Thursday - February 09, 2012
Let Them Eat Sand
Iran turns to barter for food as sanctions cripple imports
Iran is turning to barter - offering gold bullion in overseas vaults or tankerloads of oil - in return for food as new financial sanctions have hurt its ability to import basic staples for its 74 million people, commodities traders said Thursday.
Difficulty paying for urgent import needs has contributed to sharp rises in the prices of basic foodstuffs, causing hardship for Iranians with just weeks to go before an election seen as a referendum on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s economic policies.
New sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union to punish Iran for its nuclear program do not bar firms from selling Iran food but they make it difficult to carry out the international financial transactions needed to pay for it.
Reuters surveys of commodities traders around the globe show that since the start of the year, Iran has had trouble securing imports of basic staples like rice, cooking oil, animal feed and tea. Grain ships have been held at its ports, refusing to unload until payment can be received for cargo.
With Iran’s rial currency tumbling, the prices of rice, bread and meat in Iranian bazaars have doubled or more in dollar terms in recent months.
You know what would be just awful?? If some huge group of “Somali Pirates” were to suddenly start hijacking cargo ships that were headed to the east side of the Persian Gulf. And then western navies could interdict them at night with lots of pyrotechnic effects ... oh, so sorry, the pirates put up a furious fight, and the ships were scuttled. It wouldn’t be for every ship, just every other. Maybe 2 out of 3. The ones with food and gasoline as cargo. And half of them could escape down to Africa. This could also cure hunger in Somalia at the same time, and Kenya would buy the gas for 10 cents on the dollar. Businesses would keep the gold, because they’d be smart and demand payment in advance with no refunds for piracy.
Posted by Drew458
on 02/09/2012 at 04:13 PM
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Permalink • Wednesday - January 18, 2012
Dis
I have to hand it to the mad mullahs. They came up with a brilliant snap to lay on Obeanhead. Right upside his head with a shoe. Pretty much makes him a laughingstock, which is what he deserves. Problem is, it makes us a laughingstock too. Thanks for the bold leadership Barack.
The Iranian government, which captured a U.S. stealth drone in December, has agreed to give the top-secret spy craft back, but with a catch.
Instead of the original RQ-170 Sentinel drone, the Islamic Republic said Tuesday that it will send President Obama a tiny toy replica of the plane.
Iranian state radio said that the toy model will be 1/80th the size of the real thing. Iranian citizens can also buy their own toy copies of the drone, which will be available in stores for the equivalent of $4.
Did you want that face egg once over easy, Mr. President, or scrambled?
Ah, but as long as we’re doing toy planes, I can find a better model than that for us to look at ...
Posted by Drew458
on 01/18/2012 at 08:36 AM
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Permalink • Wednesday - January 11, 2012
Oopsie
Two assailants on a motorcycle attached a magnetic bomb to the car of an Iranian university professor working at a key nuclear facility, killing him and his driver Wednesday, reports said. The slayings suggest a widening covert effort to set back Iran’s atomic program.
The attack in Tehran bore a strong resemblance to earlier killings of scientists working on the Iranian nuclear program. It is certain to amplify authorities’ claims of clandestine operations by Western powers and their allies to halt Iran’s nuclear advances.
The blast killed Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, a chemistry expert and a director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran, state TV reported. State news agency IRNA said Roshan had “organizational links” to Iran’s nuclear agency, which suggests a direct role in key aspects of the program.
On Tuesday, Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz was quoted as telling a parliamentary panel that 2012 would be a “critical year” for Iran — in part because of “things that happen to it unnaturally.”
“Many bad things have been happening to Iran in the recent period,” added Mickey Segal, a former director of the Israeli military’s Iranian intelligence department. “Iran is in a situation where pressure on it is mounting, and the latest assassination joins the pressure that the Iranian regime is facing.”
Defiant Iranian authorities pointed the finger at archfoe Israel.
Oh sure, blame the Joooos. 
Personally, I blame motorcyclists in general. This is like the 6th time they’ve been involved in blowing up Iranian nuke geeks. Gosh. Details at the link.
Posted by Drew458
on 01/11/2012 at 09:37 AM
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Permalink • Friday - January 06, 2012
Stick that in your hookah and smoke it
U.S. sailors from a carrier strike group whose recent presence in the Persian Gulf drew the ire of Iranian military officials have rescued 13 of the Middle Eastern country’s sailors from a hijacked fishing boat, a military spokesman said Friday.
The destroyer USS Kidd came to the aid of the ship Thursday in the North Arabian sea, near the crucial Strait of Hormuz, according to the Navy.
“Their presence does nothing but create mayhem, and we never wanted them to be present in the Persian Gulf,” [Iranian Admiral] Vahidi said [last week].
According to the Navy, a helicopter from the Kidd spotted a suspect pirate boat alongside the Iranian vessel. At the same time, the Kidd received a distress call from the captain of ship, the Al Molai, saying he and his crew were being held captive by pirates.
A team from the Kidd boarded the Al Molai, took 15 suspected pirates into custody and freed 13 Iranian hostages, the Navy said.
The suspected pirates, mostly Somalis, were taken to the Stennis to be held until a decision is made about prosecution, Pentagon spokesman Capt. John Kirby said Friday.
Pirates hijacked the Al Molai 40 to 45 days ago, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement.
A month and a half? And they’ve been right there, right off the friggin’ coast of Iran, in a sea barely 80 miles wide ever since??
The crew was “held hostage, with limited rations and we believe were forced against their will to assist the pirates with other piracy operations,” according to the statement.
The Navy reports that the Iranian boat had been pirated and used as a “mother ship” for pirate operations throughout the Persian Gulf, according to members of the Iranian vessel’s crew.
Oh sure. I think I smell something ... kinda stinks like 6 week old fish, you know? Makes me doubt the fisherman’s story a wee bit.
The Navy team provided food, water and medical care to both the suspected pirates and the crew of the Al Molai after securing the ship and ensuring everyone was safe, Schminky said.
The crew had “been though a lot,” he said. “We went out of our way to treat the fishing crew with kindness and respect,” he said.
Oh snap.
Posted by Drew458
on 01/06/2012 at 04:35 PM
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Permalink • Tuesday - October 25, 2011
That’s About How I See It Too
Hope n’ Change daily cartoons and commentary.
Posted by Drew458
on 10/25/2011 at 08:13 AM
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Permalink • Wednesday - September 28, 2011
Weak Horse, Strong Horse
Just days after Iran told the world that their new generation of cruise missiles are deployed, and just after the coincidental assassination of a top nuclear scientist in Syria, comes the latest news that Iran is planning on sending part of it’s navy to the Western Atlantic, to cruise up and down the edge of America’s territorial waters. Tweak. Tweak. Hey Obama, I got your nose!
Syria’s state-run news agency says a nuclear engineer has been assassinated in a hail of bullets in the restive central city of Homs. Engineer and university professor Aws Khalil is the fourth Syrian academic to be assassinated in Homs recently.
... SANA reported Khalil’s killing on Wednesday, blaming it on an “armed terrorist gang.”
Mere coincidence. This has nothing to do with Iran at all. Well, until you stop and recall that Gerald Bull was capped just before the first Gulf War, after designing the SuperGun for Iraq. Which Saddam tried his best to build.
Iran says it’s started large-scale production of a domestically-developed cruise missile designed for sea-based targets and capable of destroying warships. Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi says an unspecified number of samples of “Ghader,” or “Capable” as the missile is called in Farsi, were delivered to the Revolutionary Guard’s navy, assigned to protect Iran’s sea borders. His remarks were reported by state TV on Wednesday.
The cruise missile has a range of 124 miles. It can reportedly travel at low altitudes and has a lighter weight and smaller dimensions.
Iran also claims to possess high speed super-cavitating rocket-torpedoes that go 4 times faster than modern high speed torpedoes, but some folks have said that that’s a scam. The Russians do have such a torpedo, and so, presumably, do we. Super cavitation is real, and a bubble curtain around a torpedo can allow it to move through the water at more than 220mph. Steering is a bit of a problem though.
Iranian Navy Plans to Send Ships Near U.S. Waters
The Iranian navy plans to move naval vessels out of the Persian Gulf and into the Atlantic Ocean, “near maritime borders of the United States,” the Tehran Times reported Tuesday. According to the English-language paper based in Tehran, the announcement came from a top Iranian naval officer on Tuesday.
“As the global arrogance (forces of imperialism) have a (military) presence near our sea borders, we also plan to have a strong presence near the U.S. sea borders with the help of the soldiers who are loyal to the vali-e faqih (supreme jurisprudent),” said Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, as quoted and paraphrased by the Tehran Times.
“We’ve been pushing freedom of the seas for years and the Iranian navy can go wherever it wants,” said Pentagon Spokesman Capt. John Kirby.
Iranians might face a challenge in refueling its fleet. Some in the Pentagon have speculated it could gas up in Venezuela, whose President, Hugo Chavez, is known to have a close relationship with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranians gave no indication of when or what kind of vessels they might deploy, but the announced plan comes just months after Iran sent warships through the Suez following the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. It was the first time Iran had moved ships into the Mediterranean and the move put Israel on high alert.
The naval unit plans to establish direct contact with the U.S. when it hits the Gulf of Mexico, a commander in the Iranian navy said. Officials in the Pentagon strongly denied any planned port visits by the Iranians.
When Bush was president, I don’t think the Iranian Navy ever sailed out of sight of their own sand dunes. It’s tough to put the spurs to a strong horse and ride it, but you can kick a weak horse all you want without fear.
Update:
Posted by Drew458
on 09/28/2011 at 08:59 AM
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Permalink • Wednesday - September 01, 2010
sentenced to death by stoning for adultery ‘subjected to mock execution’
I’m sure you people must have seen this already. It is being covered in the USA I think. I guess we can’t tell other people how to conduct their internal affairs, but it seems fair to protest something like this. If you stop and think about it, as this case and others like it seem to focus things, men in those countries must really have a lock and a whip and lots of chains to keep women down and cowed. I guess the folks with the guns, rule. After all these centuries, wouldn’t you think that their women would have figured long ago that there was something better? I personally think the men involved really enjoy this. Creeps. And just think, their govt. has embassies and ambassadors and must be treated kindly or at least with the trapping of respect. As if they were normal human beings
instead of the grubby, lice ridden, bearded bastards they are.
Iranian sentenced to death by stoning for adultery ‘subjected to mock execution’
By Mail Foreign Service
An Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning was subjected to a mock execution by hanging.
In preparation for her death, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani wrote her will and embraced her cellmates in Tabriz prison.
But the mother-of-two, who was acquitted of murdering her husband but found guilty of adultery, was not led to the gallows.
Her son told The Guardian: ‘Pressure from the international community has so far stopped them from carrying out the sentence but they’re killing her every day by any means possible.’
The latest development comes after prison authorities denied family and legal visits, falsely telling them Ashtiani was unwilling to see them. In turn, she was told no one had come to see her.
French First Lady Carla Bruni became involved in the row for protesting against the case.
In an open letter, Ms Bruni wrote: ‘Spill your blood, deprive your children of their mother? Why?
‘Because you have lived, because you have loved, because you are a woman, an Iranian? Every part of me refuses to accept this.’
The paper responded by dubbing her a marriage-wrecking ‘prostitute’ because of her affairs with high-profile celebrities who already had partners.
Ashtiani has already received 99 lashes for reportedly having an illicit relationship with two men.
As mentioned above, Carla Bruni, France’s First Lady and my constant old age heart throb has stepped into the maelstrom. Her quote above.
Being adherents of this particular cult of the ROP .... her critics in Iran have responded thus.
Carla Bruni deserves death: Iran paper
September 1, 2010
A hardline Iranian daily newspaper Kayhan stepped up its attack on France’s first lady Carla Bruni, saying on Tuesday the “Italian prostitute” deserved to die for supporting an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning.
And one of the scariest things about all of this is, there are actually muslim women who think this is okay but even worse, western born and somewhat educated white women go along with it as well. Or if not with death for adultery, go along with the male dominated insistence that they cover up and adopt a subservient attitude and lifestyle. With all the freedoms women have fought for in the west and won for themselves, some of their sisters convert to this stone age manner of thinking and living. Go figure.
Posted by peiper
on 09/01/2010 at 10:15 AM
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Permalink • Sunday - August 22, 2010
Sunday Night Laughs
Stop laughing! That’s just the title. It gets better!
TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Sunday inaugurated the country’s first domestically built long-range unmanned bomber aircraft, calling it an “ambassador of death” to Iran’s enemies.
Speaking to a group of officials, Ahmadinejad said, “The jet, as well as being an ambassador of death for the enemies of humanity, has a main message of peace and friendship.”
The goal of the aircraft is to “keep the enemy paralyzed in its bases,” he said, adding that the jet is for deterrence and defensive purposes.
The 4-meter-long unmanned plane, dubbed the Karrar, or striker, in Farsi, was inaugurated on the national day for the country’s defense industry in a ceremony aired live on state TV.
No details were provided on the craft’s capabilities.
In a speech at the unveiling ceremony, Ahmadinejad said Iran should seek the ability to make pre-emptive strikes against a perceived threat, although he said it would never strike first.
“If there is an ignorant person or an egoist or a tyrant who just wanted to make an aggression, then our Defense Ministry should reach a point where it could cut off the hand of the aggressor before it decided to make an aggression,” he said.
“We should reach a point when Iran would serve as a defense umbrella for all freedom-loving nations in the face of world aggressors. We don’t want to attack anywhere — Iran will never decide to attack anywhere — but our revolution cannot sit idle in the face of tyranny. We can’t remain indifferent.”
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today unveiled a long-range bomber drone he described as an ‘ambassador of death’ to Tehran’s enemies.
State television footage showed the president applauding as a blue cloth covering the drone - known as Karar or ‘assailant’ in Persian - was removed to reveal the aircraft marked ‘bomber jet’.
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today unveiled a long-range bomber drone he described as an ‘ambassador of death’ to Tehran’s enemies.
State television footage showed the president applauding as a blue cloth covering the drone - known as Karar or ‘assailant’ in Persian - was removed to reveal the aircraft marked ‘bomber jet’
...
The drone was built to ‘carry and fire four stealth cruise missiles… and, depending on the mission, it can carry two bombs of 250lbs each or a precision missile of 500lbs,’ state television reported.The broadcast also showed the aircraft in flight and Iranian Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the drone has a range of 620 miles.
State TV later showed video footage of the plane taking off from a launching pad and reported that the craft traveled at speeds of 560 miles per hour.
Oh lordy. Where to begin? First off, they’re lying their little camel dented asses off. This thing is 4 meters - 13 feet - long. The only 4 stealth cruise missiles it could carry would each be smaller than an 81mm mortar shell. Nothing more potent than a Hellfire. With luck, and a big rocket booster, it could carry a 250lb bomb, and lumber along for a couple hundred miles. Maybe. 500lb missile? No chance, unless you consider 40 miles “long range”. Second, you’d better give it an extra big booster and no payload at all to get it 620 miles downrange. 560mph is possible, but that’s pretty much no faster than an airliner travels. In other words, it’s a sitting duck.
But what really makes this announcement funny ... is the Northrop Grumman BQM-74F.
Northrop Grumman has been building this little gem for several years now, since 2002. They don’t call it a “bomber jet”, or any kind of ambassador at all. And yet ... the BQM-74F is pretty much the same size, merely half a meter longer. And it has pretty much the same range, 920 km proven vs Iran’s claim of 1000km for theirs. And ours is about 20% faster too. Turn the ambassador over, and it even looks similar. And you know what the BQM-74F is built for? It’s built as a training aid, used to teach our guys to shoot things down. It’s a target drone. This is the device that our pilots and our missile defense teams practice on to learn their skills.
Granted, the BQM-74F is probably much more sophisticated than this pisslamic knockoff. What the hell, our tax money at work. This target drone can cruise along at 40,000ft, or confidently fly along below ceiling height - and I don’t mean cloud ceiling, I mean your living room ceiling. It can fly 7 feet off the ground. At 700mph. And 8 Gs.
A new airframe with swept wings and tails coupled with an upgrade to the thrust of the BQM-74 engine from 240 to 300 pounds pushes the speed to 0.92M at sea level and increases maneuverability to eight-g instantaneous (five-g sustained). Aggressive all-axis weave maneuvers down to 7 feet provide threat representative ingress maneuvers.
And this is the easy target we use for training and confidence building. A “toy” that outperforms their latest weapon by a huge margin.
So watch the media wet it’s little panties over this big bad super killer attack bomber jet missile gun assault weapon. It’s a pretty good joke.
PS - a Hellfire missile is 5 1/2 feet long and weighs just over 100 pounds. It has about a 5 mile range, and can take out a tank. It would also mess up your wood framed house pretty good too, but as heavy ordinance goes, it’s a popgun. It wasn’t designed as a stealth weapon, but such a short thing doesn’t make much of a radar signature. Thermal signature but good, but not much on radar. Mount 2 under each wing, and launch your ‘ambassador’ with a tremendous rocket booster that can carry it 20 miles or more. Much bigger than the little thing shown in the photo. So the idea isn’t impossible, but the performance claims are highly doubtful, and the payload accurately delivered is pretty minimal. More BS from the greasy little tyrant.
Posted by Drew458
on 08/22/2010 at 09:11 PM
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Permalink • Tuesday - June 08, 2010
Agent Provocateur
This is what happens when we put a weak, anti-semitic, pro-muslim pretender in the White House. And this is just the beginning.
The Iranian Red Crescent has decided to send two aid ships to Gaza this week in the latest bid to break the blockade imposed on the Palestinian territory by Iran?s regional archfoe Israel.
Red Crescent director for international affairs Abdolrauf Adibzadeh told the state IRNA news agency late on Sunday that the decision to send the ships was taken after a meeting with the foreign ministry.
‘One ship will carry donations made by the people and the other will carry relief workers. The ships will be sent to Gaza by end of this week,’ Adibzadeh said. He said the Red Crescent has called for Iranian volunteers to act as relief workers and accompany the vessels.
‘Volunteers who want to go to Gaza and help the oppressed people of occupied Palestine can refer to the Red Crescent website and register,’ Adibzadeh said. He said the initial plan was to send the ships through an intermediary country, but ‘based on a decision by the society, they will be sent directly.’ He added that the aid would consist of foodstuffs and medicines.
The Iranian Red Crescent had previously sent an aid ship carrying food and medicines to Gaza in December 2008 but it was prevented from reaching the territory by the Israeli navy.
If aid ships want to try breaking Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza again, they’ll have the full force and military escort of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to do it, a spokesman for the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said today. “Iran’s Revolutionary Guards naval forces are fully prepared to escort the peace and freedom convoys to Gaza with all their powers and capabilities,” said the rep.
“If the Supreme Leader issues an order for this then the Revolutionary Guard naval forces will do their best to secure the ships,” the spokesman continued. “It is Iran’s duty to defend the innocent people of Gaza.”
This is an outright provocation for war.
Not that a land war between Israel and Iran would be easy, with those other countries in between them. But an air war and a sea war could happen.
Israel has a legal sea blockade around Gaza, even though Egypt has now capitulated and opened it’s borders. Israel will allow aid ships to dock in it’s ports, and the cargoes can then be transshipped if they meet Israel’s list of allowable items. So there is no real point in “breaking the blockade” other than world theater.
If ships cross into the blockaded zone the Israelis will stop them. If the Iranian Navy escorts those aid ships and a) gives them fire support and/or b) crosses the blockade line, then this is a deliberate act of war.
The ayatollahs would never had dared such a move when Bush was president. Like Osama bin Laden, they understand the “strong horse, weak horse” argument, but right now our horse is a jackass who can at best bray in the wrong direction.
Hey, I know! Maybe he can bow to all parties involved, and have them all over for a beer!
Posted by Drew458
on 06/08/2010 at 12:02 PM
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Permalink • Sunday - April 18, 2010
“…incite extramarital sex in society, which increases earthquakes…”
Maybe. But it’s not the fault of women…
Posted by Christopher
on 04/18/2010 at 05:19 AM
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Permalink • Saturday - April 17, 2010
Islamoloonies
Leading Iranian Islamic Scholar: sexy women cause earthquakes.
No, seriously, I’m not making this up.
A senior Iranian cleric has claimed that dolled-up women incite extramarital sex, causing more earthquakes in Iran, a country that straddles several fault lines, newspapers reported today.
“Many women who dress inappropriately ... cause youths to go astray, taint their chastity and incite extramarital sex in society, which increases earthquakes,” Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi told worshippers at overnight prayers in Tehran.
”Calamities are the result of people’s deeds,” he was quoted as saying by reformist Aftab-e Yazd newspaper.
Every post-pubescent woman regardless of her religion or nationality must cover her hair and bodily contours in public. Offenders face punishment and fine.
But this has not stopped urban women from appearing in the streets wearing tight coats and flimsy headscarves and layers of skilfully applied makeup.
Iran is prone to frequent quakes, many of which have been devastating.
The worst in recent times hit the southern city of Bam in December 2003, killing 31,000 people - about a quarter of the population - and destroying its ancient mud-built citadel.
The Bam earthquake was caused by a pair of Manolo Blahniks, right?
Oh noes, Allah save us, we are all gonna die!!
Posted by Drew458
on 04/17/2010 at 10:27 PM
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Permalink • Thursday - February 18, 2010
No Kidding
IAEA Report: Iran could be working on nukes!!
Ann Coulter: No shit, Sherlock.
2007 US Intelligence Report: Iran quit trying to make nukes years ago.
Keith Olberdouche: Bush lied!! Waaa waaa waaa!
BMEWS in 2007: Don’t buy this BS. Bomb them now.
BMEWS in 2009: Iran probably already has the bomb. Bomb them now.
BMEWS in 2010: Iran absolutely already has the bomb. Bomb them now.
There ya go. That saved me 10,000 words at the keyboard.
Posted by Drew458
on 02/18/2010 at 05:12 PM
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Permalink • Friday - December 18, 2009
Iran getting too frisky
Iraq’s deputy foreign minister says Iranian troops have seized an oil well in southern Iraq along their disputed border.
Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Haj Aziz said Friday that Iranian troops seized oil well No. 4 Thursday night.
He said he did not know whether Iranians were still in control of the oil well. He said the Foreign Ministry and the Oil Ministry are coordinating over what steps to take and were considering summoning the Iranian ambassador to discuss the issue on Saturday.
Such incidents have happened before along the Iran-Iraq border, which was never clearly delineated after the brutal war between the two countries in the 1980s.
Really? Disputed border? Never made clear? After the US military has been in Iraq for how many years now? What a total crock of puss. This is not even remotely possible, especially since Iran is a de-facto enemy state.
No, this is an overt act of aggression. Period. An act of war. Period. It’s Ahmadumjihad thumbing his nose at Obowma, the weak horse. And he’ll get away with it too.
“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”? “Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Haj Aziz”? I wonder if he’s related to old Tariq Aziz who held the Foreign Minister spot under Saddam? I hope not, but it’s very hard to tell. M. Aziz is a very common name over that way; there’s even a Saudi prince with that name who has a sports stadium named after him. To make matters worse, it seems that the DFM goes by at least one other name as well. Gee thanks. He’s Mohammed Haj Mahmoud according to some news reports:
BAGHDAD — Iranian troops have crossed into Iraqi territory and seized an oil well that lies in a disputed area along the two countries’ southern border, Iraq’s deputy foreign Minster said Friday.
The deputy minister, Mohammed Haj Mahmoud, said Iranian troops seized oil well No. 4 Thursday night in the al-Fakkah oil field, located about 200 miles southeast of Baghdad. The oil field is one of Iraq’s largest.
Oil prices rose slightly after news of the incident.
“We are coordinating with the Oil Ministry regarding this issue. This is not the first time that the Iranians have tried to prevent Iraqis from investing in oil fields in border areas. Tomorrow, we might summon the Iranian ambassador to discuss this issue,” Mahmoud told The Associated Press.
The al-Fakkah field is considered a shared field between Iran and Iraq, meaning both nations are able to pump oil from it, but the Iraqis consider oil well No. 4 theirs. In Washington, a U.S. official said that although Iranians have crossed the border before, they had not previously ventured this far. Iraqi security forces were in the area, but there are no reports of any fighting or that any shots were fired, he said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.
No U.S. troops were in the area. And the Iranians are believed to have left the area, he said.
Such incidents have happened before along the Iran-Iraq border, which was never clearly delineated after the brutal war between the two countries in the 1980s. Last year, the Iraqi Oil Ministry accused Iran of stealing oil from the al-Fakkah field and of illegally seizing and capping off wells in a second field that Iraq claims lies entirely within its territory. The two adjacent oil fields — Abu Gharb, which Iraq claims in its entirety, and al-Fakkah, the shared field — both lie in Maysan province.
Other news pages are carrying the same AP story, but with the trailer “(This version CORRECTS spelling of deputy foreign minister’s name.)”.
Regardless. It just amazes me that such a thing can happen. After all these years of occupation, and all those endless talks with Iran, I would have thought that the borders were long since settled, even if they were just a line in the sand. “A line in the sand”? And Ahmadinnerjacket crossed it? Are you paying attention here Obama?
Posted by Drew458
on 12/18/2009 at 11:23 AM
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Permalink • Wednesday - September 30, 2009
Just For Show?
Super bombs are being fast-tracked by the Pentagon for possible use against nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran. So massive, the GBU-57A/B or Massive Ordnance Penetrator or MOP can only be delivered by a B-52 or a B-2A.
The Pentagon is accelerating by three years plans for a super bunker buster, the GBU-57A/B or Massive Ordnance Penetrator or MOP, a powerful new bomb aimed squarely at the underground nuclear facilities of Iran and North Korea. The gargantuan bomb—longer than 11 persons standing shoulder-to-shoulder or more than 20 feet base to nose, weighs 30,000 pounds. Some 18 percent of its total weight is comprised of explosives.
Guided by a precision GPS system, the MOP can penetrate an unprecedented 200 feet down before exploding with devastation into an underground bunker, such as those buried in Iran and North Korea currently used to shield rogue nuclear programs. Now Congress has quietly advanced $68 million into the 2009 budget to accelerate the purchase and deployment of ten such super bunker busters making clear they are for possible use against the regimes in Iran or North Korea. Pentagon planners are rushing to beat by months the latest June 2010 deadline for just four such bombs, and have been subsequently directed to increase the number of MOPs to at least ten.
In early July 2009, the Defense Department told a Congressional committee that the MOP was the “weapon of choice” for an “urgent operational need” enunciated by both the U.S. Pacific Command, tasked with North Korea, and the Central Command, tasked with Iran. In doing so, the Pentagon accelerated the program by three years.
The GBU-57A/B MOP is so immense it can only be carried by either a B-52 or a B2a Stealth bomber. The weapon’s explosive power is 10 times greater than its predecessor, the BLU-109. Moreover, the GBU-57A/B MOP is one third heavier than the MOAB dubbed the Mother of All Bombs.
Following successful tests in deep New Mexico caverns, and a B-52 test drop, a crash program has been approved to modify a B-2a Stealth bomber to carry a payload of two GBU-57A/B MOP bombs. The speed and urgency comes at a time when Iran, NATO and Israel are approaching a denouement over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, its development of long-range, multi-stage missiles and a new awareness that it is clearly developing a nuclear bomb.
The Pentagon has brought forward to December 2009 the target-date for producing the first 15-ton super bunker-buster bomb (GBU-57A/B) Massive Ordinance Penetrator, which can reach a depth of 60.09 meters underground before exploding. DEBKAfile’s military sources report that top defense agencies and air force units were also working against the clock to adapt the bay of a B2a Stealth bomber for carrying and delivering the bomb.
The Pentagon has ordered the number of bombs rolling off the production line increased from four to ten - a rush job triggered in May by the discovery that Iran was hiding a second uranium enrichment plant under a mountain near Qom - a discovery which prompted this week’s international outcry.
Congress has since quietly inserted the necessary funding in the 2009 budget.
All this urgency indicates that the Obama administration has been preparing military muscle to back up the international condemnation of Iran’s concealed nuclear bomb program, its sanctions threat and his willingness to join the negotiations with Iran opening on Oct. 1 in Geneva. Tehran may have to take into account a possible one-time surgical strike against its underground enrichment facility as a warning shot should its defiance continue. In particular, the world powers this week demanded that Iran open up all its nuclear facilities and programs to full and immediate international inspection. Failure to do so could bring forth further US military action.
According to our military sources, the earliest date for the accelerated Pentagon program to produce a super bunker buster bomb mounted on a stealth bomber is December 2009 or January 2010. This too is three years ahead of its original schedule.
The MOP weighs in at a whopping 30,000 pounds, it’s warhead weighs in at 5,300 pounds and it can penetrate 200 ft (61 m) of 5,000 psi (34 MPa) reinforced concrete, 26 ft (8 m) of 10,000 psi (69 MPa) reinforced concrete, or 130 ft (40 m) of moderately hard rock.
No word on whether the Deep Digger bomb project is anywhere near ready at this point.
So we’ve got a bomb that could do the job, maybe. Or at least half a dozen dropped in the same hole at 90 second intervals. That would do just fine. But will 12 of them be enough? Call me crazy, but if it takes half a dozen to blast a hole down to that secret uranium lab, couldn’t you then drop a MOAB down the hole? That ought to do the job and then some.
The big questions are:
1) Will Obama have the stones to do this? My bet says no.
2) Will Obama “allow” several of these to be “lost at sea” so that Israel can rescue the ship and claim salvage rights and do the job themselves, giving the US plausible deniability? Obama has not shown himself to be any friend of Israel, so again I’m betting against it.
Don’t forget, the USA rolled out the MOAB shortly before going into Iraq. And then never used the thing, not even once. So we ought to have a bunch just sitting around gathering dust, but that’s not my point. My point is that the threat of a super weapon doesn’t carry much weight against people who only respect results.
h/t to reader JustMe, and to Rusty at The Jawa Report.
Posted by Drew458
on 09/30/2009 at 10:44 AM
Filed Under: • Iran • Military •
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