THOUGHT FOR THE DAY!

"A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened.-- Albert Camus

 

IRAN

Nov 20 13:41

Iranian 'Blogfather' Hossein Derakhshan is arrested on charge of spying for Israel

A prominent Iranian blogger, nicknamed the Blogfather for spawning Iran’s spectacular blogging revolution, has been arrested in Tehran and accused of spying for Israel.

Nov 20 11:59

Trying to create a new war with Iran

According to an article published Thursday in the New York Times, "Iran has now produced roughly enough nuclear material to make, with added purification, a single atom bomb, according to nuclear experts."

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Little physics here, folks.

ALL reactor fuel, with "added purification", can be used in a nuclear weapon.

It is the "added purification" which is the issue.

Is Iran actually doing "Added purification"? The IAEA says no. And it is not as trivial as the article implies. Nuclear fuel (what Iran is making) is enriched to 3%. Weapons-grade uranium needs to be enriched to 95% or higher. The required equipment, energy, and time needed to go from 3% to 95% is enormous, orders of magnitude larger than that needed for reactor fuel. And impossible to conceal (except under the Dimona reactor, which is, unlike Iran, safe from IAEA inspections.

Nov 20 11:08

Barak: West must unite with Russia, China against Iran

A short memo to to Israeli Defense Minister Barak, who seems oblivious to the economic consequences of what he is asking Russia and China to do.

As of 2005, Russia was Iran's 7th largest trading partner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran-Russia_relations

As of 2007, China's trade with Iran exceeded 20 billion (US) dollars.

http://www.chinaknowledge.com/news/news-detail.aspx?id=13082&cat=TRP

Why would Russia and China do something to throw a monkey wrench into this?

Nov 19 10:45

Israeli Air Force chief: We are ready to deal with Iran

Webmaster's Commentary: 

"We will have the Americans go over and kill them!"

Nov 19 09:35

Iran speaker urges Iraq to resist U.S. pact: report

Iran's parliament speaker urged Iraqi lawmakers to keep resisting a security pact with the United States, official media said Tuesday, a day after Baghdad signed an accord on U.S. troop presence in Iraq.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari and U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker signed Monday the long-awaited deal requiring Washington to withdraw its forces by the end of 2011, eight years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

It must still be passed by the Iraqi parliament.

Nov 19 08:50

Iran MPs urge Islamic response to Gaza crisis

Iranian MPs denounced "the crisis in Gaza" and asked Islamic organisations to respond to "cries" from Gaza's people, Iran's labour news agency ILNA reported on Sunday.

Nov 19 08:43

‘Israeli Air Force is ready to attack Iran’

Israeli Air Force Commander General Ido Nehushtan claims his forces are ready to follow any order to thwart Iran’s nuclear programs.

He added, however, a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities “is a political decision” and has nothing to do with Israel’s military capabilities.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Memo to Israeli Air Force Commander General Ido Nehushtan; there is one factor neither you, nor the politicians in Israel want to discuss, and that's the 6,0000 lb gorilla in the living room, sitting on the Steinway.

What will Russia do if one of its major trading partners gets attacked?


War with Russia, anyone?

Thought not.

Nov 17 09:50

Ahmadinejad: Iran not looking to wage war

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the Islamic Republic was not looking to wage war against any nation, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported on Thursday.

Speaking to bereaved families and war veterans in the northern province of Mazandaran, the president said "the logic of the Iranian nation has (baffled) great powers and enemies of Iran."

Nov 17 09:46

Iran to Hold Conference on What Obama Means

ABC News' Lara Setrakian brings my attention to Iranian Television reports that the government of Iran is planning on holding a conference entitled "Barack Obama's Election: The Future of Iran-US Ties" where various Iranian experts will assess just what President-elect Obama means to that Persian country.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

You know, far too many people are trying to second-guess Obama's intentions, rather than wait and see what he actually does.

Nov 16 10:26

US Task Force Found Few Iranian Arms in Iraq

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates suggested that there was "some sense of an increased level of [Iranian] supply of weapons and support to these groups." And Washington Post reporter Karen DeYoung was told by military officials that the "plentiful, high quality weaponry" the militia was then using in Basra was "recently manufactured in Iran."

Nov 16 09:31

Iran switches reserves to gold - report

ran has converted financial reserves into gold to avoid future problems, an adviser to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in comments published on Saturday, after the price of oil fell more than 60 percent from a peak in July.

Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, is under U.N. and U.S. sanctions over its disputed nuclear programme and is now also facing declining revenue from its oil exports after crude prices tumbled.

Nov 15 09:48

Iran switches reserves to gold

Iran has converted financial reserves into gold to avoid future problems, an adviser to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in comments published on Saturday, after the price of oil fell more than 60 percent from a peak in July.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

"Can they DO that?!?" -- Official White Horse Souse

Nov 13 07:40

Ahmadinejad: any aggression against Iran to receive crushing response

Nov 12 09:59

Biden told not to change Iran policy

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has warned the US vice president-elect against changing the Bush White House policies toward Iran.

“It is of the utmost importance that we keep up our coordination against the Iranian threat because time is not on the side of the moderates,” the ministry quoted Livni as saying in a telephone conversation with Senator Joe Biden on Monday.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

"You should go kill them for us!"

Nov 12 08:53

Commander: Iran builds "solid barrier" against air raids

A top Iranian commander said on Tuesday that the Islamic republic's air force has built up a "solid barrier" to defend the country's airspace, Iran's English-language satellite channel Press TV reported.

Nov 12 08:29

Iran test-fires new missile, Israel within reach

Iran said it test-fired a new generation of surface-to-surface missile Wednesday and that the Islamic Republic was ready to defend itself against any attacker.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Don't attack Iran.

Problem solved!

Nov 11 20:23

Blown Up by Blow Back and the Demise of the Dream of Pipelinestan

The US chose last week to offer India access to nuclear technology, despite the fact that India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Whereas the US threatens Iran with air strikes, when Iran, a signatory to the Treaty exercises it's lawful rights to build a civilian nuclear power industry. Hypocrisy without end, corrupted logic knows no bounds.

Nov 11 08:40

Iran Nuke Laptop Data Came from Terror Group

The George W. Bush administration has long pushed the "laptop documents" -- 1,000 pages of technical documents supposedly from a stolen Iranian laptop -- as hard evidence of Iranian intentions to build a nuclear weapon. Now charges based on those documents pose the only remaining obstacles to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) declaring that Iran has resolved all unanswered questions about its nuclear programme.

Nov 11 08:35

Documents linking Iran to nuclear weapons push may have been fabricated

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has obtained evidence suggesting that documents which have been described as technical studies for a secret Iranian nuclear weapons-related research program may have been fabricated.

The documents in question were acquired by U.S. intelligence in 2004 from a still unknown source -- most of them in the form of electronic files allegedly stolen from a laptop computer belonging to an Iranian researcher. The US has based much of its push for sanctions against Iran on these documents.

Nov 11 08:12

What Does Iran Have to Do With Charlottesville?

In 2003, Iran proposed negotiations with the United States with everything on the table, including its nuclear energy technology. President Bush refused. Last month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited New York and expressed support for peaceful relations with the United States and for a two-state solution in Palestine.

Nov 09 11:47

Possible Israeli attack against Iran worries EU

'A possible Israeli strike against Iran is not completely off the radar,' a senior European Union diplomat says. Iran's intention to purchase Russian made S-300s anti-ballistic missiles could push Israel to a quicker offensive, according to diplomats

Nov 08 09:11

National Intelligence Estimate: Iran Intentions and Capabilities

Webmaster's Commentary: 

This is the official US Government analysis of what Iran is doing with regards to developing nuclear weapons. It is NOT what you were being told by ABCNNBBCBS!

Nov 08 08:01

Israel's Livini blasts Obama's Iran plan

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni attacked U.S. president-elect Barack Obama on Thursday for declaring a willingness to talk with Iran about its nuclear program.

"We live in a neighbourhood in which sometimes dialogue . . . is liable to be interpreted as weakness," Livni told Israeli Radio, expressing a view held by many of her countrymen.

Asked if she supported discussions between the U.S. and Iran, Livni said: "No."

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Livni wants war between the US and Iran. But then, that seems a permanent feature of Israel; sending young AMERICANS off to die in Israel's wars.

Not the arrogant assumption on Livni's part that the is in a position to dictate how the US should deal with Iran.

Nov 07 09:53

US Imposes Banking Sanctions on Iran

The U.S. Treasury has moved to further restrict Iran's access to the U.S. financial system, by banning certain money transfers.

The Treasury Department announced on Thursday that it will revoke Iran's so-called "U-Turn" license, which currently allows transfers to briefly enter the United States before being sent to offshore banks.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Bush still trying to kick off a new war for Obama to deal with?

Nov 07 08:36

Want a war with Iran? Frame them for Lockerbie!

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Hell, they've framed everyone else with it!

On a more serious note, Ahmad Behbahani has been making claims like this ever since he turned up in a Turkish refugee camp, and considering how various Iraqi "officials" all turned out to be janitors (and drunks), the absence of any proof of Ahmad Behbahani's claimed status inside Iran should be a warning to us all.

Nov 07 07:55

Israel not excluding any option in stopping Iran threat

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Friday that the Jewish state is not ruling out any option when it comes to dealing with Iran's nuclear program.

When meeting visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Barak was quoted by local daily The Jerusalem Post as saying that Israel is "not taking any option off the table, and we don't recommend that others take any option off the table."

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Memo to Ehud Barak; when it comes to a US-assisted and led attack against Iran, the party's (hopefully) over.

What Barak is missing, in regurgitating this stale old mantra, is the 5,000 lb gorilla in the living room on the issue of Iran, and that is Russia.

I wish there had been some reporter covering this meeting who would have had the gumption to ask Minister Barak precisely what assurances from Russia Israel has, and how certain they are, of not interfering with an Israeli-led attack against Iran, one of Russia's largest trading partners.

I think that question might have evoked a pregnant pause, followed by not a little stammering.

Nov 06 09:06

Olmert heads to D.C. to wrangle last favors from Bush

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will visit President George Bush in Washington later this month in an attempt to reach last minute agreements and extract a number of promises before both leaders step down.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

One has to wonder if one of those "promises" has to to with an Israeli-led attack on Iran before Bush leaves office.

Nov 06 07:53

Iran sees US choppers near its frontiers

Iran's military says U.S. helicopters have been flying too close to its border with Iraq and may even have crossed the frontier.

The statement, carried by the state news agency Wednesday, says the helicopters were seen in Iraq and are "likely to violate Iranian airspace".

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Bush still has two more months in which to kick off a third war.

Nov 06 07:52

Ahmadinejad aide: Obama must 'replace Bush's war-mongering approach'

An advisor to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on US President-elect Barack Obama to "replace (George W.) Bush's war-mongering approach with a pacifist way and base US foreign policy on friendship, justice and human cooperation."

Nov 06 07:39

Israel Braces for Obama's Engagement in Iran, Gaza

Israeli leaders have become accustomed to President George W. Bush's reticence to push them into making tough decisions. In Barack Obama, they are bracing for a president who may not be so accommodating.

Nov 05 07:11

Iran warns U.S. not to violate Iranian airspace

Iran's military has warned U.S. forces in Iraq that U.S. helicopters had been spotted flying close to the Iranian border and that Tehran would respond to any violation of its airspace, state radio reported on Wednesday.

Nov 03 10:54

U.S. Is Funding Iranian Nuclear Program

The U.S. is literally funding Iranian nuclear capabilities.

Nov 03 07:55

Report: Bush offers swift Golan withdrawal

US President George W. Bush suggested to Syrian President Bashar Assad that Israel would withdraw from the Golan Heights in exchange for a complete disbandment of the Syrian-Iranian alliance, Kuwaiti newspaper al-Jarida reported Friday.

Nov 03 07:54

US defense official: Iran will soon have ability to attack Europe, US

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Last desperate gasp at BOOGA BOOGA!

Nov 02 10:27

Palin suggests U.S. is at war with Iran

In her interview with Fox News’ Greta van Susteren last night, Gov. Sarah Palin appeared to claim that the U.S. needs to “win” the non-existent war with Iran:

"We realize that more and more Americans are starting to see the light there and understand the contrast. And we talk a lot about, OK, we’re confident that we’re going to win on Tuesday, so from there, the first 100 days, how are we going to kick in the plan that will get this economy back on the right track and really shore up the strategies that we need over in Iraq and Iran to win these wars?"

Webmaster's Commentary: 

It's no bloody wonder that her handlers are desperate to put a muzzle on this "pit bull with lipstick"!

Nov 02 09:52

Some Israelis feel an urgency to attack Iran

Much of the international community quietly wants Israel to launch a strike, the officials say, but only if it succeeds.

"They will be very happy if we do their dirty work for them," said Efraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv. "The world is moving into 'What can we do about it?' mode. There is a strong instinct here to do it on our own."

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Memo to Efraim Inbar: one has to wonder about your use of the phrase "They will be very happy if we do their dirty work for them..."

Since when was it the responsibility of any country on earth to "neutralize" all of your perceived existential threats in the region? (and for Israel, that's about all of its neighbors, even the ones - like Egypt and Jordan - with which it has some degree of peaceful relations.)

As reported, "Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said he does not intend to get involved in another war when he has his hands full with Iraq and Afghanistan."

However, this statement about intention cannot obviate the fact that Bush, even though he is a "lame duck president", has promised Israel that the US will defend it will the full force of the American military (with which the Israeli military is now very fully integrated.)

And that defense will come whether or not Israel has started the confrontation.

This perhaps puts Secretary Rice's visit to Israel and the Middle East this next week into a potentially very dark context.

If Senator Obama does win the presidential election, Bush and Cheney, in their final days in the White House, may well be conjuring the worst possible scenario for Obama to handle just as he assumes the presidency.

A military strike by Israel against Iran, where the US has "no choice" but to defend their buddy Israel, and Russia steps in to defend Iran??

Between now and January, I wouldn't bet heavily against just such a scenario being played out.

Oct 30 09:35

IAEA misses the mark on Iran

In his latest report to the United Nations, Mohamad ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) , has cited "substantial progress" in clarifying questions about Iran's nuclear program, stating unequivocally that the agency "has been able to continue to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran".

Oct 30 06:58

Supreme leader says Iranians' hatred of U.S. deep-rooted

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that Iranians' hatred towards the United States is deep-rooted, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

"Due to the numerous plots by the U.S. against Iran during the last 50 years, Iranians' hatred towards the United States is deep," Khamenei addressed the students who had gathered on the eve of Nov. 4, the seizure day of the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

Being called the "nest of spying," the U.S. embassy was stormed by Iranian students on Nov. 4, 1979 and its personnel were held hostage for 444 days.

Oct 25 16:30

Report: Bush to declare renewal of ties with Iran

Several American media outlets reported on Saturday that President George Bush is likely to announce after next month's presidential elections that he intends to restore the diplomatic relations with Iran, almost 30 years after they were suspended.

Oct 25 08:16

Rafsanjani: US nuked Iraq in 1991

A senior Iranian cleric has urged an inquiry into a report that the US dropped a small nuclear bomb on an area near the Iraq-Iran border.

Oct 24 09:19

In secret note, Olmert says Bush has ditched Israel on Iran threat

Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert this week shot off a strong secret note to US President George W. Bush, DEBKAfile’s sources reveal, protesting the administration’s strategic steps toward rapprochement with Iran.

Israel was not forewarned, Olmert wrote bitterly, although these steps directly violated US-Israel understandings on Iran of the past year.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

"You're not supposed to make friends with Iran, putz, you're supposed to KILL THEM FOR US!"

Oct 24 09:11

Bush to seek diplomatic presence in Iran

The Bush administration will announce in mid-November, after the presidential election, that it intends to establish the first U.S. diplomatic presence in Iran since the 1979-81 hostage crisis, according to senior Bush administration officials.

Oct 24 09:02

Rumors flurry about Ahmadinejad's health following event cancellations

Recent days have seen a flurry of speculation on the health of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, after the Iranian President cancelled a series of speaking engagements.

Last week, Ahmadinejad cancelled a speech at the last minute, and his cabinet was forced to hold a meeting without him. Ahmadinejad also reportedly cancelled a planned appearance at an event to honor a Muslim cleric. A senior aide to Ahmadinejad has told reporters that the Iranian President is "not available."

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Another member of Israel's "Does not get Hanukkah Card" list suffers a mysterious illness?

Oct 22 15:20

Attack on Iran off the table?

On Sept. 23, the neo-conservative chiefs of the Washington Post’s editorial page mourned, in a tone much like what one hears on the death of a close friend, that “a military strike by the United States or Israel [on Iran is not] likely in the coming months.”

Oct 22 10:01

Report: Hezbollah chief poisoned; Iranian doctors saved his life

Oct 22 07:31

What Will Obama’s “International Crisis” Be?

Joe Biden’s “guarantee” that an “international crisis” will unfold shortly after President Obama takes office conjures up several different possibilities, but it seems the likely outcome will revolve around an announcement that Iran has developed a nuclear bomb, prompting a potential military attack.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

This right after the IAEA has (yet again) confirmed that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon and is not building one.

Oct 22 07:23

Cleric in Iran issues fatwa against US-Iraqi pact

An influential Iraqi cleric living in Iran on Wednesday issued a fatwa condemning a U.S.-Iraqi security pact that would keep American troops in Iraq for three more years and warned Iraqi leaders not to back the deal.

Oct 21 16:25

Russia, Iran and Qatar Consider Forming Natural Gas Cartel

Russia Iran and Qatar discussed forming an OPEC style cartel on natural gas. Although this would have little direct effect on the United States, since nearly all natural gas consumed in the US comes from the US or Canada, there is much concern in Europe over future energy costs there.

Closer strategic ties between Iran and Russia will make it harder for the US to justify its position on Iran's nuclear power program.

Oct 21 13:10

ElBaradei: Iran incapable of developing bomb now

IAEA chief says Tehran yet to obtain necessary raw unenriched uranium to build even single nuclear weapon. Meanwhile another round of talks amongst UN Security Council members on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program fails to yield results

Oct 18 07:26

Has the 'Amber Light' Turned Green?

Furthermore, the reception the Iranian delegation got at that UN General Assembly meeting – to put it mildly – dismayed the Israeli Ambassador.

"It was very upsetting, the whole atmosphere – yesterday they [the Iranians] were hugged and applauded."

And why not? Just a few days before, IAEA Director-General ElBaradei had issued his most recent report on Iran's Safeguarded programs and facilities, in which

Oct 13 07:23

Iran Interfering in U.S.-Iraq Security Pact, General Says

Gen. Ray Odierno said in an interview that Iran, a Shiite Islamic nation eyed warily by the United States and Sunni Arab countries, is working publicly and covertly to undermine the status-of-forces agreement as officials from Iraq and the United States report nearing a deal that must be ratified by Iraq's parliament.

Odierno said he had no definitive proof of the bribes, but added that "there are many intelligence reports" that suggest Iranians are "coming in to pay off people to vote against it." The reports have not been made public.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Every time you see the words "suggest" in an article like this, you know that the person making the accusations has not a leg to stand on here. If there were tangible proof of this going on, it would have been shouted from the rooftops of Baghdad by now.

What's really ticking off Gen. Odierno is that the Iraqi government is becoming more and more assertive about the US "getting the heck out of Dodge, by the end of this year, and the oil contracts are going to companies other than American companies.

So what's the American response?

Blame Iran.

Oct 12 10:37

Iran suspends sales tax after rare merchant strike

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered his government to suspend a controversial new sales tax Thursday, a day after a rare strike by merchants worried about how the new measure would affect their business.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Iran shows the way!

Oct 12 10:30

George Galloway - Did Iran Say Israel Should Be Wiped Off The Map?

Former parliament member George Galloway is a straight talking ex-politician who is not afraid to tackle controversy. In this clip he exposes the canard about Iran and Israel. Did Iran ever threaten to wipe Israel off the map?

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Oct 12 09:32

Israel's Peres warns Iran against surprise attack

Israeli President Shimon Peres on Sunday warned Iran against considering a surprise attack, at a ceremony commemorating the 35th anniversary of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Memo to Israeli President Shimon Peres: why would Iran do anything quite that amazingly stupid, understanding quite clearly, that this would set Iran up for a joint US/Israeli counterstrike?

On the face of it, this warning is pretty ludicrous, and is just some grand-standing for domestic consumption.

Unless, of course, this is a set up for Israel's launching some kind of "false flag" attack to get a war against Iran going before Bush leaves office.

Tel-Aviv understands quite clearly that the next US president will probably be no where near as "carnage-friendly" as Bush has been.

Oct 12 08:01

Warning signs of an Israeli strike on Iran

Some key decision makers in Israel fear that unless they attack Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities in the next few months, while George W Bush is still president, there will not be another period when they can rely on the United States as being anywhere near as supportive in the aftermath of a unilateral attack.

Oct 10 11:38

Iran's 'Nuclear Detonators' Are A CIA Fake

The U.S. sent a Russian scientist as an agent to Vienna with manipulated blueprints of special detonators to hand them to a delegate from Iran. Eight years later the IAEA gets handed material by the U.S. about special detonator experiments allegedly made in Iran

Now Iran gets accused by U.S. and European 'officials' (note: NOT IAEA officials) of having worked or planed to work with such detonators based on a 'secret' long brief in Farsi of which the IAEA first only got handed a five page English copy.

I do smell a rat here - a big one. This is Iraq and 'Niger papers' all over.

Oct 09 19:32

Evidence grows that Israel, with U.S. aid, is preparing to attack Iran

The likelihood of an American attack has diminished. American commanders "think it would complicate the situation in Iraq and the region," John Bolton, the former U.N. ambassador, told me. He favors an attack but says "the Bush administration was much more inclined to do it a few years ago." Secretaries Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates, at State and Defense - relative moderates within the Bush administration - now dominate discussion of issues like this.

Oct 09 13:04

In Reversal, Democrats Shelve Iran Resolution

Webmaster's Commentary: 

WW3 canceled?

Oct 08 18:40

The Biggest Lie Told To The American People: Ahmadinejad's Alleged Remarks On Israel

Let's analyze what Ahmadinejad said. His exact words in Farsi were as follows: "Emam goft een rezhim-e eshghalgar-e qods bayad az safheh-ye ruzegar mahv shavad." The correct translation of the statement is as follows: "Imam said this occupying regime in Jerusalem must vanish from the page of times."

...

There are several important points to understand about this quote:

1) The original transcript does not contain the words "Israel," "wipe off" or "map."

Oct 08 07:32

Olmert fails to get Russian guarantees on arms sales to Iran

Nearing the end of his term in office, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made a lightning trip to Moscow this week in an effort to persuade the Kremlin not to sell advanced missile systems to Iran and Syria.

At the core of the talks was an Iranian request to purchase the advanced and long-range S-300 anti-aircraft missile system that would severely curtail the Israeli Air Force's freedom in the skies if a military strike was launched against the Iran's nuclear installations.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

The selling and installation of this Russian advanced missile system in Iran and Syria almost guarantees that Israel will not be able to launch successful attacks against these countries.

Olmert - and the Israeli governmental and military institutions - have just collectively been handed their hats by the Russians.

Oct 07 09:06

FLASHBACK - Cheney plans to kill US Navy SEALs and sailors in order to facilitate war with Iran.

In a massive news story that has not yet made it to CNN, Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh, describes Dick Cheney planning 10 different simulated attacks in order to start a war with Iran.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Worth a relook given the strange incident with the plane over Iran. Did Iran (and the world) dodge a US bullet by not shooting that plane out of the sky?

Oct 07 09:04

Iran 'forces down plane carrying US military officals'

The Fars news agency said that the incursion was unintentional, and those on board the the jet were questioned and then released.

Five senior US military personnel and three civilians were reportedly on board the aircraft. They were interrogated at an Iranian airport, but allowed to leave the following day after it became clear the incursion was accidental, according to Fars.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

This story is all over the map, with one source claiming US military people were on the plane, another claiming it was a Hungarian relief agency plane, etc. About the only thing we do know for a fact is that we are not getting the straight story here!

Oct 07 08:58

Iran denies landing US Falcon Jet

A top Iranian military official has denied reports that a US Falcon Jet violated Iran's airspace and was forced to land in the country.

Oct 07 08:32

Falcon warplane violates Iran air space

A Falcon warplane has been forced to land in an Iranian airport after violating the Islamic Republic's air space, officials say.

In a Tuesday statement to Iran's Press TV, an Iranian military official said Iranian fighter jets forced the Falcon warplane, en route to Afghanistan from Turkey, to land after it disguised its military nature under a civil name.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

UPDATE: THIS STORY HAS BEEN DENIED AND THE LIN PULLED.

Oct 05 09:46

Olmert to head to Russia for talks on missiles sale to Iran

The Israeli military establishment is becoming increasingly concerned over talks between Russia and Iran about the sale of S-300 antiaircraft missiles to Tehran. The deployment of these missiles would pose a major obstacle to any Israel Air Force operation against Iranian nuclear

Webmaster's Commentary: 

I am sure that the Israeli military, like their Russian counterparts, are no slouches at chess.

What Russia is doing here is putting a "checkmate" on any possible Israeli attack against Iran.

And Olmert, as Israel's scandalized lame-duck Prime Minister, really doesn't have anything to offer Russia in exchange for considering stopping, or delaying, this deal.

I would love to be a fly on the wall of that conference room when Medvedev and Putin tell Olmert, in no uncertain terms, "Nyet!"

Oct 05 07:43

Israel will hit Iran nuke sites, France's Kouchner warns

Visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned that Israel would strike archfoe Iran before it was able to develop nuclear weapons, in comments published on Sunday.

"I honestly don't believe (a nuclear weapon) will give any immunity to Iran," Kouchner said in an interview conducted in English with Israel's Haaretz newspaper during a two-day visit to the region.

"First, because you will hit them before. And this is the danger. Israel has always said it will not wait for the bomb to be ready. I think that (the Iranians) know. Everyone knows."

Oct 04 08:28

Woodward: Bush Said His Iran Strategy Was "They're A**holes"

There's been so much going on with the campaign lately, that I hadn't paid much attention to Bob Woodward's newest book, The War Within.

Tonight he was on Real Time with Bill Maher (video below) and he relayed a couple of interesting items.

First, he said that during White House discussions on Iran, a senior military leader asked Bush what his strategy was. Bush's answer? "They're assholes." Just gives you a sense as to how crude and clueless our current president is, and how desperately we need a change.

Oct 04 08:20

Politics scuttles plan to put US diplomats in Iran

The Bush administration has shelved plans to set up a diplomatic outpost in Iran, in part over fears it could affect the U.S. presidential race or be interpreted as political meddling, The Associated Press has learned.