Free Republic

The United States has concerns about a possible North Korean missile launch towards Hawaii and has taken steps to ensure the protection of US territory, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday. "We do have some concerns if they were to launch a missile to the west in the direction of Hawaii," Gates told a news conference.

The government of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says 'the enemies of the nation' are fomenting post-election riots across the country. "Our enemies and their media have hired some opportunist and mischievous elements and have misused the simple-mindedness of some people to cause unrest," the government said in a Thursday statement. It further accused the Western foreign media of 'spreading lies and rumors' to create doubts over the health of Friday's presidential election. Iran's European Union envoy criticized the Western countries for their "support for these trouble-makers and anarchists under the cover of supporting democracy and the voice of the Iranian...

BAGHDAD — The U.S. military has assessed that Iranian-backed Shi'ite forces were engaged in a military buildup in Iraq. Officials said the military has determined that Shi'ite forces financed and sponsored by Iran were accelerating weapons acquisition to prepare for a civil war in Iraq. They said Shi'ite militias, particularly the Mahdi Army, have concluded that the weapons would be required against Sunni forces financed by Saudi Arabia in a renewed power struggle. "Right now, everybody is waiting to see whether and how fast the United States withdraws from Iraq," an official said

On Saturday, North Korea's Foreign Ministry threatened war on any country that dared to stop its ships on the high seas under the new sanctions approved by the U.N. Security Council on Friday as punishment for the North's latest nuclear test.

A report was prepared by the U.N. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea in 2001, entitled "The Hidden Gulag: Exposing North Korea’s Prison Camps." The entire 122 page report here. Rather than summarize, I find that the report's account speaks adequately as presented. The rest of this article is verbatim from the report (except for the occasional italic text).

What Churchill called 'jaw-jaw' has produced nothing, except more provocations. In recent weeks, North Korea has detonated a nuclear bomb and violated U.N. Security Council prohibitions by launching ballistic missiles. It has threatened war against South Korea, repudiating the July 1953 armistice agreement and thus ostensibly reverting to a state of war with the United States. It has also sentenced two American journalists -- Euna Lee and Laura Ling -- to 12 years in a labor camp. These are extreme provocations. Only a military attack could exceed them. Our response, of course, must be diplomatic. But only a very special...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is looking into putting North Korea back on a list of state sponsors of terrorism in response to its nuclear test last month, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in an interview on Sunday. "We're going to look at it. There's a process for it. Obviously we would want to see recent evidence of their support for international terrorism," she said on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." Asked whether she had evidence of the North's support for international terrorism, Clinton said: "We're just beginning to look at it. I don't have an...

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the nations of the Middle East shared a "deep hatred" of the United States. Khamenei spoke on the occasion of the 20th death anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led a revolution in 1979 that toppled the US-backed shah and established an Islamic republic. "The nations in the region hate the United States from the bottom of their hearts because they have seen violence, military intervention and discrimination," Khamenei said at the mausoleum of Khomeini.

Recap: -North Korea tests nuke -Obama gives speech saying he's outraged, then goes golfing -North Korea fires two missiles -Obama's UN Ambassador, Susan Rice (the same woman that the 911 Commission says turned down Sudan's offer to hand over Osama Bin Laden) goes on Today Show and says UN is going to meet, threatens more UN sanctions on the already fully isolated country -UN meets, doesn't pass new sanctions, does send "stern letter" -North Korea responds by test firing another anti-ship missile -Obama Press Secretary is pressed by ABC News Jake Tapper to explain what Obama's next attempt will...

Vali Reza Nasr, a senior Obama administration advisor on Iran, has come to Iran. Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani and former parliament speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel may be behind the visit. "President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was informed well after Nasr entered the country," Tabnak reported on Wednesday. Nasr was appointed senior advisor to Richard Holbrooke -- the special US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Tabnak and Fararu claim the unannounced trip by the US official to be linked to the recent release of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi.

The Obama administration has tough words for North Korea, but it's looking to China and Russia to do the heavy lifting to punish Pyongyang for its latest nuclear explosion. Whether China is willing to pull away from its traditional ally is an open question given fears of raging instability that might erupt on their common border. North Korea may have overplayed its attention-getting hand with its test of a nuclear weapon one day and the launch of offensive missiles the next. Or it may be moving its nuclear brinksmanship to a higher and more opaque level. In either case, the...

May 26, 2009 On May 24, 2009, Egyptian security forces announced that they had arrested seven members of a terror cell [1] which, according to the confession of one of its members, had carried out the February 22, 2009 attack in Khan Al-Khalili. According to the announcement, the cell had ties to Al-Qaeda and to the Gaza salafi group Jaysh Al-Islam. [2] One of the captured terrorists, a Belgian national, confessed that he was supposed to travel to Belgium, make contact with Al-Qaeda operatives, and accompany them to France in order to prepare attacks there. The cell was also supposed...

Two of the peace-loving republics formerly known as the Axis of Evil threw a frightful scare into anyone paying attention Monday, with North Korea exploding a nuclear bomb as powerful as the one that destroyed Hiroshima and Iran telling Barack Obama to get lost (and take his teleprompter with him). Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he wouldn't accept an invitation to freeze work on his own nuclear weapon and he's not interested in talking to Mr. Obama or anyone else about it. But not to worry. The United Nations Security Council postponed its afternoon tea to hold an "emergency session" to consider...

(IsraelNN.com) Two U.S. diplomats who were sent to Syria to see if direct diplomacy with the blacklisted country could get talks off the ground have returned with their answer: No. Still, special envoy George Mitchell will travel to Syria for another try very soon.

Tehran, May 3, IRNA – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will pay official visits to three Latin American countries at the end of this week. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in an interview with TV channel 2 said the president is scheduled to visit Brazil, Venezuela, and Ecuador. Mottaki said President Ahmadinejad's visit to Brasilia would be a new chapter of mutual ties after 17 years, which began by last year visit of Brazilian FM to Tehran and his Iranian counterpart reciprocal visit late March, 2009. He added that President's visit to Brazil, considering potentials of both countries and ties upon mutual respect...

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad – Defending his brand of world politics, President Barack Obama said Sunday that he "strengthens our hand" by reaching out to enemies of the United States and making sure that the nation is a leader, not a lecturer, of democracy. Obama's foreign doctrine emerged across his four-day trip to Latin America, his first extended venture to a region of the world where resentment of U.S. power still lingers. He got a smile, handshakes and even a gift from incendiary leftist leader Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, and embraced overtures of new relations from isolated Cuban President Raul Castro.

Moscow says it would gladly hit the reset button on relations with Washington, but warns that it would never double-cross Tehran. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stood firm on Moscow's relations with Tehran on Saturday, asserting that it would never agree to increase pressure on Iran. "It's our neighbor, it's a country which can play a very important role in solving a number of acute international issues, such as the situation in Afghanistan, Iraq and different aspects of Mideast peace settlement," Lavrov in a speech to a group of political strategists.

JERUSALEM -- In the space of little more than 24 hours in Turkey and Iraq this week, U.S. President Barack Obama made enormous strides in doing away with 7½ years of America's perceived Islamophobia. Even his surprise visit yesterday to U.S. forces in Iraq - a sore point with most Arabs who resent the U.S. invasion - could not dampen the region's good feelings. "Let me say this as clearly as I can," Mr. Obama told Turkey's parliament, "the United States is not, and will never be, at war with Islam." "America's relationship with the Muslim community..." he continued, "will...

National Security: Iranian missile experts are helping North Korea with the imminent launch of an ICBM that can hit Alaska and Hawaii. Imagine a Taepodong-2 with a nuke. This is no time to gut missile defense.The enemy of my enemy is my friend, the saying goes. On Sunday, the Japanese paper Sankei Shimbun reported that a 15-member delegation from Tehran has been advising the North Koreans on their imminent "satellite" launch since the beginning of March. Iran recently launched its own satellite to demonstrate its global reach. The Iranian experts include senior officials with rocket and satellite producer Shahid Hemmat...

The message from Israel's new prime minister is stark: if the Obama administration doesn't prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, Israel may be forced to attack. An Atlantic exclusive by Jeffrey Goldberg In an interview conducted shortly before he was sworn in today as prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu laid down a challenge for Barack Obama. The American president, he said, must stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons—and quickly—or an imperiled Israel may be forced to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities itself. “The Obama presidency has two great missions: fixing the economy, and preventing Iran from gaining nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu...

New imagery of the Musudan-ri Missile Test Site taken on 29 March 2009, released by DigitalGlobe shows what clearly appears to be a three-stage launch vehicle on the launch pad. Based on imagery alone, it cannot be determined whether this is a Taepo-dong ICBM or a space launch vehicle carrying the Kwangmyeongseong-2 (Lodestar) satellite payload. News reporting from DoD officials have indicated that North Korea has been in the process of loading the first and second stages on the launch pad. This commercial satellite imagery obtained from DigitalGlobe, clearly confirms recent NBC News reporting from DoD officials that North Korea...

Obama is weighing military, diplomatic cooperation with Tehran The additional "gestures" Barack Obama's spokesmen promised Iran would follow on the presidential new year message may presage a dramatic U-turn on Iran, including even an astonishing offer of US-Iranian military and diplomatic cooperation - that is if the Islamic Republic decides to play ball.Israel's AMAN military intelligence director, Maj. Amos Yadlin updated the Knesset foreign affairs and security committee on the state of Iran's nuclear progress Wednesday, March 25. He reported that although Iran is only months away from a capacity to make a nuclear bomb and has attained a warhead...

TOKYO (AFP) — A group of Iranian missile experts is in North Korea to help Pyongyang prepare for a rocket launch, Japan's Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported on Sunday. North Korea has said it will launch a communications satellite over northern Japan between April 4 and 8, and the report said the 15-strong Iranian delegation had been in the country since the beginning of this month. It includes senior officials with Iranian rocket and satellite producer Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, the daily said, quoting unnamed sources.

Iran missile experts in North Korea to help with rocket launch Missile experts from Iran are in North Korea to help Pyongyang prepare for its rocket launch, according to reports. Amid increasing global concern over the rocket launch, believed by the US and its allies to be an illegal missile launch, Japan's Sankei Shimbun newspaper claimed today a 15-strong delegation from Tehran has been in the country advising the North Koreans since the beginning of March. The Iranian experts include senior officials with Iranian rocket and satellite producer Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, the daily said. The Iranians brought a letter...

U.S. President Barack Obama is considering meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad this summer, a United Arab Emirates-based newspaper reported yesterday. The Al Khaleej daily based its report on Arab diplomatic sources in Cairo. They told the paper the United States was weighing holding the meeting, the first of its kind in nine years, as a measure to advance the Middle East peace process. Advertisement According to the report, the Obama administration is contemplating the move in the wake of a number of recent meetings between senior American and Syrian officials.

Admiral Mike Mullen says that North Korea is making rockets that will be able to reach Hawaii. I wonder what they'll load the rockets with? Probably not kimchi.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mualem said that Syria was still in a state of war with Israel, regardless of advances in talks between Jerusalem and Damascus. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Mualem said that "it is natural that Syria will continually seek to acquire negotiating cards against Israel." In addition, he said, what Syria could not achieve through negotiation, it would achieve through war. "We believe that peace will never be achieved merely through diplomatic means, but also through active opposition. This is the legitimate right of all nations," he said.

...When the Karbala attack was carried out Jan. 20, American and Iraqi officials said that it appeared to have been meticulously planned. The attackers carried forged identity cards and wore American-style uniforms. One American died in the raid, which targeted a center where American soldiers were coordinating with provincial officials. The rest of the American soldiers were abducted before and later killed.... ...When the Khazali brothers were captured the Americans also seized a 22-page "planning and lessons learned" document they had on the Karbala attack. That document, Bergner said, showed that the Iranian Quds Force had provided detailed information on...

(LEAD) N. Korean leader thinner with no potbelly By Kim Hyun SEOUL, March 20 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il appeared to have shed pounds and even lost his potbelly as the country's state media on Friday released the latest pictures of him visiting a new swimming complex. Kim, 67, reportedly suffered a stroke in August, but he is now believed to have recovered considerably as he has more than doubled his public activities this year. North Korea's media have been reporting on his public tours for three consecutive days.

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — UN General Assembly president Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, a harsh critic of US foreign policy under president George W. Bush, accused Washington on Tuesday of demonizing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "I don't think anyone can doubt that in our part of the world, Ahmadinejad has been demonized," the former Nicaraguan foreign minister said as he briefed reporters on his recent foreign tour, including a stop in Iran where he attended a regional economic summit. "The United States has been in the business of the demonization of people for ever and the canonization of the worst of dictators,"...

* In early March, two senior U.S. officials traveled to Damascus for the highest-level bilateral meeting in years, part of the new administration's policy of "engagement." Washington seeks to test Damascus' intentions to distance itself from Iran. While a "strategic realignment" of Damascus is unlikely, in the short term, the diplomatic opening is sure to alleviate international pressure on Damascus. * The Assad regime made no secret of its preference for Barack Obama last November. At the same time, Syrian regime spokesmen appear to be setting preconditions for an effective dialogue, saying Washington would first have to drop the Syria...

The outspoken U.N. General Assembly president on Tuesday accused the United States of demonizing Iran's president and criticized the International Criminal Court for issuing an arrest warrant for Sudan's leader on war crimes charges in Darfur. Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, a Roman Catholic priest from Nicaragua with openly leftist views, also reiterated that the more he thinks about the conditions that Israel imposes on the Palestinians, the more he tends "to think about apartheid." During a wide-ranging press conference, d'Escoto insisted he wasn't being divisive or promoting his own agenda — but was just fulfilling his duty as president of the...

NITED NATIONS – The outspoken U.N. General Assembly president on Tuesday accused the United States of demonizing Iran's president and criticized the International Criminal Court for issuing an arrest warrant for Sudan's leader on war crimes charges in Darfur. Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, a Roman Catholic priest from Nicaragua with openly leftist views, also reiterated that the more he thinks about the conditions that Israel imposes on the Palestinians, the more he tends "to think about apartheid." During a wide-ranging press conference, d'Escoto insisted he wasn't being divisive or promoting his own agenda — but was just fulfilling his duty as...

An American fighter jet took down an Iranian drone over Iraq last month, U.S. military sources told Wired.com. The U.S. has long accused Tehran of supplying militant groups in Iraq with weapons and training, Wired reported. While the flow of Iranian weapons into Iraq has slowed, Shiite militias have fired Iranian rockets at U.S. troops and Sunni militias reportedly use Iranian bombs to destroy U.S. military vehicles. Iran has supplied the terrorist group Hezbollah with several models of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Iran's deputy defense minister claimed in February that the country's latest UAVs can fly as far as 600...

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is making a big mistake in escalating U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan, where he already has acknowledged he doesn’t believe victory is possible. We should ask: What are we doing there seven years after the 9/11 attacks by the al-Qaida network? Historically, the country has lacked a strong central government and has been governed by locally strong tribal leaders and warlords. Al-Qaida was able to take advantage of this loose structure and turn Afghanistan into the plotting ground for the terrorists who struck the Pentagon and the World Trade Center in New York. But what...

A United Nations Security Council committee confirmed on Tuesday that Iran violated U.N. sanctions by trying to send a ship with weapons to Syria..... including those than can pierce armor, and anti-tank explosives may have been destined for Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Hizbullah in Iran or Syrian-backed Iraqis.....

Russia may scrap Iran missile delivery: report 8 hours ago MOSCOW (AFP) — Russia may shelve the delivery of its advanced S-300 air defence missile system to Iran, the Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday, amid mounting tensions between Tehran and the West. "Such a possibility is not excluded. The question must be decided at a political level, especially as the contract was worked out on a purely commercial basis," the unnamed source told the news agency. The source said that the contract was signed in 2005 but the delivery had still not taken place. Delivery of the missiles would...

Obama intel chief violating Iran sanctions? Board member of Chinese government-owned company in deal with Tehran Charles "Chas" Freeman JERUSALEM – President Obama's nominee for a top intelligence post sits on the board of a major oil company owned by the Chinese government that is in the midst of a multibillion dollar deal with Iran which may violate U.S. sanctions, WND has learned. The oil company is widely seen as conducting business deals meant to expand China's influence worldwide. One of its recent attempts to purchase a large U.S. oil firm drew bipartisan congressional opposition amid fears the deal would...

RUSH: It is on the record -- thanks to Politico.com -- since last fall, the White House, led by Rahm Emanuel, the chief of staff to Barack Obama, has been targeting me, your host, your harmless, lovable little fuzzball. Their standard operating procedure: they need a demon to distract and divert from what their agenda is. They need a demon about whom they can lie so as to persuade average Americans that they're the good guys, the benevolent good guys, and the mean SOBs are their enemies trying to stop this great young little president from doing miraculous and wonderful...

Reporting from Jerusalem -- Two U.S. officials are being dispatched to Syria for exploratory talks, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday, in a new signal of the Obama administration's determination to reach out to longtime adversaries. Clinton, in Jerusalem for her first talks with Israeli officials, described the upcoming meetings with the Syrian government as "preliminary conversations" intended to examine whether Damascus is serious about a new relationship with the United States. She told reporters in a news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni that though the outcome is uncertain, "it is a worthwhile effort to go...

Iran is supplying the Taliban in Afghanistan with surface-to-air missiles capable of destroying a helicopter, according to American intelligence sources. They believe the Taliban want to use the SA-14 Gremlins missiles to launch a “spectacular” attack against coalition forces in Helmand, where insurgents claim to be gaining the upper hand. Although British and American helicopters operating in southern Afghanistan are equipped with defensive systems to deflect an attempted strike, the SA-14 can evade such counter-measures. It was a shoulder-held SA-14 supplied by Iran that was used by Iraqi insurgents to shoot down a helicopter over Basra in May 2006. Although...

The sharp downward spiral of oil prices has prompted economists to predict that Tehran is facing severe financial hardship within the space of a few months. Iran's presidential contenders have to address the budget deficit brought about by the plummeting oil prices and the world banking crisis. The country's economy is almost totally dependent on oil, which accounts for 80% of the country's foreign exchange receipts, while oil and gas make up 70% of government revenue. Cash rolled in when the price of oil was above $140 a barrel and the country amassed huge foreign currency reserves, but with the...

Iran helping Taliban: US - Feb 15, 2009 WASHINGTON: Iran is helping Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, says General David Petraeus, head of the US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.

(IsraelNN.com) In another possible sign of a changing U.S. foreign policy, Senate Foreign Relations Committee head Senator John Kerry met Saturday with Syrian President Bashar Assad. "I believe very deeply that this is an important moment of change, a moment of potential transformation, not just in the relationship between the United States and Syria but in the relationship of the region," Kerry said after the meeting. There's more to read, click the link above.

FEBRUARY 21, 2009 Kerry Trashes Bush Prior to Meeting Syrian Officials Let's see... How many terrorists have crossed through Syria into Iraq? And, how many of these same terrorists killed American soldiers stuck in Iraq and innocent civilians? Kerry attacked President Bush this week before visiting with America's enemy... Or, maybe Bush is still the enemy. It's hard to tell these days. Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (L) meets Senator John Kerry, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in Damascus February 21, 2009. (REUTERS/Sana) John Kerry attacked President Bush this week prior to his meetings in Damascus. Breitbart reported,...

SNIPPET: "State Department spokesman says Obama administration wants to discuss concerns over Damascus' possible nuclear program, support for terror groups, adding 'there remain key differences between our two governments'" SNIPPET: "The US government has asked for a meeting with Syria's ambassador to discuss concerns including Damascus' possible nuclear program and support for groups that Washington labels as terrorists, a State Department spokesman said on Friday. The request follows a report by UN inspectors on Thursday that graphite and more uranium traces were found in samples taken from a Syrian site that Washington says was an almost built graphite nuclear reactor...

Iran offered to stop attacking troops in Iraq if the West dropped opposition to its nuclear programme, a top British official said in comments to be broadcast on Saturday. Sir John Sawers, Britain's current ambassador to the United Nations, told the BBC that Iranian officials had privately admitted their role in roadside bomb attacks on British and US troops. But the proposed deal, floated in teatime meetings at London hotels, was rejected by the British government.

US Senator John Kerry on Saturday met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Syria's SANA news agency reported. Kerry, a former presidential candidate who now chairs the Senate foreign relations committee, is the latest US legislator to visit Damascus this week. His talks with Assad were set to focus on Syria's support for Iran and regional groups, including the Shiite Hizbullah movement in Lebanon. "We want Syria to respect the political independence of Lebanon, we want Syria to help in the process of resolving issues with Hezbollah and with the Palestinians," Kerry said on Wednesday in Lebanon. "We want Syria to help......

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18, 2009 – American and Iraqi forces have discovered Iranian weapons in Iraq that were manufactured as recently as last year, a U.S. military official said today. The yield of Iranian-made weapons consisted of hundreds of rockets and makeshift bombs, Army Col. Philip Battaglia, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team said in a Baghdad news conference. “We have found many Iranian-made munitions with a manufacture date as late as 2008,” Battaglia said, referring to weapons discovered since June. The seized weapons include hundreds of 107 mm and 122 mm rockets, and about 500 deadly...

Syria expects the US to send an ambassador to Damascus soon to make good on Barack Obama's offer to engage in dialogue with countries the Bush administration shunned, President Bashar al-Assad told the Guardian today. Assad used a rare newspaper interview to set out his hopes for a new relationship with the US now the Bush era is over – one he hopes will see Washington act as the "main arbiter" in the moribund Middle East peace process. "There is no substitute for the United States," Assad said. Referring to Obama's call for countries to "unclench their fists" , Assad...