Big Bad Iranian Navy Menaces Poor Little US Navy12 Jan 2008Summary: Why do we automatically believe the US government?s version of events without independent corroboration? We know that war policy involves psychological warfare and propaganda (i.e. lying). source: On The Contrary Blog Siteread more
A deal for a deal12 Jan 2008Summary: Robert FoxIf George Bush persuades Israel to stop settlements and end occupation of the West Bank, what kind of quid pro quo will Olmert have won on Iran? source: The Guardianread more
Saudi cannot be launchpad for Iran attack: report12 Jan 2008Summary: A leading Saudi newspaper on Saturday ruled out any attempt by the United States to use the oil-rich Gulf kingdom as a launchpad for a possible war on Iran over Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme. source: AFPread more
Iran: We’re Willing To Cooperate in Nuclear Crisis12 Jan 2008Summary: ElBaradeiElBaradei termed the talks with Aqazadeh positive and expressed hope that the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programs would be settled by March. source: Deutsche Welleread more
Bush Fails Again12 Jan 2008Summary: In fact, the main purpose of Bush’s visit is to harangue the Arabs about the alleged dangers of Iran. He refuses to talk to the elected representatives of the Palestinians, who are Hamas members. source: Anti War.Comread more
Iran showdown has echoes of faked Tonkin attack12 Jan 2008Summary: Gulf of TonkinThe similarities between this week’s confrontation between US warships and Iranian speedboats and events off the coast of North Vietnam 44 years ago were too hard for many experts to miss, leading to the question: Is the Strait of Hormuz 2008’s Gulf of Tonkin? source: Row Storyread more
Another Iranian Act of Aggression12 Jan 2008Summary: On July 3, 1988, while allegedly being harassed by Iranian torpedo boats, the Vincennes launched several Aegis surface-to-air missiles which destroyed ? to whoops of joy on the Vincennes bridge ? an Iranian regularly scheduled commercial airliner, Iran Air Flight IR655, killing all 275 passengers [most of them Islamic pilgrims and many of them children] and 15 crew. source: Anti War.Comread more
Official Version of Naval Incident Starts to Unravel11 Jan 2008Summary: Despite the official and media portrayal of the incident in the Strait of Hormuz early Monday morning as a serious threat to US ships from Iranian speedboats that nearly resulted in a “battle at sea,” new information over the past three days suggests that the incident did not involve such a threat and that no US commander was on the verge of firing at the Iranian boats. source: Anti War.Comread more
Petition: Stop Bias Against Iranian Students and Academics in The Netherlands11 Jan 2008Summary: In a radical and unprecedented move Twente University in Enschede, The Netherlands, has decided on a total exclusion of and denial of admission to all Iranian nationals. The university bases its decision upon the request of the Dutch Ministry of Education to “exercise vigilance and prevent specialized teaching or training of Iranian nationals of disciplines which would contribute to Iran’s profileration of sensitive nuclear activities and development of nuclear weapon delivery systems” in compliance with the resolution 1373 of UN Security Council. source: iPetitionsread more
Strait Facts10 Jan 2008Summary: Timing of this so called ‘provocation’ incident in the Persian Gulf just before Mr. Bush’s trip to the region was also very convenient as he went on reminding the world and all the client Arab states in the region during a press conference in Israel yesterday that they must fear this menacing “threat to the world peace” and prepare for a joint U.S./Israeli action to deal with Iran. source: CASMIIread more
Iran releases its video of confrontation at sea10 Jan 2008Summary: The five-minute video does not include the confrontation or threatening language described by U.S. officials, who released their own video of the incident Tuesday. Instead, it shows Iranian navy personnel calmly radioing U.S. warships to ask for additional information on ship identification. source: Washington Postread more
Provocation in the Strait of Hormuz10 Jan 2008Summary: Two separate news reports relying mostly on information provided by the Pentagon were picked up and disseminated by US mainstream media outlets Monday. The reports point to two separate instances involving US armed forces operating in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. source: Truthout.orgread more
An Ominous Non-Event: The Gulf of Tonkin and the Strait of Hormuz10 Jan 2008Summary: Whether or not this current situation leads Congress to justify an invasion of Iran, or other actions that will lead to an invasion, remains to be seen. But the U.S. has not learned from its own history, and another repeat of an unneeded and catastrophic war is not, unfortunately, unthinkable. That the president will not stop it is not surprising; that Congress will be complicit once again is unspeakable. source: Counterpunchread more
What Is This ?Iranian Provocation? BS?9 Jan 2008Summary: Not one news story about this week?s latest chapter in the administration?s ongoing effort to gin up a crazy war with Iran?the so-called ?provocation? caused by Iranian naval speedboats approaching within 200 meters of a US destroyer?mentioned that the US, which sits some 7500 miles away from Iran, has sent a whole fully-armed armada into the Persian Gulf just off Iran?s coast. source: CommonDreams.orgread more
Bush’s Worrisome Mideast Visit9 Jan 2008Summary: With all due respect, President Bush might do the region and the entire world a favor by staying home – if he plans to visit the Middle East only to speed up the same American policy of blindly supporting Israel, sending arms and money to Arab authoritarian regimes, opposing mainstream Islamist groups that enjoy widespread Arab popular legitimacy, ignoring realistic democratic transitions, and actively pressuring governments and movements that defy the United States. source: Agence Globalread more
‘A Heartbeat Away’ from War with Iran and Pakistan9 Jan 2008Summary: In any event, this is a provocation, all right ? on the part of the Bush administration. As our president travels to Israel, the fulcrum of our policy of Mideast expansionism, there can be little doubt that this is all part of a carefully stage-managed effort to portray Iran as an aggressor ? a scenario made doubly ironic when one considers that the U.S. has sent two aircraft carriers into the Gulf and has massed 150,000 troops in neighboring Iraq, where Washington accuses the Iranians of “interference.” source: antiwar.comread more
Iran Aweigh (Again)9 Jan 2008Summary: And from whom are we getting the cockamamie account of the U.S. ships preparing to fire just as the Iranians turned and high tailed it? Reuters’ Andrew Gray pretty much coughed up a confession: “Pentagon officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said after the Iranian threats a U.S. captain was in the process of ordering sailors to open fire when the Iranian boats moved away.” Pentagon officials speaking on the condition of anonymity. Jesus, Larry and Curly. How long will the big media allow these yahooligans to use it as a propaganda venue? source: Pen and Swordread more
Naval encounter highlights tensions stoked by Bush trip to Middle East8 Jan 2008Summary: the incident has taken place in the Strait of Hormuz, just three days before Bush?s touchdown in the Middle East. If it did not organise the naval affair, the Bush administration is certainly seizing on it with both hands as it seeks to exploit the ?Iranian threat? to shore up its alliances in the region. source: World Socialist Websiteread more
LA Times: Iranians provoke U.S. ships, military officials say8 Jan 2008Summary: An official in the Revolutionary Guard downplayed the incident as a routine encounter in the cramped waterways of the gulf, “Three U.S. boats were about to enter Iranian waters and they were questioned normally,”, “Nothing important happened between the Revolutionary Guards and the American boats in international waters. The Americans were identified and everything went well.” source: Los Angeles Timesread more
UN atomic chief to visit Iran7 Jan 2008Summary: Diplomats, meanwhile, said Tehran has begun sharing information about past programs the U.S. says were attempts to make nuclear weapons. source: Associated Pressread more
Nukes, Spooks,and the Specter of 9/117 Jan 2008Summary: If a nuke ever goes off in an American city, it will probably have been stolen from our own arsenal ? once the American people wake up to that scary fact, the rest will follow automatically. source: Anti War.Comread more
For sale: West?s deadly nuclear secrets7 Jan 2008Summary: A WHISTLEBLOWER has made a series of extraordinary claims about how corrupt government officials allowed Pakistan and other states to steal nuclear weapons secrets. source: Times-on-Lineread more
More Signs of Iran Detente ?From Petraeus5 Jan 2008Summary: In a new blow to the neo-conservative hard-liners at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), their hero, Gen. David Petraeus, has apparently concluded that Iran is indeed following through on its reported pledge earlier this fall to the Iraqi government to cut its alleged supply of weapons to Shi?a militias in Iraq. That assessment comes from none other than the far-right Washington Times which featured a front-page article by Sara Carter Thursday, entitled ?Iran No Longer Aids Iraq Militants.? source: LobLog.comread more
Why U.S. strategy on Iran is crumbling5 Jan 2008Summary: Washington – ‘Everywhere you turn, it is the policy of Iran to foment instability and chaos,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned Gulf dignitaries in Bahrain last month. But in reality, everywhere you turn, from Qatar to Saudi Arabia to Egypt, you now see Iranian leaders shattering longstanding taboos by meeting cordially with their Arab counterparts. source: CSMread more
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII)