Posted on 01/03/2006 5:54:28 PM PST by Gribbles141
Document seen by Guardian details web of front companies and middlemen
The Iranian government has been successfully scouring Europe for the sophisticated equipment needed to develop a nuclear bomb, according to the latest western intelligence assessment of the country's weapons programmes. Scientists in Tehran are also shopping for parts for a new ballistic missile capable of reaching Europe, with "import requests and acquisitions ... registered almost daily", the report seen by the Guardian concludes.
The 55-page intelligence assessment, dated July 1 2005, draws upon material gathered by British, French, German and Belgian agencies and has been used to brief European government ministers and to warn leading industrialists of the need for vigilance when exporting equipment or expertise to so-called rogue states. It concludes that Syria and Pakistan have also been buying technology and chemicals needed to develop rocket programmes and to enrich uranium. It outlines the role played by Russia in the escalating Middle East arms build-up, and examines the part that dozens of Chinese front companies have played in North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.
The leak of the intelligence report may signal a growing frustration at Iran's refusal to bow to western demands that it abandon its programme to produce fuel for a Russian-built nuclear reactor due to come on stream this year. The assessment declares that Iran has developed an extensive web of front companies, official bodies, academic institutes and middlemen dedicated to obtaining - in western Europe and the former Soviet Union - the expertise, training, and equipment for nuclear programmes, missile development, and biological and chemical weapons arsenals. "In addition to sensitive goods, Iran continues intensively to seek the technology and know-how for military applications of all kinds," it says.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Who knows - a little US mission might one day enable Iran to have a litte nuclear mishap with their new toy. Wouldn't that be a shame. If they got their design from the Russians - that would be explanation enough. One day the remains of Chernobyl reactor #4 might be a safer place to be than Iran.
The overwhelming majority (80%) of Iranians are pro-American and anti-Mullah.
There will be a blocade of Iran, with (until the NYT discloses it) a covert war by the intelligence and special forces services of several countries (US, UK, Austrailia to be sure, but also Saudia Arabia, Kuwait and the Gulf States - the Israelis need not apply - their presence would be harmful) to overthrow the Mullahs and install a "democratic" (non-Mullah gov't).
We DO have a certain experience doing this in Latin America...
"Iran will be incinerated with every megaton in our arsenal that Jimmy Carter wanted to eliminate."
Not to go off-topic, but naming a nuclear-missile-carrying submarine the USS Jimmy Carter is the height of irony, don't you think? Hell, use it for your above military action to really "come full circle"!!
I thought the Europeans were going to handle Iran their way, in comparison to how Bush handled Iraq.
Iraq is now a democracy and Iran is building nukes. The French and Germans sure showed Bush a thing or two.
If Iran wants a nuclear missile so bad, can't we send them one via "air mail".
Here we go again. Is this intelligence trustworthy?
What intelligence?
That's all the USS Carter will be able to do. The rudder is welded solid so the ship can only go left.
Pakistan, Syria and N. Korea.
Well, we can't afford to lose another Powell.
Yeah, that's the plick.
Me Oui.....Of course it is!
We are sub-contracting it to the Belgians and the French for Gods sake!
The Dems will love it
"That's all the USS Carter will be able to do. The rudder is welded solid so the ship can only go left."
Now that's funny!
"I did not need a secret report to tell me that. I even know where that nuclear missile will be aimed. Israel."
Not necessarily. It could also be used to blackmail Europe to increase their support of the Palestinians. It could also be used to ensure that Europe stays on the sidelines in a future Arab/Israeli war. For example, denying US landing rights to military aircraft we might use to support Israel.
Luckily, the assembly instructions are written in Korean...
i wonder if the guardian has handed over ALL the material???Knowing where they stand
USS Ronald Reagan Battle group sails today--HEAR that Mullahs
LOL I wish.
Yes! They're almost done! Now, they've just got hitch up the payload to it! |
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