Another version of the Mission District explosion, the first one, this is the San Francisco area.
http://news.google.com/news?client=googlet&q=Propane+tank+explosion&sa=N&tab=wn
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&client=googlet&q=unknown+cause+of+Propane+tank+explosion&btnG=Search
http://www.google.com/search?client=googlet&q=Propane%20tank%20explosion
Jamacia and other areas, see also the web links for interesting articles.......
http://news.google.com/news?client=googlet&q=attempt+to+kill+policeman&sa=N&tab=wn
Another Jamica article and several new shootings, I can't open the sites, but the headlines look interesting.
The web link, will lead to more.
Have been thinking of the gangs threats to kill policemen.
http://news.google.com/news?client=googlet&q=Police+officer+shot+or+injured&sa=N&tab=wn
re: 4860: Tularemia in San Jose.
This is too much to deal with, the first article for this search is our Jose Padilla, and the headline says says that San Jose "scoffs" at the thought of WMD hitting them......
But then that is what one expects from that area, I hear them calling the kgo.com radio station, they want to hug a terrorist and free them from jail.
http://news.google.com/news?client=googlet&tab=wn&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=chemical+in+air+in+San+Jose%2C+California&btnG=Search+News
When I went and read the thread here, I started thinking of all the strange smells and people passing out that Liberty has posted and we have also found in the past, didn't get far with that search in news, but this could lead to something.
There is a problem with the report, there is not a date on it, for when the test was run, it could have a month ago....
http://www.google.com/search?client=googlet&q=strange%20odor%20in%20San%20Jose%2C%20California
I was wrong the article says it was Sunday morning the germs were found, it is under the News link at this search.
http://www.google.com/search?client=googlet&q=found%20in%20an%20air-monitoring%0D%0Astation
It appears the monitors were put into use in Jan. 2003
http://www.google.com/search?q=disease+germs+found+in+an+air-monitoring++station&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&client=googlet
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&client=googlet&q=biohazards+released+in+the+United+States&spell=1
http://www.google.com/search?q=bio+hazards+released+in+the+United+States&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&client=googlet
http://www.google.com/search?q=disease+germs+found+in+the+United+States&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&client=googlet
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b1_4austinnov01,0,817542.story?coll=all-newslocal-hed
From The Morning Call
Explosives maker fined $1 million Feds also revoke licenses, including Northampton plant.
By Manuel Gamiz Jr.
Of The Morning Call
November 1, 2005
The parent company of a Northampton explosives plant was fined more than $1 million Monday for falsifying records to
conceal explosives shortages at three locations, including the plant on Nor-Bath Boulevard, over the past two years,
U.S. Department of Justice officials said.
Austin Powder Co., one of the country's largest federally licensed explosives manufacturers, was ordered to pay
$500,000 in fines and $510,000 in forfeiture to the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Assistant U.S.
Attorney Bruce Brandler said.
He said that on Oct. 17, 2003, ATF agents discovered that 55 pounds of hydromite, a blasting agent, was missing from
the Northampton plant at 559 Nor-Bath Blvd. and officials at the plant attempted to cover it up.
''The company falsified records, making it appear that this 55 pounds of hydromite was used at a job site when in
reality it was missing or stolen,'' Brandler said. ''This is a significant amount and a serious crime.''
The Northampton plant's federal explosives manufacturing and distribution license has since been revoked
permanently, he said.
Brandler said the investigation into Austin Powder, headquartered in Cleveland, began in September 2003 when ATF
agents and the Washington, D.C., metropolitan police made an undercover purchase of high explosives.
The undercover agents discovered that those explosives were stolen from an Austin Powder delivery truck out of
Greencastle, Franklin County, and then traded for cocaine, Brandler said.
ATF agents searched the Greencastle plant and after reviewing records there discovered that false entries were made
regularly to cover up missing explosives, Brandler said.
Searches were conducted at several other Austin Powder facilities to see if they were doing the same thing, Brandler
said.
Federal agents discovered regulatory violations, such as improper storage of explosives and failing to notify ATF
agents of certain problems at facilities on 29 sites in 19 states, Brandler said. Three facilities — in Dixon, Ill.,
Greencastle and Northampton — committed criminal acts by falsifying explosives inventory entries, Brandler said.
In August, after a plea agreement and administrative licensing settlements, the ATF permanently revoked the federal
explosives licenses on the Greencastle plant, and others in Palmyra, Va., and Raleigh, N.C. The Northampton facility
operated under Greencastle's license, Brandler said. Ten other sites received temporary revocations.
Austin Powder makes industrial explosives and accessories and provides blasting services to customers throughout
the world. The company began in 1833 and has 65 facilities.
In past years, Austin Powder's Northampton facility, which once stored 350,000 pounds of explosives, drew concerns
over safety whenever plans to build near it were proposed.
The person answering the phone at the Northampton facility referred all questions to corporate offices in Cleveland.
Calls there were not returned.
manuel.gamiz@mcall.com
610-861-3636
Copyright © 2005, The Morning Call
"South Side Mafia" a gang.
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b8_3olivernov01,0,5536137.story?coll=all-newslocal-hed
From The Morning Call
Easton police ask if recent shooting is tied to 'South Side Mafia' crime
By Joe McDonald
Of The Morning Call
November 1, 2005
An Easton man who was shot in the chest last week in the city had another near-death experience in March, when he
was stabbed in the chest, police said.
Investigators say they are looking into whether the Easton stabbing and the shooting of Jason Oliver, 23, are related.
They also are checking possible connections involving another shooting Oct. 2 in the West Ward outside Frinzi's
Charcoal Pit, 1110 Butler St., Easton, where 19-year-old Jeffrey Sampson of Bethlehem Township was shot in the face
while in a van.
Oliver was stabbed March 26 outside the Weston Club in the 1300 block of Lehigh Street along with another
29-year-old man, whom police have not identified. Both recovered from their wounds.
Police said the stabbings happened about 3:15 a.m. in a fight involving four or five men. No arrests have been made.
At 1:25 p.m. Wednesday, Oliver was shot in the chest as he stood at Eighth and Spruce streets in the city, a block
from the county courthouse.
Police have said Oliver, who is recovering from the gunshot at Easton Hospital, has not cooperated with detectives in
their attempts to find the shooter.
In court records, police have identified Oliver as a member of the ''South Side Mafia.''
Oliver's adult criminal career began May 24, 2000, when police saw him driving a dirt bike on city streets.
He later pleaded guilty to fleeing and eluding and to receiving stolen property. He was fined $250 and ordered to
serve three to 12 months in county prison, told to perform 10 hours of community service, and ordered to get his
general equivalency diploma. At the time, Oliver was living with his grandmother, Ruth Oliver, at 322 Coal St., Easton.
In court records, the police report lists, under Oliver's affiliations, ''South Side Mafia.''
On June 29, 2000, police saw Oliver hanging around 363 W. Berwick St. and during a pat-down search, they found
10.4 grams of cocaine on him. He pleaded guilty June 11, 2001, to possession with intent to deliver cocaine. He was
fined $500 and ordered to serve seven to 14 months in the county prison and to perform 20 hours of community
service.
On Sept. 6, 2000, Oliver drove Emery Clark III, 25, of 1116 Pine St., Easton, to Northampton County Prison. Clark
climbed a fire escape and flung a 13.4-gram bag of marijuana over a fence to the prison yard.
Oliver pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deliver marijuana. He was ordered to serve one to three years in county prison.
Clark pleaded guilty March 16, 2001, to conspiracy to deliver marijuana. Clark was sentenced to 11 to 24 months less
one day in prison.
A juvenile reported that Oliver on June 29, 2004, punched him in the face at 487 W. Berwick St., Easton. Oliver
pleaded guilty to simple assault on Jan. 11 of this year and was placed on probation for 12 months.
The juvenile later reported that Oliver on June 29, 2004, offered him money not to pursue charges in the assault. The
juvenile also told police Oliver drove by him making ''sounds imitating automatic gunfire.'' Oliver on Jan. 11 pleaded
guilty to intimidation of a witness. He was fined $250 and ordered to serve a county prison term of time served to 12
months.
In addition to the criminal cases, Oliver has a protection-from-abuse order against him from Chanell L. Jones of 2820
Middletown Road, Bethlehem Township, issued June 24 in Northampton County court. The order is in effect until Dec.
24, 2006. Jones, listed as the mother of Oliver's daughter, said Oliver has threatened to kill her.
joe.mcdonald@mcall.com
610-559-2152
Copyright © 2005, The Morning Call
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.security.terrorism/browse_thread/thread/714139800046046c/73cb49469ef167bd#73cb49469ef167bd
Topic in alt.security.terrorism
Fat Iranian
Cash
Contracts for
Terrorists to
Hit American
Troops and
Israeli
Civilians
LeMod Pol
Oct 30, 4:32 pm
Fat Iranian Cash Contracts for Terrorists to Hit
~~~~~American Troops and Israeli Civilians ~~~~~
October 29, 2005, 10:54 PM (GMT+02:00)
Mahmoud AhmadinejadÕs outrageous statements
were not
just the empty rhetoric of an inexperienced politician.
They were backed up by solid action. Tehran may
claim
piously that it has never threatened or used force
against a fellow UN member, but counter-terror
sources
reveal a somewhat more sinister picture. American
and
British intelligence in Iraq have turned up Iran's
fingerprints deep inside the terrorist campaign
against
US and British forces in Iraq ever since
mid-September.
In the same period, Israeli intelligence too has
uncovered growing Iranian involvement in Palestinian
terrorist attacks inside Israel, notably the Hadera
suicide bombing by a Jihad Islami suicide bomber
Wednesday Oct. 26 in which 5 Israelis died. As in
Iraq,
Iran often operates through surrogates.
The Iranian president actually admitted this when he
said that a new wave of Palestinian attacks would
soon
wipe Israel off the face of the Islamic world. He then
accused the world oppressors (a euphemism for
America
and allies) of establishing the Zionist regime as a
move against the Islamic world, implying that the
Islamic world has a duty to fight back.
And Tehran is pursuing this duty.
Iranian intelligence shells out a fee of $50,000 and
80,000 to Sunni hit squads in central and western
Iraq
for every attack on American troops. Half this amount
is paid out up front with the hit list; the balance,
when the mission is accomplished. Unlike al-Qa'eda
which kills Iraqis indiscriminately, Iranian
intelligence paymasters insist on pinpointing
Americans
only.
The rate for Palestinian terrorist groups setting up
strikes against Israelis is around $50,000 for each
ÒsuccessfulÓ suicide killing.
The rate is lowest in southern Iraq, where there are
plenty of pro-Iranian Shiite gangs. They can earn
$20,000 to $30,000 from Iranian intelligence for
murdering or injuring British soldiers. There, as in
Israel, Iranian intelligence sends over advanced
bombs
and operating technology through the Hizballah. The
bombs come with electronic means of concealment.
In recent weeks, the British have got wind of Iranian
agents making contact with extremist Muslim groups
especially in the Manchester region of northern
England. They are recruiting terrorists for strikes
inside the UK. Observers noted that in the Jerusalem
Day hate demonstrations in Tehran Friday, Oct. 28,
the
number of placards calling ÒDeath to AmericaÓ and
ÒDeath to BritainÓ outnumbered those demanding
ÒDeath
to Israel.Ó
Our Tehran sources report that the Iranian leadership
decided to assign Iran's intelligence services to
directly engineer terrorist operations against Western
and Israeli targets for four reasons:
1. The approach of November 24, the day the UN
nuclear
watchdog's board convenes in Vienna to decide
finally
when to refer Iran's nuclear case to the UN Security
Council. This could lead to economic sanctions and an
oil embargo. Iran has no intention of being deprived
of
its nuclear options which it regards as its crowning
strategic achievement. This is why Iranian leaders
are
harking back to the slogans of the Khomeini Islamic
revolution of the seventies, threatening to obliterate
Israel and cursing against America and Britain who
would take their prize away.
2. The US-British-French campaign against the Assad
regime in Damascus and Syria's grip on Lebanon is
seen
as a strategic threat to Tehran's military and
diplomatic foothold in the eastern Mediterranean.
AhmadinejadÕs bellicose rhetoric may have been
meant to
haul Syrian president Bashar Assad back from the
inclination to knuckle under.
3. The US-instigated Lebanese crackdown on
Palestinian
militias in Lebanon is expected to be the prologue to
heavy pressure to get Hizballah disarmed. Iran has
invested too heavily and too long in building the
Lebanese Shiite terror group into a major military
force as its second front against Israel to let this
happen. Hizballah leaders will be directed from
Tehran
to resist their disarmament with all their might.
Iran-instigated terrorist operations in Iraq and Israel
carry a threat of worse to come: the Iraqi terror
arena
and Hizballah's terrorist and intelligence gamut are
both potentially expandable to other countries in the
Middle East and even Europe.
4. The British government has permitted ethnic Arab
separatist fighters of Iranian Khuzestan to open a
head
office in London for liaison between the movement's
leaders and British intelligence and its military. This
office also arranges the transfer of Arab recruits to
British-controlled southern Iraq for training in
sabotage tactics with Iraqi military instructors.
Tehran is convinced this training operation is
sponsored by the Americans and the British, or takes
place at least with their knowledge. Therefore,
Hizballah agents were sent to deliver to Shiite cells
in Basra explosive devices capable of piercing British
armored vehicles.
http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1102
Copyright 2000-2005 DEBKAfile.
--
LP
[Nothing] will pacify these current and
potential killers. The terror would
continue until the entire non-Islamic
world is under their control.
This is what they say in their sermons
and media, teach in their schools, and
believe in their hearts.
It matters little that "the overwhelming
majority of Muslims are not terrorists".
It matters a great deal that most
terrorists are Muslims. The sooner
Western leaders and Western media begin
stating what is obvious to most people;
the quicker the real root cause can be
dealt with."
November 1, 2005 Anti-Terrorism News
India steps up security after Delhi bombings
http://www.guardian.co.uk/india/story/0,12559,1605813,00.html
U.S. Issues Report on Iraqi Roadside Bombs
http://ap.washingtontimes.com/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ?SITE=DCTMS&SECTION=HOME
(Virginia Ahmed Omar Abu Ali) Defendant is accused of conspiring with
al-Qaida
http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1128767867952&path=%21news&s=1045855934842
Terrorist suspects rounded up in Denmark
http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20051031-101750-4294r.htm
Police in Denmark believe the arrests of two more terrorism suspects
foiled a plot that may be linked to recent arrests in Bosnia.
(Netherlands) Suspect alleges 'agent provocateur' supplied siege
grenades
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=1&story_id=24918&name=Suspect%3A+%27informer%27+supplied+grenades
Senior British Muslim Warns on Terror Laws
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/89-10312005-563165.html
Syria rejects U.N. resolution
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/11/01/un.syria.lebanon.ap/index.html
(NY) Dhafir gets 22 years in prison (for charity money laundering)
http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1130488990198450.xml&coll=1&thispage=1
(5th Night of Riots) Violent Paris youths defy police
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4395294.stm
Police fired more tear gas overnight to disperse youths confronting
them near a mosque in Clichy
PA Representative Participates in Distributing Iranian Funds to
Terrorists' Families on Yom Kippur
http://www.arutzsheva.com/news.php3?id=92162
Nonviolent, yet dangerous; Islam's ideological vanguard
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/30/opinion/edbaran.php
(UK Prince) Charles to target U.S. attitude toward Islam
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20051030-115534-6734r.htm
Iran's Final Solution Plan
by Daniel Pipes
New York Sun
November 1, 2005
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3100
"Iran's stance has always been clear on this ugly phenomenon [i.e.,
Israel]. We have repeatedly said that this cancerous tumor of a state
should be removed from the region."
No, those are not the words of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
speaking last week. Rather, that was Ali Khamenei, the Islamic Republic
of Iran's supreme leader, in December 2000.
In other words, Ahmadinejad's call for the destruction of Israel was
nothing new but conforms to a well-established pattern of regime
rhetoric and ambition. "Death to Israel!" has been a rallying cry for the
past quarter-century. Mr. Ahmadinejad quoted Ayatollah Khomeini, its
founder, in his call on October 26 for genocidal war against Jews: "The
regime occupying Jerusalem must be eliminated from the pages of
history," Khomeini said decades ago. Mr. Ahmadinejad lauded this
hideous goal as "very wise."
In December 2001, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former Iranian
president and still powerful political figure, laid the groundwork for an
exchange of nuclear weapons with Israel: "If a day comes when the
world of Islam is duly equipped with the arms Israel has in possession,
the strategy of colonialism would face a stalemate because application of
an atomic bomb would not leave anything in Israel but the same thing
would just produce minor damages in the Muslim world."
In like spirit, a Shahab-3 ballistic missile (capable of reaching Israel)
paraded in Tehran last month bore the slogan "Israel Should Be Wiped
Off the Map."
The threats by Messrs. Khamenei and Rafsanjani prompted yawns but
Mr. Ahmadinejad's statement roused an uproar.
The U.N. secretary-general, Kofi Annan, expressed "dismay," the U.N.
Security Council unanimously condemned it, and the European Union
condemned it "in the strongest terms." Prime Minister Martin of Candida
deemed it "beyond the pale," Prime Minister Blair of Britain expressed
"revulsion," and the French foreign minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy,
announced that "for France, the right for Israel to exist should not be
contested." Le Monde called the speech a "cause for serious alarm," Die
Welt dubbed it "verbal terrorism," and a London Sun headline
proclaimed Ahmadinejad the "most evil man in the world."
The governments of Turkey, Russia, and China, among others, expressly
condemned the statement. Maryam Rajavi of the National Council of
Resistance of Iran, a leading opposition group, demanded that the
European Union rid the region of the "hydra of terrorism and
fundamentalism" in Tehran. Even the Palestinian Authority's Saeb Erekat
spoke against Mr. Ahmadinejad: "Palestinians recognize the right of the
state of Israel to exist, and I reject his comments." The Cairene daily
Al-Ahram dismissed his statement as "fanatical" and spelling disaster for
Arabs.
Iranians were surprised and suspicious. Why, some asked, did the mere
reiteration of long-standing policy prompt an avalanche of outraged
foreign reactions?
In a constructive spirit, I offer them four reasons. First, Mr.
Ahmadinejad's virulent character gives the threats against Israel added
credibility. Second, he in subsequent days defiantly repeated and
elaborated on his threats. Third, he added an aggressive coda to the
usual formulation, warning Muslims who recognize Israel that they "will
burn in the fire of the Islamic umma [nation]."
This directly targets the Palestinians and several Arab states, but
especially neighboring Pakistan. Just a month before Mr. Ahmadinejad
spoke, the Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf, stated that "Israel
rightly desires security." He envisioned the opening of embassies in
Israel by Muslim countries like Pakistan as a "signal for peace." Mr.
Ahmadinejad perhaps indicated an intent to confront Pakistan over
relations with Israel.
Finally, Israelis estimate that the Iranians could, within six months, have
the means to build an atomic bomb. Mr. Ahmadinejad implicitly
confirmed this rapid timetable when he warned that after just "a short
period … the process of the elimination of the Zionist regime will be
smooth and simple." The imminence of a nuclear-armed Iran transforms
"Death to Israel" from an empty slogan into the potential premise for a
nuclear assault on the Jewish state, perhaps relying on Mr. Rafsanjani's
genocidal thinking.
Ironically, Mr. Ahmadinejad's candor has had positive effects, reminding
the world of his regime's unremitting bellicosity, its rank anti-Semitism,
and its dangerous arsenal. As Tony Blair noted, Mr. Ahmadinejad's
threats raise the question, "When are you going to do something about
this?" And Mr. Blair later warned Tehran with some menace against its
becoming a "threat to our world security." His alarm needs to translate
into action, and urgently so.
We are on notice. Will we act in time?
(in the newsletter sent to me, there are several hidden links to other sources, that do not show here..granny)
Jan. 2005
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:0qvl6tLBxxwJ:www.debka.com/article.php%3Faid%3D970+Army+secret+surfaces&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&client=googlet
Syrian Missile Sale Slots into Secret Russian Air
Defense System for Iran
DEBKAfile Exclusive Military Report
January 24, 2005, 1:34 PM (GMT+02:00)
Damascus to get Russian SA-18 -
effective against low-flying craft.
Russian president Vladimir Putin and Syrian president Bashar Assad, who
arrived in Moscow Monday, January 24, will sign a $70 million deal for the sale of
20 SA-18 Igla-S batteries mounted on Armored Personnel Carriers. One of the
most effective missiles against low-flying aircraft on the market, the SA-18 is
manufactured at the Russian KBM factory near Moscow.
The sale culminates intense quiet exchanges conducted by the US Pentagon
and State Department with the Kremlin and Russian defense ministry to prevent
the sale to Damascus of the shoulder-launched version of the SA-18 for fear it
falling into the hands of Iraqi guerrillas and Hizballah terrorists.
Washington accepted the APC-mounted compromise despite Israel’s
complaints. Although 20 batteries do not present a major headache for the Israeli
air force, their mobility makes them difficult to target and limits the
maneuverability of Israeli planes in Syrian airspace as a deterrent to Damascus
war or terror initiatives. The Igla-S is also effective against small targets like
reconnaissance drones, helicopters and cruise missiles. Missile experts report
that when fired against fighter craft an Igla-S has the effectiveness of two
missiles fired in a single round – or five missiles when launched against a cruise
missile.
This is Syria’s second important arms purchase in recent months. DEBKAfile’s
military sources were first report its acquisition in East Europe of Kornet AT-14
anti-tank missiles. This purchase provoked a warning from Washington that if this
weapon should turn up in Iraq or Lebanon, America will be free to take military
action.
DEBKAfile’s military sources now reveal that the Syrian missile sale is integral
to the Kremlin’s new, broad strategic initiative that encompasses secret military
assistance to Tehran as well as its overt deals with Damascus. Moscow’s
objective is partly to secure its investment in Iran’s nuclear center at Bushehr on
the Persian Gulf against the fate of the Saddam Hussein’s French-built Tamuz
nuclear center which the Israeli air force bombed out existence 24 years ago.
In the second week of January, Russian defense minister Sergey Ivanov spent
five days in Washington setting up the February 24 summit meeting between
Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin in the Slovak capital of Bratislava.
That same week, DEBKA-Net-Weekly 189 revealed that Russian experts from
the Raduga OKB engineering group in Dubna near Moscow had just completed
the installation of two advanced radar systems around the Bushehr nuclear
reactor on the Persian Gulf.
These improved mobile 36D6 systems, Western codenamed Tin Shield, were
custom-made to upgrade the air defense radar protecting Iran’s key nuclear
facilities from American or Israeli aerial, missile or cruise missile attack.
If that was all, it might have passed without too great a hullabaloo.
However, the fat hit the fire when the Russians were discovered to be building
the same system at Iran’s uranium enrichment plants for military purposes in
Isfahan in central Iran. It was taken to mean that Moscow has undertaken to
secure all of Iran’s nuclear industry from top to bottom – from the installation of
sophisticated equipment to military planning and operational cooperation -
against American or Israeli attack. Moscow has thus placed a serious impediment
in the path of any American and Israel military action to curb Iran’s nuclear
armament. This Russian-Iranian cooperation looks like the harbinger of
geo-strategic understandings in other places like Afghanistan, India, Iraq and the
Persian Gulf.
Already, the Russian military umbrella over Iran is emitting diplomatic signals.
And that is not all.
On January 12, the day Russian radar was finally installed at Bushehr and
Isfahan, the Kremlin leaked word of a large-scale arms deal afoot with Syria for
the delivery of advanced SS-26 road-mobile Iskander-E surface missiles -
successor to the Scud, whose 480-kilo multiple warhead can dodge air defense
radar systems and electronic jamming - as well as surface-to-air SA-10
(“Grumble”) and SA-18 (“Grouse”) shoulder-launched missiles.
The first can engage several targets at varying altitudes simultaneously
including raiding aircraft and cruise or tactical missiles. The SA-18 is an improved
version of the Strela with a 2-kilo high-explosive warhead fitted with a contact
and grazing fuse, aerodynamic improvements, extended effective range and
greater speed. The SA-18 has a maximum range of 5.2 km and maximum
altitude of 3.5 km.
Sale of this missile package was not expected to go through in its entirety -
certainly not the Iskander. The shoulder-launched version of the SA-18 was
deemed too flagrant a provocation for Washington to tolerate in view of its
applications for Iraqi insurgents and Hizballah terrorists. The leak was therefore
intended as a partial red herring to camouflage Moscow’s real plans.
What really worries Washington and Jerusalem is the possibility of Assad and
Putin putting their heads together on the same 36D6 radar system Moscow has
supplied Iran.
Our military sources describe the Tin Shield 36D6 as a mobile radar system
designed to detect air targets and perform friend-or-foe identification. It is highly
effective in detecting low, medium and high altitude targets moving at almost any
speed, including winged missiles and American or Israeli cruise missiles. It is
capable of providing the target and bearing of active jamming, as well as
integrated computer-aided systems of control and guidance of anti-aircraft
missile complexes.
Tin Shield can operate independently as an observation and air detection post,
as part of computer-aided control systems or as an element in an anti-air guided
missile complex, where it carries out reconnaissance and targeting.
If Syria gets this sophisticated system, a Russian-coordinated
Iranian-Syrian-Lebanese radar barrier will rise with three serious consequences
that go beyond the balance of strength in the Middle East:
1. The 36D6 radar system deployment, if acquired by Syria as well Iran, will
confine US aerial operations in Iraq to a narrow corridor hemmed in by
sophisticated Russian radar and reconnaissance systems.
2. Its deployment at nuclear sites in northern Iran near the Afghan border will
obstruct any American air operation mounted from the north against Iran from
Afghan bases, while the Russian radar system’s presence in Syria will hinder an
American or Israeli strike against Iran from the west.
3. Moscow’s military backing for Iran and Syria is tantamount to sympathy for
their diplomatic postures and extends to their sponsorship of Hizballah and
Palestinian terrorist organizations. First overt indications of Moscow’s new
direction surfaced in an official Russian foreign ministry denunciation last week,
the first since the 1990s, of the American threat of new sanctions against Syria
for sponsoring “freedom fighters” – Syria’s term for Palestinian terrorist
organizations like Hamas and the Jihad Islami.
How far the Kremlin intends to take its new policy thrust in the Middle East will
become clearer after the Assad-Putin talks in Moscow this week and the
Putin-Bush Bratislava summit in a month.