Posted on 02/22/2007 8:19:14 AM PST by meg88
Iran refuses to halt uranium enrichment 22/02/2007 - 15:54:09
Iran continues to enrich uranium in defiance of a UN Security Council ultimatum, a nuclear watchdog said today.
In a report to the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors, UN nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei said: "Iran has not suspended its enrichment related activities," and was continuing a variety of enrichment activities.
The conclusion, while widely expected, was important because it could serve as the trigger for the Security Council to start deliberating on new sanctions meant to punish Tehran for its nuclear intransigence.
RELATED STORIES:-
15:54:09 - Iran refuses to halt uranium enrichment 10:31:04 - UN report expected on Iranian nuclear programme
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(gasp!) Noooo.. really?
Quick! Another resolution STAT!!
We will soon know where Russia stands.
Personally, I'm shocked to the core.
we know.....three battle groups are there for that reason and THEY know.
No sign of Iran backing down on banned uranium enrichment in face of negative nuclear watchdog report and US Navy buildup
February 22, 2007, 8:02 AM (GMT+02:00)
Carrier USS Stennis
Nuclear watchdog director Mohammed ElBaradei reported Wednesday to the UN Secretary that Iran had not only missed the 60-day deadline for suspending uranium enrichment but had accelerated the process. Monday, the carrier USS Stennis strike group arrived in the region with more than 6,500 sailors to join the carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Tuesday, Iran’s senior nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani warned that any “non-conventional, illogical or irrational” moves against Iran would definitely receive an appropriate response. He said the issue could only be resolved through dialogue.
Top US Navy commander in the Middle East vice Adm. Patrick Walsh told newsmen Monday that Iran had brought its war games over the past year into the busy shipping lanes in the Straits of Hormuz, through which two-fifths of the world’s oil supplies pass. The moves alarmed US officials about possible accidental confrontations that could boil over into war.
During maneuvers, Iranian sailors have loaded mines onto small mine-laying boats and test-fired a Shahab-3 missile into international waters very close to the straits, said the US vice admiral.
Walsh said the increase in US firepower in the Gulf region aims to reassure Arab allies in the Gulf and prevent misunderstandings that could escalate into outright conflict.
Walsh, who departs his command of the Fifth Fleet this month to become vice chief of naval operations at the Pentagon, the Navy's No. 2 post, said the Navy was responding to “more instability than we’ve seen in years” in the Fifth Fleet’s region. He listed conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia, tensions in Lebanon and the standoff with Iran and its increasing "provocations." Iranian vessels, he said, have been making "probing" incursions into Iraqi waters.
Regarding a possible US Navy attack if a multi-casualty incident in Iraq was traced back to Tehran, Walsh said he could not to discuss the Navy's rules of engagement, but added, "There are events on land that can spill over onto the sea."
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=3865
and WE know (here at FR) that they're betting the Democrats will defeat US here at home over this.
Not as hard to play chicken when you know that someone in the other car is on your side.
ah, but as the new media, we DO know who is in the car beside us.
If Tehran Only Knew, what will happen if there is no regime change in Iran.:
"In America, we lie for tactical reasons, stating over and over that military action against Iran is unlikely. However in Iran, out of ignorance, they reiterate that American military action against their country is impossible because the US is "unable" to do so!
We say and hope our analysis is wrong. A possible military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities is in the final stages. Unless a political miracle occurs that revives the halted dialog between Iran and the international community, Iran and its neighboring countries should not be surprised by a scenario that includes American military action. "
Just maybe, President Bush is purposely allowing the media and the left to spout their garbage in order to create the illusion that we are completely incapable of taking any action against Iran. It would come as a complete surprise if we did take action.
Summary of US military buildup in the Persian Gulf area since the first of the year:
Over the past month, the U.S. Navy has given orders to the U.S.S. John Stennis carrier battle group, based in Bremerton, WA, to steam toward the Persian Gulf, where it will join the U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Navy sources say the Pentagon is getting ready to announce the dispatch of a third carrier battle group – the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan – from San Diego. That will make three carrier battle groups in the region starting at around the end of January.
Oh, and along with them is the amphibious assault group led by the U.S.S. Boxer, which can land several thousand U.S. Marines to seize and destroy strategic sites near the coast at a moment’s notice. (Busheir? Bandar Abbas? Jask? The three Persian Gulf islands Iran seized from the UAE in the 1990s and has since fortified to harass Gulf shipping? Your pick).
Other recent US Naval and Marine Corp additions to handle/control/kill the Iranian Serial Killers:
Bataan Transits Suez Canal, Enters U.S. 5th Fleet Story Number: NNS070130-14 Release Date: 1/30/2007 7:00:00 PM
By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class (SW) Joanne De Vera, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/ Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet Public Affairs
USS BATAAN, At Sea (NNS) -- The multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) and the Sailors and Marines of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) successfully transited the Suez Canal on Jan. 30 and entered the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.
While in the region, the Bataan Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) will conduct maritime security operations (MSO).
MSO help set the conditions for security and stability in the maritime environment, as well as complement the counter-terrorism and security efforts of regional nations. These operations deny international terrorists use of the maritime environment as a venue for attack or to transport personnel, weapons or other material.
U.S. 5th Fleet’s area of operations encompasses 2.5 million square miles of water and includes the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean.
“We’ll continue our role as the surface warfare commander and the air defense commander for the Bataan Expeditionary Strike Group,” said Cmdr. Jon Carriglitto, Bataan’s operations officer. “Together with the MEU, we bring the ability to insert a quick, capable amphibious force where it’s needed.”
While in theater, approximately 6,000 U.S. Sailors and Marines assigned to the ESG and the 26th MEU provide the combatant commander a versatile sea-based force that can be tailored to a variety of missions. The Bataan ESG has the capabilities to support MSO, combat operations and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief.
“Bataan ESG’s presence in the U.S. 5th Fleet will require the crew to conduct what it does best: well deck and flight deck operations,” said Carriglitto. “We’ll be conducting varsity-level operations, but much of it falls right in line with our ongoing training, so I know we’re ready to meet those challenges.”
Bataan, commanded by Capt. David Hulse, left its homeport of Norfolk on Jan. 4 for a regularly-scheduled deployment as the flagship of the Bataan ESG. The ESG is comprised of the Bataan Strike Group, commanded by Commodore Donna Looney, commander, Bataan Strike Group/Amphibious Squadron 2, and the 26th MEU based out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., commanded by Col. Gregg Sturdevant.
In addition to Bataan, the strike group consists of USS Shreveport (LPD 12), USS Oak Hill (LSD 51), USS Vella Gulf (CG 72), USS Nitze (DDG 94), USS Underwood (FFG 36), and USS Scranton (SSN 756).
For related news, visit the Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/cusnc/.
"Due to rapidly developing events in Somalia, U.S. Central Command has tasked USS Dwight D. Eisenhower to join USS Bunker Hill, USS Ramage, USS Anzio and USS Ashland to support ongoing maritime security operations off the coast of Somalia," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown, a spokesman for 5th Fleet in Bahrain.
Update on USS Reagan, it has arrived on station with 5th Fleet in the Mideast: USS Ronald Reagan joins 5th Fleet in Middle East By Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Wednesday, February 22, 2006 The Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, has replaced the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Middle East as the nuclear-powered carrier marks its maiden operational deployment, Navy officials said. The San Diego-based carrier, which leads Carrier Strike Group 7, arrived in the Navy’s 5th Fleet area of operations Saturday, and is there to support U.S. military missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Our past nine months of training have been in preparation to support our troops on the ground in Iraq and carry out maritime security operations,” Rear Adm. Michael Miller, strike group commander, said in a Navy news release. Aboard the $4.5 billion carrier is Carrier Air Wing 14, with about 85 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. The Reagan left its home port Jan. 4 for an expected six-month deployment to the western Pacific Ocean and Persian Gulf.
More Iranian related news:
01.31.07
Pentagon official tells LA Times aggressive new tactics designed to deter Iranian assistance to Iraqi militants may include more forceful patrols by fighter planes along Iran-Iraq border to counter smuggling of bomb supplies from Islamic Republic; ‘For every improvised explosive device that goes off in Iraq, a bomb should go off in Iran,’ retired Air Force lieutenant general says.
IRAN CLOCK IS TICKING
Thursday, February 01, 2007 - FreeMarketNews.com
LINKED NEWS ANALYSIS
Military and intelligence sources continue to tell me that preparations are advancing for a war with Iran starting possibly as early as mid-to-late February. The sources offer some differences of opinion over whether Bush might cite a provocation from Iran or whether Israel will take the lead in launching air strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
A Quote from: The Dogs of War - Lessons of the 20th Century. By Victor Davis Hanson, (author most recently of Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power):
“"I would not wish to fight the United States - either militarily, politically, or culturally. For every threat, our history teaches us that Americans offer not just a rejoinder, but the specter of a devastating answer of a magnitude almost inconceivable to those now chanting and threatening in the streets of the Middle East.
Do they have any idea of what sort of dangerous people we really are? Do they understand the history of the names of those ships now off their coasts, like the USS Peleliu or Enterprise, or the pedigree of the 82nd or 101st Airborne?"
In spite of all the reality above, the insane Islamofascist serial killers in charge of Iran are going ahead with naval war games in the Persian Gulf.
Iranian navy, air forces to launch wargames in Persian Gulf, Oman Sea IRNA / Reuters ^
Posted on 02/06/2007 10:20:34 AM PST by maquiladora
Missile units of the air and naval forces of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) will begin a specialized wargame in southern and central parts of Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman from Wednesday.
The announcement follows mounting tension with the United States, which has said it will step up pressure on Iran. This has included despatching a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf, a major shipping lane for oil exports.
The exercises will be staged on Wednesday and Thursday by the missile units of the Guards' naval and air forces, the semi-official Fars news agency reported, citing a Guards source.
Second US aircraft carrier arrives near Iran
AFP ^ | 02/20/07
Posted on 02/20/2007 8:15:53 AM PST by nypokerface
MANAMA (AFP) - A second US aircraft carrier has arrived in Middle Eastern waters as promised by US President George W. Bush in January amid an escalating crisis with nearby Iran over its nuclear program.
The USS John C. Stennis and its accompanying strike group joined the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Sea of Oman but has not yet entered Gulf waters, the US Fifth Fleet said Tuesday from its base in Manama.
The Stennis "entered the US 5th Fleet area of operations... to conduct maritime security operations in regional waters, as well as to provide support for ground forces operating in Afghanistan and Iraq," said a US statement.
Bush on January 10 unveiled his new strategy for Iraq which included deploying a second aircraft carrier group and a Patriot anti-missile defense system "to reassure our friends and allies."
Washington accuses arch-foe Tehran of stoking the insurgency in Iraq and of seeking to develop a nuclear bomb, charges denied by the Islamic republic.
Days after Bush's announcement, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Stennis's redeployment was a signal to Iran, which, he said, has a "very negative" attitude.
Iran has also been carrying out military exercises in the region, including test-firing missiles and building drones that military commanders boasted could hit the US Navy.
The White House has repeatedly insisted it has no plans to strike Iran, and downplayed the significance of reinforcing the US military presence in the Gulf region.
Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin criticised the US military build-up in the Gulf, saying it did not fit in with Washington's Iraq strategy.
Our comrades, Pelosi, Reid, Clintoon, Kerry and Kennedy will never allow Bush to attack us! 
Hey, what is causing all those bright lights and loud noises!
The nuclear bomb used at Hiroshima was puny compared to what we have ready for the Islamofascist serial killers in Iran:
Atomic blast in Hiroshima
An atomic blast demolished the centre of Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6,1945. Japan agreed to surrender after a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9.
Iranian Map: Before we unleash the real hell on earth shown below for the Iranian Whackjobs:
Then, we show the suicidal Islamofascist serial killers in charge of Iran, what real nuclear weapons will do.
Iranian Map: After the above!
Besides the obvious air and missile strikes, we can cause a lot of economic problems for Iran using their techniques against them like the following: (Iranian) Pipeline blown up
Daily Times (Pakistan) ^ | February 21st, 2007
Posted on 02/21/2007 2:41:24 AM PST by M. Espinola
Quetta: Suspected Baloch militants blew up a gas pipeline near Quetta on Tuesday, cutting supplies to a power plant and several areas, a gas company official said. Gas supplies were cut to four districts near Quetta and a 95 MW city power plant. Supplies might be restored to some areas within 24 hours, Nawaz said. No one was hurt in the early morning blast in the outskirts of Quetta. “They planted explosives under an 18-inch pipeline that blew out a 4-foot piece of the pipe,” said Sheikh Nawaz, general manager of Sui Southern Gas Company. agencies
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Read this at the Doctor's Office this morning:
A Template for Taming Iran
By RICHARD BROOKHISER
Feb 19 , 2007
*************************EXCERPT******************
The U.S. has been embroiled with Iran since 1979, first with the hostage crisis, then with Iran-contra, now with the "axis of evil." And if the past is any indication, that entanglement--sour, multiform and intractable--is likely to last decades: it took four Presidents, two wars and several treaties to get us out of the bad relationship the last time we tried.
With independence, America threw off the carapace of regulations and treaties that applied to British colonies. This meant we would have to deal on our own with the Barbary States. The Barbary States--Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli--were four North African countries whose revenues came from a naval protection racket they had been running in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean since the late 16th century. They seized foreign ships and enslaved the crews. If you paid them tribute in advance, they would leave you alone. Otherwise, you would have to ransom captives on an ad hoc basis. Their most famous prisoner was Miguel de Cervantes, who fictionalized his ordeal in Don Quixote. Roman Catholic religious orders (Trinitarians, Order of Mercy) devoted themselves to the business of ransoming Christian captives.
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams first encountered the Barbary States in the late 1780s, when they were American diplomats in Europe. They did not enjoy the experience. In 1786 they reported on a conversation with Tripoli's ambassador to Britain. He informed them that peace could be bought for 30,000 guineas (with a £3,000 tip for himself) and advised that Tunis would settle at the same rate, although he could not answer for Morocco or Algiers.
And now for some important news. The decision has been made where to bury Anna Nichol Smith. Now back to the thread, although Iran is probably not of interest after this decision.
Lol, Phil, too late now to post my missiles. They would have to go through many pings to reach him!!
Excellent history lesson for all of us.
These presidents fought an undeclared war against the Barbarian shortly after our country was founded. If they had not chose to fight that WOT, would we be a nation today?
I will add this to my Iran Time line re our military buildup and their continued arrogance.
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