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2005-11-28 Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran's Mysterious Spy Satellite
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Posted by Steve 2005-11-28 09:35|| || Front Page|| [9 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 "Sina-1 is a research satellite. It's not possible to use it for military purposes," said Deputy Telecom Minister Ahmad Talebzadeh, who heads the space program. But he agreed it could spy on Israel. "Technically speaking, yes. It can monitor Israel," he told The Associated Press. "But we don't need to do it. You can buy satellite photos of Israeli streets from the market."

Yea, that Suk imagery simply can't be beat.
Posted by Besoeker 2005-11-28 11:15||   2005-11-28 11:15|| Front Page Top

#2 shoot it down - no Orcs in space
Posted by Shep UK 2005-11-28 11:55||   2005-11-28 11:55|| Front Page Top

#3 Damn straight, Shep. God knows what else is on that bird. What the hell were the Ruskies thinking?

Blow it to hell. We need the practice anyway.
Posted by mojo">mojo  2005-11-28 13:58||   2005-11-28 13:58|| Front Page Top

#4 There is a method in Russia's madness, though it's questionable whether the technique works or not.

Basically, it is: "When the gunman comes to town, and you do not known his intentions, nor can you see his gun, offer him a knife. If he does not have a gun, his having a knife may make him less inclined to get a gun. If he does have a gun, perhaps he will choose to use his knife instead, creating a smaller risk. Even if he has a gun and intent to use it, giving him a knife is of small matter--he will do no more harm with it than he will do with his gun."

This philosophy could be applied both to long range missiles and nuclear material. In the first case, the Russian attitude is to make them a satellite and launch it, so that the Iranians don't make their own satellite and launcher.

In the second case, they offer the Iranians nuclear fuel and to reprocess their old fuel--no need for the Iranians to do it.

I really doubt that the Russians are doing this out of the milk of human kindness.
Posted by Anonymoose 2005-11-28 15:36||   2005-11-28 15:36|| Front Page Top

#5 I like moose's analogy, but doubt the russians are so concerned about the Iranians not having sattellite launchers. They are just playing games with the Mullahs as usual to provide a hedge against the West and make a few bucks to boot.

The russian space agancy will do anything for a buck.

A friend of mine recently got back from Russia, he went with Gregory Olsen, America's most recent space tourist and ISS joy-rider who is a college buddy of his.

Greg paid his $20 mil and rode the beast to the ISS, but said it was worth every penny. All the guys said that the Russians were in bad shape, and that it seemed to them like if were it not for the space tourist the ISS wouldn't have a single Russian on it at all.

So the Russians need money and the Iranians have plenty to waste evidently.

EP
Posted by ElvisHasLeftTheBuilding 2005-11-28 17:06||   2005-11-28 17:06|| Front Page Top

#6 The Iranians should remember real western history:

When a "gunman" came to town, he more than likely was asked to surrender his weapons (sound familiar?) and ,upon refusal, chances are he was killed later by a 12-Ga shot to the back, so as to avoid collateral damage and threat to the lawmen
Posted by Frank G">Frank G  2005-11-28 18:26||   2005-11-28 18:26|| Front Page Top

#7 Yep. I remember when Ronnie rode into town. The USSR offered him a space-based laser, Ronnie demmured and asked for a milkshake, stirred, no straw.
Posted by Shipman 2005-11-28 19:09||   2005-11-28 19:09|| Front Page Top

#8 Of course big Ron was backed up by thousands and thousands of air-launched, preassembled, macro sdfaodifaio 2345 adfl;asdfkgng iru4

Carry on.
Posted by doubel O Hatfield 2005-11-28 19:14||   2005-11-28 19:14|| Front Page Top

#9 Ron on military strategy: We win. They lose."
Posted by Saddamn Husseinb 2005-11-28 20:57||   2005-11-28 20:57|| Front Page Top

#10 If he does not have a gun, his having a knife may make him less inclined to get a gun.

There in lies the explanation why the Russians never seem to find peace.

1. he's not a gunman without a gun
2. maybe he didn't even have a knife
3. Who says having a knife doesn't make him want a gun?
4. Now that he has a knife, he can steal a gun

So the real moral of the story is: A guy comes to town, talks a bunch of BS and so he gets a free knife, which he uses to strong-arm a gun and thus the unarmed man becomes a gunman.
Posted by 2b 2005-11-28 21:51||   2005-11-28 21:51|| Front Page Top

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