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Top News Story Underreported US Senate Resolution on Iran reveals a lack of conviction DoctorZin:Last Friday, the day after millions of Iraqi's voted in an historic election, the US Senate passed a resolution condemning the recent alarming statements by Iran's President. Surprisingly, the mainstream media ignored the resolution while the international press has been avidly covering similar resolutions adopted by countries around the world. Unfortunately, the story behind the resolution revealed a disturbing lack of conviction by some in the US Senate. The resolution, authored by US Rick Santorum, was in his words "a mild condemnation" version of the...

Top News Story New Limits on Travel Abroad Adnkronos International:Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has issued a circular warning all ministers and state bodies that "no official may go abroad, on a mission or for personal reasons, without prior authorisation and without coordinating with the foreign ministry". In the circular, signed by the deputy president Parwiz Davoodi, no reason is given for the decision. "The aim is to avoid misunderstandings," a presidential source told the Iranian news agency Fars. Since the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last July, there has been an increasing flow of financial and human capital to neighbouring...

Top News Story What is behind Ahmadinejad’s anti-Israel remarks? Mehran Riazaty: a former Iran analyst for the Central Command of the Coalition Forces in Baghdad in the office of Strategic Communication. Ahmadinejad could not tie his shoe-laces without supports of powerful Ayatollahs such as Khamenei, Rafsanjani, Janati, Kashani, Mesbah Yazdi his mentor, and many others in Iran. The main question is why Ahmadinejad made these comments? These comments are not definitely made by accident. During Khatami’s presidency, Hassan Rohani, who used to be Iran’s Supreme National Security Chief, wrote a letter to him and explained Iran’s Political Strategy: Creating...

Top News Story Deutsche Presse-Agentur German Intelligence Warns That Iran Has New Missiles Deutsche Presse-Agentur:German intelligence believes Iran has now bought 18 longer-range missiles from North Korea, giving Teheran the capability to attack targets in central Europe, the German daily newspaper Bild reported Friday. The study by the foreign intelligence service BND said the BM-25 missiles were being purchased from Pyongyang in the form of kit sets. The mobile missiles, which are based on the Russian SS-N-6 missile for submarine launch, will have a nominal range of 2,500 kilometres. However it was possible to upgrade them to hit targets...

Top News Story Ministers of Murder: Iran's New Security Cabinet Human Rights Watch: Iran’s new Minister of Interior is implicated in grave human rights violations over the past two decades, possibly including crimes against humanity in connection with the massacre of thousands of political prisoners, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today. Human Rights Watch also said that the new Minister of Information should be investigated for his possible involvement in a dissident’s killing. The briefing paper, Ministers of Murder: Iran’s New Security Cabinet, details credible allegations that Minister of Interior Mustafa Pour-Mohammadi and Minister of...

Top News Story Denying the Holocaust for Political Advantage? Michael Scott Moore, Spiegel Online:Should Israel move to Alaska? Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad once again called for Israel to be moved on Wednesday. And this time, he went ahead and denied the Holocaust as well. But why? SPIEGEL ONLINE went to Iran expert Ali Ansari for answers. Once again, the international response was swift and unequivocal. "Shocking and totally unacceptable," said Germany's new foreign minister Franz-Walter Steinmeier. "Thank God Israel has the means to end the extremist regime in Iran," said Raanan Gissin, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon....

The President's National Strategy for Victory in Iraq is helping the Iraqi people defeat the terrorists and build an inclusive democratic state. We will help the Iraqi people build a new Iraq with a constitutional, representative government that respects civil rights and has security forces sufficient to maintain domestic order and keep Iraq from becoming a safe haven for terrorists. To achieve this end, we are pursuing a comprehensive approach that involves the integrated efforts of the entire United States Government, the Iraqi government, and Coalition governments, and encourages the active involvement of the United Nations, other international organizations, and...

Top News Story State Dept. Rules Out Guarantee on Iran Barry Schweid, The Associated Press:The Bush administration is ruling out a guarantee not to attack Iran to induce it to halt development of nuclear weapons. Iran must first act like a responsible member of the international community and stop violating its agreements, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Monday. "That would represent a sea change in its behavior," Ereli said. "Then maybe other kinds of notions might be more palatable." "But right now, I don't think people should be asking the United States, 'Why don't you do this or...

Our Goal is Victory December 14th, 2005 As Iraqis, in the latest of their heroic achievements, began voting for a permanent constitution and government, President George W. Bush delivered a speech Monday in the birthplace of America's constitution, Philadelphia.  It was the  latest in a series of speeches detailing the administration's Victory in Iraq strategy, which rests upon three "pillars" – security, economic, political.  Yesterday, President Bush explained its political pillar. He began by reminding Americans of the turbulent period of our Revolution, that "the eight years from the end of the Revolutionary War to the election of a constitutional...

On Special Report with Brit Hume on Fox News, 13 December, 2005, Senator Joe Biden (D, Delaware) said the following in reply to President Bush’s third policy speech on Iraq in Philadelphia yesterday: “Failure to get a consensus constitution spells doom for our policy in Iraq. So what is the plan, Mr. President? That is still lacking.” After saying that means participation by the UN, NATO, and Iraq’s neighbors, Biden added: “If this time next year nothing has changed concerning in terms of our success rate, we will be out of Iraq. The American people will not sustain this.” The...

WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - As Iraq prepared for its election, President George W. Bush on Wednesday vowed the United States will stay in Iraq "until victory is achieved" and he defended his decision to go to war. Bush gave the fourth in a series of speeches that the White House has used to try to explain his administration's strategy amid a drumbeat of criticism from Democrats who say Bush does not have a plan on Iraq. "An historic election will take place tomorrow in Iraq, and as millions of Iraqis prepare cast their ballots, I want to talk today...

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Please be seated. Thank you for the warm welcome. I'm delighted to be here with the men and women of the Wilson Center. According to your mission statement, the Center was created to bring together two groups -- political leaders and scholars. I see some of the political leaders who are here, and I presume you've invited me to uphold the scholars' end. I've come to discuss an issue of vital importance to the American people, and that is: Victory in the war on terror. On September the 11th, 2001, our nation awoke to...

Top News Story State Department: Iran's referral to UNSC "just a matter of time" The Jerusalem Post:Reporting Iran to the UN Security Council for defiantly pressing ahead with its suspect nuclear program is just a matter of time, a senior US State Department official suggested Monday. "Clearly our patience is limited. We're now talking 'when' or 'how' rather than 'whether' we will report them to the Security Council," which has the power to slap Iran with sanctions, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue with journalists. Iran is engaged...

In a landmark speech before a most friendly audience at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis on Nov. 30, President George Bush repeated a familiar mantra. His pronouncements were crafty and political, yet were concerned neither with the plight of Iraqis nor of the Americans, bogged down in a war that simply cannot be won. Bush vowed to stay the course, that of "complete victory"; however, his "National Strategy for Victory" — highlighted in his 30-minute speech and devised in a large document made available by his administration — failed to adhere to the most basic rules of integrity, even...

Top News Story Israel readies forces for strike on nuclear Iran Uzi Mahnaimi, Tel Aviv, and Sarah Baxter, Washington ISRAEL’S armed forces have been ordered by Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, to be ready by the end of March for possible strikes on secret uranium enrichment sites in Iran, military sources have revealed. The order came after Israeli intelligence warned the government that Iran was operating enrichment facilities, believed to be small and concealed in civilian locations. Iran’s stand-off with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over nuclear inspections and aggressive rhetoric from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, who...

IS RETREAT FROM--or withdrawal from--or defeat in--Iraq inevitable? Almost all opponents of the Bush administration say it is. As Rep. Jack Murtha put it in mid-November, when demanding the "immediate redeployment of U.S. troops" consistent with their safety, "The United States cannot accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily. It is time to bring the troops home." This was echoed more recently by Democratic chief Howard Dean: "The idea that we're going to win this war is an idea that, unfortunately, is just plain wrong." Advocates of withdrawal point to continuing attacks on coalition and Iraqi targets and to the steady,...

Victory in Iraq can be declared when there is an elected representative government in place that controls Iraqi security forces of sufficient strength and experience to prevent Islamic fundamentalists from gaining control of the nation by force of arms.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12, 2005 – Iraq's parliamentary elections later this week represent another major step forward that supports Iraq's long-term stability and the U.S. strategy for victory there, President Bush said today at the World Affairs Council in Philadelphia. Bush called the elections a major milestone in fulfilling the three-part strategy for victory that addresses security, economic and political efforts. The president released details of the national strategy Nov. 30 and has delivered several major speeches during the past two weeks focusing on its specific aspects. Today, three days before Iraq's national elections, Bush focused on Iraq's political progress and...

Top News Story Iranian Ayatollah Supports His President The Jerusalem Post:Iran's supreme ruler came out in support of his maligned president on Saturday, who created an international storm by demanding Israel be moved to Europe and casting doubt on whether the Holocaust happened. "The unusual sensitivity of Zionists and their American supporters toward Iran's stance over the Zionist state reveals their increased weakness and fear about the level of attention given by Islamic nations to the Palestinian issue," state-run Iranian radio quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying. "Despite the Zionist's campaign, the struggle against the occupiers has become an...

Top News Story Iran’s strategic role in the Islamic world Mehr News:Iran’s active participation at the third extraordinary summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which was held last week in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, once again showed that the Islamic Republic of Iran always has strategies to resolve the impasses the Islamic world faces from time to time. Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and his delegation offered a series of proposals at the December 7-8 summit that drew the attention of Islamic leaders. Ahmadinejad proposed establishing an Islamic common market, an Islamic rapid reaction military force to respond...