WAR in the Middle-East ?

[kensington]

Saudis clear Israel to bomb Iran?

Riyadh opens air space for run on nuke facilities, paper says


LONDON - Saudi Arabia will allow Israel to use a narrow corridor of its airspace in the north of the country to shorten the distance for a bombing run on Iran's nuclear facilities, the London Times reported on Saturday.

Quoting unnamed U.S. defense sources, the newspaper said Riyadh conducted tests to be sure its own jets would not be scrambled and missile defenses not be activated so Israeli bombers could pass by without problems.

The path would shorten Israel's bomb run, The Times said.


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Once the Israelis go through, the kingdom’s air defenses would return to full alert, the newspaper said.

"The Saudis have given their permission for the Israelis to pass over and they will look the other way," said a U.S. defense source in the Persian Gulf area told the Times. "They have already done tests to make sure their own jets aren’t scrambled and no one gets shot down. This has all been done with the agreement of the [US] State Department."

Permission 'common knowledge'
Sources in Saudi Arabia said it is common knowledge within kingdom defense circles that an arrangement is in place if Israel decides to launch the raid, the Times said. Despite the tension between the two governments, they share a mutual loathing of the regime in Tehran and a common fear of Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

"We all know this. We will let them [the Israelis] through and see nothing," a Saudi source told the Times.

The newspaper pinpointed four main targets: The uranium enrichment facilities at Natanz and Qom, the gas storage development at Isfahan and the heavy-water reactor at Arak. Secondary targets include the Russian-built lightwater reactor at Bushehr, which could produce weapons-grade plutonium when complete, the Times said.

The targets lie as far as 1,400 miles from Israel, the paper said, noting that distance is the outer limits of the Jewish state's bombers' range even with aerial refueling. An open corridor across northern Saudi Arabia would significantly shorten the distance. An airstrike would involve multiple waves of bombers, possibly crossing Jordan, northern Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Aircraft attacking Bushehr, on the Gulf coast, could swing beneath Kuwait to strike from the southwest, the newspaper said.

Plan needs U.S. consent
Passing over Iraq would require Washington's consent. The Obama administration has refused to give its approval as it pursues a diplomatic solution to curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the Times said.

The Times' revelation comes in the same week the U.N. Security Council imposed a new round of sanctions on Tehran. Israel and the West accuse Iran of building nuclear weapons, a charge it denies. Iran vowed to continue enriching uranium after the vote.



Israeli officials refused to comment on details for a raid on Iran, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to rule out, the Times said.

Aharaon Zeevi Farkash, who headed military intelligence until 2006 and has been involved in war games simulating a strike on Iran, told the Times: "I know that Saudi Arabia is even more afraid than Israel of an Iranian nuclear capacity."

Netanyahu's predecessor, Ehud Olmert, is believed to have held secret meetings with high-ranking Saudi officials over Iran, said Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper.

 

[kensington]

Prince warns S. Arabia of apocalypse


Saudi Prince Turki bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud has warned the country's royal family to step down and flee before a military coup or a popular uprising overthrows the kingdom.

In a letter published by Wagze news agency on Tuesday, the Cairo-based prince warned Saudi Arabia's ruling family of a fate similar to that of Iraq's executed dictator Saddam Hussein and the ousted Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, calling on them to escape before people "cut off our heads in streets."

He warned that the Saudi royal family is no longer able to "impose" itself on people, arguing that deviations in carrying out the religious concepts that make up the basis of the Saudi government "have gotten out of our hands," so that the opposition views our acts as "interfering in people's private life and restricting their liberties."

"If we are wise, we must leave this country to its people, whose dislike for us is increasing," said Prince Turki, advising Saudi officials to escape with their families.

"Do it today before tomorrow as long as the money we have is enough for us to live anywhere in the world; from Switzerland to Canada and Australia…we should not return as long as we are able to get out safely, we must take our families quickly and pull out," he urged.

"Do not fool yourself by relying on the United States or Britain or Israel, because they will not survive the loss; the only door open is now the exit door of no return. Let us go before it closes."

He finally warned against a military coup against the ruling family, saying "no one will attack us from outside but our armed forces will attack us."

Prince Turki is a member of the liberal Free Princes movement founded in the 1950s amid tensions between King Faisal and his brother King Saud, requesting the Saudi authorities to implement political reforms and set out a constitution.

The late King Faisal expelled members of the civil rights group to Egypt but later on pardoned them.


--------------


Maybe this is the catalyst the people needed, Saudi aiding Israel against fellow Muslim is just something that might tip the balance over...

 

[kensington]

Making sense now...This piece of news.


Three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline.

The first has been sent in response to Israeli fears that ballistic missiles developed by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, a political and military organisation in Lebanon, could hit sites in Israel, including air bases and missile launchers.

The submarines of Flotilla 7 — Dolphin, Tekuma and Leviathan — have visited the Gulf before. But the decision has now been taken to ensure a permanent presence of at least one of the vessels.

The flotilla’s commander, identified only as “Colonel O”, told an Israeli newspaper: “We are an underwater assault force. We’re operating deep and far, very far, from our borders.”

Each of the submarines has a crew of 35 to 50, commanded by a colonel capable of launching a nuclear cruise missile.

The vessels can remain at sea for about 50 days and stay submerged up to 1,150ft below the surface for at least a week. Some of the cruise missiles are equipped with the most advanced nuclear warheads in the Israeli arsenal.

The deployment is designed to act as a deterrent, gather intelligence and potentially to land Mossad agents. “We’re a solid base for collecting sensitive information, as we can stay for a long time in one place,” said a flotilla officer.

The submarines could be used if Iran continues its programme to produce a nuclear bomb. “The 1,500km range of the submarines’ cruise missiles can reach any target in Iran,” said a navy officer.

Apparently responding to the Israeli activity, an Iranian admiral said: “Anyone who wishes to do an evil act in the Persian Gulf will receive a forceful response from us.”

Israel’s urgent need to deter the Iran-Syria-Hezbollah alliance was demonstrated last month. Ehud Barak, the defence minister, was said to have shown President Barack Obama classified satellite images of a convoy of ballistic missiles leaving Syria on the way to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, will emphasise the danger to Obama in Washington this week.

Tel Aviv, Israel’s business and defence centre, remains the most threatened city in the world, said one expert. “There are more missiles per square foot targeting Tel Aviv than any other city,” he said.

 

[Cestbon]

There will be not war Israel and Iran. Israel only bully Palestine and Gaza Strip because they have no big weapon like plane/tank.
Iran play the game in smart why not like Saddam letting enemy check the weapon before war start.
Iran is the only country dare to stand up with Isreal in middle east. Others Arad/Jordan/Lebonan/Syria all chicken out.

 

[Ramseth]

There will be not war Israel and Iran. Israel only bully Palestine and Gaza Strip because they have no big weapon like plane/tank.
Iran play the game in smart why not like Saddam letting enemy check the weapon before war start.
Iran is the only country dare to stand up with Isreal in middle east. Others Arad/Jordan/Lebonan/Syria all chicken out.

Israel bombed Iraq before in the early 80s. Hard to say it won't bomb Iran.

 

[Watchman]

All hell breaks lose ....

Middle Asia crisis.
West Asia crisis.
Middle East crisis .
North Korea crisis.
Afghan crisis
Iraq crisis

With the BP oilspill

 

[Cestbon]

Israel bombed Iraq before in the early 80s. Hard to say it won't bomb Iran.

That more than 20 years ago. Now Iran are smart learn from history. ASAP Israel lunch attack. Iran will fire back at least 100 missile to Israel.
How many % of missile will be shoot down before reaching?
I guess less than 50%.
Israel cannot afford to fire 1st, if they do than UN will be very hard to back them. Then the war will start between the 2 country. If Israel begin to lose the Syria, Lebanon, Jordan will join in attack Israel to take advantage of the situation/revenge.

 

[kensington]

War on Iran: The Perfect Storm from Hell


Lord Sterling


As the global bankers’ plan to bring down the American and world’s economy continues (so that they can acquire as much of our wealth as possible at ‘fire sale’ prices ~ an old strategy; and herald the introduction of their New World Order), the world is facing another much worse danger. A regional war in the Middle East that will involve global strategic weapons of mass destruction with deaths in the hundreds of millions to billions in North America, Europe, the Middle East and globally.

I have served as a consultant to three very high tech aerospace firms. My specialty is conceptualizing advanced warfare especially as it relates to new cutting edge advanced weapon systems. What I see unfolding with a war on Iran is the most frightening set of circumstances I have ever seen; and I have been involved in advanced theoretical weaponry strategy and design for over 20 years.

The rise of the Likud/neo-cons, with Benjamin Netanyahu as the unholy high priest, has been a disaster for Israel, America, the Middle East, and the world at large. The smartest thing that Israel ever did was to use American money to buy off Jordan and Egypt and make peace with them. The dumbest thing was to empower the Likud Party hardliners centered on Bibi Netanyahu and the Bush/Obama Administrations (with supporting roles played by neo-con leaders in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and elsewhere). Six years ago Israel was no where near a MAD (mutually assured destruction) environment. Today it has a very dangerous four-front MAD environment and it was unable, in the Second Lebanon War of 3 1/2 years ago, to overturn the dangers surrounding it, in fact the level of MAD danger has increased considerably since the summer of 2006.

The war party in Israel and America has facilitated the rise of a regional (Iran/Syria/Lebanon/Palestine) MAD. I truly believe that the Likud/neo-con strategy is a total failure. The stated goal of the strategy is to break-up and weaken several Middle Eastern states that pose, or could pose, a strategic risk to Israel. To this end Saddam was encouraged to attack Kuwait resulting in the First Gulf War. When he was able to demonstrate during the Gulf War, even in the face of intense allied air attacks, his ability to “deliver ordinance on target” using his Scud missiles the United States (and allies) decided not to drive all the way to Bagdad. We knew that he was holding back “the heavy stuff” and only using “dumb” high explosive warheads; not the chemical, biological and radiological warheads that could have caused massive damage to Israel and to the Saudi oilfields. Saddam Hussein’s military had prepared what it called the “great equalizer”, an arsenal of 25 Scud warheads carrying over 11,000lb of biological agents, including deadly botulism poison and anthrax germs (an additional 33,000lb of germ agents were placed in artillery shells and bombs). It was only after he was forced into denuding himself of his advanced weaponry that the neo-cons were able to begin the Second Gulf War commonly called the Iraq War.

After Iraq, the Likud/neo-con war strategy calls for the neutralizing of Iran and Syria. The Iranians response, to this strategy, was to train and equip Hezbollah in Lebanon and to deepen their strategic alliance with Syria.

During the 2006 Second Lebanon War, the Iranian trained and equipped Hezbollah forces repeated the efforts of Saddam during the First Gulf War. They delivered a very large number of rockets with “dumb” high explosive warheads on Israel. The Hezbollah Special Forces are in-effect a highly trained and well-equipped Iranian commando force of at least a Brigade in size. They man and protect a large number of mostly unguided and rather crude rockets, generally Katyusha 122mm artillery rockets with a 19 mile/30km range and capable of delivering approximately 66 pounds/30kg of warheads. Additionally, Hezbollah are known to possess a considerable number of more advanced and longer range guided missiles. During the 2006 war Hezbollah fired approximately 4,000 rockets (95% of which were Katyshas) all utilizing only “dumb” high explosive warheads. Some Iranian build and supplied Fajr-3 and Ra’ad 1 liquid-fueled missiles were also fired. At the time of the 2006 war Hezbollah was reported to have in the range of 13,000 rockets. There are creditable reports that this number has been rebuilt and expanded upon since the end of that war and that the number of rockets is now at least 50,000 and perhaps 60,000 or more.

During the 2006 war the world watched as Israeli towns were hit time and time again by the Katyushas. What was not discussed by the main stream news media was the fact that the ordinance delivered by the Katyushas was mainly harassment fire with very limited effect. The Iranian/Syrian trained and supplied Hezhollah commandos were holding back their “heavy stuff” both in terms of their longer range guided missiles capable of hitting southern Israel and most importantly warheads of strategic military importance. That is NBC (nuclear [in this case radiological] chemical and biological) and advanced-conventional warheads. They were demonstrating their ability to deliver “ordinance on target” and their ability to survive a heavy Israeli ground and air combined arms attack.

Hezbollah has the capability of loading truly strategic warheads on the large number of mostly crude older technology unguided rockets that it has. The use of advanced-conventional fuel-air explosive (FAE) warheads on the Katyushas would have had a much more profound effect in Israeli cities. The use of FAE submunitions on the larger missiles capable of hitting any target in Israel would have given Hezbollah the firepower of low-yield nuclear weapons without crossing the nuclear threshold. Coupled with the large number of missiles in Syria and those in Iran, the Hezbollah rockets posed, and continue to pose, a truly grave strategic threat to Israel if FAE warheads are used. This threat is dramatically increased if radiological (“dirty bombs”), chemical, and/or advanced biological warheads are used.

The massive number of Hezbollah rockets could also be outfitted with chemical warheads. It is worth noting that the joint Syrian-Iranian chemical warfare R&D and production program is perhaps the largest and most complicated on earth. Generally the Israelis have shown themselves to be prepared for chemical warfare, however a chemical war attack following closely behind a FAE attack (to open up bunkers and apartment buildings) would have greater effect. While it is not necessary to utilize a rocket to deliver a biological war attack, it could be done and there is some benefit militarily to a rapid dispersal of biowar agents under the cover of conventional attacks. Radiological weapons deliver the long term (which can be hundreds of thousands of years) lethal effects of radiation without the blast effect of a nuclear bomb.

The combined military strategic capability of NBC/Advanced Conventional warheads and very large numbers of rockets operated and protected by Hezbollah, coupled with the arsenal of Syria and Iran (and Hamas) acts as a MAD (mutually assured destruction) between Israel and Iran/Syria. Yes the Israelis can nuke the hell out of both Iran and Syria; however, they possess a fatal return punch. Only a madman would consider starting a war in a MAD environment.

The response from the Israeli and neo-con hardliners to the new MAD strategic environment has been frightening. Instead of recognizing the danger to Israel and to the entire world from the Iranian/Syrian “checkmate” on the aggressive Israeli/neo-con strategy, and making major changes to their strategy, they are attempting to “tough it out”. The issue of “danger from the Iranian nuclear program” is a smokescreen to facilitate the coming war on Iran and her allies (Syria, Hezbollah, and Hamas) and to continue with the next stage of the neo-con strategy. The response from the hardliners is more war and damn their WMD (weapons of mass destruction). This is most unwise and most dangerous to the entire world.

When the USSR was falling apart, and in the aftermath of the USSR breakup, Iran spend a lot of money to hire some of the best Soviet biological war experts. The advanced biowar weapons that Iran has developed gives Iran a Global Strategic Weapon of Mass Destruction that can unleash levels of death among the populations of the major neo-con nations (USA, UK, France, German, Italy, etc.) very similar to that from a global strategic nuclear strike. This means that Iran and her allies have a MAD with America, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, German, Italy, etc.

Most people think of biological warfare as anthrax and smallpox; they do not understand that there has been a major shift in technology. The difference between the old biowar (that most people think of) and advanced biowar (with its recombination DNA designer super killer viruses) is like the difference between an old Model T Ford and a 2010 Rolls Royce Phantom. Both are cars, or biological weapons, but there is a difference of several orders of magnitude.

Regardless of how a war against Iran breaks out, it is likely to very quickly escalate to the usage of WMD. There has been talk among USAF war planners of a 1,200 (some say 2,000 to 3,000 or more) target attack on Iran’s nuclear, industrial, military, political and religious infrastructure. If a foreign enemy were to bomb 1,200 or more targets in the United States what would be the response of the American government and it’s military? Actually the answer to this question is well known. The stated doctrine of the United States of America is to rain hundreds of hydrogen bombs (WMD) on the territory and people of such an aggressor; this has been our policy for approximately 60 years. Why do we presuppose that the Iranians would not do the same?

If Iran is hit by either an Israeli and/or an American air attack, it is certain that Iran will respond. This response, even if is non-WMD at first, will certainly result in more escalation and counter-escalation. The chances of a regional Middle East war between Iran/Syria/Hezbollah/Hamas and Israel/USA not becoming a nuclear and advanced biological war nightmare are very low.

In fact, since both sides know this, there is a strong military incentive to move to all out usage of WMD when the first bombs begin to fall (in order to utilize more of one’s weaponry before its destruction). This could include Iranian/Syrian fire-on-warning system using a fiber-optic CCC link between all the launch bunkers in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and Palestine to co-ordinate fire a truly massive barrage of rockets and guided missiles, with WMD warheads, upon Israel within the first five-minutes of a launch warning. A similar fire-on-warning system for Israel, only involving nuclear-armed IRBMs, and submarine launched cruise missiles (SLCMs), and rapid launch of aircraft carried air-launched cruise missiles (ALCMs). could also launch within five minutes of warning.

This is the “hair-triggering” of WMD in the single most dangerous place on the planet Earth.

The end result will be a brief battle of unbelievable intensity that will leave half or more of all Israelis dead and large parts of the Israeli nation poisoned for hundreds of thousands of years by radiological warheads. Syria, Iran, and large parts of Lebanon and Palestine will cease to exists and will be little more than a green radioactive debris field poisonous to all forms of life higher than a cockroach for hundreds of thousands of years (longer than modern man has existed). The Iranian oilfields and most likely the oilfields of a large part of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other areas of the Middle East are also apt to be so poisoned by Iranian radiological warheads or Israeli/American nuclear fallout. (Which is key to the use of a scalar weapon to trigger the recent Haitian earthquake. The massive oilfields in and off-shore Haiti have long been a key hidden reserve site for the major American oil companies. That we have placed such a large military force in Haiti is indicative that we expect large parts of the Middle East oil fields to be inoperative due to radiological contamination in the near future.)

The destruction of the Middle Eastern oilfields and the blocking of the Gulf will cause the world to suffer its most complete economic collapse in history. All of this will take less than one week from the beginning of the General Middle East War.

At about two weeks, after the beginning of the war on Iran, emergency rooms and doctors offices will begin to see a sudden spike in a number of new diseases with numerous very ill people being admitted to hospitals in North America, and Western Europe and what is left of Israel. By that time the Iranian and Syrian states will have effectively ceased to exist with insufficient manpower and organization to even bury their dead.

The many new genetically engineered viruses causing the strange diseases showing up will have been spread by sleeper agents supplied with a number of new viruses and distributed in public places (movie theaters, shopping malls, churches, etc.) quietly without anyone knowing. Humans themselves will become the vectors of the diseases/biowar agents. Although the Bush/Obama Administrations has spent well over $40 billion on biowar defense in the last few years, there is little that can realistically be done against a global strategic advanced biowar attack. The tactic of necessity will be to lock down everyone, with only key persons being allowed to leave their homes, in order to let the multiple genetically engineered diseases burn themselves out (a nice way of saying letting everyone who has the illnesses die off).

Expect to see sub dermal RFID chips implanted under the skin of the population left in the major neo-con states to “prove your disease free status” and necessary to buy, sell, or work. Expect to see military checkpoints everywhere and total control by the neo-con national governments over all aspects of life. Expect to see concentration camps for persons suspected of disloyalty to the state (this will include many viewers of sites like this one). Expect to see levels of death, fear, repression that are almost incomprehensible.

Expect to see the various biological warfare diseases spread throughout the world, even with a total shutdown of international travel. Many many millions will die in Russia and China. Expect to see those national governments not controlled by the neo-con masters to go ape shit when their populations face the nightmare of advanced biowar. Expect the regional war in the Middle East to trigger an all out global battle utilizing all forms of weapons of mass destruction within a few weeks to a few months of the initial attacks on Iran.

 

[Ramseth]

Making sense now...This piece of news.

Three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline.

Three Israeli nuclear missile submarines parked in the Persian Gulf. Really makes sense, hur hur hur. If Iran strikes first, they'll go back to prehistory before Persia was founded, regardless of what happens to Israel.

Anyway, Saudi Arabia opening airspace is just a gimmick. Who doesn't know IAF flies around all middle eastern skies as if no-man's space?

 

[Cestbon]

Good explanantion and detail . That why all this time I said that there will be no War between country. They know what will happen to both side.
N.Korea/Iran what US can do all the while just talk cock.

Same as Singapore/Malaysia/Indonesia there will be no war also. Why do they need to spend so much money in weapon/plane/tank. Most likely for ego and under table money called sale commision.
Recently Malaysia and Singapore relationship is at the peak of the history.
Why would the 3 country Indon/Malaysia/Singapore want to start war between them.
Some brain wash by NS. If Malaysia cut water/ Indon cut gas they will fight.
That is a stupid reason. If they really cut what Singapore gov. can do is file a law suit against the country of breaching contract.
That will take month/years. Most likely both country will not do that becaus they know that contract will end. When contract end they have a choice to renew or not.
That the bussiness world as long as the price is right the seller willing to sell.
So as the buyer willing to buy.

 

[kensington]

Three Israeli nuclear missile submarines parked in the Persian Gulf. Really makes sense, hur hur hur. If Iran strikes first, they'll go back to prehistory before Persia was founded, regardless of what happens to Israel.

Anyway, Saudi Arabia opening airspace is just a gimmick. Who doesn't know IAF flies around all middle eastern skies as if no-man's space?

The Saudi air corridor offered Israel for an attack on Iran reported in the London Times of Saturday, June 12, was an old story rehashed by Riyadh in the hope of egging the US and Israel on to break free of their self-imposed restraints and halt Iran's drive for a nuclear bomb before it is too late.

With no one apparently available for keeping Iran out of the nuclear club, Riyadh did what it could. Using the London Times platform, Saudi Arabia's princely rulers opened the door to positive action in order to lift morale in the oil kingdom and its army and remind Washington, Jerusalem and the other Middle East players that soft sanctions need not be the last word; they are offering Israeli bombers a corridor for striking Iran's nuclear facilities and chance to reshape the region's declining reality.


War posturings certainly can take many forms. This time, RSVP.
Is it as simple as that ?

 

[Ramseth]

With no one apparently available for keeping Iran out of the nuclear club, Riyadh did what it could. Using the London Times platform, Saudi Arabia's princely rulers opened the door to positive action in order to lift morale in the oil kingdom and its army and remind Washington, Jerusalem and the other Middle East players that soft sanctions need not be the last word; they are offering Israeli bombers a corridor for striking Iran's nuclear facilities and chance to reshape the region's declining reality.

Yes, Saudi Arabia has always been the classic NATO Arab country, no action talk only Arab country. Its policy has always been to talk loudly about Palestine sovereignty but do nothing about it as long as Israel don't disturb them. Go bomb the other Arab or Muslim countries all Israel wants, just don't disturb them. Israel has also played along and list Saudi Arabia as enemy country but never disturbed them. Saudi Arabia in its position, wouldn't want any Arab or Muslim country in the Middle East to have nuclear weapons. It'd upset their position in their cozy balance of survival.

Also note that Iran is a Muslim country, not an Arab country. Iranians aren't Arabs, just like Pakistani Muslims and Indonesian Muslims aren't Arabs. Iran just happened to nearby, uncomfortably nearby.

 

[kensington]

Iran on war alert over "US and Israeli concentrations" in Azerbaijan


In a rare move, Iran has declared a state of war on its northwestern border, debkafile's military and Iranian sources report. Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps men and equipment units are being massed in the Caspian Sea region against what Tehran claims are US and Israeli forces concentrated on army and air bases in Azerbaijan ready to strike Iran's nuclear facilities.


The announcement came on Tuesday, June 22 from Brig.-Gen Mehdi Moini of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), commander of the forces tasked with "repelling" this American-Israeli offensive. He said: "The mobilization is due to the presence of American and Israeli forces on the western border," adding, "Reinforcements are being dispatched to West Azerbaijan Province because some western countries are fueling ethnic conflicts to destabilize the situation in the region."

In the past, Iranian officials have spoken of US and Israel attacks in general terms. debkafile's Iranian sources note that this is the first time that a specific location was mentioned and large reinforcements dispatched to give the threat substance.

Other Iranian sources report that in the last few days, Israel has secretly transferred a large number of bomber jets to bases in Azerbaijan, via Georgia, and that American special forces are also concentrated in Azerbaijan in preparation for a strike.

No comment has come from Azerbaijan about any of these reports. Iranian Azerbaijan, the destination of the Revolutionary Guards forces reinforcements, borders on Turkey, Iraq and Armenia. Witnesses say long IRGC convoys of tanks, artillery, anti-aircraft units and infantry are seen heading up the main highways to Azerbaijan and then further north to the Caspian Sea.

On Tuesday, June 22, Dr. Uzi Arad, head of Israel's National Security Council and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's closest adviser, said "The latest round of UN Security Council sanctions on Iran is inadequate for thwarting its nuclear progress. A preemptive military strike might eventually be necessary."

debkafile's intelligence and Iranian sources point to three other developments as setting off Iran's war alert:

1. A certain (limited) reinforcement of American and Israeli forces has taken place in Azerbaijan. Neither Washington nor Jerusalem has ever acknowledged a military presence in this country that borders on Iran, but Western intelligence sources say that both keep a wary eye on the goings-on inside Iran from electronic surveillance bases in that country.

2. Iran feels moved to respond to certain US steps: The arrival of the USS Harry S. Truman Strike Group in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea and its war games with France and Israel, which included live-fire bombing practices against targets in Iran.

3. The execution of Abdolmalek Rigi, head of the Sunni Baluchi rebel organization (including the Iranian Baluchis), on June 20 was intended as a deterrent for Iran's other minorities. Instead, they are more restive than ever. Several Azeri breakaway movements operate in Iranian Azerbaijan in combination with their brethren across the border. Tehran decided a substantial buildup in the province would serve as a timely measure against possible upheavals.


-----------------

Israelis prepping for Iran attack?

JERUSALEM, June 24 (UPI) -- Israeli air force helicopters landed at a Saudi Arabian airport to offload equipment meant to target a regional state, Iranian media claims.

Iran's semiofficial Fars News Agency said Israeli aircraft landed at a Saudi airport last week. The report said Riyadh canceled several flights to accommodate the Israelis, describing the incident as "suspicious military activity."

Israel's Haaretz newspaper reports the incident follows accounts of an American fleet in the Suez Canal, prompting fears of a pending military strike on Iran.

Both allegations followed a similar report in The Times of London dated June 13 that said Riyadh has carried out military tests to stand down to make room for Israeli bombers en route to Iran.

"The Saudis have given their permission for the Israelis to pass over and they will look the other way," a U.S. defense source told the British newspaper on condition of anonymity.

The Saudi Embassy in Washington said the allegations were categorically false.

The Times report said the main targets of any Israeli military raid would be uranium facilities in Natanz and the holy city of Qom, gas storage systems in Isfahan and a heavy-water reactor in Arak.

 

[kensington]

Yes, Saudi Arabia has always been the classic NATO Arab country, no action talk only Arab country. Its policy has always been to talk loudly about Palestine sovereignty but do nothing about it as long as Israel don't disturb them. Go bomb the other Arab or Muslim countries all Israel wants, just don't disturb them. Israel has also played along and list Saudi Arabia as enemy country but never disturbed them. Saudi Arabia in its position, wouldn't want any Arab or Muslim country in the Middle East to have nuclear weapons. It'd upset their position in their cozy balance of survival.

Also note that Iran is a Muslim country, not an Arab country. Iranians aren't Arabs, just like Pakistani Muslims and Indonesian Muslims aren't Arabs. Iran just happened to nearby, uncomfortably nearby.

Saudi is in the shit now because they also have a large shiite minority and by colluding with Israel to attack Iran, that could be proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. A revolt is possible if war breaks out. The kingdom does have a lot of fifth-columnists and the royalty are not that loved anyway.

The Iranians are not united too but if attacked, they would have come together as before when Saddam struck at them.

Islamic Revolution coming full circle and none of those Gulf States will survive because basically all of them have a Shiite majorities in their population.

 

[kensington]

Israel lofts new satellite to spy on Iran


TEL AVIV, Israel, June 23 (UPI) -- As tension with Iran grows daily, Israel has launched a new spy satellite that the military says has "unprecedented operational capabilities."

Hype or not, the 650-pound Ofek 9 will join at least two other Israeli surveillance satellites beaming their high-resolution cameras on Iran's nuclear program and its growing strategic missile forces -- much to Tehran's annoyance.

The announcement of the launch Tuesday came four days after a U.S. Navy task force headed by the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman sailed southward through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea en route to the Persian Gulf.

The Truman carries 60 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike jets. An Israeli navy missile corvette and the German frigate Hessen accompanied the 11-ship U.S. formation, according to Israeli reports.

Tension between Iran and the United States has intensified after the United Nations, the United States and the European Union imposed economic sanctions on Iran over the last two weeks for refusing to abandon its controversial nuclear program.

Israel, which has threatened to mount pre-emptive strikes against Iran's nuclear installations, has also been in a state of high alert after a deadly confrontation with a Turkish-organized flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid for the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, blockaded by Israel for 3 years.

The six-ship flotilla was intercepted by the Israeli navy in international waters in the eastern Mediterranean May 31. Naval commandos shot dead nine Turks aboard the flotilla's Turkish flagship.

That triggered an internal outcry against the Jewish state, while its erstwhile ally, Turkey, was widely seen as realigning with Iran.

The Truman battle group's deployment toward the gulf came as Tehran announced that it was sending aid ships to Gaza.

That raised fears of another high-seas confrontation with Israel. At least one aid ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists from Lebanon is also expected to head for Gaza.

Israel has warned it will use force to prevent these vessels running the blockade.

The launch of a new Israeli satellite Tuesday doesn't necessarily signal the prospect of imminent Israeli military action against Iran. But the Jewish state is increasingly on edge because of a buildup of missile arsenals by Hezbollah, the Lebanese movement that is Iran's main proxy in the Middle East, and Hamas, which is armed by Iran.

Hezbollah has some 45,000 missiles and rockets, Israeli estimates claim. These reportedly include some 1,000 Iranian and Syrian medium-range missiles, while Syria has allegedly deployed 800 Soviet-designed Scud-C ballistic weapons aimed at Israel.

Israel's internal security service, known as Shin Bet, reported June 16 that Hamas and its allies in Gaza have amassed some 5,000 rockets with ranges of up to 25 miles. That's enough to hit the outskirts of the urban conurbation around Tel Aviv.

Meantime, Yair Shamir, chairman of Israel Aerospace Industries, was reported to have claimed in May that Iran is developing an upgraded version of a KH-55 long-range cruise missile it was said to have obtained from Ukraine in 2006.

Shamir said Iran seeks to extend the missile's range of 1,560 miles and develop an air-launched variant that it can fire from its own airspace without risking interception.

Ofek-9 was launched from the Palmachim Air Base south of Tel Aviv aboard a Shavit booster rocket, the civil version of IAI's nuclear-capable Jericho ballistic missile.

"This provides Israel with greater operational flexibility, since we now have another set of eyes on a target," said Chaim Eshed, director of space programs at the Defense Ministry's Research and Development Directorate.

"This means that we have increased the rate we can visit a target," he told The Jerusalem Post.

Ofek-9 joins the IAI-made TecSar 1 satellite launched from India in January 2008 amid considerable secrecy.

But more important is the IAI-built, 650-pound Risat-2 satellite launched by India April 20, 2009. It's equipped with the same multi-spectral aperture radar as TecSar 1, providing coverage in all weather and at night through cloud.

But it's important for another reason. Due to Israel's geographical location, it is only able to launch intelligence-gathering satellites westward against the Earth's rotation. That limits the range of orbits over Iran. Launching from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in southeast India means Israel can launch eastward, adding another dimension to its surveillance of Iran.

 

[manokie]

Not a surprise..

US relies a lot of wars to boost its economy by spending lots of $$$.. Don't think that only military related industries get a boost.. All big companies from cereal mills, electric companies, internet companies etc get a boost

Of course, US don't give a shit about spending this money because it borrows from the rest of the world very easily.. Whenever they need to pay back, they will play with their currency to "pay less"

Also wars give them superiority over other countries, which is the best way of keeping this game going..

If it really take place, MIW will surely come out and suck Obama's cock by saying they support this war against nuclear terrorist states

 

[kensington]

Reflections by comrade Fidel

KNOWING THE TRUTH TIMELY
​

As I was writing every one of my previous Reflections, and a catastrophe was quickly zeroing in on humanity, my major concern was to fulfill the primary duty to inform our people.

Today, I feel more relax than 26 days ago. As the situation evolves, I can reiterate and expand on the information to the national and international public.

Obama has committed to attend the quarterfinals match on July 2, if his country’s team makes it to that stage. He supposedly knows better than anyone that the quarterfinals will not be contested because very serious developments will take place before that; or at least he should know.

Last Friday, June 25, an international press agency known for the attention to details in its reports, published a statement by the “…Navy Commander of the elite Corps of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution General Ali Fadavi…,” warning “…that if the United States and its allies inspect Iranian ships in international waters ‘they will have their response in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.’”

The information was taken from the local news agency Mehr of Iran.

According to the press dispatch, said news agency reported that “Fadavi added that ‘the Navy of the Revolutionary Guardians currently has hundreds of vessels equipped with missile launchers.’”

The information, produced approximately at the same time of what Granma published or perhaps before, seemed at some points an exact copy of the Reflections elaborated on Thursday June 24th and ran by that paper on Friday 25th.

The coincidence can be explained by the simple use of a logical reasoning. I was completely unaware of what the Iranian local agency had published.

I have absolutely no doubt that as soon as the American and Israeli warships are deployed –alongside the rest of the American military vessels positioned off the Iranian coasts-- and they try to inspect the first merchant ship from that country, there will be a massive launching of missiles in both directions. At that moment exactly the terrible war will begin. It’s not possible to estimate how many vessels will be sunk or from what country.

Knowing the truth timely is the most important thing for our people.

It doesn’t matter if almost everybody, I’d dare say 99.9% or more of my compatriots, instinctively cling to hopes and agree with my sincere wishes to be wrong. I have talked to people close to me, and I have also received news from many noble, selfless and hardworking people who have read my Reflections and do not challenge my considerations in the least but rather absorb, believe and swallow my reasoning through a dry throat; however, they immediately go back to the tasks to which they devote their energies.

That is precisely what we expect of our compatriots. But it would be worse to suddenly become aware of extremely gave events without having heard as much as a news about such possibility. Then there would be confusion and panic, and that would be unworthy of our heroic Cuban people, which was very close to becoming the target of a massive nuclear strike on October 1962, and still did not hesitate for a second in discharging its duty.

Our brave combatants and the military chiefs of our Revolutionary Armed Forces taking part in heroic internationalist missions were close to becoming the victims of nuclear strikes against the Cuban troops deployed close to the Angolan south border from where the South African racist forces --at the time positioned on the Namibian border-- had been expelled after the battle of Cuito Cuanavale.

The Pentagon, with the consent of the President of the United States, supplied the South African racists through Israel with about 14 nuclear bombs, more powerful than those dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as we have indicated in previous Reflections.

I am neither a prophet nor a fortune teller. Nobody told me a word of what was to happen. It has all been the result of what I today describe as a logical reasoning.

We are neither new to this complicated issue nor are we meddlesome.

It is possible to predict what will happen in the rest of the Portuguese and Spanish speaking Americas during the nuclear post crisis.

Under such circumstances, it will not be possible to talk of capitalism or socialism. A stage will open that will see the management of the available goods and services in this part of the continent. Certainly, every country will continue being ruled by those who head the governments today, some very close to socialism and others euphoric over the opening of the world market to fuels, uranium, copper, lithium, aluminum, iron and other metals being sent to the developed and rich countries today that will suddenly disappear.

An abundance of food exported now to that world market will also disappear abruptly.

In these circumstances, the most basic products needed for life: food, water, fuels, and the resources found in the hemisphere south of the United States will suffice to preserve some of the civilization whose unbridled advance has led humanity into such a disaster.

Nevertheless, there are still some uncertainties. Will the two mightiest nuclear powers, the United States and Russia, be able to refrain from using their nuclear weapons against each other?

There is no doubt, however, that from Europe the nuclear weapons of Great Britain and France, allied with the United States and Israel, --the same that enthusiastically imposed the resolution that will inevitably unleash the war, which for the abovementioned reasons will immediately become nuclear-- are threatening the Russian territory even though this country and China have done everything within their capabilities to prevent the conflict.

The economy of the superpower will fall to pieces like a house of cards. The American society is the least prepared to endure a catastrophe like the one the empire has created in the same territory where it started.

We don’t know which will be the effect on the environment of the nuclear weapons that will unavoidably explode in various parts of the world, and that in the least serious variant will happen in abundance.

As for me, to advance a hypothesis would be pure science fiction.





Fidel Castro Ruz

June 27, 2010

2:15 PM




http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/reflexiones/2010/ing/f270610i.html

 

[kensington]

Saudi Arabia's House Of Cards

By Ilan Berma

How stable is Saudi Arabia? Not very, according to at least one member of the Kingdom's ruling class. Last month Prince Turki bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, a prominent dissident now in exile in Cairo, issued an open letter to his fellow royals, urging them to abandon their desert fiefdom for greener pastures. According to the prince, the current social compact between the House of Saud and its subjects had become untenable, with the government no longer able to "impose" its writ on the people and growing grassroots discontent at the royals "interfering in people's private life and restricting their liberties." His advice? That King Abdullah and his coterie flee the Kingdom before they are overthrown--and before their opponents "cut off our heads in streets."

Or so the story goes. Reports of Turki's missive have understandably made a splash in the Iranian press, with Riyadh's regional rival engaging in some thinly veiled schadenfreude. But the actual letter itself is exceedingly hard to come by, at least in its English translation. Were it not for a report from the country's official news agency denouncing the communiqué, you might think the entire episode was made up.


Real or fabricated, however, the warning is instructive. Seventy-eight years after Abdul Aziz ibn Saud triumphantly carved out his kingdom on the Arabian Peninsula following a quarter-century of warfare against rival tribes, Saudi Arabia is living on borrowed time. And the likely culprit of its eventual undoing is the one commodity that allowed ibn Saud to secure international legitimacy in the years following his country's founding: oil.

The problems start with the Kingdom's notoriously opaque energy sector. As veteran oil trader Matthew Simmons pointed out in his 2005 book Twilight in the Desert, "What we know about the Kingdom's oil is pretty much what Saudi Aramco, the Petroleum Ministry and the royal family want us to know." Indeed, empirical facts about Saudi energy wealth are exceedingly hard to come by. Today, the world's largest deposit of proven oil resides not in the Persian Gulf, but in North America. That is because, despite its claim to global energy dominance, Saudi Arabia has refused to allow objective, independently verified measurements of its oil reserves. (Canada, by contrast, has permitted both the U.S Energy Information Administration and the Paris-based International Energy Agency to conduct a comprehensive assessment of its energy potential, with spectacular results.)

The reasons for Riyadh's reticence are obvious. No major new energy fields have been found in Saudi Arabia since the 1970s, and the chances of such discoveries are now, in Simmons' words, "remote." This means that the Kingdom's position at the head of the world oil class is fragile; if Saudi reserves are found to be more modest than publicly proclaimed, its status as an energy superpower might be at risk.

For the moment, at least, the House of Saud still retains considerable muscle in that department. Saudi Arabia is currently estimated to be capable of producing a whopping 12.5 million barrels of oil daily, an increase of nearly 4 million barrels from just five years ago. (Because of the global recession, output this spring was far short of that--just 8.5 million barrels a day.) And, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, at current production levels the Kingdom's 264 billion barrels of reserve crude will last just over seven decades.


---------------------

Counting their days...


The Saudi royal family are not popular in Saudi - especially for their relationship and support for the US.

The Saudi family of course would like to support the US totally - however, it may be suicide for them to throw in their lot with the US regarding Iran. You have to understand that Iran is a symbol too for all muslims - it is an Islamic state - to back a Christian power against it will not sit well with the population - the Saudi royals might well lose their heads in the process.

The Saudi family can deny the US publicly, and allow them privately - to claim they are publicly supporting the US would be very embarrassing, and they will be quick to deny it - just as they have done.

It is very much in Ahmadinejads interest to make the issue of Saudi complicity with the US a very public debate - this may force the Saudi's to actually honor any public statement they make regarding denial of airspace to the US forces. if the US broke those rules - then the royals would have to take some action or there might be severe political backlash.

 

[kensington]

Hizballah advances 20,000 troops to Israeli border


Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu keeps on vowing that Iran will not be allowed to establish an outpost on Israel's borders, but he has not lifted a finger to stop this menace ensconcing itself in the north. He cannot realistically expect feeble UN reprimands and the puny French contingent of UNIFIL to blow away the 20,000 Hizballah troops dug in in 160 new positions in South Lebanon, backed by a vast rocket arsenal - even though this is a gross violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701.

Iran's proxy has therefore won the first round of its drive to recover the forward positions lost in the 2006 war and stands ready for the next. Israel has reinforced its border defenses against this massed Hizballah strength just a few hundreds meters away.

How could Jerusalem let this to happen?

The answer is by a misguided policy of misdirected reliance on international players and diplomacy, as though the military menace existed only in documentary form, instead of real armies led by single-minded terrorists with utter contempt for the rules of international diplomacy. The guns Israel invoked for dealing with the Palestinian Hamas in Gaza - President Barack Obama and the European Union - were too big for their target and the Middle East Quartet's envoy former British premier Tony Blair had to be roped in. The guns Israel relied on to deal with Hizballah - the UN and France - are too small and ineffective for the job.

Following a French complaint, the UN Security Council convened Friday, July 9 and passed a resolution "strongly deploring the recent incidents involving UNIFIL peacekeepers which took place in southern Lebanon on June 29, July 3 and July 4." All parties in Lebanon were urged "to respect the safety of UNIFIL and United Nations personnel."

The UN was not even asked to address Hizballah's illegal redeployment in new positions in the South - only the harassment of peacekeepers - nor did it do so. In one instance last week, French troops on patrol were pulled out of their armed vehicles, their weapons snatched and they were beaten with sticks, rocks and eggs.

This was no spontaneous outburst.Military sources report that the "villagers" were instructed by Iran's new Iranian commander in Lebanon, Hossein Mahadavi, to hit on the French contingent to punish Paris for supporting the UN Security Council's expanded sanctions for its nuclear violations, while at the same time blocking the peacekeeper's access to the "closed areas" where the new Hizballah bases have been set up.

Tehran nominated a high-ranking officer to Lebanon - Mahadavi's former job was commander of Iran's Overseas Division - indicating the importance it attaches to this volatile borderland. Indeed, if Hizballah gets away with its new deployment in the South and is allowed to make it permanent, the UN force will have lost even this scrappy foothold and Hizballah will be free to carry on its preparations for war without the slightest hindrance.

So much for Netanyahu's pledge, reiterated during his talks and interviews in the United States last week, that in negotiations with Arabs, especially the Palestinians, Israel will never accept any accommodation that permits Iran to set up military and rocket bases on its borders.

The fact is that since he entered the prime minister's office, he and defense minister Ehud Barak have done nothing to hold back the stream of armed Hizballah militiamen flooding South Lebanon, although they are now actively endangering the one-and-a-half million Israelis living just across the border.

If they imagined that UN peacekeepers would suddenly stand up and start repelling this southward tide of men and war materiel, they need only to take note of the tepid UN reprimand last Friday to understand that the Elysee Palace had no intention of letting French troops pick up the Hizballah ball and chase the Shiite terrorists back to their former positions.

Tehran and Hizballah therefore felt they could safely issue a new spate of threats: Israelis traveling anywhere in the world faced kidnap or death in response to a series of hits attributed to their clandestine agencies, such as the assassination of a key Hizballah commander Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus in 2008, the deaths of the Iranian nuclear physicist Prof. Massoud Ali Mohammmadi in the middle of Tehran in January of this year, and the Hamas operative responsible for Iranian money transfers to the Gaza Strip Mohammed al-Mabhouh in Dubai nine days later.

Israel responded to the verbal escalation by doing something it has never done before: Col. Ronen Marli, chief of the northern border's Western Brigade - the unit which will have to hold off the enemy in the early hours of attack from Lebanon - exhibited to the public aerial photos and intelligence maps recording the new spread of Hizballah forces: He reported 20,000 armed men scattered through 160 village and towns - only in the South, where its presence is prohibited by the UN-mediated ceasefire of 2006.

The images did not include the substantial strength Hizballah maintains in central Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley to the east, or its estimated 40,000 rockets and missiles.

The Israeli colonel was of the opinion that an "event (a military attack or terrorist operation) could erupt today or in a year." He admitted it could be a surprise. Adding: "But we are working in different ways to thwart any event and if happens, we'll know how to handle it."

The IDF backed him up with an announcement that Israel is beefing up its strength along the Lebanese border and the Jerusalem center for terrorist threats, published a warning to Israelis abroad, including the United States, to beware of abductions and murderous attacks.

Saturday, a Hizballah spokesman responded: "All three (UN, France, Israel) are preparing something, but we are ready," it said. "Our forces in the South are on the highest level of war preparedness."

The next conflagration may be just a single lighted match away. It could be ignited by some local incident, a terrorist event outside the Middle East or an order from Tehran.


They surely live in interesting times...

 

[kensington]

MIDDLE EAST: Threatened Israeli strike on Iran would lead to regional war, report says


The ultimate nightmare scenario could soon become a reality:

Israeli strike aircraft cross into Iranian airspace and hit the nuclear facilities at Natanz, Esfahan and Qom, as well as the laboratories of the University of Tehran, killing one of Iran's leading nuclear scientists along with dozens of researchers and a janitor.

Iran retaliates by hitting Tel Aviv with long-range missiles and fanning the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, engulfing the Middle East in a protracted regional war and triggering a global economic crisis over oil prices.

This terrifying outcome is increasingly likely if Israel carries out a reportedly impending military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, according to a new study by the Oxford Research Group, a leading security think tank.

The paper, titled "Military Action Against Iran: Impact and Effects," was released Thursday following ominous statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the Fox News channel in which he called Iran "the ultimate terrorist threat today."

"We should not allow irrational regimes like Iran to have nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said.

Although Netanyahu declined to outline a specific plan of action or a deadline, he reiterated his country's willingness to use force to stop Tehran from developing its nuclear capabilities, which Iran insists are for peaceful purposes.

"There's only been one time that Iran actually stopped the [nuclear] program, and that was when it feared U.S. military action," the prime minister said.

Watch the interview :

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But according to the paper released Thursday, the consequences of such a military action against Iran "are so serious that they should not be encouraged in any shape or form.”

The report predicts such an attack would have the exact opposite of the desired effect by uniting Iranians against a common enemy, thus bolstering Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's hard-line regime, which would retaliate against Israeli and U.S. interests in the region.

The report points to Israel's recently improved strike capabilities and the bellicose rhetoric of its politicians and concludes that the Jewish state is preparing to take out not only known Iranian nuclear facilities but also factories, research centers, and university laboratories with the intention of destroying Iran's technical capabilities and killing its leading technocrats.

Iran would likely respond by attacking Israel directly, withdrawing from negotiations over its nuclear program, supporting insurgent activity against Western interests in Iraq and Afghanistan, and facilitating attacks against Western oil facilities in the Persian gulf.

“There would be many civilian casualties, both directly among people working on Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, but also their families as their living quarters were hit, and secretaries, cleaners, labourers and other staff in factories, research stations and university departments,” says the report, which was authored by Paul Rogers of the University of Bradford.

“An Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities would almost certainly be the beginning of a long-term process of regular Israeli airstrikes to further prevent the development of nuclear weapons and medium-range missiles," it continues. "Iranian responses would also be long-term, ushering in a lengthy war with global as well as regional implications."

– Meris Lutz in Beirut