THE AXIS OF EVIL: Here's Some More Information (Long Read, But Worth It!)

Geostrategy Direct.com ^ | 14 Feb 03 | Geostrategy Direct

[11B3]

China's new space launcher is also its newest strategic missile

China’s military is developing advanced weapons, including their newest strategic missile, the DF-31A. The missile was showcased as a mobile space launcher at the recent Zuhai Air Show in southern China.

China's DF-31 ICBMs on parade in Beijing.

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"The new 12,000 km range mobile DF-31A may be ready well before the projected 2010 date, if one takes as given the Chinese company's assertion that its space-launch vehicle (SLV) analogue will be ready by 2005, said China specialist Richard Fisher, who attended the Zhuhai show.

"And as the SLV can carry three payloads, the DF-31A may turn out to be a 3-warhead ICBM. This new survivable ICBM can be viewed as the PRC's response to the Bush Administration's missile defense plans."

China until now has not added multiple warheads to its strategic missile force, which consists of about 20 long-range ICBMs and scores of intermediate-range missiles.

Fisher said the Chinese military is "quickly developing a new family of space-launch vehicles based on the DF-31A and DF-31 ICBMs, and the DF-21 intermediate-range ballistic missile."

"These will be mobile space launch vehicles, which is what is needed if you are going to launch anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons," he said. Fisher also believes the space launchers will be used by the Chinese to develop a new series of very small military satellites. "So any U.S. plan to develop anti-satellite weapons is already being countered by the PLA," he added.

Another key revelation from the annual air show is that the Chinese military has begun modifying older H-6 bombers to carry four cruise missiles. The old Tupulov-16 aircraft could be used for China’s land attack cruise missile, which has been tested.

China also displayed its first radar imaging satellite. By 2010 the Chinese will have deployed four new radar imaging satellites and four electro-optical photographic satellites, Fisher said. The satellites are based on Russian technology.

"These will enable precise targeting for PLA missiles and strike aircraft, and very likely provide targeting data for the PRC's client states," Fisher noted.

Possibility Iraq has obtained N. Korean missiles worries West

Britain and the United States are concerned that Iraq has secretly purchased intermediate-range missiles from North Korea. If Saddam's regime does have such missiles, it could change the treat from regional to international.

While neither London nor Washington has reported hard evidence of a North Korean missile sale to Baghdad, Western diplomatic sources said North Korea has intensified contacts with Iraq regarding military sales over the last 18 months.

Pyongyang has discussed the sale of No-Dong intermediate-range missiles with other countries in the Middle East, including Egypt, Iran, Libya and Syria. The key concern is whether Iraq has already obtained such missiles from North Korea.

"The question boils down to, has Iraq managed to smuggle one or several No-Dongs to Iraq," a diplomatic source said. "That could change the Iraqi threat from being regional to international."

Both Britain and the United States have concluded that Iraq has limited missile capability. Intelligence reports assert that Iraq will not have intermediate-range capability before 2007.

But a report on missile defense released last week by the British parliament's Select Committee on Defence warns that those assessments do not take into account the surprise of a No-Dong missile in Iraqi hands. The report, quoting a British Defence Ministry study, said North Korea seeks to sell No-Dong missiles to clients throughout the Middle East.

Iraq "would probably not be able to produce a longer-range missile with a range of over 1,000 kilometers before 2007, and while such a missile could target British interests in Cyprus it could not be used against mainland UK," the House of Commons report said.

"The MoD's analysis warns, however, that this prognosis could be rapidly invalidated were Iraq to acquire missiles or technology from North Korea," the report states.

The British parliamentary report was issued after the committee returned from the United States for talks with the Bush administration on missile defense. The United States has asked London for use of the British air force base at Fylingdales for an early-warning radar to detect missile launches from Iran, Iraq or Libya. The committee said it supports the U.S. request.

[On Feb. 5, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told the United Nations Security Council that Iraq has developed and produced medium-range missiles and is working on intermediate-range missiles. Powell said this includes the development of liquid-fuel missiles with a range of up to 1,200 kilometers.]

"While inspectors destroyed most of the prohibited ballistic missiles, numerous intelligence reports over the past decade from sources inside Iraq indicate that Saddam Hussein retains a covert force of up to a few dozen Scud-variant ballistic missiles," Powell said. "These are missiles with a range of 650 to 900 kilometers."

"North Korea has the technology needed to develop ballistic missiles of intercontinental range," the report stated. "A particular cause for concern is the fact that North Korea appears to be willing to sell its missiles to any country prepared to pay for them. Were a country in the Middle East or North Africa to acquire a complete long-range ballistic missile system, a capability to target the UK accurately could emerge within the next few years."

The report lists Iran, Iraq, Libya and Syria as possessing current or potential long-range missile capability. The committee warns that North Korea could become an imminent missile threat to Britain if Pyongyang successfully develops the Taepo Dong-2 missile with an estimated range of 8,600 kilometers.

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No U.S. official wants to discuss North Korean missile sales to Egypt

The Bush administration has remained mum on evidence that North Korea has sold missile components to Egypt.

Senior administration officials and spokesmen refused to discuss documents found by Slovakian authorities indicating that Egypt purchased missile components from North Korea despite U.S. objections. The documents marked the first time evidence was released of such cooperation, long maintained by the CIA and other Western intelligence services.

"I don't know anything about that, and even if I did, I wouldn't give you an anwer," Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelley said last week.

Officials and diplomatic sources said the U.S. does not want to pressure Egypt while Bush is seeking to win Arab support for a war against Iraq. Egypt remains a key partner in Middle East stability and counter-terrorism efforts despite serious differences between Cairo and Washington on foreign policy and proliferation issues.

The Wall Street Journal reported Feb. 6 that North Korea had sold millions of dollars worth of missile components to an Egyptian military facility. The report was based on documents that included bills of lading, packing lists and invoices uncovered by Slovakian authorities in a Bratislava apartment rented by a North Korean couple, one of whom was a former senior North Korean diplomat.

Between 1999 and 2001, more than $10 million of products was ordered and shipped from North Korea to Egypt, including chemicals, trucks, pumps, measuring devices, a high-speed camera and heavy vehicle parts obtained from such countries as Belarus, China and Russia.

"No one wants to talk about the subject," said Wendy Sherman, a former State Department coordinator on North Korea. "I doubt if anybody will."

Congressional leaders evidently have decided not to press the issue of Egyptian-North Korean missile cooperation. The subject was raised only once in open hearings last year.

Washington is prepared to increase aid to Egypt in an effort to expand military and security cooperation, officials said. The administration plans to expand security cooperation in March when both countries launch a joint working group on counter-terrorism.

An Egyptian delegation led by presidential adviser Osama El Baz met administration officials and congressional leaders last week. The two sides were said to have discussed Iraq as well as the expansion of Egyptian-U.S. cooperation and aid.

Assistant Secretary of State William Burns reviewed the administration's assessment of Egyptian-U.S. relations in an address to the Foreign Policy Dialogue on Feb. 6. Burns, who did not refer to the Wall Street Journal report, said that more $25 billion in U.S. military aid since 1980 has produced a high level of interoperability between the armed forces of the two countries. He cited the heavy U.S. use of Egypt's Suez Canal for the war in Afghanistan and the current military buildup against Iraq.

"Billions of dollars of U.S. military assistance over the last 22 years have helped Egypt modernize and downsize its armed forces, shedding its Soviet-style structure and equipment and developing an unprecedented level of interoperability with the U.S. military," Burns said.

Egypt, Libya hide WMD programs in tunnels along their border

For years, Egypt has been engaged in missile and weapons of mass destruction programs with countries such as Iraq and North Korea. The problem was that CIA had difficulty uncovering these programs.

Now, after years of searching, the CIA has come up with the reason.

Egypt has devised a concealment and deception program that exceeds that of North Korea's, intelligence operatives say. Many of the Egyptian missile and WMD programs are based in the Sahara and huge Western deserts between Egypt and Libya.

The two countries have built a series of tunnels along the Egyptian-Libyan border. The tunnels conceal development and production of North Korean missiles and nuclear weapons components from the prying eyes of Israeli and U.S. spy satellites.

Who built the tunnel network? North Korea, of course. Pyongyang used its expertise in digging its way to South Korea for the Egyptian and Libyan concealment and deception program.

North Korea is currently working on a mega-tunnel project through Libya. Thousands of North Korean workers are building a reinforced concrete tunnel that is 1,300 feet underground and can't be destroyed even by U.S. nuclear weapons. Or, at least that is the hope by Egypt and the Libyans.

The presence of so many North Korean as well as Filipinos in Libya has not been easy to hide. That's where the deception comes in. Libyan ruler Moammar Khaddafy has told Western guests that the laborers are going to build a 2,000-mile tunnel from Egypt to Tunisia in what the colonel calls the "Great Man-Made River Project."

Quietly, U.S. officials have probed Egypt for information on the project. Egyptian officials, who have stymied every U.S. investigation on Iraqi- or North Korean-linked WMD programs, have shrugged their shoulders.

By the way, Egypt expects a huge increase in economic and military aid from the United States in 2003.

China helping Iran develop anti-ship cruise missiles . . .

China and Iran have joined forces to develop a sea-based cruise missile for the Islamic republic.

The project includes the development and production of Chinese anti-ship cruise missiles. Both a short- and long-range missile are being planned.

Industry sources said the project seeks to build upon Iran's procurement of C-802 and FL-10 cruise missiles. The C-802, directed by inertial and active radar, has a range of 120 kilometers and a warhead of 165 kilograms.

China has also exported its C-801 to Iran REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

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China has a shorter-range C-801 with a range of 40 kilometers.

Over the last few years, China has transferred to Iran the FL-10 anti-ship cruise missile with a range of about 40 kilometers. Iran wants to develop a longer-range version of the system with Chinese help, the sources said.

The joint venture is focused on the state-owned Iranian Aerospace Industries Organization and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp. A subsidiary of China Aerospace subsidiary, China National Precision Machinery Import and Export produces the C-802 and 801.

Details of the joint venture remain sketchy. Industry sources said Iran has launched a series of identical projects under a variety of names.

In 1998, Iran unveiled a derivative of the Chinese-origin C-701, with a range of 15 kilometers. Later, Iran was reported to have obtained the turbojet-powered, sea-skimming C-802 from China.

Iran also claimed to have produced and deployed a version of China's FL-6 anti-ship missile. The FL-6 is said to be a shorter-range and older version of the FL-10.

Iranian commanders said Teheran has significantly bolstered its navy over the last few years in an effort to deny the United States access to Iran's territorial waters, particularly in the Straits of Hormuz. Teheran has obtained the Kilo-class diesel submarine from Russia and produced the so-called midget submarines for sabotage operations against U.S. warships.

The Washington Times reported that Iran obtained 15 gunboats from North Korea late last year. The newspaper said the gunboats included Taedong semi-submersibles vessels that move just below the surface of the water and carry two 32 centimeter torpedoes.

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. . . And a solid-fuel missile program

Iran has opened a facility to produce solid-fuel for missiles and rockets.

Western diplomatic sources said China has been a leading contributor to Iran's solid-fuel missile program. The assertion was echoed in a CIA report on weapons of mass destruction proliferation.

Officials did not provide details of the plant, which opened February 9. But they said the facility would manufacture solid-fuel for a range of Iranian missiles.

"This solid fuel could be used for any kind of missile," Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani said at the inauguration ceremony.

Last year, Iran completed the first launch of the Fateh-110A solid-fuel missile. The test was regarded as successful and demonstrated a missile with a range reported at more than 200 kilometers.

In January, Iranian television broadcast a report on the Fateh-110A, developed by the state-owned Iranian Aerospace Industries Organization. It described the missile as a single-stage solid-fueled projectile with a range of more than 200 kilometers. The television said the Fateh has a circular error of probability of 100 meters.

The Fateh is regarded as the start of an Iranian solid-fuel missile program that would include medium- and intermediate-range missiles. Iran has been developing a solid-fuel version of the Shihab-3 intermediate-range missile.

At the same time, Iran has detailed new developments in its nuclear program. Officials said Iran is ready to process uranium in a new plant in Isfahan.

Iranian Atomic Energy Agency chief Gholamreza Aqazadeh told Iranian television on Jan. 10 that a second nuclear plant would enrich uranium in Kashan. Aqazadeh said Teheran wants to obtain the capability to complete the entire fuel nuclear cycle. This would begin with mining uranium to enriching the metal and then processing spent fuel from Iranian reactors.

"We have had very good success from the viewpoint of having access to the knowledge of enriching and getting scientific control on this issue," he said. "But we still have a long way to go to have this [uranium enrichment] plant come onstream."

In Washington, U.S. officials said Iran's announcement that it is mining uranium is consistent with their assessment that Teheran intends to produce nuclear weapons. The officials said mining uranium is more expensive than imports from Russia, which is constructing the Bushehr nuclear reactor.

"Iran's admission that it's been mining uranium when Russia has agreed to provide all the uranium fuel for the lifetime of the Bushehr raises serious questions about Iran's supposedly peaceful nuclear program," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. "Iran's ambitious and costly pursuit of a complete nuclear fuel cycle only makes sense if it's in support of a nuclear weapons program."

[11B3]

I'd have posted this in 'excerpt' form, but these pages are subscription content.

This goes to show more about our enemies - and shows quite well that China leads the Axis of Evil. They're everywhere on earth doing whatever it takes to bring us down by supplying our foes. It's time that this country wakes up to that fact. Stop buying Chinese made merchandise. NOW.

[WatchNKorea]

Thank you for this post. Bookmarked. Bttt

[WatchNKorea]

"...and shows quite well that China leads the Axis of Evil. They're everywhere on earth doing whatever it takes to bring us down by supplying our foes."

Everywhere, including... the Panama Canal!

[WatchNKorea]

Why We Must Act Before It Is Too Late (IRAQ AND NORTH KOREA AND PANAMA CANAL)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/830757/posts?page=49

[WatchNKorea]

Chinese soldiers in the Panama Canal! LIVE Webcam! - Thread #5
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/552412/posts

[HighRoadToChina]

Thank you! Great post!

[meenie]

China is the two ton gorilla in the problems we have with both NK and Iraq. While we are distracted with Iraq, China is setting us up for a real showdown with NK. China and Russia have technology that is as good as ours. The reason; our companies have provided them with all the technology we have plus they have acquired the best that Russia has to offer.

We have willingly financed their military expansion by our huge trade imbalance. We better climb down off our only remaining super-power ego and realize that we are in a battle for our life with the forces that are arrayed against us. China and Russia are not our friends or competitors, they are our enemies. When are the powers that be going to realize this?

[11B3]

Please help get the word out on China (and Russia as well). We certainly can blame Clinton for giving the Chinese so much of our defense research, but now it's just going to take the fortitude to take them out before they get too big.

Granted, we as a nation don't like war - and only fight for our survival as a nation. The current campaign in Afghanistan and the upcoming one in Iraq are just that. China, OTOH, sits at the top of the Axis of Evil. Laughing at us for sending them all the money to take our nation down forever. We can't sit back and pay them to eliminate us.

One way to go about it peacefully would be to impose heavy trade tariffs on all Chinese imports into the US - bringing our trade with them into complete balance. Not only would that help our economy and budget, but also it would stagnate the growth of the Chinese economy. If they don't achieve 7% growth each year, their unemployment skyrockets. As it is, their population is generally agrarian in nature (unskilled) - but they are working to fix this. By shutting their economy down, their leaders would be facing revolution in short order. We need to make that happen in China as well as Iran.

[Spruce]

Do not buy Chinese

[Lion's Cub]

Considering our analysts have consistently been several years behind in their estimates, I think we have a problem. It seems to me that they were estimating a five year window when Pakistan launched theirs...

I would not be surprised if all these rogue states now have a few. Put them together with China's supposed "handful", and they add up to a lot. Figure in Russia's, and we've got one heck of a mess.

[MissAmericanPie]

Instead of begging Germany for subs for Tiawan we should be flooding the oceans with our missile carrying subs, building hydrogen bombs like crazy and putting up a missile defense system.

But I fear that Ben Laden was right about a few things, like our lack of will, and the decadance of liberals. The very idea of us going hat in hand to the U.N. for permission to defend ourselves, and leaving our borders unprotected, makes the case for a very short U.S. history book.

[Happy2BMe]

"Everywhere, including... the Panama Canal!"

You know, we would be petrified in knowing how true this statement is.

Look at the $240 million the Dimrats got caught taking from communist China. That show you how badly infiltrated they are into the Dimrat party. It also show you how bad they want the Dims in power.

The mind-numbing part of that story is not the $240 million in RED CHINESE HUSH MONEY, but the fact it is NO BIG DEAL from either party, the press, the media, and now the BRAIN-WASHED SHEEPLES!

Both my Republican and Dimrat reps each telll me when I complain about the degree of Chinese goods and commodities flooding our markets the same thing - WE CANNOT RESTRICT FREE TRADE

Translated: WE (BOTH THE DIMS AND PUBBIES) ARE MAKING TOO MUCH MONEY NOW TO CARE ABOUT YOU PEONS OR OUR NATIONAL SECURITY.

Bah! - You say. It's true - don't have time to go into it now. Even Dubya sent his dad back to China in 2001 to smooth trade relations - true story.

Our goose is cooking very nicely in the Chinese Wok.

TEST: Look back over the past year at the range of product you have bought (from furniture to appliances to computer products to clothing) and recall what proportion of those were made in China.

ANSWER: Over 85%.

HINT: Carter did NOT just give away the Panama Canal on his own authority - he was TOLD to do it.

"Ha Ha - AmeriKans So Cwazy! (snort-snort)" All their spyprane are berong to us!

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.."IS it SAFE?" = HILLARY on Armed Serivces Committee..

http://www.TheAlamoFILM.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629

[Joy Angela]

bump

[goldilucky]

morning bump!

[goldilucky]

bump this post!

[WatchNKorea]

"China is setting us up for a real showdown with NK."

I believe so too.
bttt

[WatchNKorea]

bttt

[WatchNKorea]

"...impose heavy trade tariffs on all Chinese imports into the US - bringing our trade with them into complete balance."

ASAP !

[WatchNKorea]

Well said MAP:
"...the decadance of liberals.
The very idea of us going hat in hand
to the U.N. for permission to defend ourselves,
and leaving our borders unprotected, makes the
case for a very short U.S. history book."