Bush: Iran 'World's Leading' Terror Sponsor U.S. Presidents Says Iranian Actions 'Threaten The Security of Nations Everywhere' Hmm, Where have we heard that before?? Let me guess. They have WMDs by the gross! (My note) On Oct. 25, 2007, the Bush administration announced sweeping new sanctions against Iran — the harshest since the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in 1979 - again charging that Tehran supports terrorism in the Middle East, exports missiles and is engaging in a nuclear build up. The measures target the Revolutionary Guard Corps and a number of banks and are designed, among other things, to punish Tehran for its support of terrorist organizations in Iraq and the Middle East. Bush said advancing democracy and freedom is the core of his administration's foreign policy and critical to U.S. security. Ah YES! They hate us for our freedoms! Bet you never heard that before. (My note)

Olmert says certain Iran still seeks nuclear arms Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:43am ES Have you guys ever heard the story about the little boy who cried wolf? (My note) BERLIN (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Tuesday Iran was still seeking to build nuclear weapons and called for a greater international effort to prevent Tehran from succeeding. "We are certain that the Iranians are engaged in a serious ... clandestine operation to build up a non-conventional capacity," Olmert said "As (U.S.) President (George W.) Bush once said: no option is ruled out," in dealing with Iran's atomic ambitions, he said, while voicing support for a diplomatic solution. Bush and Olmert have made clear they still consider Tehran a threat despite a recent U.S. National Intelligence Estimate that said Iran stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003.

The Coming Catastrophe? The finishing touches on several contingency plans for attacking Iran My Note: This is a "what-if scenario" That is all it is. Global Research Editor's note We bring to the attention of our readers David DeBatto's scenario as to what might occur if one of the several contingency plans to attack Iran, with the participation of Israel and NATO, were to be carried out. While one may disagree with certain elements of detail of the author's text, the thrust of this analysis must be taken seriously. We are fast approaching the final six months of the Bush administration. The quagmire in Iraq is in its sixth painful year with no real end in sight and the forgotten war in Afghanistan is well into its seventh year. The "dead enders" and other armed factions are still alive and well in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan again controls most of that country. Gas prices have now reached an average of $4.00 a gallon nationally and several analysts predict the price will rise to $5.00-$6.00 dollars per gallon at the pump by Labor Day. This, despite assurances by some major supporters of the decision to invade Iraq that the Iraq war "will pay for itself" (Paul Wolfowitz) or that we will see "$20.00 per barrel" oil prices if we invade Iraq (Rupert Murdoch). Most Americans are not be able to afford gas to go to work. There are food riots across the country. Civilian rule dissolves and Martial Law is declared under provisions approved under the Patriot Act. Then the first Israeli bomber drops its nuclear payload on Tehran.

Israel has a year to stop Iran bomb A former head of Mossad has warned that Israel has 12 months in which to destroy Iran's nuclear programme or risk coming under nuclear attack itself. He also hinted that Israel might have to act sooner if Barack Obama wins the US presidential election. As speculation grew that Israel was contemplating its own air strikes, Iran's military said it might hit the Jewish state with missiles and stop Gulf oil exports if it came under attack. Israel "is completely within the range of the Islamic republic's missiles," said Mohammed Ali Jafari, head of the feared Revolutionary Guard. "Our missile power and capability are such that the Zionist regime cannot confront it."

Iran says Gulf oil route at risk if attacked Sat Jun 28, 2008 The Revolutionary Guards said Iran would impose controls on shipping in the vital Gulf oil route if Iran was attacked and warned regional states of reprisals if they took part, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

House Resolution Calls for Naval Blockade against Iran America’s powerful pro-Israel lobby pressures the US Congress A US House of Representatives Resolution effectively requiring a naval blockade on Iran seems fast tracked for passage, gaining co-sponsors at a remarkable speed, but experts say the measures called for in the resolutions amount to an act of war. These resolutions could severely escalate US-Iran tensions, experts say. Recalling the perception of the naval blockade of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the international norms classifying a naval blockade an act of war, critics argue endorsement of these bills would signal US intentions of war with Iran. "It is my hope that…this Congress will urge this and future administrations to lead the world in economically isolating Iran in real and substantial ways," said Congressman Mike Pence(R-IN), who is the original cosponsor of the House resolution along with Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Chairman of the sub committee on Middle East and South Asia of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

President George W Bush backs Israeli plan for strike on Iran From The Sunday Times July 13, 2008 President George W Bush has told the Israeli government that he may be prepared to approve a future military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations with Tehran break down, according to a senior Pentagon official. Despite the opposition of his own generals and widespread scepticism that America is ready to risk the military, political and economic consequences of an airborne strike on Iran, the president has given an “amber light” to an Israeli plan to attack Iran’s main nuclear sites with long-range bombing sorties, the official told The Sunday Times. Complicating the calculations in both Washington and Tel Aviv is the prospect of an incoming Democratic president who has already made it clear that he prefers negotiation to the use of force. The latest round of regional tension was sparked by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which fired nine long and medium-range missiles in war game manoeuvres in the Gulf last Wednesday. Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, said she saw the launches as “evidence that the missile threat is not an imaginary one”, The one thing that all sides agree on is that any strike by either Iran or Israel would trigger a catastrophic round of retaliation that would rock global oil markets, send the price of petrol soaring and wreck the progress of the US military effort in Iraq.

The Geopolitics of Iran: Holding the Center of a Mountain Fortress Original article from: http://www.stratfor.com/ Which requires a @350/year membership To understand Iran, you must begin by understanding how large it is. Iran is the 17th largest country in world. It measures 1,684,000 square kilometers. That means that its territory is larger than the combined territories of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Portugal - Western Europe. Iran is the 16th most populous country in the world, with about 70 million people. Its population is larger than the populations of either France or the United Kingdom. More important are its topographical barriers. Iran is defined, above all, by its mountains, which form its frontiers, enfold its cities and describe its historical heartland. To understand Iran, you must understand not only how large it is but also how mountainous it is. The center of Iran consists of two desert plateaus that are virtually uninhabited and uninhabitable. These are the Dasht-e Kavir, which stretches from Qom in the northwest nearly to the Afghan border, and the Dasht-e Lut, which extends south to Balochistan. The Dasht-e Kavir consists of a layer of salt covering thick mud, and it is easy to break through the salt layer and drown in the mud. It is one of the most miserable places on earth. Iran has the 28th largest economy in the world but ranks only 71st in per capita gross domestic product (as expressed in purchasing power). It ranks with countries like Belarus or Panama. Part of the reason is inefficiencies in the Iranian oil industry, the result of government policies. But there is a deeper geographic problem. Iran has a huge population mostly located in rugged mountains. Mountainous regions are rarely prosperous. The cost of transportation makes the development of industry difficult. Sparsely populated mountain regions are generally poor. Heavily populated mountain regions, when they exist, are much poorer. Iran is a fortress. Surrounded on three sides by mountains and on the fourth by the ocean, with a wasteland at its center, Iran is extremely difficult to conquer. For the Iranians, the current situation has posed a dangerous scenario similar to what they faced from the British early in the 20th century. The United States has occupied, or at least placed substantial forces, to the east and the west of Iran, in Afghanistan and Iraq. Iran is not concerned about these troops invading Iran. That is not a military possibility. Iran's concern is that the United States will use these positions as platforms to foment ethnic dissent in Iran. 1. Maintain an extremely powerful and repressive security capability to counter these moves. In particular, focus on deflecting any intrusions in the Khuzestan region, which is not only the most physically vulnerable part of Iran but also where much of Iran's oil reserves are located. This explains clashes such as the seizure of British sailors and constant reports of U.S. special operations teams in the region. 2. Manipulate ethnic and religious tensions in Iraq and Afghanistan to undermine the American positions there and divert American attention to defensive rather than offensive goals. 3. Maintain a military force capable of protecting the surrounding mountains so that major American forces cannot penetrate. 4. Move to create a nuclear force, very publicly, in order to deter attack in the long run and to give Iran a bargaining chip for negotiations in the short term. The heart of Iranian strategy is as it has always been, to use the mountains as a fortress. So long as it is anchored in those mountains, it cannot be invaded. The creation of an Iranian nuclear program serves two functions. First, if successful, it further deters external threats. Second, simply having the program enhances Iranian power. Iran is secure from conceivable invasion. It enhances this security by using two tactics. First, it creates uncertainty as to whether it has an offensive nuclear capability. Second, it projects a carefully honed image of ideological extremism that makes it appear unpredictable. It makes itself appear threatening and unstable. Paradoxically, this increases the caution used in dealing with it because the main option, an air attack, has historically been ineffective without a follow-on ground attack. If just nuclear facilities are attacked and the attack fails, Iranian reaction is unpredictable and potentially disproportionate. Iranian posturing enhances the uncertainty. The threat of an air attack is deterred by Iran's threat of an attack against sea-lanes. Such attacks would not be effective, but even a low-probability disruption of the world's oil supply is a risk not worth taking.

Russia 'bombs Georgian airport Russian jets have bombed a military airfield close to the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, a Georgian official said. Tbilisi said Russia had brought 6,000 troops into Georgia by land and 4,000 by sea in preparation for a dawn raid. Earlier, Russian PM Vladimir Putin accused Georgia of genocide against the South Ossetian people, as fighting in the breakaway region intensified. As the bloodshed continues, a joint delegation of the US, EU and the Organisation of Security and Co-operation in Europe is heading to Georgia in the hope of brokering a truce. The danger now is that Russia will not only use this crisis to demonstrate its military power in the region, but argue it is time to redraw the map

Kuwait Readying for War in Gulf? Published: August 11, 2008 The small oil-rich emirate of Kuwait has reportedly activated its "Emergency War Plan" as a massive U.S. and European armada is reported heading for the region. Coming on the heels of Operation Brimstone just a week ago that saw U.S., British and French naval forces participate in war games in the Atlantic Ocean, the object of which was to practice enforcing an eventual blockade on Iran, the joint task force is now headed for the Gulf and what could easily turn into a major confrontation with Iran. The naval force comprises a U.S. Navy super carrier battle group and is accompanied by an expeditionary carrier battle group, a British Royal Navy carrier battle group and a French nuclear hunter-killer submarine. Once the naval force arrives in the Gulf region it will be joining two other U.S. naval battle groups already on site: the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Peleliu; the Lincoln with its carrier strike group and the latter with an expeditionary strike group. Adding to the volatility is the presence of a major Russian navy deployment affected earlier this year to the eastern Mediterranean comprising the jewel of the Russian fleet, the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov with approximately 50 Su-33 warplanes that have the capacity for mid-air refueling. This means the Russian warplanes could reach the Gulf from the Mediterranean, a distance of some 850 miles and would be forced to fly over Syria (not a problem) but Iraq as well, where the skies are controlled by the U.S. military, and the guided missile heavy cruiser Moskva. The Russian task force is believed to be composed of no less than a dozen warships as well as several submarines.

Poland Risks Attack Because of US Missiles A top Russian general said Friday that Poland's agreement to accept a U.S. missile interceptor base exposes the ex-communist nation to attack, possibly by nuclear weapons, the Interfax news agency reported. The statement by Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn is the strongest threat that Russia has issued against the plans to put missile defense elements in former Soviet satellite nations.

US demands Russian troop pull-out US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has demanded that Russian forces withdraw from Georgia immediately. In angry comments at a news briefing in Tbilisi, President Mikhail Saakashvili said his country would never accept the loss of any of its territory.

Dutch Spies Recalled From Iran Due to 'Imminent' U.S. Attack De Telegraaf reported on Friday, August 29, that the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) had been running a successful "top secret operation" in Iran for several years. The aim of the operation, according to unnamed sources, was "infiltration and sabotage of the armaments industry in the Islamic Republic," according to the Dutch newspaper. However, the plug was pulled on the operation recently and a key agent recalled home because of information that an American decision to attack Iran "would be made within a few weeks." Recent reports from the region indicate that American naval vessels are making their way towards the Persian Gulf in what security analysts speculate is preparation for a maritime blockade of Iranian fuel supplies. For its part, Iran has warned that it could close the strategic Strait of Hormuz itself if it was attacked, thus cutting off Gulf oil exports to the West. Security analysts further speculate that Iranian terrorist sleeper cells have been placed in various Middle Eastern nations and elsewhere as a strategic option to be activated in the event of an attack on Iran.