly continuing Bush’s funding for “encouraging democracy” in Iran, programmes announced to encourage regime change. The Bush program “was a horrible idea,” says the biggest US-Iranian lobby group. “It made human rights activists and non-governmental organizations targets.” [...]
US defense spending – $534 or $890 billion – up to $3000 per citizen
Obama’s $534 billion budget for the Pentagon is larger than Bush’s, and accounts for over half of everything the President can spend; but it still does not include all military spending. Mother Jones researched the defense spend from other budget lines, which pushes the total to $890 billion, or about $3000 per US citizen.
Iran’s nuclear weapon ‘blueprints’ found by Western intel services
A report to Congress’ Foreign Relations committee says allied intelligence (presumably Israeli) have obtained blueprints for a nuclear warhead from two sources in Iran, which match each other “down to the last millimeter”. If true, this is validation of the claims in the “smoking laptop affair”, but no evidence is presented. The report also says [...]
Did an Aussie sell nukes to Iran?
In 2001, a now-dead Australian arms dealer allegedly sold nuclear weapons to Iran from ex-Soviet Ukraine, according to an Australian newspaper. It says four 200-kiloton nuclear warheads were stolen by a shadowy group of former Soviet officials, as well as 20 Kh-55 missiles. These are presumably not the 4 nukes that US experts were 98% [...]
US may cut funds for Israel’s anti-missile industry
The US may not fund the next generation of Israel’s Arrow missile defence system. Instead, they may just buy Israel the SM-3 anti-ballistic misssile system which the US army uses. The Pentagon paid Boeing over a billion dollars to develop the Arrow in Israel because the 1973 Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty banned such work in [...]
High-enriched uranium traces found in Egypt: IAEA
The U.N. nuclear watchdog is investigating the discovery of traces of highly enriched uranium at a nuclear research site in Egypt, according to a restricted International Atomic Energy Agency report obtained by Reuters, which does not specify whether it is weapons-grade. full story: High-enriched uranium traces found in Egypt: IAEA | Reuters.
Nuclear talks get first breakthrough in 10 years
The agenda for the NPT review conference next year has been agreed by a preparatory meeting. This “may seem boring but we haven’t done so for a decade” pointed out the British. The 2005 Review failed to even agree what to talk about, bickering about Israels weapons being excluded and Iran’s supposed intentions. Reuters story [...]
Yankee Bombs Go Home: German Foreign minister
Germany’s US-supplied nuclear weapons should leave Gemany, says foreign minister Steinmeier in a major change of policy promted by Obama-itis. He is the soft-left opposition candidate standing against Angela Merkel for Chancellor – she still thinks American Cold War A-bombs should stay in Germany to secure its influence in NATO, says Der Spiegel. The [...]
Does Obama’s Iran envoy believe it is a “demonic society”?
Does Dennis Ross, pro-Israel lobbyist and US special envoy on Iran, believe Iranian society is demonic? That is what the organisation whose board he recently chaired is briefing the Israeli cabinet, as Robert Dreyfus at The Nation points out.
US labs use British nuclear factory to build new bombs
The US has been using Britain’s atomic weapons factory to carry out research into its own nuclear warhead programme, according to evidence seen by the Guardian. This has been suspected for some years. The US weapons industry has long been prevented by Congress from researching a “replacement warhead”, and the UK denies it has such a programme. But the UK government has recently spent tens of billions mysteriously upgrading Britain’s factory at Aldermaston, and at Christmas secretly sold it’s stake to US companies; thus creating a Guantanamo for nukes, an offshore legal black hole where US companies can design the next generation of weapons without Congressional oversight and without sharing the secrets with foreign companies or parliaments. US weapons labs last week unhappily revealed that Obama may end civilian control of bomb development after decades and move such work to the Pantagon, a move seen to be an attempt to weaken the labs’ influence on policy. Article 1 of the Non-Proliferation treaty prohibits ‘transfer’ of nuclear weapons between countries, but the US and UK have a secret agreement on nuclear technology sharing – including recent warhead re-entry upgrades that gave British bombs the ability to destroy very hard targets in a first strike. Koffi Annan describes such modernisation as a swindle incompatible with the NPT.
Obama to end civilian control of nuclear weapons labs?
Los Alamos Online News reports that Obama is considering giving the Pentagon control of the US weapons factories, ending over 50 years of civilian control at the Department of Energy. A Democrat move to do this failed in 2000 but as a compromise the semi-autonomous NNSA within the DOE was set up – it has not been a great sucess. Los Alamos is not happy, although the Pentagon chief must be keen – he wants to build a new generation of weapons or test old ones.
Gaza offensive a “preintroduction” to Iran challenge – Israeli Ambassador
Israel’s ambassador to Australia, speaking off the record to a friendly audience, said “the country’s recent military offensives were a preintroduction to the challenge Israel expects from a nuclear-equipped Iran within a year” says a journalist who was accidentally present. He expects Iran to have enough enriched uranium to reach the “point of no return” by April next year, but later denied Israel is planning an attack.
Israel broke international law in Syrian attack: El Baradei
The Israeli attack on Syria in September 2007 broke international law says the chief of the UN’s nuclear agency, in an interview with Newsweek. He complained that instead of giving the IAEA evidence of an alleged Syrian nuclear reactor, Israel “violated the rules of international law on the use of unilateral force”, adding that the IAEA still does not have evidence of a Syrian reactor at the bombed site. Reports have surfaced that the US helped Israel with the attack
Bush offers Emirates nuclear power by 2017 – they say it’s a possible route to the bomb
In the last days, Bush signed a deal with friendly Gulf state the UAE to “acquire nuclear technology if Iran pushes ahead”, possibly giving the Emirates a nuclear power programme by 2017. The Emirates minister made clear this was an arms race, and announced that importing nuclear technology for electricity does potentially give the UAE a chance to seek nuclear weapons. He added “If Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty is going to collapse and Iran gets a bomb, then it will open the door for an arms race in the region,” forgetting to mention that the Bush administration policy was to make the NPT collapse. Congress has 90 days to reverse this offer says the AP story below
IAEA snow banner – “Yes we can”
A giant “YES, WE CAN!” was carved in the snow outside the IAEA building on Tuesday. Norbert Aschenbrenner came into work early for the job, and was probably not the only IAEA employee who expects more respect from the new White House than the trashing it got from the last one. Picture and AP story [...]
Each US family spends about $800 on nukes each year
The US spends much more on its nuclear bombs than it does on foreign aid and diplomacy combined, says a Carnegie report. $52 billion a year is apparently a conservative estimate, so each American spends about $200 on weapons of mass destruction annually. And remember, the Pentagon wants to throw away all their old ones and build a new fleet.
White House again says it rejected Israeli attack on Iran
The White House says it has rejected support for an Israeli air attack on Iran, according to a major article in the Bush-friendly NY Times. A few weeks ago, the same White House said it rejected an attack on Gaza in Time magazine, but Bush has now stunned allies in the UN Security Council (and even Condi Rice) with his strong support for the Gaza attack.
So you have to ask: is this all simply White House lies, and the Bush-friendly media is just trying to distance an enthusiastic White House from an imminent Iran attack?
Britain sells its nuclear weapons factory to US in secret
Britain no longer has any stake in the production of its nuclear warheads after the Government secretly sold off its shares in the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Aldermaston reports The Independent. US companies Lockheed Martin and Jacobs engineering will now build UK bombs on contract. Many speculate that US companies are designing new nuclear warhead there, which Congress will not allow them to do in the USA, and which would be illegal under Article 1 of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
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Hidden travels of the atomic bomb
The atomic bomb was only developed once, and then its secrets were stolen, shared or sold by the eight other nuclear powers – no state has ever developed its own bomb. So says a new book by two Los Alamos and Livermore heavyweights who say that China hosted a Pakistan bomb test 1990 (under Benazir Bhutto), gave France access to their test site, and gave a way a simple bomb design. They also confirm that Israel and South Africa cooperated on a neutron weapon test in 1979, as well as exchanging tritium for uranium. The authors argue that bombs are so hard to make that proliferation is not inevitable, contrary to the argument used by many anti-disarmament ‘experts’.
Israeli options for Iran attack without US support
The IDF is drawing up options to attack Iranian nuclear facilities by itself, reports the Jerusalem Post, after recent stories that the White House will not support such a strike. Most experts suggest a lone attack would be difficult without US permission to fly over Iraq on a long range-bombing run, but few mention that Israel has other options: huge unmanned high-altitude aircraft, submarines with conventional and nuclear cruise missiles, a reported deal to use Geogian airbases , a possible ICBM capability, and overflying Turkey as it did with its strike on Syria last year.
Olmert: no US pressure against Iran attack
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday Israel was free to take any action it deemed necessary against Iran’s nuclear program, saying there were no U.S. restraints, contradicting a Time magazine story the previous day. “I can’t recall that anyone in the (U.S.) administration… advised me or any of my official representatives not to take [...]
US pressures Olmert against Iran, Gaza attacks – Time
U.S. officials have asked Israel to refrain from launching any major military action in the region while Bush is president, Israeli sources told TIME magazine. The next day, Prime Minister Olmert said the US has never pressed Israel not to attack Iran. TIME Monday, Nov. 24, 2008 US Puts Pressure on Israel to Refrain from [...]
Surge in Pentagon share of humanitarian aid budget
The US uses aid to promote non-humanitarian goals, making it only the 15th most effective aid donor, and 13th most generous of top 23 donors, says a new report from DARA, one of the few organisations that monitors aid-money efficiency. Over the last decade, the Pentagon’s share of US development aid has risen from 3.5% to 18%. Washington Post story below highlights Afghan PRTs, which a major aid agency says decreases its security as locals “call into question our impartiality” when NATO military vehicles and soldiers distribute aid. Colin Powell infamously decribed aid NGO’s as “force multipliers” – see MSF’s rejection here
