Headlines for 04-25-08

U.S. Weighing Readiness for Military Action Against Iran The nation's top military officer said yesterday that the Pentagon is planning for "potential military courses of action" as one of several options against Iran, criticizing what he called the Tehran government's "increasingly lethal and malign influence" in Iraq.


Iranian interference a source of growing concern: military chief
Making the case for war.


US found date-stamped Iranian weapons in Iraq: report Making the case for war.



U.N. Nuclear Watchdog In 'Milestone' Iran Deal The U.N. nuclear monitoring agency on Wednesday announced a "milestone" agreement with Iran that aims to provide answers about allegations Tehran tried to develop nuclear weapons under cover of a peaceful atomic program.


Iran reportedly says no confrontation with U.S. in Gulf Iran on Friday denied there had been any confrontation between its forces and a U.S. ship in the Gulf, Iranian media reported, after a U.S. official said a ship contracted by the U.S Military Sealift Command fired on an Iranian vessel. It was an OPEC boat, methinks. Note what happened after this 'news' came out.


Senators want oil linked to arms deal A group of senators pressed President Bush on Thursday to halt billions of dollars in sophisticated arms sales to Saudi Arabia and several other Gulf oil producers unless they agree to pump more petroleum, reflecting growing frustration in Congress over soaring energy costs. About time.


Is US Trying To Force Nuke Standoff? U.S. claims that North Korea may have assisted in developing a covert nuclear reactor in Syria could be a bid by White House hardliners to derail talks with Pyongyang and force confrontation, says CNN?s Christiane Amanpour.


Is an Attack on Iran Imminent? According to former U.N. chief weapons inspector Scott Ritter, the Pentagon has contracted for additional bunker-buster bombs and planes that carry them. Delivery is due this month.


UN targets US over delay in Syrian nuclear evidence Why did it take the CIA seven months to reveal this information to Congress? ....Is there any directevidence of North Koreans actually at the site? The photograph of the Syrian and North Korean nuclear scientists was taken at another location.....Why did Israel act unilaterally to destroy the site before IAEA inspectors had a chance to visit?


US Syria claims raise wider doubts Perhaps mindful of the mistakes of the past, the ten-minute video released by the Bush administration in an effort to prove the Syria-North Korea connection is less ambitious and more focussed. It uses still images which, it is claimed, were taken inside the facility during its construction. There is of course no independent way to verify this.
This video was, according to Haaretz, provided by ISRAEL.


Many states appear to be in recession as deficits grow Hey I know - let's attack Iran. BRILLIANT.


UPDATE 8-Oil rises to $119 on U.S., Iran tensions


Clinton stakes new ground on confronting nuclear Iran While Israeli officials and pro-Israel activists in the United States stress the need to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, many of them also share Clinton's view that Iran's theocracy may be sensitive to threats of massive military strikes and long for explicit declarations along the lines issued by the New York senator.


Syria accuses U.S. of aiding Israel in strike on nuke facility According to a report by The Washington Post on its Web site Thursday, the U.S. has video footage - which the report says was obtained by Israel - that shows that the similarities in design between the Syrian site and the North Korean nuclear reactor in Yongbyon. The key words here being - 'obtained by Israel'. We are still relying on Israel to provide us with 'intelligence', to our own detriment.


Dyer: America benefits little from its alliance with Israel


Syrian Ambassador to U.S. Says CIA Fabricated Photo Evidence of Nuclear Reactor


Syrian vows to cooperate with IAEA over US nuclear charges


Pollard's Ghost There are likely numerous others like Kadish still in prominent positions in and around the government as we speak. That's the scary part. Most are not tied to any organizations and act on their own - because they have a passionate attachment to Israel.


Israelis split on keeping Golan


Cheney camp 'behind Syrian reactor claim' "Everything I'm hearing from my own sources in Washington is that what you have now is a kind of push back by Vice-President [Dick] Cheney and his office and other hardliners who are opposed to diplomatic dealings with North Korea," he said. One more time, Israel provided us with the video.


IAEA Slams US On Syria Bombing; Will Probe Reactor Report Carefully "The Director General deplores the fact that this information was not provided to the Agency in a timely manner, in accordance with the Agency's responsibilities under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to enable it to verify its veracity and establish the facts," ElBaradei's office said. Additionally, "the Director General views the unilateral use of force by Israel as undermining the due process of verification that is at the heart of the non-proliferation regime," it said.


An Act Of War - Interview: Seymour Hersh Seymour Hersh, one of the world's best known investigative journalists, has turned his attention to the mysterious and controversial bombing of a Syrian facility by Israel last year.


Cluster bomb left from 2006 war wounds 4 children in S. Lebanon


Syria says nothing to hide over alleged atomic reactor Syria's UN envoy has said Damascus is "not afraid" to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog, which has pledged to look into whether Syria secretly built an atomic reactor with North Korean help.


Syrian Nukes: the Phantom Menace Cirincione told the BBC that "This appears to be the work of a small group of officials leaking cherry-picked, unvetted 'intelligence' to key reporters in order to promote a preexisting political agenda." The preexisting political agenda may be promoting a war with Syria and/or Iran, or torpedoing negotiations between the US and North Korea. Finally, Cirincione adds ominously "If this sounds like the run-up to the war with Iraq, then it should."



Rice to make trip to Britain, Israel, West Bank US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to Britain, Israel and the West Bank for talks on Iran's nuclear program, Kosovo and Middle East peace efforts, the State Department said Friday.