Category Archives: Iran

Was Arms Dealer, Not Nuclear Scientist

Don’t you feel better now that you know that the Iranian who was mistaken to be a nuclear scientist was merely an arms dealer? Who knows, maybe dealing in nuclear stuff now?

AP correction:

The Associated Press erroneously reported that the Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat identified an Iranian who disappeared in Georgia as a second nuclear scientist. Asharq Al-Awsat said the man was believed to be an arms dealer.

The original story cast him as a nuclear scientist, and his wife cast him as a ‘researcher.’ Don’t know how she missed the arms dealer part. The original story also blamed the United States for the disappearance.

Iran’s foreign minister on Wednesday accused the United States of involvement in the disappearance of Shahram Amiri, who reportedly worked at a university linked to the elite Revolutionary Guard military corps.

You think he is missing or just gone underground? I mean, you dont’ see nuclear technology peddlers hanging on the corner. My guess, knowing Iran, he’s not missing. He’s very very busy.

links: Disappearance of Iranian scientist creates mystery | Correction: Iranian nuclear scientist story

More Words, Just Words, For Iran?

We’ve heard hollow tough talk like this before. Didn’t work for President Clinton with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, and it isn’t going to move Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad either. President Obama’s words yesterday. . .

“Iran’s action raised grave doubts”

They’re not new actions. They’ve been ignored by the UN and Washington for years.

Iran is on ‘a path that is going to lead to confrontation. . . Iran is on notice that when we meet with them on Oct. 1 they are going to have to come clean and they are going to have to make a choice’

As head of the UN Security Council, can we expect at least eight more years of indecision and inaction while Iran comes up with a nuclear bomb to use on Israel, our troops, and its neighbors? Do you mean a confrontation like another meeting full of finger pointing and idle threats? Or do you mean making a choice like Saddam Hussein chose?

We will soon see how effective ‘hope and change’ is on Ahmadinejad. This is where community organizing and world organizing differ.There is no ACORN presence in Iran to help him.

The problem with Obama in real-world foreign relations has nothing to do with his being black. It has everything to do with his being green.

link: Obama warns Iran: ‘come clean’ on nukes

United Nations, For The Wrong Reason

It has been an interesting couple days in the UN General Assembly, as has the media coverage of it. After suffering through 96 minutes of drivel from Muammar Gaddafi, I was hard pressed to find out what nations, if any, demonstrated their approval/disapproval by leaving the chamber. A tradition of that body since its inception. Where Gaddafi is concerned, I can’t find any evidence that the US delegation walked out.

When Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke his insane bit, the US delegation did walk out.  And I share Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s frustration with the UN for giving Ahmadinejad a platform, and with the delegations there that sat to listen to him deny the Holocaust.

“To those who gave this Holocaust denier a hearing, I say on behalf of my people. … Have you no shame? Have you no decency?”

The media coverage of the walkout is remarkable.  German media Deutsche Welle put it this way. Canada who refused to attend the speech, and 11 delegations left the speech.   According the Associated Press, Ahmadinejad spoke to a half-empty chamber. So out of 192 member states, only 12 showed their disapproval. Does that sound like a half-empty chamber to you?

The whole experience does demonstrate the ineffectiveness, if not unwillingness, of the United Nations to live up to its charter and how the media props them up.

The fact that President Obama is now head of the UN Security Council, a first for a US President, does not give me any hope that the UN will change. His ’round-the-world apology tour, like his speech to the UN General Assembly, validates that his idea of foreign relations is just like theirs. And for our sake, I hope I am wrong.

links:

The Language Of Politics, Can We Talk?

Ever wondered why we haven’t already achieved energy independence? There is no one you can find in Washington, from any party, that won’t say they are for energy independence. Everyone is for energy independence. So what’s the problem?

The problem is the political language barrier. Probably first invented by President Clinton when his Lewinsky defense was, ‘it depends on what the definition of IS is.’ The political parties today are not speaking the same language and the media is speaking the dialect of the Left. It presumes that the other side is just stupid and there is no common ground to be found.

Energy Independence, the Right– The whole point of energy independence as far as conservatives and most Republicans are concerned is primarily a security issue. The fact that we are buying 70 percent of the oil what we currently use from foreign sources, most of which don’t like us very much, is a point not forgotten by those on the political right. Conservatives are reminded of the gas lines and rationing that went on here under the Carter administration after Iran started using their oil as a weapon against us. Like Russia, btw, is doing to its neighbors today and Chaves has threatened to do to us. To mitigate this concern, to become energy independent means to develop enough of our own resources to protect our own national security should the middle east one day shut off the valves. Or, if Iran blows them up.

There would be two other benefits to becoming energy independent. One would be a private sector, high paying, job creation project in states all over the country that wouldn’t increase our national debt one thin dime. It would also stop the annual flow of $700 billion to countries that would just as easily cut us off and sell to China or any other country, and keep that money right here in our own country, and putting it to work in our own economy.

Unfortunately, you will be hard pressed to find a liberal speaking to the national security aspect of oil resources in the United States.

Energy Independence, the Left– to the left it means energy replacement. That is to say, not to use fossil fuels. To be energy independent does not mean to have and use our own resources as opposed to someone else’s. It means to not use our own resources in favor of some technology of the future that has yet to be developed. The ‘green’ lobby, high on the list of political allies to Democrats, is leading the agenda to this definition of energy independence. This is fine and dandy in a perfect world. But it totally ignores the security aspect of not having enough of our own resources if, say tomorrow, OPEC or an oil producing State decides to cut production or worse, cut us off, either voluntarily or involuntarily.

A fact that can’t be ignored is the fact that fossil fuels are the fuel for the worlds’ economic engine and will stay that way unless and until some other source can be brought to market. To not exploit our own resources, as a bridge to some technology of the future and our own national security, is just as irresponsible as forcing us to limit the use of fossil fuels, no matter where they come from, to the detriment of our economy.

While developing this post, other terms and words have come to light that play a major role in inhibiting economic, social, and political progress. Here is a list of some that came out of the news in just the last 3 days. It is what we, as conservatives, are up against.

  • Spending / Investing
  • Bipartisan / the political right ignoring their principles and voting with Democrats.
  • Shovel Ready / Shovel ready in a few years
  • Economic Stimulus/ big government stimulus
  • Opening up the airways / Restricting the airways
  • Tax Cuts / Income redistribution
  • Tax Incentives / Tax Increase ($18b on Oil Companies)
  • Employee Free Choice Act / Employee No Choice Act

The Good Guys Win In Iraq

Good news for Prime Minister al-Maliki and the people of Iraq. They won over the terrorists, the militias, and those who would want Iraq to return to some sort of autonomous Shiite enclave in Iraq led by the Supreme Council. Much to the disappointment of Mookie alSadr and Iran.

Some forecasts point to widespread losses for the party across the main Shiite provinces. The blows could include embarrassing stumbles in the key city of Basra and the spiritual center of Najaf – hailed as the future capital in the Supreme Council’s dreams for an autonomous Shiite enclave.

link: Iraqi election hints of troubles for Shiite giant | Maliki and Secular Parties Show Big Gains in Iraq

US Blocks UN Statement On Gaza

You’ve seen the media hype all the civilian casualties, women and children, before. In fact, it has become fashionable to report on women and children casualties as a result of war. We see it in our media and everywhere else in the world. We see it in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and in Lebanon and the Gaza strip. Not so much in Israel, at the hands of Hamas. Since Israel’s enemy and our enemy choose to use their own families as human shields, women and children casualties are a given. So media, spare me the tears please.

The United States late Saturday blocked approval of a U.N. Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers, diplomats said.

With no history nor expectation that Hamas will live at peace and accept the existence of Israel, the US did the right thing at the UN. All the bleeding proportional-response.jpghearts be dammed. That war, as in any war, is not going to end until one side or the other wins it. Or to put it another way, until one side loses it.  ‘Cease fires’ where Islamofascists are concerned is Osama-speak for back up, regroup, re-arm, and attack another day. Not surprisingly, the Useless Nations has no memory of this tact, or Tora Bora, or Sadr City, or Fallujah.

Meanwhile, let the terrorist cleansing begin. It’s called peace through strength, not peace through surrender. And why doesn’t Israel have the same right to self-defense as other nations?

At this point, it is beginning to look like PEBO has his first test coming up shortly. Will he support our ally, or the terrorists and Iran?

links: Diplomats say US blocks UN statement on Gaza | The Jews Face a Double Standard

U.S. Closing Loopholes On Iran

While the rest of us are watching certain businesses and industries getting in line for a turn at the taxpayers’ teet, in the name of a so-called ‘rescue package,’ no one noticed the real work being done to keep us safe by keeping on top of Iran. From World Tribune . . .

U.S. officials said the Treasury Department would block short-term money transfers in the United States, a method used by the Teheran regime.

The so-called U-turn” bank transfers were designed to move money through the United States en route to offshore banks.

Under the measure, Treasury would outlaw the processing of U-turn transfers by U.S.-licensed banks. Officials said the restriction would prevent most transfers by non-Iranian offshore banks for Iranian entities. “This regulatory action will close the last general entry point for Iran to the U.S. financial system,” Treasury said.

Officials said Iranian banks and the Teheran government were increasingly using U-turn to avoid U.S. sanctions. They said Teheran recruited Asian, African and European banks to handle Iranian foreign transactions.

The Bush administration has determined that Iranian banks were aiding Teheran’s missile and nuclear program. Treasury has already imposed sanctions on such Iranian state-owned banks as Melli, Mellat, Saderat, Sepah, Future Bank and the Export Development Bank of Iran.

The latest measure, announced on Nov. 6, stipulated that no U.S.-licensed bank could conduct a U-turn transaction for Iran. Officials said the exception would be the transfer of Iranian funds

to families or humanitarian relief. The United States contains a small but wealthy Iranian community, mainly located in Los Angeles.

Thank you President Bush for not dropping the ball. I can’t help but wonder how, or if, President-elect Obama would handle this?

link: U.S. blocks ‘U-turn’ transfers by offshore banks on behalf of Iran U.S. blocks ‘U-turn’ transfers by offshore banks on behalf of Iran

Barack Trumped Already, Iran Has Two Preconditions

Well isn’t this just too rich? Iran has two preconditions of its own before it will engage in any talks with the United States.

  1. Get all our troops out of the Middle East
  2. End our support of Israel.

Well, I’d say that presents quite a challenge to the Democratic presidential candidate, who has already capitulated to Iran by saying that he would meet with Iran without preconditions.

Are we still believing that Obama is ready to lead? Yeah, right after he telegraphs an invasion into Pakistan. Are we feeling any safer now?

It also, btw, is not being reported by the mainstream media.

h/t LGF

related links: FARS News Agency | alJazeera

Iran, The Elephant In The Room

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is still stonewalling IAEA inspectors. This is nothing new. In fact, there has been zero progress for months.

“Iran so far has not been forthcoming in replying to our questions, and we seem to be at a dead end there,” said a senior UN official on Monday.

With the exception of Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Castro in Cuba, everyone is in agreement that Iran needs to stop its uranium enrichment process, a process that is not needed for electrical power generation. It is a process that is only needed to produce a nuclear bomb. In spite of the unanimity in opinion, where is the unanimity in the will to do something about it? Negotiations do have and ending point where the problem is either solved one way, or solved another way. Ahmadinejad is one hemorrhoid that is in need of some Preparation H.

related link: Nuke inspectors at ‘dead end’ in Iran. More sanctions ahead?

Another Corner Turned In Iraq

By now it is obvious to everyone that the so-called ‘news’ media has no interest in telling this story since they, along with the left, are invested in defeat where Iraq is concerned. This development in Iraq is the kind of success everyone has been looking for. Iraq is opening its oil fields to international oil companies for bidding for development and production.

This is not to suggest that the war there and our participation there is over. But the fact that the newly formed democratically elected government of Iraq has progressed to the point that they can make plans for their future says a lot about the success of the war so far.

The move to invite bids for the development of Iraq’s largest producing fields should mark the return of the oil majors, whose cash and expertise Iraq needs to restore its oil infrastructure that has been hard hit by sanctions and war.

By allowing international firms to help raise output at its key producing oil fields, the Iraqi government is breaking with the policy of major oil-producing neighbors such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates where national firms keep tight control of foreign investment in their oil sectors.

Iraq’s move to embrace the world economy is a corner we’ve been looking forward to turning. The left will no doubt say, ‘ya see, it was a war for oil.’

It is Iraq’s own resources that Iraq needs to join the world as a friendly and prosperous country. It’s what the Iraqi people need. The left’s premise in their whole ‘war for oil’ rant is that the oil is for us, the U.S. On the contrary, the war for oil was about keeping it from Iran and al Qaeda and saving it for the people of Iraq. The fact that theses terrorists would have all the money they could possibly need to wage war on us had they taken over Iraq still escapes the left, Barack Obama included.

related link: Iraq throws open door to foreign oil firms