Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain ||
09/17/2009 14:00 ||
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#1
Greta interviewed interim Honduran president Micheletti On The Record last night. Apparently Zelaya and Chavez are BFFs and he was bringing in bombs along with large cocaine shipments, with a lot of land now owned by Arabs. The comments on her blog think the US is being blackmailed and why Obama and Clinton chose to support the wrong side. Hezbollah is active in Latin America so it is quite plausible.
#2
Yes, it is indeed interesting that this news finally finds the light of day on the very same day that our Fearless Leader drops the missile shield in Europe that was supposedly designed to defend our European allies from Iranian missiles, nuclear tipped or otherwise. For some strange reason I was listening to NPR this afternoon (I won't go into details) and the story from the O-man is that the shield is to be replaced by a stronger and more cost-effective system to be deployed on ships. Huh? Well, that's what he said and he had some Marine Corps general agreeing with him. Dunno if it will make the Euros feel any better.
#1
Israel has been trying to get people to focus on the threat Iran poses to the region and the world, and make people focus less on it as an "Israeli" issue.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
09/17/2009 12:56 Comments ||
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#2
LH, I think that's wishful thinking. Iran's regional neighbours are most probably thinking 'Iran might nuke Israel one day, but if it does the US will neutralise it. Alternatively, Iran will use its nukes as leverage to weaken Israel by way of attrition'. The crocodile will always go for Israel first, and thus Israel remains the only state for which Iran is an existential threat.
#3
well first, I wasnt so much addressing the substance, I was explaining why Barak was saying this, in case anyone though that he had suddenly gone all dovish. The Israelis feel strongly that the notion that Iran is a threat to them alone does NOT help them to strike a sense of urgency about Iran in the rest of the world. So they have emphasized that Iran is a world problem and NOT soley theirs to deal with.
As for the substance, I am not so sure. It strikes me as very probable that if Iran gets nukes they will immediately begin to bully their Persian Gulf neighbors, and to spread influence throughout the middle east, using the nukes as deterrence against anyone who would use conventional military might to stand in their way.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
09/17/2009 16:33 Comments ||
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#4
I have to agree with LH. Nuclear states can only use nuclear weapons to bully non-nuclear states. Iran will use its nuclear weapons to bully the Gulf states and Iraq.
#5
And Oman will be #1 on Iran's list. They want that Omani enclave on southern side of the Straits of Hormuz. It will make the Gulf their Mare Nostrum.
#7
Nuclear states can only use nuclear weapons to bully non-nuclear states
False assumption. Nuclear armed states can use their weapons to bully any state which won't (resort to) use nuclear weapons first. Especially a democratic state. Bullies don't assume their victims are incapable of defending themselves, they calculate that their victims only will not.
[Khaleej Times] A Lebanese military court has convicted five Palestinians of carrying out armed attacks, including a bombing aimed at U.N. peacekeepers, a court official said Tuesday.
Only one of the five men convicted is in custody. He was sentenced to three years of hard labor, the official said, while the other four men, who are still on the run, were given life sentences in absentia.
Lebanon's most powerful militia is the Iran-backed Shiite group Hezbollah, but the country is also home to smaller armed factions, some of them inspired by al-Qaida, whose members have attacked international and Lebanese government forces and periodically launch rockets at Israel.
The court found that the men established an armed gang with the intent to kill people, obtained explosive materials and attempted to kill members of a U.N. peacekeeping force in south Lebanon by detonating a roadside bomb targeting a vehicle carrying troops, according to Tuesday's ruling.
In that attack, in January 2008, a roadside bomb that exploded near a U.N. vehicle on a coastal highway south of Beirut lightly wounded two peacekeepers.
The official spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to divulge details of court proceedings to the media.
In July, the same court convicted 12 members of an al-Qaida-inspired group of carrying out attacks, including a bombing of a U.N. peacekeeping jeep in south Lebanon in July 2007.
Several attacks have targeted the international peacekeeping force in recent years. In the most deadly attack, a car bomb killed six Spanish peacekeepers in June 2007.
No group claimed responsibility for that bombing, but al-Qaida's deputy chief, Ayman al-Zawahri, praised the attack. In an audio recording last year, he called on Sunni militants "to expel the invading Crusaders who pretend to be peacekeeping forces in Lebanon."
A 13,000-strong U.N. force was deployed on Lebanon's border with Israel as part of the U.N. resolution that ended the monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2009 00:00 ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] Talks between Iraq and Syria over Iraqi charges that Damascus is harbouring militants involved in deadly bombings in Baghdad have failed and will not be repeated, the Iraqi government spokesman said on Wednesday.
The talks in Ankara, Turkey, aimed at easing tensions between the two neighbours collapsed after Syria refused to accept a list of people Iraq wants extradited for their alleged involvement in a recent spate of bombings, including an Aug. 19 blast that killed more that 100 people.
Iraq accuses Syria of harbouring Saddam Hussein loyalists wanted in those bombings.
"We consider this security meeting as the final one. Such a meeting won't happen in the future unless Syria positively responds to the unchallenged evidence and proof presented by Iraq. This is the final meeting," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told The Associated Press.
He added that planned talks on Thursday between the foreign ministers of Iraq and Syria in Istanbul, Turkey, may also be cancelled.
Syrian officials were not immediately available for comment.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has demanded that Syria hand over two suspects in the August truck bombings outside the foreign and finance ministries in Baghdad. He has asked the U.N. Security Council to set up an international tribunal to investigate the bombings.
Syria says the Iraqi government has failed to provide proof, rejecting extradition requests.
Al-Dabbagh, the Iraqi spokesman, said the Iraqi delegation presented "proof and evidence on the involvement of Syrian-based terrorists, and we have been demanding the handing over of the two terrorists."
The government hopes Vice President Joe Biden, on a three-day trip to Iraq, will have suggestions on how to ease tension with Syria. Biden was to meet al-Maliki on Wednesday, the second day of his visit.
The United States has remained largely silent about al-Maliki's accusations, but has said Syria still enables the smuggling of foreign fighters into Iraq and that former members of Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath party live in that country.
"Syria continues to allow the facilitation of foreign fighters through Syria that both come into Iraq as well as, I believe, into Afghanistan," Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told reporters after meeting with Biden late Tuesday.
"We do know that there are some ex-Baathist elements that are in Syria that are funding operations in Iraq, and we also know that they are operating Web sites that encourage attacks inside of Iraq," Odierno said.
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Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] With Iran battling with a double-digit inflation rate, an administration committee working on the reform of the country's economy approves a proposal to lop three zeros off the Iranian Rial.
Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Mahmoud Bahmani announced on Wednesday that a group tasked with working on the Ahmadinejad administration's economic reform plan has approved a proposal to lop three zeros off the Rial.
The top Central Bank official added that while the decision is final, the administration would not implement the measure until the country's inflation rate has slipped further down. Bahmani, however, did not set any date for the Iranian currency reform plan to take effect.
The CBI announced in August that the annual point-to-point rate of inflation stood at 14 percent in comparison to last year's 29.5. Bahmani had earlier predicted a single-digit inflation rate by the end of the current Iranian year [March 20, 2010].
When asked if the decision to lop zeros was likely to be reversed, the CBI chief said, "This is not possible; we have long been planning for this and will pursue the matter."
The decision comes as Rial presently trades at 9,850 to the dollar, against the 70 at the time of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
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Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/17/2009 1:19 Comments ||
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#2
Zimbabwe two.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/17/2009 12:37 Comments ||
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#3
Coming soon to a theatre near you? Servicing the huge and exploding US deficit seems certain to eventually drive hyperinflation here too.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Lebanon's president designated Saad al-Hariri prime minister on Wednesday after the leader of the March 14 alliance stepped down from the post last week over rising tension with his opponents, a presidential statement said.
Hariri was called on by President Michel Suleiman to form a government after 73 out of a possible 128 lawmakers nominated him to the post. "Following consultations with the speaker of parliament and MPs ... the president has called on Saad Hariri to form a government," the statement said.
Hariri abandoned a first bid to form a national unity government last week after his political opponents led by the militant group Hezbollah rejected his proposed government line-up.
Hariri was first designated prime minister in June, but stepped down last week, blaming rival factions including Hezbollah for thwarting his attempts at forging a unity government.
His move triggered consultations this week between President Michel Suleiman and lawmakers to pick a new premier. The talks concluded on Wednesday. Suleiman was obliged to designate the candidate with the greatest support among Lebanon's 128 MPs.
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Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran's opposition leaders will attend the nationwide "Quds Day" rally on Friday, a reformist website reported on Wednesday, a move that could lead to fresh anti-government protests.
The June presidential election, which was followed by huge opposition protests, plunged Iran into political turmoil and exposed deepening divisions within its ruling elite. Opposition leaders say the poll was rigged to secure President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election. The authorities deny it.
Defeated presidential candidates Mir Hussein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi said they would attend the anti-Israel rally. "Mousavi, Karroubi and former president Mohammad Khatami will participate in Friday's rally," said the reformist website, Mowjcamp.
Defying the authorities, some moderate websites have called for new anti-government protests on "Quds Day".
Witnesses said security forces had tightened control in streets leading to the prayer venue in central Tehran.
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Posted by: Fred ||
09/17/2009 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
