Report: Israel adds nukes to its submarines
By JPOST.COM STAFF
According to a recent report in the Los Angeles Times, Israel has modified American-supplied cruise missiles to carry nuclear warheads on submarines, giving it the ability to launch atomic weapons from land, air and beneath the sea, senior US and Israeli officials were quoted on Saturday by the paper.
"The previously undisclosed submarine capability bolsters Israel's deterrence in the event that Iran develops nuclear weapons," the LA Times report said.
Two Bush administration officials described the missile modification and an Israeli official confirmed it. All three spoke on condition their names not be disclosed, the paper added.
The Americans said they were disclosing the information to caution "Israel's enemies at a time of heightened tensions in the region and concern over Iran's alleged ambitions."
Israel will not confirm or deny that it possesses nuclear arms.
According to the LA Times, "the consensus in the U.S. intelligence community and among outside experts is that Israel, with possibly 200 nuclear weapons, has the fifth- or sixth-largest arsenal in the world."
In 1999 Israel bought and received three Dolphin-class diesel submarines from Germany. With a traveling range of 4,500 kilometers, these vessels have the ability to launch cruise missiles, and can remain at sea for up to a month.
The attempt to arm them with nuclear missiles was first disclosed in a book published in June 2002 by the Carnegie Endowment. The Washington Post published an article about the effort a few days later.
The LA Times reported that recent interviews with officials in Washington and Tel Aviv provided the first confirmation that Israel can now deliver nuclear weapons from beneath the sea.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1065862092398
Iranian Women See Ebadi As Feminist Force By BRIAN MURPHY
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TEHRAN, Iran
Nine years ago, sociologist Saeed Madeni was jailed for three months for writing an article about Shirin Ebadi's campaign for women's rights.
"Feminism was considered as bad as atheism at that time," Madeni said Saturday, a day after Ebadi became the surprise winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Some limits on Iranian women have been rolled back since Madeni's arrest. But Ebadi's new international stature is considered a powerful tool to strike at more barriers - including laws that stripped Ebadi, Iran's first women judge, of her right to preside in court.
"This is an important moment for Iranian women," said Madeni, a researcher at a state-funded institute. "It could be a real turning point. I think Iranian reformers always expected a man to lead them, but it turns out differently."
The Norwegian Nobel Committee's selection of the relatively unknown lawyer-activist over others, including Pope John Paul II, was widely interpreted as a message to the Islamic world to expand women's roles on all levels.
"I am so happy I can't control myself," said Parvin Ardalan, an activist who has often joined Ebadi in challenges of Iran's ruling clerics. "This prize will push the Iranian women's movement to a brighter future."
The 1979 Islamic Revolution wiped out the Western-style of life and ambitions that were available to Iranian women. But even the most conservative clerics recognized that Iran's culture would not tolerate the heavy restrictions imposed in nations such as Saudi Arabia.
Slowly, Iranian women have made advances as the theocracy answers to the influence of reformers. The clerics have ceded ground on social issues, while making no concessions that would erode their political power.
The 290-member parliament has 11 women. Earlier this month, Iran's first women police officers joined the force.
Rules on the required coverings for women in public have been eased: hair pours out from under head scarves and the formless coat, known as the manteau, once favored by Iranian women has been largely replaced by shorter and tailored knee-length coverings.
But many doors remain closed.
A woman needs her husband's permission to work or travel abroad, and a man's court testimony is considered twice as important as a woman's.
Jobs such as judge and posts with the ruling inner circle are for men only. The powerful Guardian Council, which vets political candidates and interprets laws, has indicated women are barred from becoming president. But that interpretation could be challenged by Ebadi's supporters if momentum builds for her candidacy to succeed President Mohammad Khatami in 2005.
Ebadi has argued for a new interpretation of Islamic law that embraces democracy and equality before the law.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan saw a direct connection between the Nobel decision and demands for a greater voice for women.
"I hope this award will also underscore the importance of expanding human rights throughout the world and also how women speak out and insist on their rights," Annan said Friday.
The new Nobel laureate is scheduled to return to Tehran from Paris on Tuesday. Khatami's office - which has praised the award - said top government envoys would greet her.
The response from the hard-liners controlling the real power has ranged from indifference to harsh denunciations.
Conservative newspapers either ignored the news or published small items - in contrast to the banner headlines in the reformist press. State radio and television mentioned Ebadi at the tail end of their broadcasts.
"The prize is a support for secular movements, and against the ideals of the 1979 Islamic revolution," said Hamid Reza Taraqi, a former lawmaker and member of the hard-line Islamic Coalition Society.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-me/2003/oct/11/101104565.html