News from the Long War, Thread 4

Various | 4/15/07 | Knitting a Conundrum and Others

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Thread 4



Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, our nation has fought a global war against violent extremists who use terrorism as their weapon of choice, and who seek to destroy our free way of life. Our enemies seek weapons of mass destruction and, if they are successful, will likely attempt to use them in their conflict with free people everywhere. Currently, the struggle is centered in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we will need to be prepared and arranged to successfully defend our nation and its interests around the globe for years to come. DOD

Our enemies include all the Muslims who dream of knocking Western Civilization off its perch atop humanity’s dung heap. Islam is fractured into any number of sects, tribes and ethnic groups, but the dream of destroying us cuts across all the fault lines. Islamic terrorists are merely the tip of a very large spear.

J. Peter Mulhern, the American Thinker, September 18

The determination behind that fight is real, the hatred is real, and the excuses for doing this are very real in the minds of those who have decided to walk that path. We can respond in two ways: Try to ignore or negotiate with people who do not want to negotiate in good faith, because what they want is our destruction, or to stand up against the darkness of those who see all of us, our way of life, our culture and our aspirations as something worth eliminating.

Either: "And God willing, with the force of God behind it, we shall soon experience a world without the United States and Zionism," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Or: "With vigilance, determination, courage, we will defeat the enemies of freedom, and we will leave behind a more peaceful world for our children and our grandchildren." GW Bush.

Here's where I will post news and info about the Long War. Let me know if you're interested.

Thread 1

Thread 2

Thread 3

[Bahbah]

Putin’s response to this should be instructive

I doubt that he will cooperate, this new czar of Russia.

[Uncle Ike]

Here’s some more good news from the region.... Ahmanutjob playing both ends against the middle??

Iran Grants Belarus Oil Reserve Access [”strategic partnership”]
Associated Press by way of Forbes ^ | 21MAY07 | YURAS KARMANAU

Posted on 05/22/2007 5:15:11 AM CDT by familyop

Iran granted Belarus greater access to oil reserves as the leaders of the countries, both at odds with the United States, met Monday to cement what the Belarusian president called a “strategic partnership.”

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at the start of a two-day visit to this former Soviet republic, hailed the “huge potential” for cooperation between the two nations.

“The strengthening of relations between Belarus and Iran fosters support for regional and global security,” Ahmadinejad said in televised comments.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said his country is “ready for cooperation in all directions.”

“Relations between Belarus and Iran have reached the level of strategic partnership,” he said, according to the presidential press service.

Underscoring that partnership, Iran granted Belarus long-discussed access to the Jofeir oil field, which sits near the border with Iraq and could produce up to 30,000 barrels a day once operational, according to the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.

The two sides also “emphasized the necessity of developing mutual cooperation in different sectors of the oil-gas industry, creating an oil-refinery facility, developing oil and gas fields, and building an underground natural gas storage facility in Iran,” according to a joint statement released after the two leaders met.

Lukashenko said the crude from Jofeir would be either be refined in Iran or simply extracted by Belarus and sold on world markets.

“Our specialists have researched (the field) and are prepared today to extract oil on Iranian territory,” he said.

Ahmadinejad is the latest world leader to visit Lukashenko, an authoritarian ruler who has been courting other vehement opponents of the United States. A year ago, Lukashenko hosted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, another vocal U.S. critic who also leads a country with substantial oil and gas reserves.

Lukashenko is widely referred to in the West as “Europe’s last dictator” for quashing opposition and independent media in Belarus, where the largely Soviet-style state-controlled economy is heavily reliant on cheap Russian energy supplies.

In recent months, Moscow has drastically increased prices and tightened shipment conditions for oil and gas exports to Belarus, pinching the economy.

Lukashenko visited Iran in November, where Ahmadinejad praised the Belarusian as a “brave and powerful” leader for opposing U.S. policies.

A hard-liner who became president in 2005, Ahmadinejad is locked in a standoff with the West over Tehran’s nuclear program, which the United States and other nations fear is a front for an effort to develop atomic weapons.

Iran is under U.N. Security Council sanctions over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, while Lukashenko and other Belarusian officials have been hit with U.S. and European Union travel bans and financial sanctions for strangling freedoms.

Both Ahmadinejad and Lukashenko also appeared to take a swipe at the United States.

“We hold the opinion that there should be a balance of power ... in the world,” Ahmadinejad said. “We state our opposition to a unipolar world and to any country’s effort to exert influence on another.”

During his visit, Ahmadinejad was expected to tour Belarusian enterprises and a national library. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said last week that the main issues to be discussed during the visit concerned energy, trade and science.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated Monday that the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program should be resolved through dialogue.

“We consider any attempts to isolate Tehran or to use the situation surrounding Iran’s nuclear program to achieve any other goals ... to be extremely counterproductive and shortsighted,” Lavrov said in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Russia has used its clout in the U.N. Security Council to water down Western-proposed sanctions against Iran and has warned the United States that overly harsh measures could backfire by deepening Tehran’s defiance.

Also Monday, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said his country was leading the world’s nations in confronting the United States. Khamenei, a cleric who has final say over all state matters, said Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution sent global shock waves by producing a country willing to challenge the U.S.

“The Islamic system (of Iran) detonated a powerful bomb in the world of politics, which was thousands-fold stronger than the bomb detonated by the U.S. in Hiroshima,” Iranian state TV quoted him as saying.

Khamenei’s comments came a week before U.S. and Iranian ambassadors are to meet in Baghdad to discuss the security situation in Iraq, providing one more reason to question whether the talks will be productive.

_

Associated Press Writer Nasser Karimi contributed to this report from Tehran.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1837663/posts

[Uncle Ike]

Good morning, Bahbah!!

Lebanon heating up...

Gaza heating up....

Lots of vaguely connected dots popping up elsewhere....

Looks like the dry spell has, at least temporarily, ended....

(Knitting sure picked a good time to drop outta sight.....)

[Bahbah]

Yes, indeed, things are popping.

Where there is Islam....

[WorkerbeeCitizen]

A dot? 30,000 barrels per day is nothing.

[WorkerbeeCitizen]

It does give Russia and Iran a place to meet in the middle.

[Uncle Ike]

Fox News ALERT!!!

“Israeli forces attack two Palestinian positions in Gaza”..

Didn’t specify whether air attack or ground incursion...

Nobody’s saying, but I’ve had the impression for the past couple of days that the IDF is on the ground in Gaza - which would put a whole new dimension into play......

[Bahbah]

As is sometimes said, this would change everything.

I have been worried about a two front assault in Israel, from Gaza and from Lebanon. While al-Qaeda is keeping the Lebanese army busy, what are the Hezzies up to? I haven’t seen or heard anything about that bunch.

[Uncle Ike]

” A dot? 30,000 barrels per day is nothing “

It’s the fact that Belarus has joined Iran’s little clique of “nasties” (also including NK, Syria, Venezuela, among others) that I would consider somewhat dot-worthy.......

(Don’t I remember something from years ago about how there was some doubt that Belarus had turned in all of its old Soviet nukes?)

[WorkerbeeCitizen]

That’s why I was so happy to see Jordan’s army taking out some of the mess up north.

[WorkerbeeCitizen]

"(Don’t I remember something from years ago about how there was some doubt that Belarus had turned in all of its old Soviet nukes?)"

hmmmmmm - thats not good.

[WorkerbeeCitizen]

Tagline change

[unionblue83]

There have been scattered reports of IDF armor in the northern part of GAza and I have to believe that the SPECOPS folks and Mossad are quite active in the Strip. However, I did just see that Olmerde has informed the Sderot residents that he will speed up the process of fortifying their homes. A de facto way of saying he doesn’t plan on stopping the rocketeers with brute force, as he should. Funny how the international community is not screaming and yelling about the plight of the poor palesimians in the refugee camps in Lebanon. The Lebanese army is using artillery to hit targets within the camp and I am sure that they are not considering collateral damage.

[Uncle Ike]

” Funny how the international community is not screaming “

I’ve noted, if not exactly documented, the “dog that didn’t bark” phenomenon during this current round of fighting...

Not sure what it mea

[unionblue83]

I have to believe that Belarus is using this as leverage against Moscow. The Belarussians have imposed hikes on the duties associated with oil transit through their territory again I believe and this is just one more way for them to get under Putin’s skin. Could be reading the tea leaves wrong though. Belarus is still entertaining the idea of linkage with Moscow although I don’t know how serious they are.

[Uncle Ike]

” Not sure what it mea “

Keyboard has gotten into the habit of going dead at random intervals — necessitating a reboot to reactivate.....

I hate when that happens.... ;~(

[WorkerbeeCitizen]

I know what you mea

[WorkerbeeCitizen]

ooppps :-)

[Uncle Ike]

” I have to believe that Belarus is using this as leverage against Moscow. “

Don’t exactly know what to make of it, myself... Iran is a quasi-client-state of Russia, and Belarus has a kind-of love-hate relationship with Russia....

Wheels within wheels within wheels.....

[Uncle Ike]

Wonder who’s gonna get the triple-zero....