Posted on 03/01/2007 4:37:40 AM PST by Ultra Sonic 007
Iran makes no secret of the fact that it manufactures weapons for export, including mortar bombs of the general type found in Iraq.
Customers from around the world can log on to the Web site of the government-owned Defense Industries Organization and view a wide array of Iranian-made munitions. If they decide to order, they apparently can pay by credit card, as a VISA logo suggests.
The site - which promises "best quality and fast service" - is an example of the vigor with which Iran has moved into a global arms market long dominated by the United States and Western Europe. It also shows that some Iranian-made weapons probably have been used to kill Americans in Iraq, although they could have come through third countries without the direct knowledge of Iran's leadership.
"Nigeria is as crooked as the day is long, so if Nigeria bought arms from Iran no telling where they are going to show up," says John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org "And if Iran is supplying arms to Hezbollah, no telling where those are going to show up, either."
(Excerpt) Read more at sptimes.com ...
In a series of media briefings this month, the U.S. military has displayed mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and a particularly lethal type of roadside bomb alleged to have been made in Iran. The military has acknowledged there is no direct evidence the Iranian leadership is responsible, and the Bush administration denies it is building a case for attacking Iran as it did with Iraq in 2003.
But skepticism abounds about the origin of the weapons, with critics wondering why those alleged to have been made in Iran had markings in English, not Farsi. And Monday, the New York Times printed a letter from an Iranian diplomat who said dates on some of the weapons shown - including a warhead marked 5-31-2006 - prove the U.S. claims are "preposterous."
"The dates are in the American date format - month first, day second - whereas the rest of the world does not use this format," wrote M.A. Mohammadi, press secretary for Iran's U.N. mission. Iran and most other countries put the day first, followed by month and year.
Judging from photos on the Web site of Defense Industries Organization, which makes weapons for sale as well as for the country's own defense, Iran does use English lettering - such as HE for "high explosives" - on at least some weapons in accord with international standards. However, none of the weapons shown on the company's site appear to be dated.
There are also visible differences between 81mm mortar shells known to be made by Iran and those displayed Feb. 11 by the U.S. military at a Baghdad briefing. The Iranian mortar shell has four horizontal ribs below the lettering and no date; the one shown in Baghdad has three ribs above the lettering and the date 3-2006.
Indeed, as skeptics have pointed out, the mortar shell displayed in Baghdad looks more like a shell that was made in Iraq - not Iran - around the time of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. After the most recent war began in 2003, coalition troops found caches of munitions throughout Iraq but failed to secure many of them. Tons of weapons fell into insurgent hands.
So. Fraud on part of the administration? More lying? Trick by Iran? What? It's important to know.
In a series of media briefings this month, the U.S. military has displayed mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and a particularly lethal type of roadside bomb alleged to have been made in Iran. The military has acknowledged there is no direct evidence the Iranian leadership is responsible, and the Bush administration denies it is building a case for attacking Iran as it did with Iraq in 2003.
But skepticism abounds about the origin of the weapons, with critics wondering why those alleged to have been made in Iran had markings in English, not Farsi. And Monday, the New York Times printed a letter from an Iranian diplomat who said dates on some of the weapons shown - including a warhead marked 5-31-2006 - prove the U.S. claims are "preposterous."
"The dates are in the American date format - month first, day second - whereas the rest of the world does not use this format," wrote M.A. Mohammadi, press secretary for Iran's U.N. mission. Iran and most other countries put the day first, followed by month and year.
Judging from photos on the Web site of Defense Industries Organization, which makes weapons for sale as well as for the country's own defense, Iran does use English lettering - such as HE for "high explosives" - on at least some weapons in accord with international standards. However, none of the weapons shown on the company's site appear to be dated.
There are also visible differences between 81mm mortar shells known to be made by Iran and those displayed Feb. 11 by the U.S. military at a Baghdad briefing. The Iranian mortar shell has four horizontal ribs below the lettering and no date; the one shown in Baghdad has three ribs above the lettering and the date 3-2006.
Indeed, as skeptics have pointed out, the mortar shell displayed in Baghdad looks more like a shell that was made in Iraq - not Iran - around the time of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. After the most recent war began in 2003, coalition troops found caches of munitions throughout Iraq but failed to secure many of them. Tons of weapons fell into insurgent hands.
Here we go again. A deadly and clever enemy dupes the foolish Americans so they can kill them later. President Bush, our Commander and Chief, is NOT the enemy.
Interesting post. Bump for later.
And, we're suppose to believe reports from Iran because????????????????
Rove, you magnifi . . . . . . oopsie, little glitch there!!
/sarc
Clearly, the Iranians think we are as stupid as they are.
This entire article is crap, the St. Pete paper is so far left they've become a kind of jr version of the Slimes. I cannot believe this woman's writings because of her obvious hatred of the administration and our military. She points out, many times, that we are the liars, we are the source of all evil in the ME and we are responsible for the countless numbers of weapons floating around Iraq and the Iranians are simply seeking to protect themselves from the bad guys, us. The left in this Country has become a study in hate, lies and madness.
Longtime CP fronter recently working with the Iraq antiwar movement. His website is on a list of usual suspects recommended as "resources" in Appendix II of John Dean's Worse Than Watergate. Also acknowledged in William Arkin's Code Names: Deciphering U.S. Military Plans, Programs, and Operations in the 9/11 World.
Pike previously worked for nearly two decades with the Federation of American Scientists, where he directed the Space Policy, Cyberstrategy, Military Analysis, Nuclear Resource and Intelligence Resource projects. Pike developed the Federation's award winning website, and was personally responsible for creating most of the site's online content. He has also been at the forefront of utilizing satellite imagery to monitor worldwide weapons facilities.
Frequently called upon to testify before Congress, Pike in 1983 established the Space Policy Working Group, comprised of Congressional staff and advocacy organizations concerned with missile defense issues. Ten years later, he set up the Military Spending Group, composed of public interest organizations working on alternative security strategies. Pike helped form the National Campaign to Save the ABM Treaty, and served on its Executive Committee. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and has served on a variety of non-governmental boards and advisory committees, including the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the Peace Research and European Security Studies Center, and the Verification Technology Information Centre of London. He has been a consultant to numerous groups, including the United Nations Group of Government Experts on Confidence Building Measures in Outer Space. In 1991 he participated in the NASA International Near-Earth Object (NEO) Detection Panel, and served as a consultant to the NEO Working Group of the International Astronomical Union.
...It was actually brought out at a House Science Committee hearing in 1998, because Pike the Liar was running around claiming to be "Dr. Pike" Some congressman asked him in, the hearing, in public, if he had a PhD, and where he got it, and Pike was forced to admit he had been LYING the ENTIRE time, and DID NOT have a doctorate! Then the member said, well, do you have a master's, and what is it in? THEN he asked, do you have a bachelors (this was funny, as I think everyone assumed the guy at least had a bachelors) -- NO, Pike admitted, HE DIDN'T!!
Notice how much this bothers the liberals, thought, as they continue to quote him as an expert. You, too, can be an "expert" in science with ONLY A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION if you have the correct left wing views.
17 posted on 01/17/2002 7:50:34 AM PST by justanotherfreeper
Aftergood: Secrecy serves the interests of the executive branch against the legislative--that's a temptation against reform. And regardless of what the new administration wants to change, there'll be resistance from bureaucracy. The Nixon administration declared that most documents could be declassified within ten years. Carter shortened that to six years. All these were executive orders from the president, but they never happened. Even explicit directives aren't enough.
Sounds like he and Pike would love Mark Zaid.
Why does the media think John Pike is a "national security expert"?
Media and GlobalSecurity.org | January 17, 2001
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/610069/posts
By who?
He's quoted here along with good ol' Greg Thielman in this nigerflap story :
The Spies Who Pushed For War
Guardian UK ^ | 07-17-03
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/947694/posts
He's also cited in the faulty 'missing explosives' story in Iraq:
Missing explosives capture spotlight - John Pike cites "treasure trove," soft peddles WMD
Baltimore Sun ^ | October 26, 2004 | David L. Greene, Tom Bowman and Julie Hirschfeld Davis
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1257137/posts
... Stone, a PhD mathematician from Stanford, acknowledged that his star staff member (John Pike) attended Vanderbilt but never got a degree. "I view him as the Edwin Land of our community - Land never graduated from Harvard. He was a great genius, and he didn't have time for college," Stone said. "John didn't have time for anything that didn't interest him. As opposed to working on lost causes, John works on things that are ripe for media attention - and he's been far more successful at managing the media than any scientist at FAS."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/610069/posts#18
1 posted on 04/22/2005 12:20:56 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Amazing, isn't it?
He's a frontman for FAS.
***
The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) was formed in 1945 by atomic scientists from the Manhattan Project who felt that scientists, engineers and other innovators had an ethical obligation to bring their knowledge and experience to bear on critical national decisions, especially pertaining to the technology they unleashed - the Atomic Bomb.
Endorsed by 67 Nobel Laureates in chemistry, economics, medicine and physics, FAS addresses a broad spectrum of issues in carrying out its mission to promote humanitarian uses of science and technology. FAS members build on an honorable history of insisting that rational, evidence-based arguments be heard.
Today, FAS continues its exemplary 60-year record of achieving meaningful results in strategic security with research and education projects in nuclear arms control and global security; conventional arms transfers; proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; information technology for human health; and government information policy.
In recent years, the mission of FAS has expanded to include our country’s critical challenges in housing, energy and education.
The Housing Technology Project combines the talents of engineers, energy efficiency specialists and other experts in the field of housing to develop new materials and design methods that can led to safe, energy efficient, affordable homes in the U.S. and abroad.
The Information Technologies Project works on strategies to intensify and focus research and development to harness the potential of emerging information technologies to improve how we teach and learn.***
http://www.fas.org/main/home.jsp
http://www.fas.org/irp/nsa/
Created by John Pike
Maintained by Steven Aftergood
Updated August 29, 2006
___________________________
In 1991 Pike received the "Public Service Award" of the Federation of American Scientists, and in 1997 he was presented with the Open Source "Award of the Golden Candle" for his work on intelligence related issues.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/staff/pike.htm
Thanks for the additional info. I hadn't heard about his fake Ph.D., LOL.
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