BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 10 Jun 10 - 10:51 AM

CarolC,

"The 'overwhelming evidence' is a torpedo propeller that 'had been corroding at least for several months,' reported the Korea Times."


When was this reported, and from what real source ( information, not the article)? Please provide clicky if you can- this is not in accord with the May 20th report.



"In April, the director of South Korea's national intelligence, Won See-hoon, told a parliamentary committee that there was no evidence linking the sinking of the Cheonan to North Korea. The defence minister agreed. The head of South Korea's military marine operations said, 'No North Korean warships have been detected [in] the waters where the accident took place.' The reference to 'accident' suggests the warship struck a reef and broke in two" "

I believe that April is before May 20th. Please correct me if I am wrong. You do not allow that additional information, not previously known, might be found? And that there would not be an interest in playing down speculation without evidence back in April, to cool things off?

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: bobad
Date: 12 Jun 10 - 03:29 PM

Saudi Arabia gives Israel clear skies to attack Iranian nuclear sites


Saudi Arabia has conducted tests to stand down its air defences to enable Israeli jets to make a bombing raid on Iran's nuclear facilities, The Times can reveal.

In the week that the UN Security Council imposed a new round of sanctions on Tehran, defence sources in the Gulf say that Riyadh has agreed to allow Israel to use a narrow corridor of its airspace in the north of the country to shorten the distance for a bombing run on Iran.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article7148555.ece

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: CarolC
Date: 12 Jun 10 - 10:00 PM

http://mostlywater.org/north_korean_ship_sinking_another_false_flag


This page has a link to a pdf of a letter sent to Hilary Clinton by one of the investigators...

http://letsrollforums.com/korean-ship-sinking-definitly-t21375.html?t=21375

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 13 Jun 10 - 08:42 AM

Valid viewpoints, but lacking in evidence.

LOTS of things are POSSIBLE, the point is to determine from the evidence what happened.

No one on Mudcat has EVER disproved the fact that LGM used hyper-gravitic charges to bring down the Twin Towers. So I guess it MUST be true...

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: CarolC
Date: 13 Jun 10 - 06:13 PM

Since it is a possibility that it was a false flag operation, people should be able to see the side presented by those who believe it is. But perhaps you think that only those who present the side that you prefer should be heard from.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: CarolC
Date: 14 Jun 10 - 01:33 AM

Here's more information on the South Korean ship...

http://www.alternet.org/world/147096/did_a_north_korean_torpedo_really_sink_that_south_korean_military_vesselt_?page=1

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: CarolC
Date: 14 Jun 10 - 01:55 AM

http://www.counterpunch.org/amin06092010.html

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 14 Jun 10 - 06:31 AM

feel free to post your opinion articles- just be carefull what you claim to be proven fact, as opposed to belief or possibility.

"North Korea Threatens `All-Out Military Strike' on South's Loudspeakers

By Jungmin Hong - Jun 12, 2010

North Korea warned of an "all-out military strike" to destroy South Korean loudspeakers and other propaganda tools along their fortified border, according to the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency.

South Korea's preparation for psychological warfare, is a "direct declaration of a war" against the North, the general staff of the communist state's military said today in a statement on KCNA. The North's military retaliation may turn Seoul into "a sea of flame," the statement said.

The South has already installed loudspeakers in 11 places along the border and is attempting to set up electronic displays, according to the statement.

South Korea hasn't detected any abnormal activities near the border area with the North, Yonhap News said following the KCNA report today, citing South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Tensions have risen on the Korean peninsula since an international panel concluded on May 20 that the North was behind a torpedo attack that sank the Cheonan warship, killing 46 of the South's sailors. South Korea's president Lee Myung Bak has taken the case to the United Nations Security Council, backed by the U.S. and Japan, to seek a resolution condemning North Korea.

The North says the allegations are fabricated and has threatened to retaliate over any punitive action taken against it.

South Korea will resume anti-North broadcasts across the border after the United Nations Security Council makes a determination about the sinking, Yonhap News reported yesterday, citing South Korea's defense minister. "

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 14 Jun 10 - 08:18 AM

Iran 'definitely' building nuclear weapon
June 14, 2010 - 4:47am

(AP) J.J. Green, wtop.com

WASHINGTON - Due to concern over potentially harmful international political implications, U.S. officials will only say they "believe" Iran is engaged in a clandestine program that may yield a nuclear weapon.

However, the men and women working undercover to stop Iran from doing so are willing to say much more.

"There is no doubt Iran is definitely building a nuclear weapon," a senior foreign counterproliferation official with a U.S. ally says in an exclusive interview with WTOP.

"Oh yes, in my opinion it is fact. "We see it every day," the official says.

The Obama administration is clearly concerned.

"The nature and scope of Iran's nuclear program causes the U.S. and the international community to question whether Iran's nuclear intentions are peaceful," says National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer.

"Iran is pursuing a nuclear program that includes significant capabilities, particularly its uranium enrichment and heavy water reactor capabilities that would provide Iran a nuclear weapons capability," Hammer says, adding that the capabilities "are not inherently capable of supporting Iran's stated objective of a peaceful nuclear power program."

Hammer says the body of evidence against Iran includes belligerent statements from Iranian officials, human intelligence sources and Iran's own military activity.

"Iran is, at a minimum, keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons. Iran also continues to advance its ballistic missile programs throughout the region and to increasingly longer ranges," says Hammer.

Recent reports have emerged that Iranian agents are using the port of Dubai to smuggle sophisticated electronics. The foreign counterproliferaton official says, with certainty, the smuggling operations go well beyond Dubai.

"We have seen them try to use UAE (United Arab Emirates), Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, to name a few other countries."

U.S. counterproliferation agents, while toeing a very thin political line, seem to corroborate the official's statement.

"We see a number a number of trans-shipment points around the world. It is correct to say that Iran does not exclusively use Dubai," says Timothy Gildea, a special agent in the Counterproliferation Investigations Unit of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement department.

"They will evolve their transshipment practices. If one area becomes elevated and law enforcement is focusing on that (area), they will move it (their smuggling operation) around as required to get that equipment to their country," Gildea says.

The most damning allegation comes from the broad selection of items that are being smuggled that list Iran as their final destination.

Clark Settles, chief of the Counter Proliferation Investigations unit, says the variety of items leaves little doubt of Iran's true intentions.

"If they were just acquiring items for uranium enrichment and not a lot of the other items that they've attempted to acquire -- from missile guidance, to triggered spark gaps that are used to detonate nuclear weapons -- if they were just trying acquire one thing and not the other, then argument would hold some water," says Settles.

Counterproliferation experts say Iranian agents' smuggling operations include parties who aren't aware they are doing anything illegal.

But Settles says most of those arrested are very clear about what's going on.

"In an undercover capacity, we act in every role - as the shippers, the freight forwarders, the buyers, the sellers - to really delve into these networks to prove that they are not innocent individuals that are being duped by the Iranians or by somebody else."

"They know exactly what they're doing. They're doing it for profit or they work for those governments or those terrorist groups."

Scores of people arrested on smuggling charges were trying to move dual-use components, which can be used for both peaceful and military purposes. These components are legal to buy and ship to places. Iran is not one of those places.

Mahmoud Yadegari, an Iranian-Canadian citizen who is on trial in Canada for procuring nuclear dual-use components from a U.S. company and attempting to re-export them to Iran, claims he was not deceived into doing it.

Yadegari allegedly purchased pressure transducers, which can be used in gas centrifuge plants - a key link in the process of weaponizing nuclear material.

In 2007, an official U.S. National Intelligence Estimate on Iran's nuclear program suggested the Iranians had suspended its program.

One of the key judgments of the report stated:

"We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program; we also assess with moderate-to-high confidence that Tehran at a minimum is keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons."

But the senior foreign counterproliferation official who spoke with WTOP says, "We really have not seen any change in Iranian procurement efforts over the last 5 years."

Settles, with ICE, indicates U.S. law enforcement hasn't seen much of a change either.

"We've played it in out in (U.S.) court and we've caught a significant number of people. When you put the two together, it still appears they have intentions of moving their nuclear weapons program forward," he says.

Another round of sanctions has had little effect on Iran's resolve.

"From right and from left, they adopt sanctions, but for us, they are annoying flies, like a used tissue," said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after the sanctions were announced.

The Obama administration has said that "all options are on the table" in order to stop Iran from possessing nuclear weapons.

When asked on The Politics Program with Mark Plotkin whether Israel is planning to stop Iran from developing a bomb, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Michael Oren reiterated the Obama administration's stance.

As intelligence officials struggle to define what Iran is up to, so does a former U.N. weapons inspector.

"I think the evidence that I have seen - and there is no doubt a lot that I have not seen - indicates that (Iran is) taking all the critical steps along the way that they need to get to a weapon, but I do not know whether they have decided to go all the way or stop just short of having deployable weapons," says David Kay.

However, Kay says it may not matter.

"We will soon have to start treating them and reassuring allies as if they had decided to go all the way."

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: CarolC
Date: 14 Jun 10 - 01:19 PM

beardedbruce, you have not posted any proven facts on the subject of the South Korean submarine, either. So maybe you should heed your own words.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 14 Jun 10 - 01:22 PM

CarolC,

I have posted the aarticles stating that the other side disagrees, and calling for an investigation. You have posted blogs saying that since early reports had no evidence, there could never be any conclusions determined.. I am still waiting on whether April is before or after May.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: CarolC
Date: 14 Jun 10 - 01:31 PM

beardedbruce, you apparently can't tell the difference between someone posting links to articles that present another side to a story so that people can see all sides, and a statement of fact by said person.

Perhaps this lack of ability to discern reality is the reason you are unable to determine whether or not April comes before or after May.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 14 Jun 10 - 01:39 PM

You are the one saying that a quote from April means a report in May could not say what it did. And you post blogs, claiming them as proof- they are opinion..

When you realize that your opinion is as valuable ( and not more so) as mine, but that the facts are as determined by evidence, not your desire, the threads will be a lot more informative.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: CarolC
Date: 14 Jun 10 - 01:49 PM

And you post blogs, claiming them as proof

Where did I do this, beardedbruce? Where did I claim them as proof?

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 16 Jun 10 - 03:33 PM

Iran says it will build more nuclear reactors
            

Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jun 16, 10:11 am ET

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran stepped up its nuclear defiance Wednesday by endorsing plans to boost its uranium enrichment and to build four new facilities for atomic medical research — less than a week after the latest U.N. sanctions.

The series of announcements and sharp comments by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — who said the West must come to Iran like a "polite child" in any possible nuclear talks — could encourage calls for more economic pressure against the Islamic Republic.

European Union foreign ministers agreed earlier this week to consider tighter sanctions for Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment. U.S. lawmakers also could press for additional embargoes after last week's U.N. Security Council sanctions — which were backed by Iranian allies Russia and China.

Ahmadinejad said he will soon announce new conditions for talks with the West. But first, he wants to punish world powers for imposing sanctions on Tehran and added Iran will not make "one iota of concessions."

"You showed bad temper, reneged on your promise and again resorted to devilish manners," he said of the powers that imposed sanctions. "We set conditions (for talks) so that, God willing, you'll be punished a bit and sit at the negotiating table like a polite child," he told a crowd during a visit to the central Iranian town of Shahr-e-Kord. His speech was broadcast live on state TV.

The West and other nations are increasingly worried Iran will eventually develop the capacity for nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear program is only for peaceful energy production and research.

Iran's parliament speaker Ali Larijani said lawmakers back the government's push to enrich uranium at a higher level since earlier this year as a response to "bullying countries."

Iran currently enriches uranium up to 20 percent levels — which is far short the 95 percent plus enriched uranium needed for an atomic weapon, but is a significant advancement from the low-grade uranium at nearly 5 percent level from the early stages of making reactor-ready fuel.

Iran has rebuffed a U.N.-drafted plan to suspend uranium enrichment and swap its stockpiles of low-enriched uranium for fuel rods. An alternative plan backed by Turkey and Brazil includes the uranium-for-rods exchange, but does not mandate a halt to Iran's ability to make its own nuclear fuel.

Iran has justified its decision to go to higher enrichment by saying its needed to create fuel for a research reactor producing medical isotopes.

Iran's nuclear chief said Wednesday there are plans to build four new medical research reactors, including one "more powerful" than the main facility: an aging 5-megawat U.S.-made research reactor operating in Tehran.

Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi was quoted by state TV's web site as saying the new research reactor is for radioactive isotopes for medical needs of patients in Iran and abroad.

"Designing the reactor will be completed by the year end and two years will be needed to construct it. ... Our plan is to build four reactors in four corners of the country so that, given the short life of nuclear medicine, all patients will get the products throughout Iran," the website quoted him as saying.

Salehi also said Iran possesses technology to produce fuel rods for such reactors and the first should be ready sometime next spring.

The announcements reflect Iran's confusing response to the U.N. sanctions.

Ahmadinejad has countered with insults and dismissive remarks, but also claims the door is still open for dialogue on the nuclear standoff. The huge obstacle, however, is that the talks must be on Iran's terms.

Ahmadinejad also attacked the U.S., saying Iran needs to save Americans from "their undemocratic and bullying government." He charged there was no freedom in the U.S. and newspapers in America were not authorized to write against the Zionists or hold rallies against the "crimes" committed by their government.

Ahmadinejad was reacting to an invitation by the European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili to discuss the nuclear issue. At the same time, though, EU foreign ministers agreed Monday to recommend additional sanctions over the nuclear issue.

Larijani, the parliament speaker, also warned that Iran will reciprocate if the U.S. or other countries inspect Iranian planes or ships in line with new sanctions.

"We warn the U.S. and some adventurist countries that should they be tempted to inspect consignment of Iranian planes and ships, they should rest assured that we will reciprocate (by inspecting) their ships in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea," he said.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 21 Jun 10 - 11:48 AM

Iran bans 2 UN nuclear inspectors from entering
            
Nasser Karimi, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 55 mins ago

TEHRAN, Iran – Tehran said Monday it had banned two U.N. nuclear inspectors from entering the country because they had leaked "false" information about Iran's disputed nuclear program

The ban is the latest twist in Iran's deepening tussle with the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency and the West over its nuclear program. The United States and its allies warn that Iran's program is geared toward making nuclear weapons.

Tehran denies the charge saying its nuclear activities are only for peaceful purposes like power generation.

The IAEA report in question stated that in January Iran announced it had conducted certain experiments to purify uranium, which could theoretically be used to produce a nuclear warhead. Iran then denied the experiments had taken place a few months later.

When the inspectors in May visited the Jaber Ibn Hayan Multipurpose Research Laboratory in Tehran, where the alleged high temperature pyroprocessing experiments were conducted, they said the equipment involved had been removed.

The Associated Press reported the IAEA's concerns in May, citing unnamed diplomats.

Iran, however, maintained in June there were no experiments related to pyroprocessing and no equipment was removed and has called the IAEA report "false with the purpose of influencing public opinion."

The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi said on state TV that the IAEA had been informed of the decision to ban the inspectors, whom he did not identify.

"We announced names of two inspectors to the agency last week. Those two now have no right to enter Iran anymore," he said. "What they reported was untrue and they revealed it before it was officially reviewed."

Salehi also said Iran would remain loyal to its international commitments to the agency and the IAEA inspectors would still be able to inspect Iran's nuclear facilities.

Since 2006, after Iran's nuclear dossier was reported to the U.N. Security Council, Iran limited its cooperation to only its obligations under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.

The U.N. Security Council slapped a fourth set of sanctions on Iran earlier this month over its nuclear program. The move followed Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a process which can be used for the production of fuel for power plants as well as material for warheads if enriched to a higher level.

Vienna, meanwhile, Brazil's foreign minister indicated that his country's active support of Iran in its dispute with the West over its nuclear program was being scaled back after the U.N. Security Council's decision earlier this month for new sanctions.

"We will help whenever we can, but of course there is a limit to where we can go," Celso Amorim told reporters on the sidelines of an official visit to Austria.

"If there is renewed interest then we will be able to assist again, if not then we can only wish best of luck" to Iran and its interlocutors in solving their nuclear dispute, he said.

Brazil and Turkey last month brokered an Iranian nuclear fuel-swap deal in hopes that they would at least delay new U.N. sanctions, but the new penalties were imposed nonetheless.

Under the deal — based on elements of an earlier draft — Iran agreed to ship 1,200 kilograms (2,640 pounds) of low-enrich uranium to Turkey, where it would be stored. In exchange, Iran would get fuel rods made from 20-percent enriched uranium; that level of enrichment is high enough for use in research reactors but too low for nuclear weapons.

Among concerns by opponents of the deal is that Iran has continued to churn out low-enriched material and plans to continue running a pilot program of enriching to higher levels, near 20 percent — a level from which it would be easier to move on to creating weapons-grade uranium.

The U.S. and its allies argue that the sanctions are in response to Iran's refusal to freeze all enrichment activities and not in response to Tehran's fuel swap offer.

______

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 21 Jun 10 - 11:52 AM

Gates rules out idea of 'containing' nuclear-armed Iran
            
FOX News Sun Jun 20, 3:58 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Sunday refused to address the notion of having to contain a nuclear armed Iran, saying US efforts were aimed at preventing it from acquiring atomic weapons.

"I don't think we're prepared to even talk about containing a nuclear Iran. I think... our view still is we do not accept the idea of Iran having nuclear weapons," he said in an interview with Fox News Sunday.

"And our policies and our efforts are all aimed at preventing that from happening," he said.

Asked whether a military strike against Iran was preferable to it acquiring nuclear weapons, Gates said all options remained on the table but added: "I think we have some time to continue working this problem."

Stepped up economic and diplomatic pressure had "a reasonable chance of getting the Iranian regime finally to come to their senses and realize their security is probably more endangered by going forward," he said.

Gates observed that over the past 18 months support for the regime in Tehran has narrowed, as it has turned toward a military dictatorship in the wake of a disputed presidential election.

"So I think adding economic pressures on top of that, and particularly targeted economic pressures, has real potential," he said.

The UN Security Council slapped a fourth set of sanctions June 10 in an effort to rein in its nuclear program, which the United States and other countries believe is aimed at developing a nuclear weapons capability.

Iran says the program is for peaceful purposes only.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 21 Jun 10 - 11:53 AM

Abnormal radiation detected near Korean border
         
Hyung-jin Kim, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 27 mins ago

SEOUL, South Korea – Abnormally high radiation levels were detected near the border between the two Koreas days after North Korea claimed to have mastered a complex technology key to manufacturing a hydrogen bomb, Seoul said Monday.

The Science Ministry said its investigation ruled out a nuclear test by North Korea, but failed to determine the source of the radiation. It said there was no evidence of an earthquake, which follows an atomic explosion.

On May 12, North Korea claimed its scientists succeeded in creating a nuclear fusion reaction — a technology necessary to manufacture a hydrogen bomb. In its announcement, the North did not say how it would use the technology, only calling it a "breakthrough toward the development of new energy."

South Korean experts doubted the North actually made such a breakthrough. Scientists around the world have been experimenting with fusion for decades, but it has yet to be developed into a viable energy alternative.

On May 15, however, the atmospheric concentration of xenon — an inert gas released after a nuclear explosion or radioactive leakage from a nuclear power plant — on the South Korean side of their shared border was found to be eight times higher than normal, according to South Korea's Science Ministry.

South Korea subsequently looked for signs of an artificially induced earthquake of a magnitude typically registered during a nuclear test. Experts, however, found no signs of such a quake in North Korea, a ministry statement said.

"We determined that there was no possibility of an underground nuclear test," it said. The ministry said the gas is not harmful.

While any fusion test would have registered seismic activity, according to nuclear expert Whang Joo-ho of South Korea's Kyung Hee University, the presence of xenon could also have come from a leak.

Since the wind was blowing from north to south when the xenon was detected, a Science Ministry official said the gas could not have originated from any nuclear power plants in South Korea.

But the official — speaking on condition of anonymity, citing department policy — said the xenon could have come from Russia or China. Whang agreed, saying a nuclear test or radioactive leakage would be the only reasons that could explain the atmospheric concentration of xenon reported by the ministry.

A Vienna-based United Nations agency, however, said no signs of increased radioactivity were detected last month along the Korean border.

"We have not registered anything that would raise any suspicion," said Kirsten Haupt, a spokeswoman for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, a U.N. agency that looks for signs of nuclear testing worldwide.

Earlier Monday, South Korea's mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that North Korea may have conducted a small-sized nuclear test, citing the abnormal radioactivity. The paper cited an atomic expert it did not identify.

North Korea — which is believed to have enough weaponized plutonium for at least a half-dozen nuclear weapons — conducted two underground nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, drawing international condemnation and U.N. sanctions.

The news of the detected radiation comes as tension is running high on the Korean peninsula over the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on a North Korean torpedo attack. North Korea flatly denies the allegation and has warned any punishment would trigger war, as the U.N. Security Council reviews Seoul's request for action over the sinking.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 25 Jun 10 - 01:48 PM

N Korea seeks $75 trillion in compensation
Updated Fri Jun 25, 2010 8:43am AEST

Cash-strapped North Korea has demanded the United States pay almost $US65 trillion ($75 trillion) in compensation for six decades of hostility.

The official North Korean news agency, KCNA, says the cost of the damage done by the US since the peninsula was divided in 1945 is estimated at $US64.96 trillion.

The compensation call comes on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the start of the 1950-1953 Korean War.

KCNA said the figure includes $US26.1 trillion arising from US "atrocities" which left more than 5 million North Koreans dead, wounded, kidnapped or missing.

The agency also claims 60 years of US sanctions have caused a loss of $US13.7 trillion by 2005, while property losses were estimated at $US16.7 trillion.

The agency said North Koreans have "the justifiable right" to receive the compensation for their blood.

It said the committee's calculation did not include the damage North Korea had suffered from sanctions after its first nuclear test in 2006.

- AFP

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Jun 10 - 08:19 PM

Wasn't it the North Koreans who jumped the 38th parallel on June 25, 1950 and invaded the South? As I remember, the US Army which was in Korea at the time got pushed all the way South to the city of Pusan and damned near out of Korea. Then Dugout Doug Macarthur landed at Inchon, pushed the NK troops back to the Yalu River which invited Red China into the fray (and got Macarthur sacked by Truman). With the help of China, NK troops pushed South again until the war bogged down at the current truce line, where it's pretty much remained for the past sixty years.

This means that if I punch you in the nose and break both your arms, you own me? Huh?

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 28 Jun 10 - 03:43 PM

"CIA director Leon Panetta said Sunday that Iran has enough enriched uranium to build two nuclear bombs. In an interview on ABC's This Week, Panetta also said he believed the recent spate of international and US sanctions against Iran will not convince the country to change course on its nuclear program.

"Will it deter them from their ambitions with regards to nuclear capability? Probably not," Panetta said."


from http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0627/report-warships-stationed-iranian-coast/

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 12 Jul 10 - 12:23 PM

Russia says Iran close to nuclear weapons

MOSCOW | Mon Jul 12, 2010 7:27am EDT

MOSCOW July 12 (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that Iran was moving closer to having the potential to create nuclear weapons.

"Iran is moving closer to possessing the potential which in principle could be used for the creation of nuclear weapons," Medvedev told a meeting of ambassadors in Moscow.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 12 Jul 10 - 01:30 PM

Fidel Castro to appear on Cuban television and radio

Credit: Reuters/Alex Castro

HAVANA | Mon Jul 12, 2010 10:25am EDT

HAVANA (Reuters) - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who has lived in seclusion since falling ill four years ago, will appear on Cuban television and radio on Monday evening to discuss his theory that the world is on the verge of nuclear war, the Communist Party newspaper Granma said in its Monday online edition.

The appearance will mark the second time in less than a week that the suddenly resurgent 83-year-old has made a public appearance, after staying out of view, except in occasional photographs and videos, since undergoing emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006.

Last Wednesday, he made a visit to a Havana scientific center that was disclosed in a blog on Saturday.

Castro writes opinion columns, or "Reflections," for Cuba's state-run media that in recent weeks have focused on his prediction that nuclear war will soon break out, sparked by a conflict between the United States and Iran over international sanctions against Iran's nuclear activities.

"The empire is at the point of committing a terrible error that nobody can stop. It advances inexorably toward a sinister fate," he wrote on July 5.

The "empire" is how Castro usually refers to the United States, his bitter foe from the time he took power in Cuba in a 1959 revolution.

In a column published on Sunday night, Castro said the "principal purpose" of his writings has been to "warn international public opinion of what was occurring."

He said he has reached his dire conclusion based in part on "observing what happened, as the political leader that I was during many years, confronting the empire, its blockades and its unspeakable crimes."

The columns have attracted little attention internationally and caused little reaction in Cuba, but Castro promised to continue his lonely fight to warn the world of the coming disaster.

"I don't hesitate in running risks of compromising my modest moral authority," he wrote on Sunday. "I will continue writing 'Reflections' about the topic."

Castro ruled Cuba for 49 years before provisionally ceding power to younger brother Raul Castro following his 2006 surgery.

Citing age and infirmity, he officially resigned in February 2008 and Raul Castro, now 79, was elected president by the National Assembly.

Fidel Castro's reappearance comes as Cuba is preparing to release 52 political prisoners, all jailed in a crackdown on the opposition in 2003 while he was still in power.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Jul 10 - 11:12 PM

Hell's bells, I can make a nuclear bomb. Easier than rebuilding a car engine. All I need is about 10 Kg. of fissionable material (not readily available at my local drugstore) and a damnfool to quickly slam two pieces of the stuff together. Very dirty, low yield (maybe .8 KT*), but it would work. I figured this out in high school.


*Bear in mind that's the equivalent of 800 tons of TNT.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: bobad
Date: 24 Jul 10 - 08:18 AM

North Korea warns of nuclear 'sacred war'

North Korea says it will use its "nuclear deterrent" in response to joint US-South Korean military exercises this weekend.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10748148

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 26 Jul 10 - 12:49 PM

Ex-CIA chief: Strike on Iran seems more likely now
            
Reuters Sun Jul 25, 12:31 pm ET

WASHINGTON – A former CIA director says military action against Iran now seems more likely because no matter what the U.S. does diplomatically, Tehran keeps pushing ahead with its suspected nuclear program.

Michael Hayden, a CIA chief under President George W. Bush, says that during his tenure a strike was "way down the list" of options. But he tells CNN's "State of the Union" that such action now "seems inexorable."

He predicts Iran will build its program to the point where it's just below having an actual weapon. Hayden says that would be as destabilizing to the region as the real thing.

U.S. officials have said military action remains an option if sanctions fail to deter Iran.

Iran says its nuclear work is for peaceful purposes such as power generation.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100725/ap_on_go_ot/us_us_iran

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 26 Jul 10 - 12:53 PM

"All I need is about 10 Kg. of fissionable material (not readily available at my local drugstore) and a damnfool to quickly slam two pieces of the stuff together."


Not as hard to get as I would like- Look at the 1946 and 1964 reports, check the alternate fissionable sequences, and make a small breeder reactor- then use chemical separation on the yield for near 100% pure fissionable material. Details will NOT be provided.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 26 Jul 10 - 01:00 PM

North Korea Warns of Nuclear Response to Naval Exercises

By Bomi Lim and Bill Varner - Jul 23, 2010

North Korea said it would counter U.S. and South Korean joint naval exercises with "nuclear deterrence" after the Obama administration said the government in Pyongyang shouldn't take any provocative steps.

North Korea will "legitimately counter with their powerful nuclear deterrence the largest-ever nuclear war exercises to be staged by the U.S. and the South Korean puppet forces," the National Defense Commission said, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

The maneuvers, which involve 20 vessels and 200 aircraft from the U.S. and South Korea, pose a threat to the country's sovereignty and security, Ri Tong Il, an official with North Korea's delegation to the Asean Security Forum, told reporters in Hanoi yesterday.

Ri's comments came after North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun sat in the same room with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Hanoi for a security meeting of Asia's largest powers. Clinton condemned North Korea for being "on a campaign of provocative, dangerous behavior," urging Kim Jong Il's regime to change.

Still, the "door remains open for North Korea," Clinton later told reporters. "We are willing to meet with them, willing to negotiate, to move toward normal relations" if North Korea commits itself to giving up its nuclear weapons program, she said.

U.S. State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said in Washington yesterday that North Korea "would be better served by reflecting on the current situation, not taking any further aggressive actions or provocative steps."

USS George Washington

The U.S. said this week it will intensify sanctions against North Korea and conduct military exercises with South Korea in waters surrounding the peninsula. The USS George Washington, a nuclear-powered carrier, and three destroyers called into South Korean ports this week in a show of force.

"North Korea may very well go ahead with missile launches or even a third nuclear test to show it won't bend to U.S. pressure," said Yang Moo Jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. "North Korea must have sensed that the U.S. and South Korea are after its regime's collapse."

Ri said the George Washington's presence threatened security on the peninsula, which has been divided for more than half a century. Pak maintained the need for a peace treaty to replace a cease-fire, signed in 1953, to guarantee the peninsula's security, Ri said.

"It's no longer the 19th century with gunboat diplomacy," Ri said. "It is a new century and the Asian countries are in need of peace and development."

Cheonan Sinking

An international panel concluded that the March 26 sinking of the corvette Cheonan was caused by a torpedo fired from a North Korean mini-submarine. The United Nations Security Council condemned the attack, which killed 46 sailors, without naming a culprit.

The investigation's results have been "fabricated," Ri said, adding that North Korea wouldn't apologize for the incident as demanded by South Korea.

"If anyone should apologize, it should be South Korea, responsible for driving the situation on the Korean peninsula to the brink of an explosion," Ri said. "We won't tolerate any attempt to put the blame on us."

North Korea's economy has been battered by UN sanctions limiting cross-border financial transactions, imposed after its nuclear tests in 2006 and last year. North Korea is willing to return to the so-called six-party talks on its nuclear weapons program "on an equal footing," Ri said, repeating demands that the sanctions be removed.

Japan Role

The disarmament talks, also involving China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the U.S., haven't convened since December 2008. All members of that forum attended this week's security meeting in Vietnam.

Japan will send four naval officers to the drills, the government's top spokesman said today.

Four officers of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force will board a U.S. ship as observers for the joint military exercise from tomorrow to July 28 in the sea between South Korea and Japan, said Yoshito Sengoku, chief cabinet secretary.

"It's important to promote coordination among Japan, U.S. and South Korea," Sengoku told reporters in Tokyo.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 26 Jul 10 - 01:03 PM

Russia attacks Iran's verbal assault on Medvedev


MOSCOW July 26 (Reuters) - Iranian criticism of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is "unacceptable" and "fruitless, irresponsible rhetoric", the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

Medvedev told foreign ambassadors on July 12 that Iran was moving closer to the potential to create nuclear weapons.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reacted harshly last weekend, calling Medvedev's statement "the announcement of a propaganda play, planned to be staged against us by America". He said the Russian leader "has kick-started" this play. (Reporting by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by David Stamp)

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 26 Jul 10 - 01:05 PM

Myanmar Going Nuclear
By RSN Singh

Issue: Vol 24.4 Oct-Dec 2009

There has been an unmistakable spurt in the development and acquisition of nuclear weapon capabilities by the Military Junta regime in Myanmar. Given the level of progress in this regard, it is reckoned by various agencies that this would be realized by the year 2014. The media in the Southeast Asian region is rife with insinuations that this project is in progress, in active collaboration with North Korea under the aegis of China.

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is seized of the matter. Recently at the ASEAN Regional Forum Meet at Phuket in Thailand in July 2009, the US Secretary of State, Ms Hillary Clinton voiced her concern over reports about military cooperation between Myanmar and nuclear armed North Korea. This statement should be viewed in the backdrop of the incident wherein a North Korean 2000-tonne freighter 'Kang Nam-I', allegedly carrying illegal cargo, and headed for Myanmar, was tracked in June 2009 by a US Navy destroyer USS John S McCain and was forced to reverse course, reportedly at the behest of China. UN Resolution 1874 permits North Korean ships suspected of carrying illegal cargo to be searched. North Korea conveyed that any such move would be considered as an 'act of war'.

Since the year 2000, there have been reports about North Korean ships off loading construction and other material at Thilawa port in Myanmar. It is intriguing that these activities were taking place during the period when North Korea and Myanmar did not have diplomatic relationship since 1983, which was restored only in 2007. The relations between the two countries were snapped, following the bombing of Martyr's mausoleum in Yangon by North Korean agents in an attempt to assassinate the visiting South Korean president, Chun Doo-hwan.

Since the restoration of diplomatic relations in 2007, there has been a flurry of secret visits by Myanmar officials to North Korea, which could not have been possible without a reasonable level of engagement and cooperation between the two countries during the so-called 'diplomatic freeze'. No sooner had the diplomatic relations been restored, a Myanmar delegation led by Lt Gen Myint Hlaing, the Chief of Air Defence, followed by another delegation headed by Lt Gen Tin Aye, Chief of the Office of Chief Defense Industries, visited North Korea. The composition of these delegations suggests that besides cooperation for procurement and development of conventional weapons, there are aspirations on Myanmar's part to seek assistance in nuclear weapons and missile technology. If it was only conventional weapons, China is well placed to meet its requirements. As it is Myanmar and China have thriving defence cooperation and more than 70 percent of Myanmar's military arsenal is of Chinese origin. Moreover, North Korea lags far behind China in conventional weapon technologies. But as far as transfer of nuclear and missile technologies is concerned, it has been the wont of China to supply them through their proxies like North Korea so as to deflect international opprobrium. Pakistan is one such glaring example.

Sources have revealed that the Myanmar-North Korea rapprochement was painstakingly brought about by China. It is believed that when the Myanmar authorities approached China for supply of 'howitzer guns', the Chinese authorities expressed their inability on the plea of shortages, but said that the same could be obtained from North Korea in exchange for rice. During that period, North Korea was facing severe food shortages due to drought. At the behest of China, ambassadors of Myanmar and North Korea to Thailand met each other. The desperation on China's part to facilitate the rapprochement process between the two internationally pariah nations, extremely close and beholden to China, is a pointer towards the evolution of a new Chinese strategy in the region.

http://www.indiandefencereview.com/2009/11/myanmar-going-nuclear.html

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 Jul 10 - 01:08 PM

Should the DPRK attempt anything -- nuclear or otherwise -- it would cease to exist within 15 days. They know this.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea: the big-mouth state.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 26 Jul 10 - 01:16 PM

Only if they believe that the US would react in that way- it does not matter what we WOULD do, but what they THINK we would do.

With Iran, Afghanistan, and the economy in the mix, who can say what they might do?

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 Jul 10 - 02:21 PM

They consistently underestimate South Korea and the reactions of Japan, China, and Russia.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 26 Jul 10 - 02:59 PM

Which is what scares the HELL out of me!

I expect them to put a nuclear weapon into Japan, and we can TRY to knock it down before it hits- and THEN what do we do???

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 Jul 10 - 06:18 PM

We send B-52s from Guam and Okinawa and pound that mountainous country flat with conventional explosives, paving the way for an invasion the ROKs have been wanting for years.

Here's a thought to ponder: the United States talked the ROKs out of continuing to build a nuclear weapon back in the 1980s or so. Why do you have any reason to believe that they stopped?

Japan will not put up with a second round of fission weapons. Neither China nor Russia want the DPRK nuclear weapons used: they'll both stand back and watch the US and the ROKs (and other countries) unite the Korean Pennisula (if THEY don't drop fission weapons).

The hair in the soup is Seoul. It's within artillery range of the DMZ, and the DRPK has a LOT of artillery aimed that way, and that artillery is dug into mountains. The US has the mission of stopping an assault on Seoul through the Chorwin Valley and the Western part of the DMZ. It would be done, but Seoul might well be devastated and literally millions made casualties even if nukes are not used.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 06 Sep 10 - 12:32 PM

UN nuke agency says monitoring of Iran is hampered
            

George Jahn,

Associated Press Writer – 49 mins ago

VIENNA – The U.N. atomic agency says its monitoring of Iran's nuclear activities is being hampered because Tehran objects to giving some agency inspectors access to its program.

The unusual warning is contained in a restricted report on Iran made available to The Associated Press.

It follows Iran's recent decision to strip two experienced inspectors of the right to monitor Tehran's nuclear activities after they reported undeclared nuclear experiments conducted by Tehran. Iran says the reporting by the two was inaccurate but the IAEA stands by their findings.

The report is being circulated to the IAEA's 35-nation board and to the U.N. Security Council. Iran says it wants to enrich to create energy. But enrichment can also create the fissile core of nuclear warheads.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 06 Sep 10 - 12:36 PM

Top Iran cleric rejects Holocaust as 'superstition'
Sep 4 10:19 AM US/Eastern

A senior Iranian cleric, Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, dismissed the Nazi Holocaust of Jews during World War II as a new "superstition" for the West, media reported on Saturday.
"The Holocaust is nothing but superstition, but Zionists say that people of the world should be forced to accept this," he was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA.

"Americans and Westerners are affected by newly appeared superstitions such as the Holocaust," he said according to ISNA news agency.

"The truth about the Holocaust is not clear, and when the researchers want to examine whether it is true or the Jews have created it to pose as victims, they jail the researchers," said Makarem Shirazi, who is a "marja," or among the highest authorities in Shiite Islam.

Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly branded the Holocaust a "myth" in his frequent anti-Israel diatribes drawing international condemnation, but Iran's prominent clergy have rarely echoed such comments.

Several opposition figures have also rebuked Ahmadinejad over questioning the Holocaust while backing the Palestinian cause.

The comments came after Ahmadinejad dismissed on Friday revived Israeli-Palestinian peace talks as "doomed" to fail and said the people of the Middle East are "capable of removing the Zionist regime" from the world scene.

Iran does not recognise Israel -- the sole if undeclared nuclear-armed state in the Middle East -- which accuses the Islamic republic of seeking nuclear weapons and has never ruled out a military strike to curb its atomic drive.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 08 Sep 10 - 11:55 AM

interesting article...


"Castro's message to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, was not so abstract, however. Over the course of this first, five-hour discussion, Castro repeatedly returned to his excoriation of anti-Semitism. He criticized Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust and explained why the Iranian government would better serve the cause of peace by acknowledging the "unique" history of anti-Semitism and trying to understand why Israelis fear for their existence.

...

He said the Iranian government should understand the consequences of theological anti-Semitism. "This went on for maybe two thousand years," he said. "I don't think anyone has been slandered more than the Jews. I would say much more than the Muslims. They have been slandered much more than the Muslims because they are blamed and slandered for everything. No one blames the Muslims for anything." The Iranian government should understand that the Jews "were expelled from their land, persecuted and mistreated all over the world, as the ones who killed God. In my judgment here's what happened to them: Reverse selection. What's reverse selection? Over 2,000 years they were subjected to terrible persecution and then to the pogroms. One might have assumed that they would have disappeared; I think their culture and religion kept them together as a nation." He continued: "The Jews have lived an existence that is much harder than ours. There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust." I asked him if he would tell Ahmadinejad what he was telling me. "I am saying this so you can communicate it," he answered."

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 24 Sep 10 - 12:21 PM

North and South Korea on the brink of war, Russian diplomat warns

North and South Korea are on the brink of war, a top Russian diplomat has warned, calling for both countries to exercise restraint and sit down for talks.

By Andrew Osborn in Moscow
Published: 12:04AM BST 24 Sep 2010

In Moscow's bleakest assessment of the situation on the Korean peninsula yet, Russian deputy foreign minister Alexei Borodavkin said tensions between the two countries were running at their highest and most dangerous level in a decade.

"Tensions on the Korean Peninsula could not be any higher. The only next step is a conflict," he told foreign policy experts at a round table on the subject in Moscow.

UN Security Council toughens sanctions against North Korea
Kim Jong-il is a headache, but not a nightmareHis prediction came two months after North Korea vowed to wage "a sacred war" against South Korea and its biggest backer, the United States.

Tensions bubbled over in March after Washington and Seoul concluded that a North Korean submarine had sunk a South Korean naval vessel in the Yellow Sea. Mr Borodavkin called for the investigation into exactly who was responsible for the sinking of the vessel, the Cheonan, to be urgently closed in order to remove an obvious source of tension.

Describing the standoff between the two Koreas as a "hangover from the Cold War," Mr Borodavkin said Russia, which is one of the six countries involved in talks with North Korea over its nuclear programme, was doing all it could to try to prevent an outbreak of hostilities.

But he said responsibility for keeping peace in the volatile region was shared equally between North and South Korea. He condemned North Korea's nuclear testing programme but also criticised the way the United States and South Korea had increased their military manoeuvres in the wake of the sinking of the Cheonan.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/8020972/North-and-South-Korea-on-the-brink-of-war-Russian-diplomat-war

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 24 Sep 10 - 02:43 PM

Probably some people or groups of people here, who don't agree with the government's policies.

GfS

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: Rapparee
Date: 24 Sep 10 - 10:12 PM

They still ARE at war. The one started in 1950 never ended; a truce was called. The truce has been violated, over and over, by both sides but mainly by the DPRK. I truly doubt that DPRK could get support from either China or Russia should they decide to jump the Z, and the generals know it. Should Kim decide to move to open attack he might find himself assassinated by his generals, who seem to live in the real world instead of Kimilsongland.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: bobad
Date: 24 Sep 10 - 10:26 PM

Good analysis Rap, I hope you are right.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: GUEST,Steamin' Willie
Date: 25 Sep 10 - 05:40 AM

haven't been following this thread much, so sorry if this has been pointed out.

Given a choice, North Korea.

Bomb Iran and you upset lots of people in lots of countries due to our old friend religion. Bomb North Korea and who else gets upset? err... not even the Chinese who are fed up of propping them up.

Hopefully the above ironic comments are taken that way, as I hope the original post was ironic, but amazing how many people, especially in The United Confederate States of Dumbfuckistan actually think this as more than an academic question....

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 06 Oct 10 - 12:29 PM

Afghan Police Seize 22 Tons Of Explosives From Iran

Updated: Wednesday, 06 Oct 2010, 9:03 AM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 06 Oct 2010, 8:18 AM EDT

AFP - Afghan police said Wednesday they had seized 22 tons of explosives stashed in boxes marked "food, toys and kitchenware" that were imported from neighboring Iran.

The discovery was made Tuesday in a customs office in the western province of Nimroz on the Iranian border, deputy provincial police chief Mohammad Musa Rasouli said.

"We found these materials hidden in a 40 foot shipping container that had come from Iran. The explosives were disguised as merchandise like food, toys and kitchenware," he added.

Bombs made from old ammunitions and explosives are the main weapon used by the Taliban and other insurgents fighting against the Western-backed Afghan government and Western troops, and cause the bulk of military casualties.

Foreign military commanders and some Afghan officials have accused Iran of providing weapons to the Taliban, the chief group leading the insurgency since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion ousted its regime from power.

Tehran, a long-running U.S. foe, denies the charges and senior Afghan administration officials say they have no evidence against Iran.

The U.S. and NATO have more than 150,000 troops in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban and keep President Hamid Karzai's administration in power.

Copyright 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 11 Nov 10 - 11:53 AM

Security Council Gets North Korea Nuke Report

Published November 10, 2010
| FoxNews.com

UNITED NATIONS -- A report by U.N. experts saying North Korea is exporting banned nuclear and missile technology to Iran, Syria and Myanmar has been sent to the Security Council after China dropped its objections, U.N. diplomats said Wednesday.

The panel's report was submitted to the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against Pyongyang in early May but China, a close ally of North Korea, blocked its transmission to the full 15-member council, diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because consultations have been private.

The experts said North Korea is exporting nuclear and ballistic missile technology and using multiple intermediaries, shell companies and overseas criminal networks to circumvent U.N. sanctions. It called for further study of these suspected activities and urged all countries to try to prevent them.

"The Panel of Experts has reviewed several government assessments, reporters of the International Atomic Energy Agency, research papers and media reports indicting continuing involvement of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in nuclear and ballistic missile-related activities in certain countries, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Syrian Arab Republic and Myanmar (Burma)."

The report goes on to expose how North Korea engages in "the use of multiple layers of intermediaries, shell companies and financial institutions" to "circumvent" U.N. sanctions.

In particular, the report identifies a network of "trade offices" that engage in "handling its illicit trade and covert acquisitions," including establishing "links with overseas criminal networks to carry out these activities," which also may "include weapons of mass destruction-sensitive goods and arms and related materiel smuggling."

Perhaps the most damning finding is that North Korea "has continued to provide missiles, components and technology to certain countries, including the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Syrian Arab Republic, "and that North Korea "has proved assistance for a nuclear program in the Syrian Arab Republic."

The 47-page report and a 23-page annex document sanctions violations reported by U.N. member states, including four cases involving arms exports and two seizures of luxury goods by Italy -- two yachts and high-end recording and video equipment. The report also details the broad range of techniques that North Korea is using to try to evade sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council after its two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican, said in a statement Wednesday that the report "should be a wake-up call for the U.S. and other responsible nations."

"Instead of continuing its failed strategy of seeking to engage the regime in endless negotiation, the administration must ratchet up pressure on Pyongyang," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 09 Dec 10 - 04:53 PM

Iran Placing Medium-Range Missiles in Venezuela; Can Reach the U.S.
by Anna Mahjar-Barducci
December 8, 2010 at 5:00 am

http://www.hudson-ny.org/1714/iran-missiles-in-venezuela


Iran is planning to place medium-range missiles on Venezuelan soil, based on western information sources[1], according to an article in the German daily, Die Welt, of November 25, 2010. According to the article, an agreement between the two countries was signed during the last visit o Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Tehran on October19, 2010. The previously undisclosed contract provides for the establishment of a jointly operated military base in Venezuela, and the joint development of ground-to-ground missiles.

At a moment when NATO members found an agreement, in the recent Lisbon summit (19-20 November 2010), to develop a Missile Defence capability to protect NATO's populations and territories in Europe against ballistic missile attacks from the East (namely, Iran), Iran's counter-move consists in establishing a strategic base in the South American continent - in the United States's soft underbelly.

According to Die Welt, Venezuela has agreed to allow Iran to establish a military base manned by Iranian missile officers, soldiers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Venezuelan missile officers. In addition, Iran has given permission for the missiles to be used in case of an "emergency". In return, the agreement states that Venezuela can use these facilities for "national needs" – radically increasing the threat to neighbors like Colombia. The German daily claims that according to the agreement, Iranian Shahab 3 (range 1300-1500 km), Scud-B (285-330 km) and Scud-C (300, 500 and 700 km) will be deployed in the proposed base. It says that Iran also pledged to help Venezuela in rocket technology expertise, including intensive training of officers

Venezuela has also become the country through which Iran intends to bypass UN sanctions. Following a new round of UN sanctions against the Islamic Republic, for example, Russia decided not to sell five battalions of S-300PMU-1 air defence systems to Iran. These weapons, along with a number of other weapons, were part of a deal, signed in 2007, worth $800 million. Now that these weapons cannot be delivered to Iran, Russia is looking for new customers; according to the Russian press agency Novosti[2], it found one: Venezuela.

Novosti reports the words of Igor Korotchenko, head of a Moscow-based think tank on international arms trade, saying that if the S-300 deal with Venezuela goes through, Caracas should pay cash for the missiles, rather than take another loan from Russia. "The S-300 is a very good product and Venezuela should pay the full amount in cash, as the country's budget has enough funds to cover the deal ," Korotchenko said. Moscow has already provided Caracas with several loans to buy Russian-made weaponry, including a recent $2.2-mln loan on the purchase of 92 T-72M1M tanks, the Smerch multiple-launch rocket systems and other military equipment.

If Iran, therefore, cannot get the S-300 missiles directly from Russia, it can still have them through its proxy, Venezuela, and deploy them against its staunchest enemy, the U.S..

But that is not all. According to Reuters, Iran has developed a version of the Russian S-300 missile and will test-fire it soon, as declared by the official news agency IRNA, two months after Moscow cancelled the delivery to comply with United Nations sanctions[3]. Iran, in fact, has its own capabilities for constructing missiles that could carry atomic warheads. According to a study recently released by the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London, Iran is presently aiming to perfect the already existing solid-fuel, medium-range missile that can carry a nuke to hit regional targets, such as Israel[4]. If a missile base can be opened in Venezuela, many US cities will be able to be reached from there even with short-medium range missiles.

The situation that is unfolding in Venezuela has some resemblance to the Cuba crisis of 1962. At that time, Cuba was acting on behalf of the USSR; now Venezuela is acting on behalf of Iran. At present, the geopolitical situation is very different: the world is no longer ruled by two superpowers; new nations, often with questionable leaders and the ambition of acquiring global status, are appearing on the international scene. Their danger to the free world will be greater if the process of nuclear proliferation is not stopped. Among the nations that aspire to become world powers, Iran has certainly the best capabilities of posing a challenge to the West.

Back in the 1962, thanks to the stern stance adopted by the then Kennedy administration, the crisis was defused

Nowadays, however, we do not see the same firmness from the present administration. On the contrary, we see a lax attitude, both in language and in deeds, that results in extending hands when our adversaries have no intention of shaking hands with us. Iran is soon going to have a nuclear weapon, and there are no signs that UN sanctions will in any way deter the Ayatollah's regime from completing its nuclear program. We know that Iran already has missiles that can carry an atomic warhead over Israel and over the Arabian Peninsula. Now we learn that Iran is planning to build a missile base close to the US borders. How longer do we have to wait before the Obama administration begins to understand threats?

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 10 Dec 10 - 06:44 PM

N.Korea 'will rely on nuclear might for defence'

Dec 10 07:49 AM US/Eastern

Pyongyang will rely on nuclear might to defend itself against the United States and South Korea, North Korea's Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun told Russia's Interfax news agency Friday.

"We are once again assured of the rectitude of our choice of the songun (army first) policy, and in strengthening a defence that relies on nuclear forces for deterrence," he said.

Moments after his comments, the Russian foreign ministry issued a statement stating that "all sides must avoid taking any actions that can escalate the situation."

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: GUEST,Chongo Chimp
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 06:26 PM

You remind me of the guy who stumbled into Al Capone's club one night and said, "Anyone here got change for a $20?" Poor sap had no idea what he was walkin' into...

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 02 Sep 11 - 04:18 PM

VIENNA (AP) -- The U.N. nuclear agency said Wednesday it is "increasingly concerned" about a stream of intelligence suggesting that Iran continues to work secretly on developing a nuclear payload for a missile and other components of a nuclear weapons program.

In its report, the International Atomic Energy Agency said "many member states" are providing evidence for that assessment, describing the information it is receiving as credible, "extensive and comprehensive."

The restricted 9-page report was made available Friday to The Associated Press, shortly after being shared internally with the 35 IAEA member nations and the U.N. Security Council. It also said Tehran has fulfilled a pledged made earlier this year and started installing equipment to enrich uranium at a new location - an underground bunker that is better protected from air attack than its present enrichment facilities.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAN_NUCLEAR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Subject: RE: BS: Who's Next? Iran or Korea?
From: Teribus
Date: 02 Sep 11 - 06:07 PM

1200