What sticks in my mind is the story she told about what happened when she landed in Toronto.
The "bearded, Pakistani-looking" border guy went through the usual spiel: "Business or personal?" He kept pressing her to describe her business in Toronto and Ottawa in more and more detail. When she finally said she was going to speak about sharia, he fixed his eyes on her and intoned: "We are NOT to question sharia."
Feel safe, everybody?
This guy is "guarding" your airport!
People in the audience asked what is to be done. Darwish didn't have any real concrete answers -- at least, none she felt comfortable talking about publicly.
The situation is difficult because both constitutions promise "freedom of religion." However, neither constitution (to my knowledge) features "a right to immigrate to Canada/the U.S."
So we can more safely, from a legal perspective, campaign for a temporary halt to immigration from Muslim countries, and by Muslims coming here through non-Muslim second countries.
To deal with the belligerent Muslims currently in our midst is a harder task. But turning off the taps would be a start.
The head of the Canadian military says plans are already underway to pull troops out of Afghanistan in 2011. And Gen. Walter Natynczyk, the chief of defence staff, says he expects the 2,800-soldier gap left in Kandahar by Canada to be filled by American soldiers, thousands of whom already operate in the country's most dangerous region. "I've put out instructions back in August on our planning and preparation with regard to 2011," he said. "Our allies are well aware, NATO is well aware of our intentions because ... it takes a year or so to prepare all the troops ... to replace us."
A parliamentary mandate passed in 2008 starts the long process of bringing Canadian soldiers and equipment in July 2011 for an eventual end to the mission by December. The Conservative government has proposed holding another debate in the House of Commons to define the scope of Canada's humanitarian and development work in Afghanistan beyond 2011 but has yet to put forward any concrete proposals.
An influx of U.S. troops earlier this year sent thousands of additional soldiers to Kandahar province to help out Canada. Coalition forces in Afghanistan are awaiting a decision from U.S. President Barack Obama on whether to send as many as 40,000 additional American soldiers to fight the war.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
before we start hearing whining about the canucks bailing out, i will be the first to say thank you canada for the precious blood and treasure you expended for the cause of liberty. you punched well above your weight for longer than many even handcuffed by the liberal policies of your government.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
11/07/2009 1:49 Comments ||
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#2
Evidently the US has the lead on mission, goals, objectives, and timetables. Without any established guidance, difficult to blame anyone from pulling out of a half-assed operation.
#3
I second that B. If I was in charge of the small Canadian forces I would want them out of there too. Our Prez has no plan, no intent to win, and I would feel nationally bound to not allow my soldiers to go into harms way with Zero in charge. A really sad truth, thanks Canada for sticking with us as long as you have.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/07/2009 8:56 Comments ||
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#4
concur w/the above. I have no heart burn w/the Canadian's popping smoke on this one. Our campaigner-in-chief has no end state in mind other wrt Douchebagistan then doing whatever is politically expedient to stay in power. That's his political objective first & last.
#6
But, yeah, Canadians will definitely be able to sleep better after 2011, seeing as how they'll no longer be a 'target'.
I know its a snark but exactly the point! Canada was never targeted, yet their soldiers are fighting there with us. They are also dieing there with ours, and for our nation that "was" targeted. Now we, as a nation need to at least have a policy and plan to win this thing or every country that stands with us will have every right to leave us standing alone. We should never send our troops into a meat grinder without every intent and a solid plan to win, let alone ask another nation to do the same.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/07/2009 12:06 Comments ||
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#7
Canada was never targeted
And neither was Denmark until they published those pesky cartoons.
Plus, last I heard, Israel still has an embassy and a couple of consulates in Canada (not to mention the 4th largest Jewish population in the world).
Not to worry, though. We all know the GWOT is done (or renamed, anyway...now called overseas conflict or something), all those Canadian Juice must be so relieved.
#8
Canada lost 25 citizens in 911. A former liberal prime minister did not want to get involved in Iraq, so in 2002 he sent the troops to Kabul, and later Kandahar.
[Maghrebia] To help Mauritania combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking, Spain donated an airplane equipped with marine surveillance technology, ANI reported on Thursday (November 5th). Spain's Guardia Civil (Civil Guard) presented the Antonov-model aircraft to Mauritanian officials on Wednesday in Nouadhibou.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2009 00:00 ||
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A Muslim veteran affairs organization says it has not received reports of harassment from Islamic soldiers, contrary to claims by a relative of the man authorities say is responsible for the worst mass killing on a U.S. military base.
Abdul-Rashid Abdullah, deputy director of the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council, told FoxNews.com that the nonprofit group has not received a single report recently of a U.S. soldier being harassed "simply because he was Muslim." The MSM has its preferred narrative, however. Can't let the facts get in the way of a good narrative.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/07/2009 08:40 ||
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#1
Even IF hw was "picked on" that does not excuse his RANDOM killings.
#2
My guess is that harassment OF Muslim soldiers BY soldiers is rare (rarer still of Muslim officers) - but I would not be at all surprised if disparaging comments about Muslims (even non-terrorist Muslims) occured in the presence of Hasan and he took it personally.
#3
There's a report by a UK source that Hasan attended the same mosque as the 9/11 hijackers. So IF (and I highly doubt it) 'disparaging' remarks were ever made within his earshot, they probably had good reason.
#5
I should like to point out that the Muslim Veterans group appears to be exactly what we want them to be, in strong contrast to the man whose claims they contradict so quickly and publicly.
#6
Put every single one in that 'Muslim Vets Group' under surveillance. Find out what mosques they attend, what's being preached at those mosques, who they fraternize with. One false move and kick their sorry asses back to the shitholes they defend.
#8
The shithole Hasan defended by word was NOT the United States of America. But yeah, I'm sure many thought he 'appeared to be exactly what we wanted him to be'.
Islam is "not responsible" for the bloodbath at an army base in Texas where Muslim-American army Major Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly gunned down 13 people, the prayer leader at the mosque where the officer regularly worshipped said Friday. Sounds like this guy watches Fox News.
"We offer our condolences and prayers to the families that have a person who died," said Imam Mohammed Abdullahi over loud-speakers that carried the weekly Muslim prayer to several hundred worshippers gathered at the mosque. And we will not preach jihad until you have turned your backs. Again.
"Islam is not responsible," he stressed.
Many of the worshippers who had come to the mosque in this suburb of Washington knew Hasan or had seen him at Friday prayer, which he attended regularly when he lived in the Washington area. Hasan must have been an independent thinker for sure.
To them, the news that he had allegedly opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon and a handgun in a crowded troop processing center on the sprawling Fort Hood base in Texas, mowing down 13 people and wounding 30 others, came as a shock. I'm sure everyone there said the same, exact thing. Spelling errors and all.
"Islam doesn't command anybody to do something like that," said Shaikh Khamis, who has prayed at the Silver Spring Muslim Community Center mosque for 11 years. Maybe not, but it sure as makes the path the only one that makes sense.
"It's very sad, a big tragedy for everybody," said another worshipper, Ibrahim Gayi.
"We pray for everybody, all Americans, not only Muslims," he said. Any differences between those two sets of prayers?
Asif Qadri, head of the medical clinic at the Muslim Community Center, described Hasan, an army major, as "very gentlemanly.
"He was sociable, likeable. We had regular, casual conversation -- he didn't manifest any particular view either way," Qadri said.
"When I saw him on television, I couldn't believe my eyes," he added.
It was "unbelievable", said Qadri, that the man who news reports said went on a deadly rampage Thursday was the soft-spoken psychiatrist who prayed at the mosque nearly every week.
The son of Palestinian immigrants, Hasan was born and raised in Virginia, the state that borders Maryland to the west, and after high school, went against his parents' wishes and enlisted in the military, which put him through college and medical school.
He spent nearly all his professional life at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in northwest Washington, DC working as a psychiatrist before shipping out this year to Fort Hood, from where he was reportedly due to deploy to Afghanistan.
Silver Spring is just blocks from the Walter Reed facility and has been home to the Muslim Community Center and its busy mosque for 33 years.
"Everybody knows this is not a place for fanatics," said Qadri. "We don't encourage that sort of thing." And you apparently don't discourage it, either. Must be kinda tough living next to an American military facility.
Imam Abdullahi recalled seeing Hasan at Friday prayer for the last time in June, and Akhtar Khan, a worshipper at the mosque, described the army psychiatrist as "a peaceful person, very quiet. Peace, peace, peace. Ever heard of quiet, or non-violent? Why choose the word peace?
"He would just come and pray," he said as worshippers at the mosque struggled to understand why Hasan, a specialist in combat stress, snapped and opened fire in a troop processing center in Fort Hood that was packed with soldiers preparing to deploy overseas.
"It's got to be something mental," said Gayi. According to Egypt Air, muslims don't have mental problems. Hey, have you ever heard of this jihad-thingy by chance?
"These guys who go and come back from war, they need help," he said. He'd never been there, although in his defense he worked with vets with PTSD a lot. Although I can imagine police working with dead bodies and child pr@nography could suffer from second-hand PTSD, I'm having a hard time accepting that Hasan would be suffering from it.
#6
Maj. Hasan shouted "Allahu Akbar" during his attack that killed all his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood.
I think it would be safe to say that he was expressing his "real feeling." After all, he died expressing them.
Wouldnt it also be safe to say he was being a "martyr" in the Islamic sense for his Islamic beliefs. YES!! ISLAM WAS THE ROOT AND FOUNDATION OF HIS KILLING AMERICAN SOLDIERS.
The contemporary advocacy of such "martyrdom" operations by Islam's most esteemed mainstream clerics is what ultimately gives legitimacy to the mass murderous actions of pious Muslims such as Nidal Malik Hassan. This is the unspoken, but irrefragable truth our craven "elites" in the military, government, and media must be forced to acknowledge, and confront.
ISLAM IS NOT YOUR FRIEND. If he's a REAL Moslem, says his prayers, he definitely isnt your friend.If you have this clown in your squad or platoon, you have a problem. Dont serve with him. Get him out. He doesnt belong is the same uniform with you.
Looks like a jihadist, talks like a jihadist, threatens like a jihadist. If he is a REAL PIOUS Moslem and he is in YOUR uniform ...in YOUR squadbay.....quack him.
#7
Let's not forget the co-conspirator, the MSM which for 8 years has engaged in a loud and continuous chorus of the 'evils' of our servicemembers. How they create mountains out of mole hills of isolated incidents, how they manufacture out of whole cloth incidents [flushing a Koran], how they accept every claim of the enemy without verification, how they are the first to judge [Haditha]. Buried beyond even consideration are the works to build societies from the ground up. There is no heralding of good done for Muslims. The stories of the joint operations of Americans and Iraqis in the victory in Iraq along with the clear and obvious facts that is has been Muslim terrorists killing Muslim that has been the large generator of dead in the communities are withheld to accomplish their political goals rather than tell the truth. Thus MSM feeds the myths and the hate of individuals and this is what we reap.
#8
Looks like a jihadist, talks like a jihadist, threatens like a jihadist. If he is a REAL PIOUS Moslem and he is in YOUR uniform ...in YOUR squadbay.....quack him.
#9
Anyone remember this? Additionally a senior Anglican priest working in Baghdad has said that he was told by a senior Al Qaeda operative this April to expect attacks on Britain and the United States and that "those who cure you are going to kill you."
Guess we'll soon find out if he was one of the recruits.
#10
In passing ...
and as a point of contrast - I don't recall any studies suggesting that the US Japanese population actually carried out any terror acts before they were committed to detainment camps.
Catch a copy of Marching Orders by Bruce Lee. He was one of the first to get into the declassified Japanese diplomatic traffic (50 years after 1945) we intercepted and read. Apparently, from the material it appears that the Japanese consulates on the west coast were reporting they had recruited in the Japanese population. Now at the time 90% of all American aircraft production was in the LA or Seattle area. Having that information in hand, the people in charge decided in the short period after Pearl Harbor, they had neither the means or time to shift through the population to find who was who, but they had to secure the area. Don't expect those of the PC community to mention the point.
THE Muslim military officer suspected in the shooting deaths of 13 people and 38 wounded
was transferred Friday from a civilian to a military hospital in part for security reasons, a military official said. Yea, kinda like a scene from a Western movie, sheriff had to get the murderer out of town before the lynching mob came into town.
Major Nidal Hasan, who was shot by police to stop a rampage Thursday at Fort Hood, was moved to the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio Texas, said Colonel John Rossi, the base's deputy commander. Brooke, known by the locals as Bam-C, is becoming the premier medical center for our military. Much combat training is being done there. He's secure, and they want him alive
"The suspect Major Hasan was transported today approximately (at) 3:00 pm to Brook Army Medical Center," he said.
Rossi said investigators believe Hasan fired more than 100 rounds during the incident, and that that accounted for the high number of casualties.
Based on cartridges recovered at the scene, Rossi said "all indications are this is not a friendly fire incident". Groan! making with the jokes already
Remember that there was cross-fire, and four bullets hit Dr. Hasan. So some of the bullets in the air were from friendlies, who could have hit other friendlies in the confusion. I am amazed that none did.
He said the victims were shot in an enclosed troops processing center, but Hasan was gunned down in an open area by two civilian police officers, one of whom was also wounded but was in stable condition.
Of 30 38 people wounded in the attack, 23 remained hospitalized, about half of them in intensive care, he said.
#1
Somebody with size 9.5 brogans could have saved us all a lot of heartache, liberal hand-wringing, court induced drama wrung out for all it is worth by the 24-hr a day media.
Just a single foot placed in his neck for 2-3 minutes would have solved the problem.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
11/07/2009 0:57 Comments ||
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#3
i will admit that i was happier when i thought he was dead.
while I wouldn't condone direct murder once he was neutralized as a threat. perhaps if he had died from neglect.. bleeding out while other cases were processed... that would not have bothered me in the least.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
11/07/2009 1:56 Comments ||
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#4
MAybe he should be wrung dry for any info he may have, contacts and such, then meet with a tragic accident, like falling down an elevator shaft.....
#5
I'm happier he's alive. Doesn't get his raisins yet. We should tattoo a T on one cheek and an M on the other for Traitor and Murderer. Then we should release him into the general population naked and penniless at the main gate to Ft. Hood. Let's see if he can get to a country where he can pray 5 times a day and find a good muzzy matron who will submit to him. Have CNN do a follow up every 5 years.
#6
The interesting part is what to do with him. He is in the military, which means that he won't go to the Florence ADX. However, at Fort Hood they have an interesting option.
Typically, he would go to Leavenworth with a death penalty, but the military almost never gets to execute its condemned prisoners.
But, if even one of those homicides can be charged under Texas law, at worst he could go to one of those truly nasty Texas max prisons for life. But more likely they would judiciously strap him to a gurney, and with little delay, pump him full of premium unleaded.
So likely the military will convict him of lesser felonies and give him about four years at Leavenworth, once they auction him off to the winning Texas prosecutor, with the agreement that he is going to hang.
#7
I just got back from a walk over a grassy knoll. Can anyone explain how one guy with two automatic pistols could kill 12 people and wound 30 some? That's 40+ people he hit. That's a lot of bullets, even if everyone was a hit. And if he had misses, that's more. You'd think he'd have to put in new magazines and that would give people time to get out/hide/hit the deck. I haven't seen anything that explains how one guy did all that mayhem. Links?
#10
Embolisms form and blood clots break off all the time. Inshallah.
Posted by: ed ||
11/07/2009 11:11 Comments ||
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#11
Nimble, reports say this murderer had 10 minutes before he was taken out. Lots of time to reload. Empty the semi-auto, keep people at bay with the revolver. 700 or so people in an auditorium take a while to exit, esp in a panic. Then there people in attached offices to attack.
Posted by: ed ||
11/07/2009 11:17 Comments ||
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#12
NS, you said Let's see if he can get to a country where he can pray 5 times a day and find a good muzzy matron who will submit to him.
Sadly, he already is in a country where he has a constitutionally guaranteed right to do that: the USA
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/07/2009 12:42 Comments ||
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#13
But he couldn't get a muzzy matron to submit to him here.
This speaks to how well we are assimilating Muslims, particularly their women. But as long as the Sauds are exporting their wacko wahabism, fruitcake second and third generation failures like Hasan will be attracted.
#14
in answer to NS:
Informed by a friend with DPS that the shooter at Fort Hood was armed with a FN 5.7mm pistol and fired eight magazines of ammo from the weapon before he was wounded (shot four times) by the post/federal police officer. Assuming the magazines were fully loaded, he fired about 160 rounds (20 rounds per magazine). He was also carrying two loaded S&W 40 cal pistols that apparently were not discharged. Given that the primary purpose of the 5.7 is to penetrate body armor, to include ballistic vests - it is used by Special Operators and some Federal Agencies for this purpose - I would not be surprised if the ongoing investigation determines that shooter was trained and armed by a person or persons with a lot more expertise than he. Additionally, my source stated that because the police officer who stopped shooter was shot twice with the 5.7, which was loaded with FMJ rounds, the projectiles penetrated cleanly and didn't cause as much damage as would a hollow point 9mm, 40mm, 45, etc.. She and many of the other wounded appear to have been "fortunate" in that regard.
#16
I expect the Pelosi Death Panel to determine the Hasan treatment protocol does not match expected outcome.
I'd sumrise that, along with "I wish his name was Smith", that there's quite a few in government and along its sidelines that hope the shooter doesn't recover.
There'll be a lot of hard questions and 'unwanted' attention on a lot of aspects and people if he survives.
#20
Perhaps one of his fellow psychiatrists can counsel him on how best to deal with his PTSD -- mass murder being so traumatic for all involved and all.
[Dawn] The deputy head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards charged on Friday that Pakistan arrested and then released the leader of Jundallah a few days before a suicide bombing claimed by the Sunni rebel group.
'We have precise information about the movement and places where terrorists are hiding,' the Fars news agency quoted Brigadier General Hossein Salami as saying.
'On September 26, Abdolmalek Rigi was arrested in one of the streets of Quetta but after one hour he was released following the intervention of the intelligence service of our neighbouring country,' Salami said.
Quetta is the capital of Pakistan's Baluchistan province, which borders Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province where Jundallah is active. Ethnic Baluchis, the community the rebel group says it is fighting for, straddle the border.
Some 42 people, including 15 Revolutionary Guards members, died in the October 18 bombing in the Sistan-Baluchestan town of Pisheen.
'How is it possible that this guy can move freely (unless he is) under the protection of the intelligence services?' the Guards number two said, according to Fars.
Iran has said those responsible for the bombing were based in Pakistan and has demanded that Islamabad hand Rigi over.
Islamabad has strongly denied that Jundallah (Soldiers of God) launched the attack from its territory.
On Thursday, Pakistani police said three Iranians arrested for illegally entering Pakistan may have been linked to the Pisheen bombing.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2009 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman Friday said the army operation in South Waziristan could only bring transitory peace and lasting peace in the region could only be ensured if US troops leave Afghanistan.
In an exclusive talk with APP here at the Parliament House, the religious party leader said peace in Fata and Afghanistan was inter-linked and unrest in Afghanistan would have its impact in Fata.
'The government should launch a multi-pronged incentive package for the people of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). Better awareness,
Awareness of what?
facilities and employment opportunities coupled with socio-political reforms and development projects would have positive impacts in Fata,' he added.
Are we sure Mr. Rehman is not a community organizer? The only thing he didn't ask for was midnight basketball to keep the lads off the streets.
Fazlur Rehman called for the extension of the country's Constitution to the tribal belt, saying an end to tribalism was the answer to the problems being faced by the people of tribal belt. 'I wonder why the government is reluctant to implement the joint resolution passed by the parliament vis-a-vis Fata. The rulers are reluctant to even review their policies and this is a negative omen,' he added.
He said the US had invaded Afghanistan with ulterior motives and the western nations wanted to sweep away the resources of all the Islamic states.
'Even in Pakistan, the politico-religious parties are under immense pressure from the government and so are the madrassas. The US in nexus with Pakistan army groomed the jihadis for fight against the Russian invasion, however, now they want the same jihadis to eliminate them. I think use of mere power is no answer to this quandary,' he remarked.
Asked to comment on his party policy on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), Fazlur Rehman said his party was against any discriminatory law and he had advised the government to withdraw the controversial law.
'My party and MQM had advised President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani not to table the law in the parliament. However, we did not make our policy public as JUI-F Shura had not endorsed the version,' he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2009 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Taking strong exception to the Indian Foreign Secretary's reported remarks that the international community should put pressure on Pakistan 'to implement its stated commitment to deal with terror groups,' the Foreign Office Spokesman on Thursday stated that the international community is appreciative of Pakistan's actions and commitment to fight terrorism, APP reported.
'Terrorism is a regional and global issue,' the Spokesman said, adding, 'In fact, India must explain its own conduct in sponsoring and abetting terrorism and militancy in the region.'
How do the Indian officials listen to such vicious nonsense without jeering?
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2009 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] Palestinian Authority security forces detained 70 locals wanted for violent crimes, including murder, and other theft-related allegations, an official said on Friday.
Hebron security campaign officer Hayel Abu Kosh and police chief Ramadan Awad announced the arrests, which took place as part of a major sting operation in Hebron city and the nearby Yatta and As-Samou villages.
In a joint statement, the officials said all of the detainees, who were not immediately identified, were wanted on accusation of murder, assault, theft and illegal vehicle registration.
Police had been investigating one suspect, an alleged murderer, for six years, the official said, without elaborating on the nature of his alleged involvement, nor the the identities of the suspect or victim.
Praising recent police efforts "to maintain security in the region and catch fugitives," Hayel said the campaign was already working to lower crime rates in the southern West Bank city.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Palestinians preparing for free democratic elections.
Iran's Defense Ministry is constructing the most advanced domestic multiple-purpose battleship, the acting commander of Iran's Navy says.
Rear Admiral Gholam-Reza Bigham told Fars News Agency on Thursday that the battleship would shore up the country's "deterrence capabilities."
The high tonnage of this battleship, the commander said would enable it to carry out missions in far-off waters.
According to Bigham, the battleship, which is to be domestically constructed, would be among the world's most sophisticated warships.
The commander added that Iran's naval forces were fully prepared to defend the country's territorial waters as well as to cooperate with neighboring countries in establishing regional security.
In line with its defensive doctrine, Iran has been equipping its navy with high-tech and high-speed missile boats, frigates, vessels, and submarines.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#6
It's the 18" main battery and the 20" turret face armor that'll really set it off. Just don't skimp on the light AA. Those 25mm Hotchkiss triple mounts don't live up to the hype.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/07/2009 8:39 Comments ||
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#8
The soon to be heard quote, "They sunk my battleship!"
Sorry, had to say it.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/07/2009 9:05 Comments ||
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#9
49Pan, Nah, we won't sink their battleship, the Iranians are smarter than that.................they'll build it underwater to start with and skip the middle steps.
#19
I see what you did there Oldspook. Some vigorous yard work is good for clearing the head.
Posted by: ed ||
11/07/2009 19:11 Comments ||
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#20
Crazyfool, I hope they are building a Yamato Battleship. This way, we can see just how much faster we can sink it! I have $50 on 20 seconds, we hit the ammo cache.
Posted by: Charles ||
11/07/2009 19:15 Comments ||
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#21
Regarding the ship name...
I do know a bit of Farsi, learned it on the job a long time ago. Just key words.
#22
By the way, where did you get the translation? I got my from my English-Farsi dictionary.
"Objective" is the main connotation, but its also used in the military sense of the word as in artillery calls, like "SHELL" then "SPLASH" by the battery followed by "TARGET" response to impact by the FO (then Fire For Effect or else adjuustments).
That's the only context I know, and Farsi does have a different words for other meanings of target in my dictionary.
I am unsure if it applies to ships or aircraft that are being tracked, so big grain of salt.
#24
Any single ship, no matter how powerful, well-armed or armored, is vulnerable when alone. If they said they were building a complete battle group, it might be a problem.
Otherwise, its name, Target, is very appropriate.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/07/2009 21:44 Comments ||
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#25
At the rate the future is becoming history these days, if it is not complete and christened within a few months it won't belong to the ruling mullahs of Iran when it's done.
[Iran Press TV Latest] After a massive turnout in a pro-government rally on the 30th anniversary of the US embassy takeover in Tehran, a senior cleric brands US longing for an uprising in Iran as "false hope."
"The US government should not put its faith in a small group of protestors and expect them to change the country's course," said Tehran's Interim Friday Prayers Leader Seyyed Ahmad Khatami.
Ayatollah Khatami said the high turnout in the recent rallies prove that the younger generation of Iranians is just as committed to the principles of the Islamic Revolution as "their revolutionary forefathers."
"People have marched in hundreds of thousands to show their support and loyalty to the government, they were no match for the demonstrators, who gathered in hundreds to chant opposition slogans."
"Western countries, particularly the United States, should not expect a major turn of events in Iran. There is nothing going on in the country," he said.
Ayatollah Khatami was referring to a massive wave of rallies marking the takeover of the American embassy in Tehran more than thirty years ago.
University students, convinced of a US plot against the Islamic Revolution, stormed the American embassy on November 4, 1979, only months after the Western-backed Pahlavi regime was toppled in Iran.
After finding shredded documents inside the embassy that proved their convictions to be true, Iranians held hostage fifty-two Americans for 444 days and demanded an official apology from the US for its destructive role in the county. November 4, has since been commemorated as the national day of fighting global arrogance
Iranians also called for the unfreezing of the country's assets in US and urged Washington officials to promise not to interfere in Iran's internal affairs.
The hostage-taking marked the end of Washington-Tehran relations and eventually resulted in the Algiers Accords in January 19, 1981.
Under the agreement, Washington promised that "It is and from now on will be the policy of the United States not to intervene, directly or indirectly, politically or militarily, in Iran's internal affairs."
However, the agreement has been breached by the United States on numerous occasions.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2009 00:00 ||
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The UN's nuclear watchdog has asked Iran to explain evidence suggesting that Iranian scientists have experimented with an advanced nuclear warhead design, the Guardian has learned.
The very existence of the technology, known as a "two-point implosion" device, is officially secret in both the US and Britain, but according to previously unpublished documentation in a dossier compiled by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iranian scientists may have tested high-explosive components of the design. The development was today described by nuclear experts as "breathtaking" and has added urgency to the effort to find a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis.
The sophisticated technology, once mastered, allows for the production of smaller and simpler warheads than older models. It reduces the diameter of a warhead and makes it easier to put a nuclear warhead on a missile.
Documentation referring to experiments testing a two-point detonation design are part of the evidence of nuclear weaponisation gathered by the IAEA and presented to Iran for its response. The dossier, titled "Possible Military Dimensions of Iran's Nuclear Program", is drawn in part from reports submitted to it by western intelligence agencies.
Don't worry, the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate told us that Iran had stopped its nuclear weaponization efforts in 2003, so none of this can be true.
The agency has in the past treated such reports with scepticism, particularly after the Iraq war. But its director general, Mohamed ElBaradei, has said the evidence of Iranian weaponisation "appears to have been derived from multiple sources over different periods of time, appears to be generally consistent, and is sufficiently comprehensive and detailed that it needs to be addressed by Iran".
Translation: "From whom did you purchase your expertise?" Not that the sellers will be punished in any way, per Dr. El Baradei's personal tradition.
Extracts from the dossier have been published previously, but it was not previously known that it included documentation on such an advanced warhead. "It is breathtaking that Iran could be working on this sort of material," said a European government adviser on nuclear issues.
James Acton, a British nuclear weapons expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said: "It's remarkable that, before perfecting step one, they are going straight to step four or five ... To start with more sophisticated designs speaks of level of technical ambition that is surprising."
The Iranians have a limited amount of time. Either the Israelis are going to whack them, the Western world will find a spine, or Khamenei and the rest of the Mad Mullahs grow old and die. So it's off to step five as quick as they can.
Another western specialist with extensive knowledge of the Iranian programme said: "It raises the question of who supplied this to them. Did AQ Khan [a Pakistani scientist who confessed in 2004 to running a nuclear smuggling ring] have access to this, or is it another player?"
The Iranians are not stupid. They understand that a two-point implosion device is possible. The theory is known. The end-result is known. The rest is a matter of engineering.
Nonetheless, why keep your own engineers from working on something else, eg. a beautiful plaque saying "Property of the University of Tehran", when the manufacturing process can be purchased turnkey from North Korea or China?
Iran has rejected most of the IAEA material on weaponisation as forgeries, but has admitted carrying out tests on multiple high-explosive detonations synchronised to within a microsecond. Tehran has told the agency that there is a civilian application for such tests, but has so far not provided any evidence for them.
Haven't you heard? Tehran University plans to get its electrical power from a linked series of nuclear explosions, rather like a car is powered a multiple cylinder engine.
Western weapons experts say there are no such civilian applications,
Of course they think that. The U of T physics professors have not yet published their results.
but the use of co-ordinated detonations in nuclear warheads is well known. They compress the fissile core, or pit, of the warhead until it reaches critical mass.
Another option, I s'pose.
A US national intelligence estimate two years ago said that Iran had explored nuclear warhead design for several years but had probably stopped in 2003.
Perhaps one of the most blatant political documents of our time, designed to freeze the Bush administration. It worked. Now we pay the price, but the authors of that NIE piece are on to other things. That should worry us.
Nah, the cleverboots at the CIA knew all about the U of T project. Who d'you think wrote up the results?
British, French and German officials have said they believe weaponisation continued after that date and may still be continuing.
In September, a German court found a German-Iranian businessman, Mohsen Vanaki, guilty of brokering the sale of dual-use equipment with possible applications in developing nuclear weapons. The equipment included specialised high-speed cameras, of the sort used to develop implosion devices, as well as radiation detectors. According to a report by the Institute for Science and International Security, the German foreign intelligence service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst, testified at the trial that there was evidence that Iran's weapons development was continuing.
The IAEA is seeking to find out what the scientists and the institutions involved in the experiments are doing now, but has so far not been given a response. The agency's repeated requests to interview Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, whose name features heavily in the IAEA's documentation and who is widely seen as the father of the Iranian nuclear programme, have been turned down.
The agency has also asked Iran to explain evidence that a Russian weapons expert helped Iranian technicians to master synchronised high-explosive detonations.
The first implosion devices, like the "Fat Man" bomb dropped on Nagasaki on 9 August 1945, used 32 high-explosive hexagons and pentagons arrayed around a plutonium core like the panels of a football. The IAEA has a five-page document describing experimentation on such a hemispherical array of explosives.
According to a diplomat familiar with the IAEA documentation, the evidence also points to experiments with a two-point detonation system that represents "a more elegant solution" to the challenges of making a nuclear warhead, but it is much harder to achieve. It is used in conjunction with a non-spherical pit, in the shape of a rugby ball, or explosives in that shape wrapped around a spherical pit, and it works by compressing the pit from both ends.The IAEA has expressed "serious concern" about Iran's failure to give an account of the research its scientists have carried out.
Descriptions of "two-point implosion" warheads designs have occasionally appeared in the public domain (there are extensive descriptions on Wikipedia) and they were first developed by US scientists in the 1950s, but it remains an offence for American officials or even non-governmental nuclear experts with security clearance to discuss them.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/07/2009 00:00 ||
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