공지사항
-
- '노란봉투'캠페인/국제연대..
- no chr.!
4909개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
Hamas swaps bullets for ballots in attempt to sweep away old guard
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1688818,00.html
Islamist movement poised to be the second largest party and win Gaza outright
Wednesday January 18, 2006
The Guardian
"The police told us we were Hamas. We told them we are Change and Reform. We went around and around. They wanted us to admit we were Hamas so they could charge us, but we didn't," said Sheikh Abu Teir.
The police would not have found it very difficult to have made the link. Sheikh Abu Teir was released from prison six months ago after the latest stint of a total of 25 years in Israeli jails for serving in Hamas's armed wing, for membership of a terrorist organisation and distributing weapons.
But locking up Hamas candidates - about a quarter are in Israeli jails - only bolsters their credibility among Palestinian voters, who generally see all security prisoners as political martyrs. It has helped fuel Hamas's surge in the polls to close to 40% of the vote, only marginally less than the establishment Fatah led by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. And the gap is closing.
After the election, the Islamist movement is almost certain to be the second largest party in the Palestinian parliament, and to win outright in the Gaza strip. That presents a dilemma for Israel, and the US and Europe, which must decide how to deal with an organisation they call terrorist but that has evident electoral support.
But it also poses a problem for Hamas, which has to define its role within a system built around a negotiated peace deal with a country the Islamist movement refuses to recognise.
To compete in the elections, Hamas has largely retreated from "armed resistance" - its strategy of murdering civilians in suicide bombings and shooting soldiers - in favour of a political pragmatism some Palestinian analysts believe will make it difficult for Hamas to return to a sustained violent campaign.
The Hamas manifesto hinted at the change when it left out any reference to the call in the group's founding charter for the destruction of the Jewish state.
"We were political since day one but the armed resistance was at the forefront," said Sheikh Abu Teir. "Now we studied the situation and we read the situation. There was a truce that ended at the beginning of this month and there is still quiet by us. That doesn't mean the possibility of resistance is ended but a political decision was made that political work is superseding the military work. That means we are investing in the present situation to the maximum."
Hamas boycotted the last Palestinian parliamentary election 10 years ago on the grounds that the Oslo peace accords were a surrender of Islamic lands, and menaced electors by declaring that anyone who voted was defying God.
But afterwards it increasingly infiltrated the political scene, building popular support by providing myriad social services as ordinary Palestinians grew increasingly disillusioned with the corruption and mismanagement of Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority.
The decision to capitalise on burgeoning popular support among Palestinians increasingly weary of violence was not unanimous in Hamas, and Sheikh Abu Tier says the organisation's prisoners in Israeli jails were instrumental in deciding that it should run for election. "The prisoners tipped the balance in favour of political participation. They are well educated. Many are professors, engineers, doctors. That was the result of vision. They were a decisive factor and I was one of them in favour," he said.
Hamas did well in local elections last year and bolstered its support in the run-up to next week's vote with a reputation for efficient, clean government in the towns it now governs, such as Qalqilya and Beit Hanoun.
"I was called in for interrogation in Jerusalem," said Sheikh Abu Tier. "The [Israeli] interrogator said to me: you people have credibility with the people. This is the testimony of the enemy."
But the rapid growth in political support for Hamas leaves it with the dilemma of whether to go into government with Fatah led by Mr Abbas, who is committed to negotiation over armed resistance and a state built on the occupied territories with no claim to Israel.
"We are going to decide whether to join the government according to its programme," said Mahmoud al-Zahar, one of the most prominent Hamas leaders in the occupied territories. "Our aim is not to cooperate with the Israelis economically, politically, socially, on security. They are the enemy. They killed our people. They are responsible for the long-standing suffering of the Palestinian people. So how can we cooperate with them?"
Sheikh Abu Teir says the continued rejection of cooperation excludes the possibility of negotiations. "The PLO negotiated with them for years and recognised them, and what did it get the Palestinians?" he said. "When Abbas says the platform for negotiations is Oslo, we all know who destroyed Oslo. What happened after 2000 [and the outbreak of the second intifada] destroyed everything that went before it."
But for all the insistence on both sides that it would be impossible to work together, Israeli officials and the military and Hamas mayors and councillors are already cooperating in the administration of towns such as Qalqilya. Israeli officials are privately admiring of the elected Hamas leaders they deal with, regarding them as being efficient and businesslike. Dr Zahar said that if Hamas were to win the election, and in a position to determine the Palestinian government's policy, it would look to the Arab world. He said the aim would not be to fight Israel but to ignore it.
"We have to run very effective self-defence and take responsibility economically, politically and socially through cooperation with the Arabs, not with the Israelis," he said. "We will reform this system, we have to be rid of the corruption. We are ready to establish an independent state on one square metre, but at the same time we will not renounce one square metre. Our first priority is not Israel but Palestine."
Mr Abbas has warned Hamas that whatever its view of Israel, it cannot remain an armed group and sit in parliament. The acting Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, has said that Hamas joining the Palestinian government would block peace efforts.
"There can be no progress with an administration in which there are terrorist organisations as members," he told the US president, George Bush, last week. The US has threatened to cut aid to the Palestinian Authority if Hamas joins the government without disarming, and the EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, has warned that money will be withheld if Hamas joins the administration without recognising Israel's right to exist.
Hamas leaders say the problem could be resolved by integrating the movement's fighters into the Palestinian security forces. But persuading Hamas to drop its charter calling for the destruction of Israel, and recognising the Jewish state's right to exist, is a more complicated matter.
"It's our land," said Dr Zahar. "Nobody among our sons and grandsons will accept Israel as a legal state. Historically, they occupied this land as the British occupied it. Israel is a foreign body. Not in this generation, not in the next generation, will we accept it here."
But asked if that meant Hamas would continue to try to destroy Israel, Dr Zahar said that would be for the next generation to decide.
Police arrest PFLP parliamentary candidate in East Jerusalem´ (Ha'aretz, 1.18) | ||||
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Jerusalem police on Wednesday arrested a parliamentary candidate from the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, while he was holding a press conference in a hotel in East Jerusalem. | ||||
Israel had threatened to bar Palestinian candidates from campaigning in East Jerusalem for the January 25 parliamentary elections. On Sunday, the cabinet said it would allow limited voting in the disputed city, but would not allow Palestinian militant groups, such as Hamas and the PFLP, to participate.
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Jenin raid by I"D"F... (J'lem Post, 1.18)
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1136361103663&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Two soldiers were wounded - one moderately and one lightly - by Palestinian gunfire during an operation to arrest fugitives in Jenin.
Soldiers surrounded a house where one of the Fatah Tanzim-affiliated fugitives was believed to be hiding; a gunman opened fire at troops as he attempted to flee from the house, moderately wounding a soldier.
Soldiers returned fire, wounding the fugitive who was then detained and handed over to security officials for questioning.
As troops began to pull out of the city, more gunmen opened fire, lightly wounding another soldier.
During the operation, soldiers uncovered 10 pipe bombs in the city.
In Jenin, the Fatah Tanzim are considered to be the most active terror organization, responsible for numerous attacks against Israel.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, security forces arrested 12 Palestinian fugitives.
In Tsurif, southwest of Bethlehem, soldiers surrounded a house where a fugitive was believed to be hiding. Shortly after, they spotted a Palestinian fleeing from the building; they opened fire at his lower body.
The man was wounded lightly and taken to a hospital in Israel.
Soon after, it was discovered that he was the Islamic Jihad fugitive the troops had intended to arrest.
In the same operation, two additional fugitives were arrested.
In villages north of Tulkarm, four Islamic Jihad fugitives were arrested. In Ramallah, one Fatah Tanzim fugitive was caught.
In Bethlehem, one Hamas man and one Fatah Tanzim-affiliated fugitive were arrested.
In Hebron, one suspect involved in terror was arrested, and in Yata, south of the city, security forces arrested a weapons dealer.
In the Gaza Strip, shots were fired at an IDF post located near the southern Gaza security fence.
VERSHBOW vs KIM Jr.
...^=^...
Korea Herald(bourgeois S. Korean daily) is writing today:
The United States will continue to suppress North Korea, by taking a hard-line policy against various issues including the North's alleged counterfeiting of U.S. currency and its nuclear program standoff, a Korean public institute said in a report released yesterday...
U.S. Ambassador to Korea Alexander Vershbow also alerted South Koreans yesterday that people should be worried over the North's regime, which "is wasting its resources developing nuclear weapons and counterfeit bills, drug-dealing and money-laundering to survive."...
Read more here: 'Washington will continue to suppress North Korea'
Chosun Ilbo: U.S. Envoy Takes N.Korea Campaign Online
And last but not least 조선중앙통신(KCNA):
Pyongyang, January 16 (KCNA) -- The south Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) checked a round-table conversation with journalists of the U.S. ambassador in Seoul on Jan. 12, according to the south Korean KBS. The U.S. ambassador was scheduled to have a round-table conversation with Internet journalists at the building of the south Korean Internet Journalists' Association.
The KCTU castigated the U.S. ambassador for making reckless remarks slandering the north as a "criminal regime" and strongly opposed his call on the association.
He could not appear in the venue owing to the fierce protest of the KCTU and had to give up his schedule.
...it's just to vomit!
Check out following loathsome stuff:
No comment is necessary, I think...
"EVIDENCE"!
A NEW GENERATION OF "BOAT PEOPLE"..
N. Korean leader in Guangzhou
Jan. 14, SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is photographed on a pleasure cruise in China's Guangzhou region on Jan. 13, by
Japanese broadcaster TBS... (Yonhap)
http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20060114/630000000020060114123455E6.html
International Herald Tribune(1.14):
VIP in southern China? Rumor says it's Kim
Washington Post(1.14):
Kim Apparently in China's South
....
On one side the entire story about Kim Jr., "the disappeared", is just funny, it's just a crazy joke. But on the other hand it shows a really serious situation...
First of all, as I know, there are no political "leaders" - actually "leaders" are always unnecessary, useless^^ - who were/are visiting the PRC in secret... except the "Sun of the 21st Century"(KCNA), a.k.a. Kim Jong-il.
So there must be reasons why he and his gang is acting like that.
1.) Perhaps they know that in fact no-one - except the poeple who are forced because of political duties, such as the talks about the nuclear issue - wants to invite them, or even to see them.
2.) Or they(Kim Jong-il...) know that there are(perhaps many) people who, if they would know that Kim Jr. and his gang is in their neighborhood, just would like to ... them. Simply they are just to afriad to be in the public.
3.) Or possibly, especially the "Sun of the 21th Century" is just... LUNATIC!!
But even just one of this reasons is applicable, this is at least abnormal!
But if "only" the reasons no. 1 and/or 2 are applicable, we should ask ourselves: WHY...?? Because lastly it is no fun, not at all!
Kim-spotters hunt elusive leader
Friday January 13, 2006
Guardian
Missing: one North Korean dictator. Recognisable by bouffant hair, Elvis glasses, worker's tunic and obsequious hangers-on.
Last seen in heavily guarded train crossing the border into China. May be shopping in Shanghai, receiving medical treatment in Guangzhou or trying to avert nuclear war in Beijing.
Such frenzied speculation surged in north-east Asia yesterday as Kim Jong-il, the leader of the world's most reclusive state, was reported to have made a rare trip outside his homeland.
If true, it would be only the sixth time since 2000 that the head of the workers' party has ventured out of North Korea. Because of assassination fears the previous visits, all of them by train, were shrouded in secrecy and not confirmed by any of the involved countries until Mr Kim was safely back in Pyongyang.
Security concerns are likely to have increased since his last trip in April 2004, which ended only hours before a huge explosion close to a section of the railway on which he had been travelling.
The latest flurry of rumours was prompted by a reported sighting of Mr Kim at the Chinese border station of Dandong at dawn on Tuesday morning. According to South Korean media, troops sealed off the area and rail officials took part in a 15-minute welcome ceremony.
The North Korean embassy in Beijing has cancelled all its usual activities. The Chinese foreign ministry refused to either confirm or deny that Mr Kim was in the country. Government spokesman Kong Quan acknowledged that a visit was planned, but said he was not yet authorised to reveal the timing.
US officials, however, appeared to be in little doubt. "I understand we have some North Korean visitors here today," said Christopher Hill, who is in Beijing as the top US negotiator at six-party talks aimed at denuclearising the peninsular.
This has been enough to prompt a spot-the-dictator competition among media organisations. South Korea's Yonhap news agency placed Mr Kim in Shanghai, saying he had flown there while using the train as a decoy. Reuters speculated he was heading to Beijing to meet senior Chinese leaders, or merely passing through en route to Moscow. Russia's Itar-Tass news agency, which is the only foreign news organisation to have a bureau in Pyongyang, said Mr Kim is still at home and the VIP on the train was a member of his family.
But yesterday most of the attention focused on Guangzhou, the capital of southern Guangdong province. The city's best hotel, the White Swan, has been requisitioned by the government for three days, metal detectors have been installed and traffic has been cordoned off.
Mr Kim's motives are as unclear as his whereabouts...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/korea/article/0,2763,1685507,00.html
...and "our beloved"(^^) Chosun Ilbo wrote this:
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200601/200601130022.html
But anyway, it's better to believe nothing, because in reality...
Who knows???
From am8:00 KCTU radio until(at least) am8:30 was broadcasting nationalist stuff(about 'uri minjok'/우리 민족...and so on..). I was complete shocked..
Just yesterday KCNA "reported": 'A New Year gathering was reportedly held in Seoul on Jan. 6 under the sponsorship of the Reunification Solidarity for the Implementation of the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration and Peace of the Korean Peninsula in south Korea. Han Sang Ryol, permanent chairman of the Reunification Solidarity, Jon Jae Hwan, chairman of the Emergency Measure Committee of the south Korean Confederation of Trade Unions ...at the gathering referred to the fact that the might of united workers, peasants and youths and students was demonstrated in the struggle to build a new life and a new system last year..'
Actually I couldn't believe this "report"... But now...
...
More about it later...
Yesterday(1.11) Jerusalem Post(the propaganda paper of the Israeli rightwing.., in my opinion...) published following article:
'Hamas win would destroy PA'
The security establishment painted a grim picture of the aftermath of the upcoming Palestinian legislative elections, warning that a strong Hamas victory would lead to the total destruction of the Palestinian Authority, the only body Israel has been able to negotiate with. Security officials warned that the new situation will have severe repercussions on future dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians.
Describing the "no-win situation" Israel will be forced to reckon with, security officials declared that a significant Hamas win may spur Fatah factions to stir up trouble and resort to violence, perceiving the move as the only way to serve its interests and reach Hamas's level of popularity. "Everything achieved by Israel and the PA in the past will be lost," a security official said Tuesday.
If PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas decides on the other hand to postpone the elections at the last minute, or resign, the decision could spur Hamas to renew its violence against Israel.
"All in all, the elections will not pass quietly," an official said.
Rivalry and tension surround the different Fatah factions vying to be elected. A Hamas victory means there will be no mutual base for Israel to enter any kind of dialogue, said the officials, adding that no one in Hamas - even Ismail Haniya, considered a pragmatist - would agree to recognize the State of Israel or put terror aside for the sake of entering a dialogue. Israel would have no proper Palestinian leadership to address.
"The future looks bleak. It is clear that, whatever the outcome, Israel will be faced with an upsurge in violence and a breakdown in the situation," an official said.
"No matter how you look at it, nothing good will come out of the situation. It is a shame that the US is unable to understand the situation and the new reality Israel will be faced with. It is possible that we will witness the last democratic elections to take place in the PA," one of the officials said.
The officials were unwilling to divulge how the situation would affect the Gaza terminal crossings or other projects and agreements reached between Israel and the PA in the past.
According to estimates that have reached the security establishment, officials assess that Abbas will postpone the elections at the last minute in an attempt to avoid confronting an almost certain Hamas victory. Recent reports that reached the security establishment portray Abbas as a weak soul incapable of taking charge of the situation. The aides that surround Abbas are pegging their hopes on his failure and perceive him as a man unable to cope with the internal pressures he is confronted with. Security officials did not rule out the possibility that Abbas may resign.
Abbas's biggest mistake, they said, was the strategic decision not to confront Hamas, because that enabled Hamas to continue with its ongoing activities uninterrupted. Abbas's weakness can be seen in his failure to uphold any of the agreements he signed with Israel. "In West Bank cities where the PA received security control he failed to disarm fugitives and reign in extremists," an official said.
The chaos and lawlessness that rage through the PA-controlled areas continues without any real attempts by the PA leadership to halt the situation and restore law and order, the officials added.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz's announcement on Tuesday that Israel will permit east Jerusalemites to vote in the upcoming Palestinian elections took some security officials by surprise. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommended that Israel refrain from making its stand on the issue official and wait until the last minute in order to evade being blamed by the Palestinians for possible hitches," one security official said.
The official noted, however, that Israel had in 1996 informed the Palestinians that east Jerusalemites would be permitted to vote in Israeli post offices in east Jerusalem as well as in Abu Dis. "We are reverting to the same policy we upheld in past elections," he said.
Israel said it was willing to facilitate the process on election day. However, the officials warned, under no circumstances would Israel allow Hamas activists or others belonging to terror groups to campaign in east Jerusalem.
One official disagreed with the decision, implying that the ban on Hamas campaigning was "a kind of absurdity, a situation whereby east Jerusalemites armed with envelopes will cast their votes in ballot boxes located inside Israeli post offices."
The officials also added that, in the West Bank, if a Hamas fugitive arrives at a checkpoint he will be arrested by security forces.
"Israel does not intend to initiate any operations on the Palestinian election day, but if a wanted fugitive shows up at a checkpoint he will be arrested. The Palestinians have been informed of this," an official said.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1136361055346&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
At the same day the more "liberal democratic" daily Ha'aretz wrote this:
Well, and if you feel really boring, you have nothing better to do... read the "Talkbacks"(over 250.., including discussings about the massacre in Sabra and Shatila..) here("East Jerusalem Palestinians will be able to vote in PLC elections"):
Just a short while ago(around pm8:30) semi-official news agency YONHAP reported:
Three S. Koreans face trial in Hong Kong after 8 released
HONG KONG, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- Eight of 11 South Koreans were released Wednesday after Hong Kong's prosecution opted not to charge them for organizing an illegal assembly during a recent meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) here.
The remaining three will be charged with the offense, which carries a maximum prison sentence of five years, Hong Kong prosecutors said.
The three defendants are Park In-hwan, 31, and Yun Il-kwon, 36, both South Korean farmers, and Yang Kyung-kyu, 46, an official from the nation's umbrella labor organization. All of them pleaded innocent to a charge of unlawful assembly.
Their trial was scheduled for March 1-7.
The court lifted an exit ban on the three and allowed them to be released on bail. The 11 South Koreans are expected to return home on Friday.
The suspects were arrested along with some 1,000 protesters from South Korea and other countries after attempting to disrupt the December meeting of WTO ministers in Hong Kong.
All were released shortly after their arrest except for the 11 South Koreans, one Taiwanese, one Japanese and a Chinese national. They were put on trial on suspicion of staging violent acts against Hong Kong police officers during their Dec. 17 rally.
Charges against the Taiwanese, Japanese and Chinese protesters were later dropped.
The 11 South Koreans have threatened to stage a new round of massive protests here unless all of their compatriots are released free of charge.
Jun Jae-hwan, head of the militant Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, also warned earlier in the week that such demonstrations may get "out of control"(^^) if staged.
The South Koreans have been waging a hunger strike at the Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry pier since last week, claiming the charges brought against them are based on false, or fabricated, evidence.
The trial of the South Korean protesters is expected to take weeks if not months, according to legal experts here.
http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20060111/610000000020060111203115E9.html
Voice of People(in Korean):
http://www.voiceofpeople.org/new/2006011135661.html
Similar reports and articles about the following issue I was reading in the last few weeks in the Isreali media, such as Jerusalem Post or Haaretz (just check it out by yourself...).
Nuclear War against Iran
By Michel Chossudovsky
January 3, 2006
The launching of an outright war using nuclear warheads against Iran is now in the final planning stages.
Coalition partners, which include the US, Israel and Turkey are in "an advanced stage of readiness".
Various military exercises have been conducted, starting in early 2005. In turn, the Iranian Armed Forces have also conducted large scale military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf in December in anticipation of a US sponsored attack.
Since early 2005, there has been intense shuttle diplomacy between Washington, Tel Aviv, Ankara and NATO headquarters in Brussels.
In recent developments, CIA Director Porter Goss on a mission to Ankara, requested Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan "to provide political and logistic support for air strikes against Iranian nuclear and military targets." Goss reportedly asked " for special cooperation from Turkish intelligence to help prepare and monitor the operation." (DDP, 30 December 2005).
In turn, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has given the green light to the Israeli Armed Forces to launch the attacks by the end of March:
All top Israeli officials have pronounced the end of March, 2006, as the deadline for launching a military assault on Iran.... The end of March date also coincides with the IAEA report to the UN on Iran's nuclear energy program. Israeli policymakers believe that their threats may influence the report, or at least force the kind of ambiguities, which can be exploited by its overseas supporters to promote Security Council sanctions or justify Israeli military action.
(James Petras, Israel's War Deadline: Iran in the Crosshairs, Global Research, December 2005)
The US sponsored military plan has been endorsed by NATO, although it is unclear, at this stage, as to the nature of NATO's involvement in the planned aerial attacks.
"Shock and Awe"
The various components of the military operation are firmly under US Command, coordinated by the Pentagon and US Strategic Command Headquarters (USSTRATCOM) at the
Offutt Air Force base in Nebraska.The actions announced by Israel would be carried out in close coordination with the Pentagon. The command structure of the operation is centralized and ultimately Washington will decide when to launch the military operation.
US military sources have confirmed that an aerial attack on Iran would involve a large scale deployment comparable to the US "shock and awe" bombing raids on Iraq in March 2003:
American air strikes on Iran would vastly exceed the scope of the 1981 Israeli attack on the Osiraq nuclear center in Iraq, and would more resemble the opening days of the 2003 air campaign against Iraq. Using the full force of operational B-2 stealth bombers, staging from Diego Garcia or flying direct from the United States, possibly supplemented by F-117 stealth fighters staging from al Udeid in Qatar or some other location in theater, the two-dozen suspect nuclear sites would be targeted.
Military planners could tailor their target list to reflect the preferences of the Administration by having limited air strikes that would target only the most crucial facilities ... or the United States could opt for a far more comprehensive set of strikes against a comprehensive range of WMD related targets, as well as conventional and unconventional forces that might be used to counterattack against US forces in Iraq
(See Globalsecurity.org at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iran-strikes.htm
In November, US Strategic Command conducted a major exercise of a "global strike plan" entitled "Global Lightening". The latter involved a simulated attack using both conventional and nuclear weapons against a "fictitious enemy".
Following the "Global Lightening" exercise, US Strategic Command declared an advanced state of readiness (See our analysis below)
While Asian press reports stated that the "fictitious enemy" in the Global Lightening exercise was North Korea, the timing of the exercises, suggests that they were conducted in anticipation of a planned attack on Iran.
Consensus for Nuclear War
No dissenting political voices have emerged from within the European Union.
There are ongoing consultations between Washington, Paris and Berlin. Contrary to the invasion of Iraq, which was opposed at the diplomatic level by France and Germany, Washington has been building "a consensus" both within the Atlantic Alliance and the UN Security Council. This consensus pertains to the conduct of a nuclear war, which could potentially affect a large part of the Middle East Central Asian region.
Moreover, a number of frontline Arab states are now tacit partners in the US/ Israeli military project. A year ago in November 2004, Israel's top military brass met at NATO headqaurters in Brtussels with their counterparts from six members of the Mediterranean basin nations, including Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania. A NATO-Israel protocol was signed. Following these meetings, j
oint military exercises were held off the coast of Syria involving the US, Israel and Turkey. and in February 2005, Israel participated in military exercises and "anti-terror maneuvers" together with several Arab countries.The media in chorus has unequivocally pointed to Iran as a "threat to World Peace".
The antiwar movement has swallowed the media lies. The fact that the US and Israel are planning a Middle East nuclear holocaust is not part of the antiwar/ anti- globalization agenda.
The "surgical strikes" are presented to world public opinion as a means to preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
We are told that this is not a war but a military peace-keeping operation, in the form of aerial attacks directed against Iran's nuclear facilities.
Mini-nukes: "Safe for Civilians"
The press reports, while revealing certain features of the military agenda, largely serve to distort the broader nature of the military operation, which contemplates the preemptive use of tactical nuclear weapons.
The war agenda is based on the Bush administration's doctrine of "preemptive" nuclear war under the 2002 Nuclear Posture Review.
Media disinformation has been used extensively to conceal the devastating consequences of military action involving nuclear warheads against Iran. The fact that these surgical strikes would be carried out using both conventional and nuclear weapons is not an object of debate.
According to a 2003 Senate decision, the new generation of tactical nuclear weapons or "low yield" "mini-nukes", with an explosive capacity of up to 6 times a Hiroshima bomb, are now considered "safe for civilians" because the explosion is underground.
Through a propaganda campaign which has enlisted the support of "authoritative" nuclear scientists, the mini-nukes are being presented as an instrument of peace rather than war. The low-yield nukes have now been cleared for "battlefield use", they are slated to be used in the next stage of America's "war on Terrorism" alongside conventional weapons:
Administration officials argue that low-yield nuclear weapons are needed as a credible deterrent against rogue states.[Iran, North Korea] Their logic is that existing nuclear weapons are too destructive to be used except in a full-scale nuclear war. Potential enemies realize this, thus they do not consider the threat of nuclear retaliation to be credible. However, low-yield nuclear weapons are less destructive, thus might conceivably be used. That would make them more effective as a deterrent. ( Opponents Surprised By Elimination of Nuke Research Funds Defense News November 29, 2004)
In an utterly twisted logic, nuclear weapons are presented as a means to building peace and preventing "collateral damage". The Pentagon has intimated, in this regard, that the ‘mini-nukes’ (with a yield of less than 5000 tons) are harmless to civilians because the explosions ‘take place under ground’. Each of these ‘mini-nukes’, nonetheless, constitutes – in terms of explosion and potential radioactive fallout – a significant fraction of the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. Estimates of yield for Nagasaki and Hiroshima indicate that they were respectively of 21000 and 15000 tons (
http://www.warbirdforum.com/hiroshim.htmIn other words, the low yielding mini-nukes have an explosive capacity of one third of a Hiroshima bomb.
The earth-penetrating capability of the [nuclear] B61-11 is fairly limited, however. Tests show it penetrates only 20 feet or so into dry earth when dropped from an altitude of 40,000 feet. Even so, by burying itself into the ground before detonation, a much higher proportion of the explosion energy is transferred to ground shock compared to a surface bursts. Any attempt to use it in an urban environment, however, would result in massive civilian casualties. Even at the low end of its 0.3-300 kiloton yield range, the nuclear blast will simply blow out a huge crater of radioactive material, creating a lethal gamma-radiation field over a large area. http://www.fas.org/faspir/2001/v54n1/weapons.htm http://www.globalresearch.ca/images/gbu28.jpg Guided Bomb Unit-28 (GBU-28) |
The new definition of a nuclear warhead has blurred the distinction between conventional and nuclear weapons:
'It's a package (of nuclear and conventional weapons). The implication of this obviously is that nuclear weapons are being brought down from a special category of being a last resort, or sort of the ultimate weapon, to being just another tool in the toolbox,' said Kristensen. (Japan Economic News Wire, op cit)
We are a dangerous crossroads: military planners believe their own propaganda.
The military manuals state that this new generation of nuclear weapons are "safe" for use in the battlefield. They are no longer a weapon of last resort. There are no impediments or political obstacles to their use. In this context, Senator Edward Kennedy has accused the Bush Administration for having developed "a generation of more useable nuclear weapons."
The international community has endorsed nuclear war in the name of World Peace.
"Making the World safer" is the justification for launching a military operation which could potentially result in a nuclear holocaust.
But nuclear holocausts are not front page news! In the words of Mordechai Vanunu,
The Israeli government is preparing to use nuclear weapons in its next war with the Islamic world. Here where I live, people often talk of the Holocaust. But each and every nuclear bomb is a Holocaust in itself. It can kill, devastate cities, destroy entire peoples. (See interview with Mordechai Vanunu, December 2005).
Space and Earth Attack Command Unit
A preemptive nuclear attack using tactical nuclear weapons would be coordinated out of US Strategic Command Headquarters at the Offutt Air Force base in Nebraska, in liaison with US and coalition command units in the Persian Gulf, the Diego Garcia military base, Israel and Turkey.
Under its new mandate, USSTRATCOM has a responsibility for "overseeing a global strike plan" consisting of both conventional and nuclear weapons. In military jargon, it is slated to play the role of "a global integrator charged with the missions of Space Operations; Information Operations; Integrated Missile Defense; Global Command & Control; Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance; Global Strike; and Strategic Deterrence.... "
In January 2005, at the outset of the military build-up directed against Iran, USSTRATCOM was identified as "the lead Combatant Command for integration and synchronization of DoD-wide efforts in combating weapons of mass destruction."
To implement this mandate, a brand new command unit entitled Joint Functional Component Command Space and Global Strike, or JFCCSGS was created.
JFCCSGS has the mandate to oversee the launching of a nuclear attack in accordance with the 2002 Nuclear Posture Review, approved by the US Congress in 2002. The NPR underscores the pre-emptive use of nuclear warheads not only against "rogue states" but also against China and Russia.
Since November, JFCCSGS is said to be in "an advance state of readiness" following the conduct of relevant military exercises. The announcement was made in early December by U.S. Strategic Command to the effect that the command unit had achieved "an operational capability for rapidly striking targets around the globe using nuclear or conventional weapons." The exercises conducted in November used "a fictional country believed to represent North Korea" (see David Ruppe, 2 December 2005):
"The new unit [JFCCSGS] has 'met requirements necessary to declare an initial operational capability' as of Nov. 18. A week before this announcement, the unit finished a command-post exercise, dubbed Global Lightening, which was linked with another exercise, called Vigilant Shield, conducted by the North American Aerospace Defend Command, or NORAD, in charge of missile defense for North America.
'After assuming several new missions in 2002, U.S. Strategic Command was reorganized to create better cooperation and cross-functional awareness,' said Navy Capt. James Graybeal, a chief spokesperson for STRATCOM. 'By May of this year, the JFCCSGS has published a concept of operations and began to develop its day-to-day operational requirements and integrated planning process.'
'The command's performance during Global Lightning demonstrated its preparedness to execute its mission of proving integrated space and global strike capabilities to deter and dissuade aggressors and when directed, defeat adversaries through decisive joint global effects in support of STRATCOM,' he added without elaborating about 'new missions' of the new command unit that has around 250 personnel.
Nuclear specialists and governmental sources pointed out that one of its main missions would be to implement the 2001 nuclear strategy that includes an option of preemptive nuclear attacks on 'rogue states' with WMDs. (Japanese Economic Newswire, 30 December 2005)
CONCEPT PLAN (CONPLAN) 8022
JFCCSGS is in an advanced state of readiness to trigger nuclear attacks directed against Iran or North Korea.
The operational implementation of the Global Strike is called CONCEPT PLAN (CONPLAN) 8022. The latter is described as "an actual plan that the Navy and the Air Force translate into strike package for their submarines and bombers,' (Ibid).
CONPLAN 8022 is 'the overall umbrella plan for sort of the pre-planned strategic scenarios involving nuclear weapons.'
'It's specifically focused on these new types of threats -- Iran, North Korea -- proliferators and potentially terrorists too,' he said. 'There's nothing that says that they can't use CONPLAN 8022 in limited scenarios against Russian and Chinese targets.'(According to Hans Kristensen, of the Nuclear Information Project, quoted in Japanese economic News Wire, op cit)
The mission of JFCCSGS is to implement CONPLAN 8022, in other words to trigger a nuclear war with Iran.
The Commander in Chief, namely George W. Bush would instruct the Secretary of Defense, who would then instruct the Joint Chiefs of staff to activate CONPLAN 8022.
CONPLAN is distinct from other military operations. it does not contemplate the deployment of ground troops.
CONPLAN 8022 is different from other war plans in that it posits a small-scale operation and no "boots on the ground." The typical war plan encompasses an amalgam of forces -- air, ground, sea -- and takes into account the logistics and political dimensions needed to sustain those forces in protracted operations.... The global strike plan is offensive, triggered by the perception of an imminent threat and carried out by presidential order.) (William Arkin, Washington Post, May 2005)
The Role of Israel
Since late 2004, Israel has been stockpiling US made conventional and nuclear weapons systems in anticipation of an attack on Iran. This stockpiling which is financed by US military aid was largely completed in June 2005. Israel has taken delivery from the US of several thousand "smart air launched weapons" including some 500 'bunker-buster bombs, which can also be used to deliver tactical nuclear bombs.
The B61-11 is the "nuclear version" of the "conventional" BLU 113, can be delivered in much same way as the conventional bunker buster bomb. (See Michel Chossudovsky, http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO112C.html , see also http://www.thebulletin.org/article_nn.php?art_ofn=jf03norris ) .
Moreover, reported in late 2003, Israeli Dolphin-class submarines equipped with US Harpoon missiles armed with nuclear warheads are now aimed at Iran. (See Gordon Thomas, http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/THO311A.html
Late April 2005. Sale of deadly military hardware to Israel. GBU-28 Buster Bunker Bombs: Coinciding with Putin's visit to Israel, the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (Department of Defense) announced the sale of an additional 100 bunker-buster bombs produced by Lockheed Martin to Israel. This decision was viewed by the US media as "a warning to Iran about its nuclear ambitions." The sale pertains to the larger and more sophisticated "Guided Bomb Unit-28 (GBU-28) BLU-113 Penetrator" (including the WGU-36A/B guidance control unit and support equipment). The GBU-28 is described as "a special weapon for penetrating hardened command centers located deep underground. The fact of the matter is that the GBU-28 is among the World's most deadly "conventional" weapons used in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, capable of causing thousands of civilian deaths through massive explosions.The Israeli Air Force are slated to use the GBU-28s on their F-15 aircraft. (See text of DSCA news release at http://www.dsca.osd.mil/PressReleases/36-b/2005/Israel_05-10_corrected.pdf |
Extension of the War
Tehran has confirmed that it will retaliate if attacked, in the form of ballistic missile strikes directed against Israel (CNN, 8 Feb 2005). These attacks, could also target US military facilities in Iraq and Persian Gulf, which would immediately lead us into a scenario of military escalation and all out war.
At present there are three distinct war theaters: Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine. The air strikes against Iran could contribute to unleashing a war in the broader Middle East Central Asian region.
Moreover, the planned attack on Iran should also be understood in relation to the timely withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, which has opened up a new space, for the deployment of Israeli forces. The participation of Turkey in the US-Israeli military operation is also a factor, following last year's agreement reached between Ankara and Tel Aviv.
More recently, Tehran has beefed up its air defenses through the acquisition of Russian 29 Tor M-1 anti-missile systems. In October, with Moscow`s collaboration, "a Russian rocket lifted an Iranian spy satellite, the Sinah-1, into orbit." (see Chris Floyd)
The Sinah-1 is just the first of several Iranian satellites set for Russian launches in the coming months.
Thus the Iranians will soon have a satellite network in place to give them early warning of an Israeli attack, although it will still be a pale echo of the far more powerful Israeli and American space spies that can track the slightest movement of a Tehran mullah’s beard. What’s more, late last month Russia signed a $1 billion contract to sell Iran an advanced defense system that can destroy guided missiles and laser-guided bombs, the Sunday Times reports. This too will be ready in the next few months. (op.cit.)
Ground War
While a ground war is not envisaged under CONPLAN, the aerial bombings could lead through the process of escalation into a ground war.
Iranian troops could cross the Iran-Iraq border and confront coalition forces inside Iraq. Israeli troops and/or Special Forces could enter into Lebanon and Syria.
In recent developments, Israel plans to conduct military exercises as well as deploy Special Forces in the mountainous areas of Turkey bordering Iran and Syria with the collaboration of the Ankara government:
Ankara and Tel Aviv have come to an agreement on allowing the Israeli army to carry out military exercises in the mountainous areas [in Turkey] that border Iran.
[According to] ... a UAE newspaper ..., according to the agreement reached by the Joint Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, Dan Halutz, and Turkish officials, Israel is to carry out various military manoeuvres in the areas that border Iran and Syria. [Punctuation as published here and throughout.] [Dan Halutz] had gone to Turkey a few days earlier.
Citing certain sources without naming them, the UAE daily goes on to stress: The Israeli side made the request to carry out the manoeuvres because of the difficulty of passage in the mountain terrains close to Iran's borders in winter.
The two Hakari [phonetic; not traced] and Bulo [phonetic; not traced] units are to take part in the manoeuvres that have not been scheduled yet. The units are the most important of Israel's special military units and are charged with fighting terrorism and carrying out guerrilla warfare.
Earlier Turkey had agreed to Israeli pilots being trained in the area bordering Iran. The news [of the agreement] is released at a time when Turkish officials are trying to evade the accusation of cooperating with America in espionage operations against its neighbouring countries Syria and Iran. Since last week the Arab press has been publishing various reports about Ankara's readiness or, at least, agreement in principle to carry out negotiations about its soil and air space being used for action against Iran.
(E'temad website, Tehran, in Persian 28 Dec 05, BBC Monitoring Services Translation)
Concluding remarks
The implications are overwhelming.
The so-called international community has accepted the eventuality of a nuclear holocaust.
Those who decide have swallowed their own war propaganda.
A political consensus has developed in Western Europe and North America regarding the aerial attacks using tactical nuclear weapons, without considering their devastating implications.
This profit driven military adventure ultimately threatens the future of humanity.
What is needed in the months ahead is a major thrust, nationally and internationally which breaks the conspiracy of silence, which acknowledges the dangers, which brings this war project to the forefront of political debate and media attentiion, at all levels, which confronts and requires political and military leaders to take a firm stance against the US sponsored nuclear war.
Ultimately what is required are extensive international sanctions directed against the United States of America and Israel.
Michel Chossudovsky is the author of the international best seller "The Globalization of Poverty " published in eleven languages. He is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and Director of the Center for Research on Globalization, at www.globalresearch.ca . He is also a contributor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His most recent book is entitled: America’s "War on Terrorism", Global Research, 2005.,
Related article: Planned US-Israeli Attack on Iran, by Michel Chossudovsky
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