Iran contrary

Today, advocates of preventive war against Iran offer a similar set of claims, suggesting that Iran's leaders are irrational religious extremists who would happily embrace martyrdom and take millions of fellow humans with them. The only problem with this argument is that there is no convincing evidence to support it. Even the offensive anti-Israel rhetoric offered up by certain Iranian leaders doesn't suggest a desire to launch a suicidal nuclear war against Israel's citizens (a war that would also kill millions of Palestinians and destroy Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem). There are plenty of good reasons to try to convince Iran not to go all the way to a nuclear weapons capability, but Iran's alleged "irrationality" isn't one of them.

Lees verder bij Foreign Policy

Somali Pirates: Fighting Against Nuclear Waste and over-fishing?

Yo ho ho, mateys. Don't be so quick to make these Somali Pirates walk the plank. They might be havin' themselves a good reason to be arrestin and detainin them ships. (If you believe allegations of nuclear waste dumping and illegal fish-trawling, that is)

Lees verder bij OpEdNews

U.S. Must Back Down on Iranian Uranium Enrichment

By GARY LEUPP

There’s really only one solution. Only one way for Obama to get himself out of the box his predecessor Bush, Dick Cheney and the neocons have put him in. He has to affirm Iran’s inalienable right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty to enrich uranium.
Somewhere along the road American public opinion, which history shows can be easily persuaded of things that just aren’t true, has bought several highly questionable propositions:

1. Iran has a nuclear weapons program.

2. Iran’s nuclear program can have only one purpose, the production of nuclear weapons.

3. The Iranian leadership wishes to, and has threatened to, wipe Israel off the face of the map.

4. Given all of the above, Iran’s progress towards nuclear enrichment must be stopped in order to prevent a second, “nuclear” Holocaust.

These propositions — Big Lies that that become better established with each retelling — are in fact easily refutable.

Lees verder

IAEA-rapport van 19 november 2008 betreffende Iran

Samenvatting van het IAEA-rapport van 19 november 2008 dan maar:

18. The Agency has been able to continue to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in
Iran. Iran has provided the Agency with access to declared nuclear material and has provided the
required nuclear material accounting reports in connection with declared nuclear material and
activities. However, Iran has not implemented the modified text of its Subsidiary Arrangements
General Part, Code 3.1 on the early provision of design information. Nor has Iran implemented the
Additional Protocol, which is essential for the Agency to provide credible assurance about the absence
of undeclared nuclear material and activities.
19. Regrettably, as a result of the lack of cooperation by Iran in connection with the alleged studies
and other associated key remaining issues of serious concern, the Agency has not been able to make
substantive progress on these issues. For the Agency to make progress, an important first step, in
connection with the alleged studies, is for Iran to clarify the extent to which information contained in
the relevant documentation is factually correct and where, in its view, such information may have been
modified or relates to non-nuclear purposes. Iran needs to provide the Agency with substantive
information to support its statements and provide access to relevant documentation and individuals in
this regard. Unless Iran provides such transparency, and implements the Additional Protocol, the
Agency will not be able to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear
material and activities in Iran.
20. Contrary to the decisions of the Security Council, Iran has not suspended its enrichment related
activities, having continued the operation of PFEP and FEP and the installation of new cascades and
the operation of new generation centrifuges for test purposes. Iran has not provided access to the
IR-40, and, therefore, the Agency is not able to verify the current status of its construction.
21. The Director General continues to urge Iran to implement all measures required to build
confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear programme at the earliest possible date.

22. The Director General will continue to report as appropriate.

Duidelijk lijkt dat Iran wel meewerkt met inspecties, maar enkele projecten zijn niet te verifiëren. Echter nergens blijkt uit dat Iran dusdanig aan uranium-verrijking doet, dat er kernwapens mee kunnen worden gemaakt. Los daarvan is het eigenlijk van de zotte dat Iran überhaupt zich moet verantwoorden op dit punt, terwijl ondertussen aan beide kanten van het land zich nucleair bewapende naties bevinden die er geen been in zien om regelmatig een oorlog te voeren, te weten India, Israël en Pakistan. Drie landen die bovendien zich niet hebben geconformeerd aan het NPT, en zich bovendien in zeer volatiele politieke tijden bevinden.

Media leugens rondom Iran

Iran heeft de werkzaamheden hervat met betrekking tot de bouw van zeer geavanceerde apparatuur, waarvan nucleaire deskundigen zeggen dat deze in de eerste plaats gebruikt worden voor de bouw van atoomwapens, volgens de laatste door westerse diplomaten ontvangen inlichtingenrapporten. Hierbij zouden blauwdrukken van AQ Khan, de “vader van de Pakistaanse atoombom,” als basis dienen.

Althans, dat meldt de Daily Telegraph.Zonder dat overigens duidelijk wordt wie de bronnen zijn.

Lees meer op Zapruder.nl

Iran rejects nuclear inspections unless Israel allows them

GENEVA - An Iranian envoy said Monday his government will not submit to extensive nuclear inspections while Israel stays outside the global treaty to curb the spread of atomic weapons.

Yahoo News

The difference between Iran and Israel is that Iran actually signed this nuclear non-proliferation treaty against the spread of nukes. Israel did not. Iran has never started a war with another country. Israel has.

"CIA vervalste foto's Syrische kernreactor"

De CIA zei donderdag dat het gebouw een geheime nucleaire reactor was die diende om plutonium te maken. Noord-Korea zou bij de bouw hebben geholpen. De CIA liet een aantal congresleden 'bewijsmateriaal' zien.

HLN

Syrian Nukes: the Phantom Menace

Cirincione says that there is a small Syrian nuclear research program, which has been around for 40 years and is going nowhere. "It is a basic research program built around a tiny 30 kilowatt reactor that produced a few isotopes and neutrons. It is nowhere near a program for nuclear weapons or nuclear fuel," he said. Over a dozen countries have helped Syria develop its nuclear program, including Belgium, Germany, Russia, China and even the United States, by way of training of scientists, he said.

So what is really going on here? Cirincione told the BBC that "This appears to be the work of a small group of officials leaking cherry-picked, unvetted 'intelligence' to key reporters in order to promote a preexisting political agenda."

Read Counterpunch article

De Syrische “nukes” part II: never give up on good propaganda

Donkerdoorn op Zaplog over de zogenaamde Syrische kernwapens-ambities...

Zie ook: more backpedalling on the [Syria nuclear facility]...

more backpedalling on the [Syria nuclear facility] video

A US official, requesting anonymity, told AFP: “There are still photographs of the facility as part of the video, but it’s a video presentation, like, a PowerPoint presentation. It’s not a video of the facility.”

Niqnaq (linked by WRH)

NAVO wil als eerste atoomwapens gebruiken

Het westen moet zich klaarmaken voor het uitvoeren van een preventieve atoomaanval, ‘om een halt toe te roepen aan de «imminente verspreiding» van kernwapens en andere massavernietigingswapens’, aldus is te lezen in het manifest «voor een nieuwe NAVO» dat werd opgesteld door vijf hoge NAVO functionarissen, waaronder de voormalige Nederlandse stafchef generaal Henk van den Breemen.

Zie Zaplog

wat mij betreft is de NAVO zèlf een enorm probleem aan het worden:

The west must be ready to resort to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to try to halt the "imminent" spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, according to a radical manifesto for a new Nato by five of the west's most senior military officers and strategists.

Calling for root-and-branch reform of Nato and a new pact drawing the US, Nato and the European Union together in a "grand strategy" to tackle the challenges of an increasingly brutal world, the former armed forces chiefs from the US, Britain, Germany, France and the Netherlands insist that a "first strike" nuclear option remains an "indispensable instrument" since there is "simply no realistic prospect of a nuclear-free world".

Mede ondertekend door voormalige Nederlandse stafchef generaal Henk van den Breemen.

Nou is het mij niet duidelijk in hoeverre deze doctrine ook daadwerkelijk doorgedrongen is in de NAVO-top, maar dat het idee alleen al geopperd wordt maakt me misselijk, vooral bij het idee dat er in Washington zeker wel haviken rondlopen die dit maar wat graag zouden doordrukken.

Hallooo! First strike nuclear option...? Eén van meerdere goede redenen voor bijvoorbeeld de SP om gewoon weer botweg en duidelijk "Nederland uit de Navo" na te streven.

Pre-emptive nuclear strike a key option, Nato told

Ian Traynor in Brussels
Tuesday January 22, 2008
The Guardian

The west must be ready to resort to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to try to halt the "imminent" spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, according to a radical manifesto for a new Nato by five of the west's most senior military officers and strategists.

Calling for root-and-branch reform of Nato and a new pact drawing the US, Nato and the European Union together in a "grand strategy" to tackle the challenges of an increasingly brutal world, the former armed forces chiefs from the US, Britain, Germany, France and the Netherlands insist that a "first strike" nuclear option remains an "indispensable instrument" since there is "simply no realistic prospect of a nuclear-free world".

Full story The Guardian

NAVO en EU voor nieuwe sancties tegen Iran

vr 07/12/07 - De NAVO- en EU-landen vinden het te vroeg om de druk op Iran te verminderen. Ze zijn voor nieuwe sancties.

Dat heeft ontslagnemend minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Karel De Gucht (Open VLD) gezegd na een diner met zijn 31 ambtgenoten van de NAVO- en EU-lidstaten, gisteravond in Brussel.

Ook de Amerikaanse minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Condoleezza Rice (foto) wil de internationale druk op Iran opvoeren zodat het land zou stoppen met het verrijken van uranium.

Read more: VRT Nieuws

Geen bewijs voor Iraanse kernwapens gevonden door IAEA

In tegenstelling tot wat Westerse media en andere propaganda uitingen willen doen geloven, is Iran niet bezig met het maken van kernwapens. Het IAEA-rapport is uit en is heel erg duidelijk. De IAEA is de zogenaamde atoomwaakhond.

De IAEA is niet tevreden dat Iran toch doorgaat met het maken van nucleaire brandstof (waar geen wapens van kunnen worden gemaakt) maar verder tevreden over dat wat ze hebben aangetroffen. Er is geen (GEEN) bewijs gevonden dat Iran uranium verrijkt voor wapendoeleinden. Iran werkt volledig (passief maar voldoende) mee aan de inspecties ook de onaangekondige inspectie konden hun doorgang vinden. Er worden geen inconsistenties gevonden tussen verklaringen van het regime en de daadwerkelijke bevindingen van de IAEA.

Lees meer/read more: Zaplog.nl

Twee mensen besmet door nucleair incident in Petten

petten - In een radiologisch laboratorium op het terrein van Energieonderzoek Centrum Nederland (ECN) heeft zich vorig jaar een ernstig nucleair incident voorgedaan waarbij onder andere radioactief strontium (Sr-90) is ontsnapt.

Full story Noordhollands Dagblad

Israel on alert for Syria airstrike

THE defensive missile shield around Israel’s Dimona nuclear reactor was placed on red alert 30 times last week amid fears of an airstrike by Syria. Times Online

Dit zaakje stinkt. Voor zover ik weet heeft de Syrische luchtmacht geen kamikaze-piloten in dienst, dus is er echt wel iets anders aan de hand rond Dimona. Kan van alles zijn. Lekkage? Explosieven plaatsen? Of iets anders wat de buitenwereld niet mag zien...

False flag-lampje brandt hier in mijn kamer. Hevig.

No evidence of Iranian nuclear-weapons program, experts say

WASHINGTON --

Despite President Bush's claims that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons that could trigger ''World War III,'' experts in and out of government say there's no conclusive evidence that Tehran has an active nuclear-weapons program.

Even his own administration appears divided about the immediacy of the threat. While Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney speak of an Iranian weapons program as a fact, Bush's point man on Iran, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, has attempted to ratchet down the rhetoric.

Full story

Déjà vu all over again

The US is smearing IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei for not finding evidence of Iranian nuclear weapons. Sound familiar?

Read more

Right-Wing New York Sun Declares: ‘Attack On Iran Said To Be Imminent’

The New York Sun, a reliable neoconservative outlet that has advocated for a Dick Cheney presidential campaign, declares today: “Attack on Iran Said To Be Imminent.” The article’s lead states:

In a sign that U.N. Security Council-based diplomacy is losing steam, a number of sources are reporting that a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities may be imminent. France and America also are pushing for tighter economic sanctions against Tehran, without U.N. approval.

Yesterday’s edition of Le Canard Enchaîné, a French weekly known for its investigative journalism, reported details of an alleged Israeli-American plan to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. The frontpage headline read: “A report sent to the Elysée — Putin tells Tehran: They’re going to bomb you!”

Read more

US, NATO and Israel Deploy Nukes directed against Iran

"As far as is known, the incident marked the first time that a US plane has taken off armed with nuclear weapons in nearly 40 years. ...

... The transport of weapons from one base to another, however, is normally carried out in the holds of C-17 and C-130 cargo planes, not fixed to the wings of combat bombers.

Someone had to give the order to mount the missiles on the plane. The question is whether it was a local Air Force commander—either by mistake or deliberately—or whether the order came from higher up.

B-52s from Barksdale have been used repeatedly to strike targets in Iraq, firing cruise missiles at Iraqi targets in 1996 and 1998, and in the “shock and awe” campaign that preceded the 2003 invasion, carrying out some 150 bombing runs that devastated much of the southern half of the country.

Moreover, the weapon that was fixed to the wings of the B-52 flying from Minot air base was designed for use against hardened targets, such as underground bunkers.

Given the ratcheting up of the threats against Iran and the previous reports of plans for the use of “tactical” nuclear weapons against Iranian nuclear installations, there is a very real possibility that the flight to Barksdale was part of covert preparations for a nuclear strike against Iran.

If this is indeed the case, the claims about a “mistake” by a munitions officer and a few airmen in North Dakota may well be merely a cover story aimed at concealing the fact that the government in Washington is preparing a criminal act of world historic proportions by ordering—without provocation—the first use of nuclear weapons since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki more than sixty years ago.

Full article by Michel Chossudovsky: Global Research