INFORMATION AWARENESS OFFICE
USING THE BEST TECHNOLOGIES AT OUR DISPOSAL,ALLOWS US TO FIGHT TERROR,ANYWHERE,ANYTIME. WE MUST BE ABLE TO ADAPT AND EVOLVE. THINK BIG,START SMALL,ACT FAST.FOUNDATIONS TODAY FOR A SAFER TOMORROW. 

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Terrorists Could Use Drones, Expert Says

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

No fewer than 40 nations are seeking to develop or acquire unmanned aerial vehicles, which raises the specter that the proliferation of the technology could enable extremists to obtain the drone aircraft and use them in a terrorist attack, according to the latest issue of Newsweek (see GSN, July 17, 2009).

Drones have already been used by extremists. In 2005, the Lebanon-based group Hezbollah flew an unmanned surveillance plane into Israel.

An assessment by the U.S. Air Force recently found that UAV systems would be "an ideal platform" for deploying biological, chemical or radiological "dirty bombs," the unconventional weapons most likely to be acquired by terrorists, stated P.W. Singer, head of the 21st century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institution.

Countries pursuing the technology include Belarus, Georgia, India, Pakistan and Russia. Iran recently initiated manufacturing work on weapons-capable spy drones and China has premiered its own Pterodactyl and Sour Dragon aircraft as alternatives to the United States' Global Hawk and Predator drones. This year it it is expected that 66 percent of the funds spent on unmanned aircraft worldwide will come from outside of the United States.

The relative low-expense and accessibility of UAV systems, many of which are now available for sale on the global market, ensures that rogue actors will obtain drone technology, Singer stated.

U.S. Homeland Security Department Explosives Division Director Jim Tuttle disagreed. "What terrorist is going to have a Predator?," he said at a conference last winter.

The time it takes for military technology to spread to other uses is much shorter today than it has been in the past, according to Singer. One example is industrial agriculturalists who are already using drone aircraft to spray their harvests with pesticides.

The United States must develop a robotics plan and consider both the uses of and defenses against drones if it is to successfully counter the threat, Singer stated. A legal regime detailing the right of access to the systems is also necessary, he added (P.W. Singer, Newsweek, March 8).

Iran making new smart bombs

The Qassed 2, Iran's prototype for a laser-guided bomb.
by Staff Writers
Tehran (UPI) Mar 3, 2009
With defense and acrimony building in the Persian Gulf, Iran announced plans to test a new laser-guided bomb.

Iran's Fars News Agency reported that a prototype of the 2,000-pound smart bomb would be tested "in the near future," the country's air force commander Brig. Gen Hassan Shahsafi said.

He said the smart bomb, dubbed Qassed-2, had a longer range and better vision than its earlier version, the Qassed-1. That weapon made its debut four years ago and has since then been in mass production. Qassed is interpreted as "messenger."

It was not immediately clear how advanced the prototype is and whether it would be available for mass production.

Western military experts seemed skeptical of the announcement, saying the Islamic Republic had a history of declaring military advancements prematurely as a means of saber-rattling.

Others speculated that "the announcement of the Qassed-2 is a move of brinkmanship to discourage the Gulf emirate states of Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates from participating in the expansion of the United States' Patriot missile defense system," the Threat Matrix reported.

With Washington concerned about Iran's nuclear intentions, the United States opted last month to revamp its defensive stance in the Middle East and deter a possible attack from Iran by moving to deploy anti-missile shields in the Gulf region.

Shahsafi opted to downplay the move this week, saying it was nothing more than Washington's status quo.

"That is not a new development," he told the Fars News Agency. "They had previously deployed and tested the systems in other places and gained no (positive) results."

Experts said that even if the new smart bomb is superior to the Qassed-1, Tehran would need to overcome its problem of installing the new technology on reliable aircraft. That need may precipitate the procurement of fresh jets.

In recent weeks, however, Iran has announced a rash of technological advances and military achievements.

Last month, Tehran opened two production lines for the construction of unmanned aerial vehicles, supposedly capable of carrying out assaults with high precision. This followed announced plans to create a missile air defense system that the Iranians said is more powerful than the Russian S-300 system it has ordered from Russia but not yet received.

It was not clear what purpose the drones would serve. But the drone production announcement came as the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stoked tensions with the West, ordering scientists to enrich stockpiles of uranium to the higher level needed to produce nuclear power.

Iran, North Korea Seen Collaborating on Rocket Launchpad

Monday, March 8, 2010

Iran appears to have worked with North Korea in preparing a new rocket launchpad under construction east of Tehran, an independent defense analysis firm asserted Friday (see GSN, June 12, 2009).

(Mar. 8) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other officials pose beneath Iran's Simorgh space launch vehicle at its unveiling last month. The rocket and a new Iranian launch site appear to have been built with North Korean assistance, an analysis group said (Rohollah Vahdati/Getty Images).

Iran seems poised to do additional work on the launch site, located near the city of Semnan, the group IHS Jane's stated. With about 30 feet in additional scaffolding, the facility could be used for the Middle Eastern nation's recently announced Simorgh space launch vehicle, Agence France-Presse quoted the organization as saying.

"The development of the Semnan facility and the Simorgh SLV both demonstrate the likelihood of collaboration with North Korea in Iran's missile program," the group said. "The platforms seen on the new gantry tower resemble those seen on the gantry tower at North Korea's new launchpad at Tongchang. A drainage pit [560 feet] directly in front of the pad also mirrors one at Pyongyang's new west-coast launch site.

"Similarly, the first stage of the Simorgh strongly resembles the North Korean Unha 2, with four clustered engines and nearly the same dimensions," according to the report.

"Given [Iran's] investments in its missile infrastructure, and despite the United States attempting to garner support for further sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program, Tehran appears determined to continue developing its missile and rocket capabilities in the foreseeable future," the group stated (Agence France-Presse/Google News, March 6).

Meanwhile, Tehran yesterday said it has begun building a new type of cruise missile, the Associated Press reported.

The Nasr 1 missile could eliminate objects as heavy as 3,000 tons, state media quoted Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi as saying.

The missile can be launched from land- and ship-based systems, and future variants of the weapon could be placed on helicopters and submarines, Vahidi said.

Iran holds various short-range and medium-range missiles it could use against U.S. assets in the region, along with Israeli or European targets. It is often difficult to confirm the nation's assertions about its military capabilities, according to AP (Nasser Karimi, Associated Press/Google News, March 7).

DHS, FBI worried about home-grown terrorists

Published 2 October 2009

The risk of al-Qaeda has not disappeared, but in a testimony on the Hill, Napolitano and Mueller say that the United States is facing an increased risk from home-grown terrorists and radicalized immigrants

Homeland security and law enforcement officials worried about the threat of homegrown terrorists and radicalized immigrants at a Senate hearing on homeland security yesterday, after federal authorities recently broke up three different alleged bombing conspiracies.

Last week, Najibullah Zazi, a legal U.S. resident from Afghanistan, was charged with plotting a terrorist bombing. Two more men, a Jordanian illegal alien and a radicalized American prison convert to Islam, were accused of planning two separate terrorist bombings in Houston and Springfield, Illinois, as well last week.

Matthew Harwood reports that while al Qaeda’s ability to attack the United States still worries homeland security and federal law enforcement officials, the specter of homegrown terrorism has risen, according to FBI Director Robert Mueller before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Mueller said that while al Qaeda is still determined to attack the United States and the FBI is still carefully monitoring that threat, it is devoting increased attention to the specter of “homegrown” terrorism perpetrated by American natives or legal permanent residents.

“Several FBI terrorism subjects with no known connections to overseas groups have taken steps to move from violent rhetoric to action,” Mueller said.

He said these “lone wolves” are more difficult to detect than terrorist groups because they operate quietly and independently. Often they get their inspiration and training online, rather than in person. But should they decide to travel to Pakistan, Yemen, or Somalia for further training, their status as U.S. citizens or legal residents makes it easier for them to travel in and out of the country.

DHS secretary Janet Napolitano told lawmakers that the recent string of terrorism cases shows that terrorist threats can come from any region in the country and from people with very different backgrounds. “Combating terrorist threats within the United States poses a challenge in part because the threat is so diffuse,” she testified. “Terrorists inspired by international terrorist organizations can come from any age group, ethnicity, area, religious background, or claimed ideological affiliation.”

Napolitano was careful to stress that no religious belief is a security threat and reiterated that DHS does not police beliefs. 

Noticeable increase in the number of Americans arrested for al Qaeda-related terrorism

Published 17 March 2010

The domestic landscape of terrorism in the United States is changing: there is no escaping the fact the most alarming thing about a string of recently arrested terror suspects is that they are all Americans; more than a dozen Americans have been captured or identified by the U.S. government and its allies over the past two years for actively supporting jihad; some, according to prosecutors, were inspired by the U.S. involvement in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars; others, like the accused Pennsylvania woman, wanted to avenge what they considered an insult to the Prophet Mohammed; many traveled overseas to get terrorist training; some used home computers to foment plots; says a terrorism expert: "There really is no profile of a terror suspect; the profile is broken, [and] it's women as well as men, it's lifelong Muslims as well as converts, it's college students as well as jailbirds"

DHS secretary Janet Napolitano may want to debate the fine semantic aspects of whether or not flying a small plane into the IRS building in Austin, Texas, should be construed as an act of terrorism, but there is no escaping the fact the most alarming thing about a string of recently arrested terror suspects is that they are all Americans. Over the past week, a Pennsylvania woman, accused in a plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist, and a radicalized New Jersey man held by authorities in Yemen have become the latest cases among more than a dozen Americans captured or identified by the U.S. government and its allies over the past two years for actively supporting jihad, or holy war.

AP reports that some, according to prosecutors, were inspired by the U.S. involvement in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Others, like the accused Pennsylvania woman, wanted to avenge what they considered an insult to the Prophet Mohammed. Many traveled overseas to get terrorist training. Some used home computers to foment plots.

There is no evidence that these cases are connected in any way (this is why Napolitano, who described the attacker of the Austin IRS building as a ‘lone wolf,” said it was not a case of terrorism), but these cases underscore the new reality that there is a threat from violent Islamic extremism from within the United States. “It is difficult to say whether the uptick in cases is because law enforcement has gotten better at catching suspects or if there are simply more to catch,” AP comments.

Most of the cases ended with suspects captured before they could act on their plans. Some, however, were nearly ready to spring to action, like Queens resident Najibullah Zazi, 24, who pleaded guilty in February as the leader of a plot to bomb the New York subway system. Law enforcement was too late to prevent a shooting rampage in December on the military post at Fort Hood, Texas. Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, 39, a U.S.-born Army psychiatrist of Palestinian descent, is charged with killing 13 people.

Determining how quickly a suspected homegrown terrorist goes from adopting extremist rhetoric to becoming a suicide bomber is also a challenge to law enforcement. Some people never make that leap. Others do it in a matter of months or years.

“Individuals can be radicalized in a number of ways — by direct contact with terrorists abroad or in the United States, over the Internet or on their own through a process of self-radicalization,” said Assistant Attorney General David Kris, the top counterterrorism official at the Justice Department. These cases, Kris said, “underscore the constantly evolving nature of the threat we face.”

For years U.S. officials have predicted there would be a rise in homegrown terrorism. “Now we’re beginning to see the predictions coming true,” said Michael Chertoff, the former DHS secretary. Because of this, Chertoff said, it is critical for communities to be on the lookout for unusual behavior. Law enforcement, he added, needs to continue to educate people on the differing signs of terrorism.

There is no single reason people drift toward terrorism. “It’s a combination of psychology, sociology and people who, just for cultural reasons, gravitate” to Islamic extremism, Chertoff said. “We can’t assume we’ve got months and years.”

Noticeable increase in the number of Americans arrested for al Qaeda-related terrorism

Published 17 March 2010

  • Colleen LaRose, the Pennsylvania woman who allegedly met violent jihadists online under the name “JihadJane,” took only months.
  • In the case of North Carolina drywall contractor Daniel Boyd, federal prosecutors say he nursed his ambitions for jihad over decades.
  • Even when law enforcement officials know about an American’s interaction with suspected terrorists, they may not have enough information to act on it. Months before Hasan allegedly went on his shooting spree at Fort Hood, he was in contact with a radical Islamic cleric in Yemen, federal prosecutors allege. The FBI was aware of Hasan’s contact with the cleric, but he did not emerge as a homegrown threat before the shootings.
  • In 2001 John Walker Lindh was arrested in Afghanistan for fighting with the Taliban. Raised Catholic, the California native was twelve when he saw the movie “Malcolm X” and became interested in Islam. A few years later, the teenager who liked hip-hop music converted to Islam.

There are disaffected, alienated people everywhere in the United States who, for decades, have joined gangs and cults in search of an identity. Radical Islamist groups are yet another destination for those who seek purpose in their lives, experts say.

In many cases they have no criminal record and can blend into society, like the woman who allegedly called herself Jihad Jane, and travel internationally with ease.

AP quotes Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University, to say that the spate of cases over the past two years shows the conventional wisdom about who is a terrorist is dangerously outdated. “There really is no profile of a terror suspect; the profile is broken,” said Hoffman. “It’s women as well as men, it’s lifelong Muslims as well as converts, it’s college students as well as jailbirds.”

U.S. nuclear power plants not well protected, vulnerable to attack

Published 18 March 2010

U.S. nuclear power plants are poorly protected; guards are grossly underpaid -- in many cases, they make less than the janitors at the facilities they guard; many are hired off the street and given less than a week's worth of training; says a former CIA officer who visited three nuclear plants to research the topic: "I was told by many individuals during my research that it was common to hear discussions among guards about where they would hide if there were an attack"

The United States is woefully unprepared to protect its nuclear power plants from a terrorist attack, a former CIA officer told CNN.com yesterday. Charles Faddis, the former head of the CIA’s unit on terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, writes that he investigated security measures at many U.S. nuclear power plants during research for a book on the state of U.S homeland security. He found them wanting. His call to secure these sites comes after President Barack Obama guaranteed $8 billion in government loans to a company to construct two new nuclear power plants in Georgia.. “[B]efore we start building reactors we need to address another urgent matter,” he writes. “We need to make current reactors secure.”

A terrorist attack against a nuclear power plant is not a theoretical vulnerability, Faddis, the author of Willful Neglect: The Dangerous Illusion of Homeland Security, explains. Matthew Harwood writes that last month, Yemen detained a Somali-American man in a roundup of suspected al Qaeda militants. New Jersey-native Sharif Mobley subsequently came to the attention of the U.S. media last week when he shot and killed a hospital guard in an escape attempt in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a. Prior to leaving the United States for Yemen, Mobley worked at three different nuclear power plants from 2002 to 2008, the Daily News reports. Faddis also reminds readers that 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed originally wanted to crash airliners into nuclear power plants as part of the 9/11 terrorist operation.

A chief problem, writes Faddis, is how nuclear power plants utilize and treat private security guards who protect its facilities. After 9/11, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) increased the number of private security guards nuclear plants had to have on shift to secure the facility. Faddis writes that, on average, most plants now field twenty private security guards per shift, up from five to ten mandated by the NRC before 9/11. Harwood notes that considering the damage a terrorist attack on a nuclear plant could do, Faddis finds these numbers significantly too low adequately to protect the perimeter of such large facilities.

Faddis’s real complaint is about how security guards at nuclear power plants are hired and trained, which ensures guards cannot successfully defend such a prime target from a sophisticated terrorist attack.

These guards are grossly underpaid. In many cases, they make less than the janitors at the facilities in question. They train with their weapons no more than two to three times a year. Some of them are prior military and have combat experience.

Many others are hired off the street and given less than a week’s worth of training before they begin to stand post. Much of that week of training is consumed with administrative matters, which have nothing to do with learning how to repel a terrorist attack.

Morale among the guards at nuclear power plants is chronically low. I was told by many individuals during my research that it was common to hear discussions among guards about where they would hide if there were an attack.

U.S. nuclear power plants not well protected, vulnerable to attack

Published 18 March 2010

Faddis writes that even when private security guards are put through attack scenarios that handicap terrorist forces — no rocket launchers or machine guns — guards fail to repel the attack at least half the time. Furthermore, terrorists would only need a basic understanding of plant operations to cause a nuclear meltdown.

The vulnerability is clear to Faddis. “Before we move ahead with any new nuclear power plants, let’s attend to unfinished business and fix security at the ones we have.”

Iran edges ahead in intelligence war

The twists and turns of Iran nuclear fuel deal
Tehran (AFP) March 17, 2010 - Iran's atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi has expressed Tehran's readiness to swap 1,200 kilogrammes (2,640 pounds) of low-enriched uranium (LEU) in one-shot for enriched atomic fuel. It was the first Iranian mention of the quantity of LEU Tehran is ready to exchange in one go for the 20 percent enriched uranium it wants to fuel a civilian research reactor in Tehran.

Here are key twists and turns in Iran's position since the fuel deal was first discussed on October 19, after talks between the United States, Russia, France and Iran.

2009:
October 21: Iran's envoy to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) calls the UN-brokered proposal that is backed by most world powers, "very positive."

October 24: Parliament speaker Ali Larijani calls the deal an attempt to "cheat" Iran.

October 26: Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says Iran "may deliver a part of our (LEU) fuel that we don't need."

October 29: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says a deal is possible because Western policy has gone from "confrontation to cooperation."

November 2: Iran calls for a review of the deal.

November 18: Mottaki says Iran will not send LEU abroad but is ready to "consider swapping the fuel simultaneously in Iran."

November 29: IAEA censures Tehran for secretly building second uranium enrichment plant.

November 30: Ahmadinejad declares Iran will enrich uranium to 20 percent purity, and build 10 new enrichment plants.

December 12: Mottaki proposes Tehran swap 400 kilogrammes (882 pounds) of LEU for nuclear fuel.

December 18: Ahmadinejad says a deal is possible if West respects Iran and stops making threats.

December 22: Ahmadinejad rejects a year-end US deadline to accept the UN-brokered deal.

December 29: Foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast says Iran is ready for a gradual swap.

2010:
January 2: Mottaki gives the West a one-month "ultimatum" to accept the gradual swap offer.

February 2: Ahmadinejad says he sees "no problem" in delivering Iran's LEU to Western powers.

February 7: Ahmadinejad orders his atomic chief to begin enriching LEU to 20 percent purity, saying "the road to engagement is open."

February 9: Defiant Iran begins work on enriching uranium to 20 percent purity level.

February 11: Ahmadinejad declares Iran has produced the first batch of 20 percent enriched uranium.

February 16: He says Iran is ready for "simultaneous" exchange of nuclear fuel even with the United States, but warns world powers against imposing sanctions on the Islamic republic.

February 18: UN nuclear watchdog says Iran has begun enriching uranium to 20 percent at its Natanz plant.

March 17: Salehi says in published comments that Tehran is ready to swap 1,200 kilogrammes of LEU in one-shot for enriched atomic fuel.
by Staff Writers
Beirut, Lebanon (UPI) Mar 17, 2009
The secret intelligence war between Iran and its allies Hezbollah and Hamas on one side and the United States and Israel on the other is likely to heat up in the months ahead.

Right now, Iran's intelligence apparatus seems to be ahead with the Feb. 23 capture of one of the country's most wanted fugitives, Abdulmalik Rigi, leader of a Sunni militant group called Jundallah, or Soldiers of God.

The group, with an estimated 1,000 fighters, has been battling Tehran since 2005 in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan on the Afghan border.

In an apparently flawless operation, Iranian fighter aircraft reportedly intercepted a Kyrgyz airliner carrying Rigi from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan. It was forced down in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.

That was a major coup for the Tehran regime, the more so because it followed the fiasco of the Jan. 19 assassination of Hamas chieftain Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who worked closely with Iran, in Dubai.

Although Mabhouh was killed and his assassins escaped, Dubai authorities were able to produce a highly detailed account of the killing in a luxury hotel, complete with closed-circuit television footage of the assassination team, along with their aliases, forged passports and flight details in and out of the Gulf emirate.

As intelligence operations go, it was seen as a major blunder because up to 27 agents had covers blown, with Dubai's police chief saying he was "99 percent" convinced that the Israeli intelligence service Mossad was behind the assassination.

In the Middle East, where perceptions of strength and power are immensely important, this left the Israelis and by default their ally, the United States, looking like bumbling amateurs.

The sharp increase in tension between Israel and the United States over settlement-building in the West Bank, seen as the worst rift between the Jewish state and its strategic ally in 30 years, has also played into the hands of Tehran.

The intelligence confrontation is taking place amid smoldering tension over Iran's nuclear ambitions and is seen in some quarters as the prelude to a war that could engulf much of the Middle East.

Capturing Rigi was of vital importance to Tehran. Jundallah's operations were becoming a major security problem.

Jundallah, which may now collapse, says it has been fighting for the rights of Sistan-Baluchistan's overwhelmingly Sunni population against the oppression of the Shiite regime.

Tehran claims the group was funded by the CIA to destabilize the Islamic Republic, a program intensified amid the widespread protest movement that has sprung up since the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009.

In recent years, revolts have broken out in other non-Shiite provinces on Iran's periphery, all seen by Tehran as a coordinated U.S.-instigated campaign to bring about regime change.

Iran has made big propaganda out of Rigi's alleged confessions that he was controlled by the CIA, had meetings with U.S. officials who promised military aid and a base in western Afghanistan near the border with Iran.

According to Iran's media, he said: "One of the CIA officers said it was too difficult for us (the United States) to attack Iran militarily but we plan to give aid and support to all anti-Iran groups that have the capability to wage war and create difficulty for the Iranian system."

Washington has denied involvement with Jundallah. But Western and Middle Eastern intelligence circles find such allegations credible and in line with long-held U.S. efforts at regime change in Tehran.

The Israelis, for instance, are reported to be active among Iran's Kurds, who are also fighting Tehran. The intelligence services of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are reputed to be involved with Jundallah.

The Iranians have long sought to eliminate Rigi. But their campaign went into high gear after Oct. 18, when Jundallah suicide bombers killed 41 Iranians and Baluchi elders at a reconciliation meeting hosted by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

The fatalities included seven IRGC generals, one of them Gen. Nour-Ali Shoushtari, deputy commander of the corps' ground forces who headed the IRGC campaign against Jundallah.

As Iran's intelligence agents, infiltrating Jundallah and tapping into old tribal espionage networks set up decades ago, tightened the ring, Tehran ordered that Rigi be taken alive so he could be seen as being in Iran's power and to humiliate his alleged U.S. masters.

The Middle East waits to see who'll make the next move.

N.Korea now possesses 1,000 missiles: Seoul minister

by Staff Writers
Seoul (AFP) March 17, 2010
North Korea now has 1,000 missiles of various types, South Korea's defence minister said Wednesday, a 25-percent increase on the number estimated two years ago.

Minister Kim Tae-Young also reminded a Seoul forum that the communist state is pushing ahead with a highly enriched uranium programme, a second way to make atomic weapons in addition to its plutonium enrichment.

The 1,000 missiles include Scuds, Rodongs and IRBMs (intermediate-range ballistic missiles), a ministry spokeswoman told AFP. Two years ago, the ministry estimated the total at around 800.

Many of the missiles are deployed near the inter-Korean border and targeted at Seoul or other locations in the South, officials have said.

Yonhap news agency said last week the North has set up a new military division to operate IRBMs with a range of more than 3,000 kilometres (1,860 miles), capable of hitting US bases in Japan and Guam.

It is also known to have test-launched three intercontinental Taepodong missiles, which in theory could reach Alaska.

Kim, reiterating earlier estimates, said the North has produced 30-40 kilograms (66-88 pounds) of weapons-grade plutonium from its plutonium programme. Experts say this is enough to build six or seven bombs.

It is not known whether the North yet has the technical capability to create a nuclear warhead.

Pyongyang conducted two underground nuclear tests in October 2006 and May 2009. Recanting its earlier denials, last September it also announced it is running an experimental highly enriched uranium programme.

The North is under diplomatic pressure to return to six-nation nuclear disarmament talks which it quit last April.

As conditions for resuming dialogue, it insists on a lifting of UN sanctions and a US commitment to start talks about a permanent peace treaty.

Ex US president Carter urges talks with N.Korea or risk war

by Staff Writers
Seoul (AFP) March 23, 2010
Former US President Jimmy Carter urged the United States and South Korea Tuesday to talk directly with North Korea, saying a failure to negotiate nuclear disarmament might lead to a "catastrophic" war.

"No one can predict the final answers from Pyongyang, but there is no harm in making a major effort, including unrestrained direct talks," he said in a speech after receiving an honorary doctorate from Korea University in Seoul.

"The initiative must be from America and South Korea."

Carter made an unprecedented visit to Pyongyang in 1994 when the United States came close to war with North Korea over its nuclear programme. He helped defuse the crisis through talks with then-leader Kim Il-Sung.

Washington sent special envoy Stephen Bosworth to Pyongyang in December to try to persuade the North to return to stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament talks.

But it is cautious about holding more bilateral talks unless they lead directly to a resumption of the six-party forum -- grouping the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan.

The North has set two conditions for returning to the six-party talks: the lifting of UN sanctions and a US commitment to discuss a formal peace treaty.

Washington, Seoul and Tokyo say the North must first return to the negotiating table and show it is serious about giving up its nuclear drive.

Carter, who arrived Sunday for a four-day visit, said the North would never back down unless the United States meets its basic demands such as direct talks leading to a simple framework for an agreement.

"First of all -- and difficult for South Korea and the United States -- is the need for more direct negotiations with North Korea," he said.

Washington should give a firm statement of "no hostile intent" among other actions to bring the North back to the negotiations.

"The alternative is a continuation of the present path of estrangement, isolation, additional suffering of innocent North Korean private citizens and ever-expanding conventional and nuclear arsenals, perhaps leading to a catastrophic war," he said.

Despite decades of economic sanctions and isolation, the North's regime is "relatively immune to further deprivation from embargoes", Carter said.

"I don't deny that some of this punishment has been merited, but it was obvious to me when I was in North Korea that there is deep resentment of the past and genuine fear of preemptive military attacks in the future," he said.

The former president also urged leader Kim Jong-Il to honour his late father's 1994 promise to give up nuclear weapons.

The North has conducted two atomic weapons tests, in 2006 and 2009. It also says it has a successful experimental enriched uranium programme, a second way to make a nuclear bomb.

Chalk River scientist gone without a trace

Last Updated: Monday, March 22, 2010 | 10:01 PM ET Comments168Recommend313

By Krista Erickson, CBC News
Lachlan Cranswick, a physicist at the Chalk River nuclear plant in Ontario, has been missing since January. Lachlan Cranswick, a physicist at the Chalk River nuclear plant in Ontario, has been missing since January. (Deep River Police Service)

In the Ottawa Valley town of Deep River, police are frustrated and the community remains confounded by the mysterious disappearance of a scientist working at the nearby Chalk River nuclear reactor.

Lachlan Cranswick, 41, vanished two months ago, and the missing person investigation hasn’t yielded a clue, fuelling speculation and conspiracy theories about his disappearance.

"People speculate, you know, al-Qaeda may have captured him or aliens may have abducted him, but you know, these are just comical guesses as to what might have happened," said Cranswick’s friend and curling partner Evans Harrison.

"It's almost certain that he may have met with some kind of accident. We don't know what."

A native of Australia, Cranswick moved to Canada in 2003 to run tests and experiments at the Chalk River facility. He is an expert in earth sciences, working with neutron beams and using the reactor to test the properties of materials such as minerals.

Cranswick’s professional background has led to international interest in his disappearance, with the New York Post and Fox News both running the headline "Canadian Nuclear Scientist Vanishes Without a Trace" on their websites in February.

Lachlan Cranswick, far right, with his curling partners. Lachlan Cranswick, far right, with his curling partners. (http://lachlan.bluehaze.com.au/)

Deep River police are trying to dampen speculation, telling news agencies they have no reason to believe Cranswick was targeted because of his job. His colleagues at the nuclear reactor are doing the same.

"I would want people to know that all of his research was in the public domain," colleague Daniel Banks said. "It was his role to facilitate research being done by people in universities all across Canada, and all of that research is published or publishable in the public domain. There is nothing secret about it."

However, Banks also said the normal explanations for Cranswick’s disappearance don’t make sense.

Cranswick was an avid outdoorsman, who often hiked trails around Deep River, but Banks described him as extremely safety conscious.

"He was known not to go anywhere without his cellphone and wallet and he even had a GPS which he would carry with him if he was walking in the woods," said Banks.

House unlocked, wallet inside

On Jan. 18, Cranswick finished work and went to his home in Deep River. At some point that evening or the next day, he took the garbage out, and police say that's when he vanished. His car was left in the garage, the door to his house was unlocked, and his wallet, keys and passport were all left inside.

Cranswick’s brother, Rupert, came to Canada from Australia shortly after his brother's disappearance and saw the state his house was left in.

"His house was spooky, it was like he had just left two minutes ago. Everything was set up for his week.… Being a single bloke, he had all of his food frozen for the week, some frozen chicken and Chinese soup to take to work." Rupert said. "The heater was still on, the lights were on, his bins were out. It was just like, it was as normal."

While Cranswick’s family doesn’t believe his disappearance is work-related, they’re not ruling out foul play.

"I find it unbelievable that Lach would go walking on the river or do anything silly like that — no way," said Rupert.

"And I found it silly that on the Monday night, we found evidence that he was using his computer until about 11:30 at night, so I find it unbelievable that my brother, who had to start work early in the morning would suddenly go out walking the ski trails."

'I don't expect to see him alive'

Lachlan Cranswick, seen on a trip to Cuba in 1996. Lachlan Cranswick, seen on a trip to Cuba in 1996. (http://lachlan.bluehaze.com.au/)

Members of Cranswick’s curling team also have difficulty reconciling Cranswick’s character with his disappearance. He was a key member of the local curling club, serving as vice-president and taking responsibility for the club’s bar and membership.

"It was just his dedication to everything he did around the club," said Harrison. "He was always reliable. If you made arrangements to do something with him, he always turned up to do it. He was just Mr. Reliability."

The feeling among fellow curlers is that the Ottawa River, on which the town of Deep River is located, will offer some clues once spring arrives.

"If he's in the river, it will be May or June before he's found, but he will be found, because there's heavy boating use in the Ottawa River around here," said Harrison. "The river is a mile wide here, and there isn't much current, so I don't think he will go too far."

While there is no explanation for Cranswick’s disappearance, friends say the outcome is certain.

"If he was alive, he would have never disappeared in the first place," said Harrison. "I expect to see his body, but I don't expect to see him alive."

Al-Qaeda urges UK jihadists to build missiles and attack passenger jets

Using Russian-made rockets -- yes, the same Russia that just suffered another severe jihad attack. "Al-Qaeda urges UK fanatics to build DIY cruise missiles," from ANI, April 4 (thanks to Maxwell):

London, Apr 4(ANI): Fears of a terror attack during the UK General Election have been further fueled by reports that the Al-Qaeda has urged British fanatics to build DIY cruise missiles to attack passenger jets.

According to reports, an Al-Qaeda website explains how to build missiles with solid fuel engines using operating manuals for the Russian 107mm Katyusha rocket. Numerous links are also available for guides to make explosives, including C4 plastic explosive, acetone peroxide and TNT.

The same site was used to explain how to bring down a jet before former London student Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up a passenger jet over Detroit on last year's Christmas Day.

Another recent posting shows a sophisticated computer-designed plan for a two-stage missile that would drop an explosive device on to a target by parachute.

"Isn't it ironic that the two capitals of the war against Islam, Washington DC and London, have also become among the centres of Western Jihad?" The Daily Express quoted Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical on the run in the Yemen, as saying on the website....

U.S. worries as Iran slips in backyard

by Staff Writers
Beirut, Lebanon (UPI) April 1, 2009
The United States is concerned about Iran's bridge-building with Latin American regimes as the confrontation with Tehran over its nuclear ambitions gets sharper.

Washington's focus is primarily on Venezuela and Brazil at the moment; especially Brazil, which is emerging as a new energy power. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a center-leftist, seeks to transform Brazil into a diplomatic heavyweight on the world stage.

Since Iran's firebrand President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was first elected in 2005, he has opened embassies in six Latin American states: Nicaragua, Colombia, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Uruguay. All told, Iran has 11 embassies in the region.

This westward expansion, says Norman Bailey of the Institute of World Politics in Washington, is "designed to facilitate the funding of terrorist organizations" and will jeopardize U.S. security.

Experts from the Council of the Americas told a joint U.S. congressional subcommittee in October that Iran has substantially increased its diplomatic, trade and military ties to Latin American states.

That, they said, posed a new challenge to U.S. authority in the Western Hemisphere and blunted the impact of existing U.N. sanctions imposed on Iran and those now being contemplated.

Lula is intensifying Brazil's relationship with Iran at a time when the Islamic Republic faces stiff economic sanctions over its refusal to abandon its alleged quest for nuclear weapons.

On March 4, he rebuffed a U.S. plea to back sanctions against Iran, setting the stage for a bruising battle in the U.N. Security Council.

Brazil is currently on the council as a non-permanent rotating member but it is using its foreign policy credentials to push for a permanent seat.

U.N. sanctions require the support of at least nine of the 15 Security Council members. Lula is to visit Tehran in May, the first Brazilian president to do so.

Lula has angered Washington by forging ties with Tehran and his open defense of its stated objective of developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

Analyst Pepe Escobar of Asia Times Online said Lula's support for Iran at such a critical time is "one more instance of the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China) acting as a new rival superpower to an increasingly disoriented 'full spectrum dominance' (United States)

"None of the BRICs is in favor of the isolation of, not to mention an attack on, Iran."

The U.S. global security consultancy Stratfor noted: "While most of the Iran-Brazil relationship consists of diplomatic theater, there are two areas of potential cooperation that could be game-changers for the United States: banking and nuclear energy.

"Iran is facing escalating sanctions pressure over its nuclear program. One of the many ways Iran has tried to circumvent this threat is by setting up money-laundering operations abroad to keep Iranian assets safe and trade flowing."

In Venezuela, where Ahmadinejad got a rapturous hero's welcome from President Hugo Chavez during a November visit, and in Panama, Iran has been setting up banking links. These consist in the main of ties between local banks and Banco Internacional de Desarrollo CA, a subsidiary of the Export Development Bank of Iran "to give Iran indirect access to the U.S. financial system," Stratfor said.

EDBI has already been blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury for involvement in Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program and the Revolutionary Guards Corps, which that runs the program.

Chavez is considered far more anti-American than Lula but Iran has sought to establish similar banking links in Brazil.

When Ahmadinejad visited Brazil in July 2009, EDBI and Brazilian banking chiefs drafted a memorandum of understanding that supposedly was intended to facilitate trade.

However, Stratfor cautions, that's likely to involve "the establishment of Iranian banks in Brazil to evade the U.S. sanctions dragnet.

"Brazil already is believed to direct most of its trade with Iran through the United Arab Emirates to avoid attracting negative attention. But Iranian banks on Brazilian soil would not be easy to hide and would not be ignored by the United States."

In the nuclear sector, U.S. officials suspect Lula plans to discuss a possible nuclear deal with Iran when he visits Tehran.

The details of this remain unclear but Brazil announced in early 2009 that it had embarked on enriching uranium on an industrial scale in its drive for nuclear self-sufficiency. That could make it a possible supplier of nuclear fuel to Iran.

Former Def. Minister: Israel Will Attack Iran by Nov.

Friday, 02 Apr 2010 12:36 PM
Article Font Size   

By: Ken Timmerman

Israel will be compelled to attack Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities by this November unless the U.S. and its allies enact “crippling sanctions that will undermine the regime in Tehran,” former deputy defense minister Brig. Gen. Ephraim Sneh said on Wednesday in Tel Aviv.

The sanctions currently being discussed with Russia, China, and other major powers at the United Nations are likely to be a slightly-enhanced version of the U.N. sanctions already in place, which have had no impact on the Iranian regime.

And despite unanimous passage of the Iran Petroleum Sanctions Act in January, the Obama administration continues to resist efforts by Congress to impose mandatory sanctions on companies selling refined petroleum products to Iran.

In an Op-Ed in the Israeli left-wing daily, Haaretz, Sneh argues that Iran will probably have “a nuclear bomb or two” by 2011.

“An Israeli military campaign against Iran’s nuclear installations is likely to cripple that country’s nuclear project for a number of years. The retaliation against Israel would be painful, but bearable.”

Sneh believes that the “acquisition of nuclear weapons by Iran during Obama’s term would do him a great deal of political damage,” but that the damage to Obama resulting from an Israeli strike on Iran “would be devastating.”

Nevertheless, he writes, “for practical reasons, in the absence of genuine sanctions, Israel will not be able to wait until the end of next winter, which means it would have to act around the congressional elections in November, thereby sealing Obama’s fate as president.”

Sneh does not foresee any U.S. military strikes on Iran, an analysis that is shared by most observers in Washington, who see the Obama administration moving toward containment as opposed to confrontation with Iran.

In a recent report for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), military analyst Anthony Cordesman concluded that Israel will have to use low-yield earth-penetrating nuclear weapons if it wants to take out deeply-buried nuclear sites in Iran.

“Israel is reported to possess a 200 kilogram nuclear warhead containing 6 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium that could be mounted on the sea launched cruise missiles and producing a Yield of 20 kilo tons,” Cordesman writes in the CSIS study he co-authored by Abdullah Toukan.

Israel would be most likely to launch these missiles from its Dolphin-class submarines, he added.

While Sneh is no longer in the Israeli government, his revelation of a drop-dead date for an Israeli military strike on Iran must be taken seriously, Israel-watchers in the U.S. tell Newsmax.

“Ephraim Sneh is a serious guy,” said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. “He was deputy minister of defense and has long been focused on the issue of Iran.”

Shoshana Bryen, Senior Director for Security Policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), said that what struck her most about Sneh’s comments was the shift of emphasis from resolving the Palestinian problem to Iran.

“For 30 years, he’s been saying that solving the Palestinian problem is Israel’s biggest priority. Now he’s saying, forget about the Palestinians. Iran is the problem.”

Sneh “is extremely well regarded on the left and the right,” she added. “People respect him enormously.”

In his Op-Ed, Sneh argues that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to mend its bridges with the United States, and the only way to do so is by enacting an immediate and total ban on any settlement activity, including in Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.

“Without international legitimacy, and with its friend mad at it, Israel would find it very difficult to act on its own” against Iran, he argued.


© Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Ahmadinejad warns of 'tooth-breaking response' to Obama

China agrees to meet world powers on Iran sanctions: France
China, which has opposed new UN sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, has agreed to meet world powers Thursday in New York to discuss punitive measures, France said. "The Chinese have agreed to speak tomorrow in New York among the six," Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said, referring to the negotiating group comprising Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. Speaking before the French parliament's foreign relations committee, Kouchner described the Chinese stance as "a positive factor" and "good news", and said they would take place at an ambassadorial level. "What's new is the announcement that China will take place in a discussion in New York," he explained, referring to the United Nations headquarters. "What will this discussion be like? We will be able to talk about a text, of content? Will we be going through the motions? I don't know," he admitted. France is seeking a draft sanctions resolution. The US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, told CNN television on Wednesday that Beijing "has agreed to sit down and begin serious discussions" on drawing up new sanctions against Iran. China -- the major customer for Iranian oil exports and a firm defender of national sovereignty on the world scene -- insists it is merely seeking a peaceful resolution to the stand-off over Iran's atomic ambitions.
by Staff Writers
Tehran (AFP) April 7, 2010
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday warned his US counterpart Barack Obama of a "tooth-breaking" response, as he condemned Washington's new nuclear policy.

Ahmadinejad lashed out after the United States unveiled new limits on use of the nation's nuclear arsenal, but suggested that exceptions could be made for "outliers" such as Iran and North Korea, both accused by the West of flouting UN resolutions concerning their nuclear programmes.

"I hope these published comments are not true... he (Obama) has threatened with nuclear and chemical weapons those nations which do not submit to the greed of the United States," Ahmadinejad said in speech broadcast live on state television.

"Be careful. If you set step in Mr. (George W.) Bush's path, the nations' response would be the same tooth-breaking one as they gave Bush," he said as crowds in the northwestern city of Orumieh cheered "Death to America!"

In a policy shift, Washington said on Tuesday it would only use atomic weapons in "extreme circumstances" and would not attack non-nuclear states -- but singled out Iran and North Korea as exceptions.

After a year of attempting diplomatic initiatives, Obama in recent weeks has ratcheted up pressure for fresh UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, which Washington suspects is masking a weapons drive.

UN veto-wielding power China, which has emerged as Iran's main economic trading partner in recent years, continues to seek a diplomatic solution to the controversy.

But French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said that Beijing had agreed to participate in talks on Thursday in New York with other world powers concerning sanctions against Tehran.

Kouchner, speaking in Paris on Wednesday, described the Chinese stance as "a positive factor" and "good news" but did not say at what level the talks would be held.

Ahmadinejad said Obama's handling of Washington's nuclear policy showed "his inexperience."

"What Mr. Obama has said even Mr. Bush whose hands were smeared with blood of nations did not," said the hardliner who has refused to budge under Western pressure to abandon Tehran's atomic drive.

"We advise Mr. Obama to be careful in not signing anything they put in front. Wait and weigh things a bit. Beware that those who were bigger and stronger than you could not do a damn thing, let alone you," he said.

Two other top Iranian officials also denounced Washington's nuclear policy.

"We regard the recent position and comments of the United States as propaganda," foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters.

Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the new US policy supported Israel.

"They use new designs for new bombs, support Israel which has many nuclear warheads, but on the other hand pressure Iran. This is exactly a domineering order and oppressive dealing which Iran does not accept," he was quoted as saying by the ILNA news agency.

Israel is Middle East's sole but undeclared nuclear power and it has not ruled out a military strike against Iran to stop its atomic programme.

Mottaki meanwhile said Iran was still hopeful that a UN-drafted nuclear fuel deal could be finalised if the United States, France and Russia showed "political will."

The International Atomic Energy Agency brokered a deal in Vienna last October which envisages Iran sending its low-enriched uranium (LEU) to France and Russia for conversion into fuel for a small Tehran research reactor.

But Iranian officials have refused to hand over Tehran's stockpiles of LEU, insisting on a simultaneous swap for higher-enriched uranium inside Iran.

US, Russia, and France who were party to the Vienna talks have opposed this condition.

Following the deadlock over the deal, Washington has been spearheading global efforts to impose new sanctions on Tehran.

Iran is already under three sets of UN sanctions for pursuing the uranium enrichment work, the most controversial part of its atomic drive.

Iran says its nuclear drive is 'irreversible'

By PARISA HAFEZI, Reuters

Last Updated: April 9, 2010 9:21pm

TEHRAN -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, taunting the United States for trying to halt Iran’s nuclear program, showcased an improved centrifuge on Friday which officials said would enrich uranium faster than existing models.

U.S. President Barack Obama, who is seeking tougher U.N. sanctions against Tehran, acknowledged that such measures would not necessarily work, but said sustained world pressure could prompt Iran to revise its nuclear calculations over time.

Ahmadinejad, in a speech to mark Iran’s annual nuclear day, called the nuclear arms reduction treaty that Obama signed with Russia this week “a masquerade””which hid his true intentions. “We consider nuclear weapons to be against humanity,” he said.

“Iran’s nuclear path is irreversible. The Iranian nation has reached a new point where no power can deter it from moving full speed ahead to reach peaceful nuclear energy,” he said at a ceremony where he unveiled the centrifuge model from behind a white curtain.

Western nations fear Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons but Tehran says its program is entirely peaceful.

In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Iran’s latest “chest thumping””about its nuclear capabilities could strengthen the push for U.N. sanctions. He said a peaceful nuclear programme would have no need for faster centrifuges.

“We have to conclude that Iran has nefarious intentions with its nuclear programme and that’s expressly why we continue to work with the international community on additional measures, sanctions, to show Iran that there is a consequence for its failure to meet its obligations,” he said.

PUSH FOR SANCTIONS

The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, Ali Akbar Salehi, said the latest “third generation””centrifuges had a separation power of 10, six times that of the first generation.

But it was not clear when the new machines would be introduced into full-scale enrichment.

“In the near future we will be ready to inject gas into this (third generation) centrifuge,” Salehi told Iranian state TV.

The centrifuges Iran uses now are adapted from a 1970s design and have been prone to breakdowns. Tehran has been testing new models for several years at a site which is under the watch of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“This is not unexpected and given what Obama is doing, I think they are really trying to show that they are getting past the sanctions,” said David Albright, director of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington.

“The real issue is, are they able to build these in the thousands or ... in the tens, and when are they going to be installed? The other question is, do they work well?”

Western analysts say Iran has exaggerated progress in the past to bolster domestic pride about its nuclear program and to improve its bargaining position with major powers.

Diplomats close to the IAEA said it was unclear why Iran had not chosen to reveal a more significant advance, and questioned whether it was having technical problems or being cautious due to the current spotlight on the nuclear program.

Western countries are seeking the support of Russia and China for a fourth round of U.N. sanctions against Tehran.

Obama, who hosts a nuclear security summit next week, wants them to back further measures to deter Iran from pursuing what the West believes is a covert drive to develop nuclear weapons.

Obama said there was no guarantee the sanctions that could be instituted now would automatically alter Iranian behaviour.

He hailed what he called an “enormous shift””by Russia in efforts to get all countries, notably Iran and North Korea, to “start abiding by certain rules of the road”.

Russia, along with China, has long resisted calls for tougher sanctions on Iran but now chides Tehran for ignoring offers made by world powers aimed at defusing the nuclear issue.

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