Israel’s secrecy on its nuclear weapons is getting ridiculous
Netanyahu’s ‘Crazy’ Talk Seen Threatening Israel’s Nuclear Ambiguity International Herald Tribune, By HARVEY MORRIS, OCTOBER 25, 2012, LONDON — Israel will face mounting pressure to acknowledge the existence of its nuclear weapons arsenal as an unintended consequence of its government’s belligerent stance towards Iran, according to a former Israeli intelligence chief.
Ami Ayalon, former head of the Shin Bet domestic security agency, says, “The world won’t let you have nuclear ambiguity if you act crazy.” In an interview with Rendezvous during a visit to London, Mr. Ayalon said Israel’s special status was at risk as a result of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s threats of military action against Iran’s nuclear plants if sanctions failed to persuade Tehran to abandon its alleged ambition to build a bomb.
Mr. Ayalon is among a number of serving and former defense and intelligence chiefs who have challenged the wisdom of threatening Iran with a unilateral strike.
His latest warning came as Finland prepared to host an international conference soon to debate turning the Middle East into a nuclear weapons-free region. The Israeli government has said it is against such a meeting, at which the issue of Israel’s own unacknowledged nuclear arsenal is certain to be raised.
“Mr. Netanyahu has been playing the role of irresponsible player in the region,” with his threats against Iran, according to Mr. Ayalon. “That raises the questions: Does he mean it? And what is the price?”…. http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/25/netanyahus-crazy-talk-seen-threatening-israels-nuclear-ambiguity/
Birth defects in iraq from depleted uranium
Depleted Uranium to Blame for Iraqi Birth Defects? http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&entry_id=5425 AMERICA – THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY , OCTOBER 16, 2012 by KEVIN CLARKE The U.S. military has consistently downplayed or denied possible adverse health and environmental effects because of its use of depleted uranium ordnance , yet birth defects and spikes in sometimes odd health problems seem to follow closely behind in communities unfortunate enough to have been the site of the heavy use of such munitions. U.S. and NATO forces used D.U. penetrator munitions in the 1991 Gulf War, the Bosnia war, Serbia and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Now in Fallujah, Iraq, the site of two rounds of intense fighting and bombing raids by U.S. forces in March and April 2004, a University of Michigan study (<-warning: not for faint of heart) funded by the World Health Organization has uncovered “staggering” increases in sometimes bizarre birth defects—babies born with brains and other organs outside their bodies—according to a report in Britain’s Independent . The study found that in Fallujah, more than half of all babies born between 2007 and 2010 suffered some kind of birth defect. “Before the siege, this figure was more like one in 10.” Continue reading
Drone may have been heading for Israel’s Dimona nuclear reactor
Route of Drone Hints It May Have Been Aimed at Nuclear Reactor The strange route of the enemy drone downed by the IAF indicates Israel may have diverted it from flying over the Dimona nuclear reactor. Arutz Sheva By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu 10/7/2012,
The enemy drone downed by the Air Force, Saturday, took a strange route that did not cover strategic sites, indicating Israel may have diverted it from a route over the nuclear reactor in Dimona, located due east of Gaza.
The UAV entered Israeli air space from the Mediterranean Sea along the Gaza Coast and then made a U-turn, flying over the southern Hevron Hills before an F-16 plane destroyed it over a non-populated area.
The route raises questions because there are no army or air force bases or any other strategic sites along the route.
Officials estimate that it was guided by a pre-programmed GPS inside the drone and not from a control center at its origin, apparently Hizbullah-dominated southern Lebanon, DEBKA File reported. Israel may have carried out a cyber attack to scramble the GPS and change its route….. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/160604#.UHMZH5jA9dM
Iran’s plan for defusing the nuclear crisis
Iran Offers Plan, Dismissed by U.S., on Nuclear Crisis NYT, By DAVID E. SANGER October 4, 2012 WASHINGTON — With harsh economic sanctions contributing to the first major protests in Iran in three years, Iranian officials have begun to describe what they call a “nine-step plan” to defuse the nuclear crisis with the West by gradually suspending the production of the uranium that would be easiest for them to convert into a nuclear weapon Continue reading
Iran is not close to developing a nuclear weapon
Iran Nuclear Weapons: Development Of Armed Missile Not In Works Now, Study Finds HUFFINGTON POST 10/02/2012 1 By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA, – Iran already has enough low-enriched uranium for several atomic bombs if refined to a high degree but it may still be a few years away from being able to build a nuclear-armed missile if it decided to go down that path. Continue reading
USA wants to sell nuclear missile defense technology to Gulf countries
US pushing Gulf nations to develop missile defense, Daily Star, Lebanon News September 29, 2012 The United States is pushing Gulf countries to develop missile defense plans, amid what they see is a rising threat from Iran, US officials said Friday.
The US official said Washington has already expressions of interest from some of the Gulf nations in developing missile defense capabilities and they hoped to have some announcements of contracts in the coming months.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Sep-29/189613-us-pushing-gulf-nations-to-develop-missile-defense.ashx#ixzz284XJwdli
Mecca to become a Mecca for Solar Energy
Mecca Seeks to Lead Saudi Arabia’s Solar Energy Expansion, Bloomberg News
By Wael Mahdi September 23, 2012 Mecca, which hosts millions of pilgrims a year visiting Islam’s most holy shrine, is working toward becoming the first city in Saudi Arabia
to operate a utility-scale plant generating electricity from renewables. Continue reading
US Senator: Senate Resolution against Iran Amounts to Preemptive War TEHRAN (FNA) 23 Sept 12, – The US Senate voted 90-1 early Saturday on a non-binding resolution to impede Iran’s advancement in nuclear technology. Voting against the resolution was Sen. Rand Paul, arguing that the bill was a de-facto declaration of war. Continue reading
History of the West’s encouragement of Iran’s nuclear programme
Hypocritical Threats Against Iran On a Pedestal of Nuclear Immorality by SAUL LANDAU, CounterPunch 21 Sept 12, The U.S. government gave U.S. nuclear-energy companies a green light to sell their knowledge and technical support to Iran. With their blessings, the Shah also established close ties to European companies, who hustled to Teheran to do business. Continue reading
USA and Israel’s demonisation of Iran
On a Pedestal of Nuclear Immorality, Counter Punch by SAUL LANDAU, 21 Sept 12, “…….Western leaders did not predict, however, the political turnaround that occurred with the Iranian revolution. The fiercely pro western orientation of the Shah quickly turned as millions of Iranians backed a nationalist and anti American ideology in which the country’s leaders rejected both western ideology and the legitimacy of its regional representative, Israel.
Teheran denounced the very idea of a Jewish state and began to refurbish the old plans to produce nuclear power, which the U.S. and Israel now claim is a cover for a nuclear weapons program. The Ayatollah Khamenei, however, has condemned nuclear weapons and denies nuclear weapon ambitions. Continue reading
Attack on Iran the “stupidest idea” says former Mossad chief
Meir Dagan, Former Mossad Chief, Says Attack On Iran ‘Stupidest Idea’ He’s Ever Heard (VIDEO) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/16/meir-dagan-mossad-iran-attack-stupid_n_1888840.html?ncid=txtlnkushpmg00000032 The Huffington Post | By Mark Hanrahan, 17 Sept 12, Meir Dagan, a former head of the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, says that an attack on Iran would be the “stupidest idea [I’ve] ever heard.”
Speaking to ’60 Minutes’ Dagan said: “An attack on Iran now before exploring all other approaches is not the right way how to do it [sic].”
Dagan, a man who Iranian authorities reportedly claim has dispatched assassins, computer viruses and faulty equipment in a bid to delay the country’s nuclear program, appears to have developed a surprising appreciation for the Islamic Republic’s regime – which is a sworn enemy of Israel.
“The regime in Iran is a very rational regime,” according to Dagan. Asked if he felt the regime in Iran was capable of backing down from an escalating crisis over the country’s nuclear program, he replied: “No doubt that the Iranian regime is not exactly rational based on what I would call ‘Western Thinking,’ but no doubt they are considering all the implications of their actions.”
Dagan’s interview is in stark contrast to the opinions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who appeared on ‘Meet The Press’ earlier. Netanyahu said that supporters of the policy of ‘containing’ Iran and its nuclear ambitions “set a new standard for human stupidity.”
If attacked, Iran might leave Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)
Iran may quit nuclear non-proliferation treaty if attacked: IRGC commander English.news.cn 2012-09-17 TEHRAN, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) –– Commander of Iran ‘s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, said Sunday that Iran may quit the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) if its nuclear facilities come under attacks, Continue reading
Nuclear aspirations in Egypt
Will Egypt Go Nuclear? Israel National News, , September 13, 2012 Though Egypt does not have a nuclear energy program, that reality could soon change. President Mohammed Morsi made clear that Egypt wishes a civilian nuclear energy program.The Muslim Brotherhood wants nuclear weapons. We may soon miss the riots……. Continue reading
USA bank lends @billions to UAE so USA can sell off nuclear technology
U.A.E. Nuclear Program Gets $2 Billion Loan from U.S. Exim Bank Bloomberg, By Ayesha Daya – Sep 8, 2012 Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. , the state-owned company developing an atomic power plant in the United Arab Emirates , received a $2 billion loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank.
The loan to the Barakah One Co., a unit of Emirates Nuclear, will pay for American products and services used in the construction of four 1,400 megawatt reactors, according to a statement from the government-run bank. Westinghouse Electric Corp., based in Pittsburgh, will supply some of the equipment for the facilities, the bank said.
The first of the plant’s four reactors will be ready in 2017, with each additional unit becoming operational every year through 2020, according to Emirates Nuclear….. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-09/u-a-e-nuclear-program-gets-2-billion-loan-from-u-s-exim-bank.html
Nuclear energy – yesterday’s news.Let’s co-operate with Iran on renewables
Renewable Energy Sources Could Be the Key to Reaching Through to Iran Turkish Weekly , 5 September 2012, by Jen Alic, Oilprice Why are we even talking about Iran’s nuclear program when renewable energy offers a clear way out of this conundrum? If we can remove bad politics from the equation for a moment and get back to business as usual, energy diplomacy with 
Iran could render the nuclear question irrelevant altogether.
The West is not alone in the pursuit of renewable energy capacity. Middle Eastern countries are on the same path, and that includes Iran. Iran’s nuclear energy efforts were initially a reflection of the reality that oil and gas resources will not last forever. The answer to this reality was to fall back on nuclear energy, which has in turn become the focal point of a bitter conflict between Iran and the West.
But even nuclear energy is becoming yesterday’s news, both because of the push to harness renewable energy sources and also as a result of nuclear disasters, most recently that in Fukushima-which very clearly demonstrated the inability to protect nuclear facilities from Mother Nature. Continue reading
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PLEASE OPPOSE HR 8255 AND S.3639 – bills would accelerate satellite deployment, with no environmental review or safeguards – https://ncstd5li.quorum.us/campaign/169331/
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