News, Prophecy and other

[Shammu]

France secretly upgrades capacity of nuclear arsenal

· Modification increases range of missiles
· Altitude bomb to knock out electronic systems

Kim Willsher in Paris
Friday February 10, 2006
The Guardian

France has secretly modified its nuclear arsenal to increase the strike range and accuracy of its weapons. The move comes weeks after President Jacques Chirac warned that states which threatened the country could face the "ultimate warning" of a nuclear retaliation.

A military source quoted yesterday by the Libération newspaper claimed France had tinkered with its nuclear weapons to improve their strike capability and make this threat more credible.

The source said there had been two major changes: the bombs can now be fired at high altitude to create an "electromagnetic impulsion" to destroy the enemy's computer and communications systems; and the number of nuclear warheads has been reduced to increase the missiles' range and precision.

Article continues
During his surprise speech, which was made in January, President Chirac said: "The number of nuclear warheads has been reduced in certain of the missiles in our submarines".

Military experts said this was not a step towards disarmament, but a move to improve the performance of the weapons. Until now each submarine carried 16 French-made M45 missiles, each fitted with six nuclear warheads. After being fired, each warhead would separate to hit a different target, in effect giving each submarine 96 nuclear bombs.

In reducing the number of warheads, down to one per missile in some cases, the weapon is lighter and has a longer range. It can also be targeted more accurately.

Libération speculates that while potential targets are "secret", it is clear they include the Middle East or Asia, and that its military contacts suggest the changes are aimed at adding "flexibility" to France's nuclear deterrent.

"These evolutions are aimed at better taking into account the psychology of the enemy," defence minister Michèle Alliot-Marie said after President Chirac's warning in January.

In a speech to MPs, she added: "A potential enemy may think that France, given its principles, might hesitate to use the entire force of its nuclear arsenal against civilian populations.

"Our country has modified its capacity for action and from now on has the possibility to target the control centres of an eventual enemy."

French government sources said the president's speech, given at a nuclear submarine base in Brittany, was not targeted specifically at Iran - despite Tehran's decision to continue its nuclear programme - or at individual terrorist organisations, but at countries that posed a direct threat to France itself.

It is also seen as an attempt to justify the more than €3.5bn (£2.4bn) a year France spends to maintain its estimated 300-350 nuclear weapons more than a decade after the end of the cold war.

"The ultimate warning restores the principle of dissuasion," the military source told Libération. The president is not talking about a choice between an apocalypse or nothing at all."

The paper says according to its information "ultimate warning" could take two new forms.

The most demonstrative would be to fire a relatively weak warhead into a deserted zone far from centres of power and habitation. The more radical option would be to explode a bomb at an extremely high altitude with the aim of creating a brief but enormously strong electromagnetic field which would disable or destroy all non-protected electronic systems in the area.

During the cold war France's "ultimate threat" involved firing nuclear bombs into Soviet military divisions and large cities.

France secretly upgrades capacity of nuclear arsenal

[Shammu]

Israel, Russia clash over moves on Hamas
Fri Feb 10, 2006 8:48 AM ET165

 By Adam Entous

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel on Friday protested a plan by Russia to have talks in Moscow with Hamas, the Islamist militant group that swept recent Palestinian elections and whose charter calls for Israel's destruction.

But Russia stood its ground and predicted other countries would follow its lead in dealing with Hamas.

Israeli President Moshe Katsav and others said Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened peacemaking prospects if he followed through on his invitation to Hamas to visit after its victory in parliamentary elections on January 25.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni warned against what she called a "slippery slope" that could lead other international powers to compromise with Hamas.

Meir Sheetrit, an Israeli cabinet minister and political ally of interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said Israel should consider recalling its ambassador to Russia in protest, and accused Putin of "stabbing Israel in the back".

Putin's surprise overture to Hamas came as a blow to Israel, which wants major powers to boycott Hamas at least until it recognized the Jewish state and renounced violence.

Israel has ruled out negotiating with the group, which masterminded more than 60 suicide bombings against Israelis since 2000 but has largely adhered to a truce declared in March.

"Any weakness... will result in a negative effect -- not only for Israel, but also for the Palestinian people and for the international community," Livni said in an interview with The New York Sun.

Katsav told Israel Radio that Putin's invitation to Hamas was liable to undermine peace prospects.

Senior Israeli officials said Russia, as a member of the Quartet of major powers trying to broker Middle East peace, had a responsibility to shun Hamas.

"It's not just a slap in the face to Israel. It's a slap in the face to Western countries," said one Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because talks with Russia were going on.

The official said the government was "waiting for an explanation" from Russia's ambassador in Israel.

But Russian Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov defended Russia's offer of talks with Hamas.

"Hamas is in power, this is a fact, and secondly, it came to power as a result of free democratic elections," Ivanov told reporters at a NATO-Russia meeting in Italy.

He said Moscow was not happy with all of Hamas's policies, but predicted the West had no choice but to deal with it.

"I hazard the prediction that sooner or later certain countries, including those of the Quartet, will be favorable to contacts with Hamas," he said.

France appeared to side with Russia in the diplomatic row.

When asked about Russia's invitation to Hamas, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Denis Simonneau said: "As long as we stay within the framework of the objectives and principles that we have fixed, we think that this initiative can contribute toward advancing our position."

"We share with Russia the goal of leading Hamas toward positions that permit reaching the objective of two states living in peace and security," Simonneau said.

At a meeting in London on January 30, Quartet representatives said the Palestinians risked losing international aid if Hamas did not renounce violence and recognize Israel. Hamas has rejected the demand.

In a bid to shore up international resolve, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz will travel to Cairo on Tuesday for talks with President Hosni Mubarak and other officials.

"The rise of Hamas is not just a local problem for Israel, but a strategic threat for all states that seek peace in the middle east," a Mofaz spokeswoman said.

Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by Washington, has suggested it could be extended further if Israel gave up land it captured in the 1967 Middle East War.

Senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh has said leaders of the group "would be delighted" to visit Russia if Putin tendered a formal invitation.
Israel, Russia clash over moves on Hamas

[Shammu]

Shiites Fail to Select New Iraq PM

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer 2 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Shiite politicians failed Saturday to select a new prime minister as rivalry within their alliance forced a delay in the balloting. An Iraqi army spokesman was assassinated in Basra, a southern city plagued by lawlessness and violence by Shiite militias.

Members of the Shiite alliance who won seats in parliament in the December election gathered in Baghdad to discuss their choice for prime minister but postponed a vote for at least a day at the request of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's faction.

Shiite officials who attended the meeting, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the delay was due to last-minute differences between al-Sadr's faction and another group within the alliance.

Choosing a new premier, and in turn forming a long-term government, are key steps in Iraq's sluggish political process that the United States — and many Iraqis — hope will lead to an end to the bloodshed and an improvement in the daily lives for this country's 27 million people.

But the violence underscored the worsening sectarian nature of the country's conflict and the dangers facing Iraqi security forces, which the United States hopes will be able to control the insurgency so U.S.-led forces can go home.

An Iraqi tribal leader, Sheik Osama al-Jadaan, said his followers have seized more than 1,400 "terrorists" in a three-month counterinsurgency operation that began about a month ago along the Iraq-Syria border.

"This campaign aims at restoring security on the Iraqi-Syrian borders until the formation of the government and in assisting Iraqi forces to take control on Anbar" province, al-Jadaan said.

U.S. authorities have touted efforts by some Iraqi groups to combat foreign fighters and Iraqi insurgent groups in Anbar, where the insurgency is also influenced by tribal rivalries. U.S. military officials have been recruiting scouts among al-Jadaan's tribe after a rival tribe threw its support to the insurgents.

In the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi, a U.S. Marine helicopter fired two rockets Saturday into an insurgent hide-out, killing six militants and wounding another, said Marine spokesman Capt. Jeffrey Pool.

The rocket attack followed clashes between U.S. soldiers and militants near the soccer stadium in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad. The wounded insurgent was taken to a military hospital for treatment and will be questioned.

In nearby Fallujah, gunmen in a red sedan shot dead a policeman Saturday as he was heading to work, police said.

Fallujah, a former insurgent stronghold 40 miles west of Baghdad, has become one of the tightest controlled cities in Iraq following the November 2004 U.S.-led operation to flush out militants. But deadly militant activity has resumed in recent weeks.

Iraqi army spokesman Capt. Makram al-Abbasi was killed in a hail of gunfire from a civilian car accompanied by a police vehicle Saturday in Basra, army Capt. Firas al-Tamimi said.

The British-controlled southern city also had been noted for its relative stability but has seen renewed violence, in part fueled by rival Shiite militias and local opposition to the coalition troop presence.

Al-Abbasi, a Sunni Arab, had been coordinating media coverage of raids conducted in the city, which largely target suspected Shiite militiamen that Sunnis say have infiltrated the Iraqi police force.

The most recent such operation for which al-Abbasi arranged coverage was last week when troops detained 22 people before all were mysteriously freed, al-Tamimi said.

In Baghdad's southern neighborhood of Dora, gunmen killed traffic policeman Ahmed Majeed Obaid as he left his home at midday, Lt. Maitham Abdul-Razzaq said.

Armed men also killed police Sgt. Bassem al-Rikabi while he patrolled in the southeastern Jisr Diyala area of the capital at about 11:30 p.m. Friday, police said.

Iraqi police forces are routinely targeted by Sunni Arab insurgents bent on derailing this country's post-
Saddam Hussein reconstruction.

Members of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance — which has first crack at the prime minister's job since it won the largest number of seats in the Dec. 15 parliamentary election — convened at the home of political boss Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim.

However, the group announced that the session would be postponed until Sunday because some of al-Sadr's followers were unable to attend.

Speculation for the top government job has fallen on Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi and the current prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Each is supported by two major factions in the Shiite alliance.

Parliament is supposed to convene within two weeks now that the certification of the results is complete, with choosing a figurehead president as the first order of business.

But an end to speculation over the new prime ministers could speed the process of forming the government, which is due to be completed by mid-May.

Meanwhile, kidnappers of American journalist Jill Carroll have given until Feb. 26 until their demands are met or they will kill their 28-year-old captive, according to the owner of a Kuwaiti private TV station that aired the latest tape showing the hostage Thursday.

Al Rai TV owner Jassem Boudai said the kidnappers contacted the station Friday with demands that were "more specific" than the release of all Iraqi female detainees, which the group laid down in the first tape released last month. Boudai refused to elaborate.

The U.S. military has released five Iraqi women from detention but said the releases were routine and not part of any swap for Carroll, who was abducted Jan. 7 in Baghdad. Five Iraqi women still remain in U.S. military custody.

"We continue to make every effort to secure her release, to see that she's back safe and sound with her family and her co-workers," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack in Washington. "We call upon her captors to release her immediately."

Shiites Fail to Select New Iraq PM

[Shammu]

Denmark Pulls Envoys From Syria, Iran

By KARL RITTER, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 35 minutes ago

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Denmark has temporarily withdrawn its ambassadors from Syria, Iran and Indonesia because their safety was at risk in the wake of a Danish newspaper's publication of drawings of the Prophet Muhammad, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday.

Denmark's embassy buildings in all three countries had been targeted by angry mobs protesting the publication of the caricatures in September. European and American newspapers subsequently reprinted the drawings.

The Foreign Ministry said it withdrew all Danish staff from its embassy in Tehran, Iran, because of "serious and concrete threats" against the ambassador.

Threats had also been directed at the embassy personnel in Indonesia, the ministry said, without giving details. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country.

The Finnish Embassy would take over Denmark's consular services in Tehran, while the Dutch Embassy in Jakarta would handle the same duties in Indonesia, the Foreign Ministry said.

Earlier Saturday, the ministry announced it had temporarily pulled back its ambassador and other Danish staff from Syria because they were not getting enough protection from authorities.

The building housing the embassy in Damascus was burned last week by protesters.

"The de-escalation of the protection of the ambassador and his staff to an inadequate level is the reason for the departure," the ministry said in a statement.

It said the German Embassy in Damascus would handle Denmark's consular services for the time being.

Sweden, whose embassy is in the same building in the Syrian capital, said it did not have any immediate plans to withdraw staff, said Jan Janonius, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm.

Denmark temporarily closed its diplomatic mission in Lebanon earlier this week after similar protests there.

The small Scandinavian country is shell-shocked by the wave of anti-Danish protests, some of them violent, that have spread like wildfire across the Muslim world. Danish paper Jyllands-Posten, which first published the cartoons, apologized for offending Muslims but stood by its decision to print the drawings, citing the freedom of speech.

Islam is interpreted to forbid any illustrations of Muhammad for fear they could lead to idolatry.

Many Danes suspect a group of Danish Islamic leaders helped stir rage in the Muslim world with visits to the Mideast and inflammatory comments to Arabic media.

The Muslim leaders deny responsibility for fueling the flames and repeatedly have denounced the violence.

Denmark Pulls Envoys From Syria, Iran

[Shammu]

Iran Rejects Call to Freeze Nuke Program

NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer Sat Feb 11, 6:07 AM ET

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's president on Saturday rejected U.S. and European pressure to freeze the country's nuclear program and hinted that Iran may withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

The remarks came in a speech to tens of thousands of Iranians massed in Tehran's Azadi Square to mark the 27th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that brought a Muslim theocracy to power.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also said that the true Holocaust was happening now in the Palestinian territories and
Iraq. The Iranian leader has caused worldwide outrage by questioning the Jewish genocide and arguing Israel should be "wiped off the map."

Ahmadinejad appeared in part to be responding to a call on Thursday by U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan for Iran to restore a freeze on its nuclear activities and pursue talks to shift its uranium enrichment program to Russia.

"The nuclear policy of the Islamic Republic so far has been peaceful. Until now, we have worked inside the agency (
International Atomic Energy Agency) and the NPT (Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty) regulations.

"If we see you want to violate the right of the Iranian people by using those regulations (against us), you should know that the Iranian people will revise its policies," he said.

He did not specify what changes Tehran envisioned, but it was believed to be a threat to withdraw from the NPT and the IAEA.

"The West is hiding its ugly face behind international bodies, but these bodies have no reputation among nations. You have destroyed the reputation of the NPT," the Iranian president said.

Ahmadinejad has not relented in attacking Israel and recently a Tehran newspaper announced it was holding a contest for caricatures of the Holocaust.

"If you want to find the real Holocaust, you will find it in Palestine where Zionists kill Palestinians everyday. You will find it in Iraq," he said.

He also charged that "Zionists" were behind the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that have set off global demonstrations by angry Muslims and attacks on Western embassies.

"Now in the West insulting the prophet is allowed, but questioning the Holocaust is considered a crime," he said. "We ask, why do you insult the prophet? The response is that it is a matter of freedom, while in fact they (who insult the founder of Islam) are hostages of the Zionists. And the people of the U.S. and Europe should pay a heavy price for becoming hostages to Zionists," he declared.

While Iran's nuclear program has been formally reported to the U.N. Security Council, Annan urged Iran to continue negotiations with Britain, France and Germany, which are trying to resolve the nuclear dispute.

"And I hope Iran will continue to freeze its activities, the way they are now, to allow talks to go forward, to allow them to pursue the Russian offer, and to allow negotiations with the European three and the Russians to come back to the table," Annan said.

The three European nations have led months of futile talks on behalf of the 25-nation European Union amid suspicions that Iran's civilian nuclear program is aimed at producing nuclear weapons — not electricity as Tehran insists.

Tensions escalated last month after Iran removed U.N. seals and began nuclear research, including small-scale uranium enrichment.

On Feb. 11, the International Atomic Energy Agency's board voted to send Iran's nuclear file to the Security Council, saying it lacked confidence in Tehran's nuclear intentions and accusing Iran of violating the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Iran responded by ending voluntary cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency and announcing it would start uranium enrichment and bar surprise inspections of its facilities.

But the Islamic republic left the door open for further negotiations over its nuclear program, saying it was willing to discuss Moscow's proposal to shift large-scale enrichment operations to Russian territory in an effort to allay suspicions.

High-level talks on the proposal begin in Moscow on Feb. 16, but Russia says it still awaits word from Tehran. The proposal is backed by the United States and the European Union as a way to provide additional oversight of Iran's use of atomic fuel.

After years of opposition, Russia and China backed sending the Iran nuclear file to the Security Council. But in return, Moscow and Beijing demanded that the United States, France and Britain agree to let the Iran issue rest until March when the IAEA board meets to review the agency's investigation of Iran's nuclear program and compliance with board demands that it renounce uranium enrichment.

Annan said the IAEA report was expected at the end of the month.

Iran Rejects Call to Freeze Nuke Program

[Soldier4Christ]

God is not in our politics at all.

I have heard so many loonies make such comments as this. Apparently they don't think God has the power to have any control over anything. Apparently they have not been reading their Bibles with any sort of understanding of what they are reading.

[Shammu]

 Iran plant 'has restarted its nuclear bomb-making equipment'
By Con Coughlin, Defence and Security Editor, in Washington
(Filed: 11/02/2006)

Iran's controversial Natanz uranium processing plant has successfully restarted the sophisticated equipment that could enable it to produce material for nuclear warheads, according to reports received by Western intelligence.
    
In the past few days Iranian nuclear scientists have reportedly restarted four of the centrifuges required to produce weapons-grade uranium, and have begun feeding them with uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas, a key component in the production of nuclear bombs.

This crucial development follows Iran's decision to withdraw its co-operation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna after the body decided last week to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council.

Iranian officials have moved quickly to obstruct the work of the UN nuclear inspectors still working in the country's nuclear facilities.

Intelligence officials say restrictions have been imposed on the inspectors' movements between the various facilities at Natanz.

They have been specifically excluded from those areas where the Iranians have announced they would resume uranium enrichment, and have ordered the UN inspectors to report to officials running the plant on a daily basis. Security cameras installed by IAEA officials to monitor key facilities have been disabled.

Having effectively excluded the UN inspection teams from the most sensitive sites, Iranian nuclear scientists have removed the seals from the P-2 centrifuges that Iran acquired from Pakistan through the secret nuclear network operated by Dr A Q Khan, the "father" of Pakistan's nuclear bomb.

They have also begun installing tanks in underground bunkers that are designed for industrial enrichment.

In previous submissions to the UN inspectors, the Iranians insisted they had acquired the P-2 centrifuges merely for research purposes, They have continued to insist that their nuclear programme is solely aimed at developing alternative energy sources.

However, a senior Western intelligence official said: "Iran's recent activity is a clear escalation of its attempts to enrich uranium to weapons grade. With the UN inspectors out of the way they are basically free to do as they please."

   
Iran plant 'has restarted its nuclear bomb-making equipment'

[Shammu]

Europe Forsakes Christianity for Islam?
By Dale Hurd
CBN News Sr. Reporter

CBN.com – Welcome to post-Christian Europe, a land filled with beautiful monuments to an ancient religion that few Europeans practice anymore or know much about.

While Christianity is still very relevant in the United States, and is exploding in the developing world, Europe today has sunk below unbelief, and is now labeled "Christophobic" and "anti-religious."

While an American might look at a church building and think nice thoughts, that's rarely the case with a European, especially here in France, where religion is more likely to be associated with oppression, irrelevance, or simply the past.

In France, as in much of Europe, only five percent go to church on a weekly basis, and most of them are the elderly. Only 10 percent think religion is "very important." For all Europeans, that figure is only 21 percent.

“As an American in Europe, when you tell Europeans that you go to church on Sunday, they look at you like a museum piece--something strange,” said journalist Richard Miniter.

Near Brussels, at Christian Center, an Assemblies of God church, Belgian Pastor Paul Devos ministers to a culture in which Christianity is largely irrelevant.

“In the United States, people would more quickly turn toward at least Christ in general and Christianity, because it's still somewhat part of the culture in general. Here in Europe we have gone beyond that point, and we do not expect anything from religion apart from some very abstract hope that there is something after this life,” Devos said.

Among the clergy in the state churches, unbelief is extraordinarily high.

Baylor Sociologist Rodney Stark said, “It's easy to have a negative religious experience going to church in Europe. The one place unbelief is rampant is in the churches.”

The study "Fragmented Faith?" found that in Britain, one out of five Anglican pastors does not believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ. And only 60 percent believe in the virgin birth--that's a lower level of belief than among churchgoers.

“It's the churches they don't go to. And one of the reasons is [that] they don't go is the people running them don't care if they don't go,” Stark explained.

There have been reports recently that although church attendance in Europe is low, belief in God is actually very high, but belief in what sort of God?  Judging from surveys, it's a new age faith with a large dose of moral relativism.

Vince Esterman, a Frenchman who grew up in Australia, has been a French pastor for almost 20 years, and has a dynamic street ministry in Paris. Although he has led a lot of Frenchmen to Christ, he doesn't talk much about revival. He speaks of a Europe that is still moving away from God.

“Europe that was the custodian of the gospel in the very early decades now is the continent that is rejecting the gospel and Christianity,” Esterman said.  “And so we have seen France go into decline and with it, Europe generally.”

But instead of looking to faith for answers, the European media continue to mock America's high church attendance as weird. The British Economist Magazine wrote, "To Europeans, religion is the strangest and most disturbing feature about (America).”

Esterman said, “This last week in prime time television on one of the French national stations they had a program on God in America. And again it was Pentecostal Christians in the states, and they were ridiculed and treated as a simple minded naive people. But absolutely nothing can be said against Muslims of course because there's always retaliation.”

Stark wrote in the Victory of Reason that Europe owes everything--its culture, its freedom, its science, and its wealth--to Christianity. But European leaders today are defiant in their efforts to keep God and Christian faith out of public life.

A sociologist at the Sorbonne in Paris summed it up this way: "We are not going to sacrifice women's equality, democracy, and individual freedoms on the altar of a new religion,” said Patrick Weil, University of Paris-Sorbonne, Christian Science Monitor.

But some would say Europe has a new religion. Italy's Culture Minister Rocco Buttiglione, a devout Catholic, calls it "a nihilistic fundamentalism against truth." Stark calls it hedonism, and says it is why Europe is dying. No Western European country is having enough babies to replace its current population.

“The loss of faith in Europe is like an unseen black star that still has a tremendous gravitational pull,” Miniter said. “They don't understand why their culture is failing. They don't understand why divorce rates and suicide rates are so high. They don't understand why so few European women have more than one child, and why on most European streets, you see more dogs than children. This is the impact of the death of real Christian belief in Europe.”
 
One writer described Europe today as a majority of Christian atheists and a minority of Muslim fanatics--an exaggeration. But there is a spiritual void on the continent that Islam waits to fill. It was this void in the life of a Belgian woman, a former drug addict named Muriel DeGauque that caused her to convert to Islam, go to Iraq, and blow herself up trying to kill U.S. troops.

“I have been an eyewitness to France becoming increasingly Islamicized. There is no longer an ability to morally resist a strong culture like Islam coming into the country,” Esterman said.

Stark said, “Europe is going to get more religious than it is either because of a revival of Christianity or because they go Muslim…you can't sit there with no babies for ever.”

And because belief impacts everything from culture, to economics, to the war on terror, religious America and anti-religious Europe are likely to drift farther apart unless Europe returns to God. 

Europe Forsakes Christianity for Islam?

[Soldier4Christ]

Pentagon plans
blitz on Tehran
Submarine-launched ballistic missiles, bombing raids
– 'more than just the standard military contingency'
Posted: February 12, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

Planners with the Pentagon's Central Command and Strategic Command are working closely with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to develop working plans for a devastating strike on Iran's nuclear facilities in order to block its efforts to produce nuclear weapons, reports the London Telegraph.

The increasing number of threats against Israel and the West by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the growing disclosures about Iran's nuclear program have forced the administration to assess all military options.

As reported by WorldNetDaily, Ahmadinejad told a large crowd in Tehran yesterday that Israel would be "removed" by the Palestinians and "other nations," and dismissed the West as "hostages of the Zionists."

"The people of the U.S. and Europe should pay a heavy price for becoming hostages to Zionists," Ahmadinejad declared. "We ask the West to remove what they created sixty years ago and if they do not listen to our recommendations, then the Palestinian nation and other nations will eventually do this for them. Do the removal of Israel before it is too late and save yourself from the fury of regional nations."

Ahmadinejad also threatened to abandon previous commitments to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty if harsh measures were taken against Iran for its nuclear program.

Iran has restarted its uranium enrichment program and removed International Atomic Energy Agency surveillance cameras from its nuclear research sites following last week's U.N. vote to submit the matter to the Security Council.

The most likely military strategy, it is believed, will depend on heavy bombing by B2 bombers flying from bases in Missouri and refueling in mid-air. Each plane is capable of carrying 40,000 pounds of precision weapons, including bunker-busting bombs. Air strikes would be supported by ballistic missiles carrying conventional warheads fired from Trident nuclear submarines if an attack is delayed for two years. That is the length of time required to convert the highly accurate missiles from their current nuclear configuration to conventional explosives.

In December, the German press reported suspected U.S. diplomatic efforts to prepare its allies in the region for a first strike on Iran. A series of high level contacts, including CIA Director Porter Goss, the head of the FBI, NATO General Secretary Jaap De Hoop Scheffer and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made stops in the Turkish capital. Other Mideast leaders were visited as well.

But now, the London Telegraph is reporting the development of operational plans if a diplomatic offensive fails to convince Iran to bring its program to a halt.

"This is more than just the standard military contingency assessment," said a top Pentagon adviser. "This has taken on much greater urgency in recent months."

[Shammu]

 Leader of cartoon rally warns of 'fire throughout the world'
By Ben Leapman, Nina Goswami and Charlotte McDonald-Gibson
(Filed: 12/02/2006)

A Muslim leader behind a mass rally in London yesterday gave a warning of "fire throughout the world" if the West continues to publish cartoons of Mohammed.

At the protest in Trafalgar Square, attended by 5,000 Muslims, there were no arrests and none of the inflammatory placards or costumes seen at last weekend's demonstrations.
Protest in Trafalgar Square
The London protest was attended by 5,000 Muslims

However, a row erupted over comments by Dr Azam Tamimi, a senior figure in the Muslim Association of Britain, which staged the event. He told Sky News: "The publication of these cartoons will cause the world to tremble. Fire will be throughout the world if they don't stop."

Last night Louise Ellman, the Labour MP and vice-chairman of Labour Friends of Israel, said: "It is inciting confrontation when he should be calming the situation." A Muslim Labour MP at the protest distanced himself from Dr Tamimi's comments. Sadiq Khan, the MP for Tooting, said: "Speakers can get carried away, but they are just flowery words. I don't take them on board and others shouldn't."

Organisers of the rally said it was intended to show that moderate Muslims believed in peaceful protest. Coaches brought protesters from Bradford, Oldham, Luton, Leicester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow and imams had appealed for the avoidance of behaviour that would "shame Islam".

Thousands of official placards bore the slogans "United against Incitement", "United against Islamaphobia" and "Mohammed - Symbol of Freedom and Honour".

More than 700 police and stewards were on hand to stop the rally being hijacked.

Police, criticised last week for standing by while protesters displayed slogans such as "Massacre those who insult Islam", ordered demonstrators to remove Socialist Worker stickers saying "Blair must go".

The rally was endorsed by the Muslim Council of Britain and speakers included the Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather and Labour's Jeremy Corbyn. But while most speakers received noisy applause, there was an eerie quiet - and some booing - when George Galloway, the Respect MP, addressed the crowd.

Habibur Rahman, the president of the Islamic Forum Europe, told extremists: "When you burn the Union Jack what are you burning but the flag of your home?"

Leader of cartoon rally warns of 'fire throughout the world'

[Shammu]

Israel Seeks Explanation as Putin Invites Hamas Leaders to Moscow

Created: 10.02.2006 14:01 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 21:06 MSK

MosNews

Click Here!

Israel criticized Russia’s plan to invite Hamas leaders to Moscow, saying on Friday it undercut international pressure on the militant group to recognize the Jewish state and to renounce violence after its election victory, the Reuters news agency reported.

Israel’s foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, warned in an interview with The New York Sun against what she called a “slippery slope” that could lead some international powers to compromise with Hamas.

Speaking on Israel Radio, Israeli cabinet minister Meir Sheetrit accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “stabbing Israel in the back” for saying on Thursday that he planned to invite leaders of Hamas to visit.

Israeli officials said Russia’s move could weaken the resolve of other countries regarding contact with Hamas, which won January 25 Palestinian parliamentary elections. “Any weakness ... will result in a negative effect — not only for Israel, but also for the Palestinian people and for the international community,” Livni said in the newspaper interview.

Senior Israeli officials said that Israel was seeking a full explanation from Russia’s ambassador and from other top Russian officials. “It’s not just a slap in the face to Israel. It’s a slap in the face to Western countries,” said one Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because talks with Russia were ongoing. “We are waiting for an explanation.”

U.S. President Bush’s administration has also asked Moscow to explain Putin’s statement. Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by Washington, won a crushing victory over the long-dominant Fatah group in an election on January 25.

Israel has said governments should not speak to Hamas unless it recognized the Jewish state and renounced violence. It has ruled out negotiating with the group, which has masterminded more than 60 suicide bombings against Israelis since 2000.

Senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh said that leaders of the group, whose charter calls for Israel’s destruction, “would be delighted” to visit Russia if Putin tendered a formal invitation.

At a meeting in London on January 30, Quartet representatives said the Palestinians risked losing international aid if Hamas did not renounce violence and recognize Israel. Hamas has rejected the demand.

Hamas has largely adhered to a truce militant factions declared in March and has suggested it could be extended further if Israel gave up land it captured in the 1967 Middle East War.

Israel Seeks Explanation as Putin Invites Hamas Leaders to Moscow

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France Backs Putin’s Invitation to Hamas

Created: 10.02.2006 21:06 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 21:06 MSK

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French government has backed the decision of the Russian president Vladimir Putin to invite leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas to Moscow.

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Denis Simonneau quoted by Radio Liberty said the French government believes the Russian move could help advance the peace process.

On Thursday, Putin said that “Russia is maintaining contacts with the Hamas organization and intends in the near future to invite the leadership of this organization to Moscow.”

On Friday, the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said that Russia would use a planned meeting with Hamas representatives to urge recognition of Israel and support for Middle East peace.

Israel criticized Putin’s decision saying it undercut international pressure on the militant group to recognize the Jewish state and to renounce violence after its election victory.

The United States and the European Union have listed Hamas as a terrorist group and banned all contact with its leaders unless they renounce violence and recognize Israel’s right to exist. Hamas so far has rejected calls to change its positions.

France Backs Putin’s Invitation to Hamas

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Hamas Expects No Conditions on Talks in Russia

Created: 12.02.2006 13:08 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 13:47 MSK, 9 hours 33 minutes ago

MosNews

Hamas leaders said they don’t expect Russia to impose conditions for their trip to Moscow this month for talks, while Israel’s foreign minister cautioned the international community on Sunday against going down the “slippery slope” of legitimizing the violent Islamic group, The Associated Press reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin extended the invitation to Hamas last week, following its sweeping victory in Palestinian elections last month. The invitation, later supported by France, infuriated Israel, which fears the international resolve to shun the militant group is weakening.

The militant group, which remains committed to Israel’s destruction and has been branded a terrorist organization in the U.S. and Europe, is to form a new Palestinian government in the coming weeks.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said Russia and Hamas would engage in a dialogue during the militant group’s visit. “We are going to present our positions ... about the political developments and issues related to the rights of our people,” Abu Zuhri said on Saturday. “Russia will listen to Hamas and Hamas will listen to Russia.”

Although an official date for the visit hasn’t been set, Abu Zuhri said he expects it to take place in the second half of February.

Putin’s position runs counter to the stand recently taken by the so-called Quartet of Mideast peace negotiators, comprising Russia, the U.S., the European Union and the U.N. The Quartet, which backs the “road map” peace plan, has called on Hamas to renounce violence and recognize Israel, and has threatened to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in desperately aided need to the Palestinian Authority once Hamas takes power.

On Sunday, Livni urged the international community to stand firm against Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings.

“The Russian position is currently not accepted in the international community,” Livni told Israel Radio. “Part of the danger is going down the slippery slope of first talking, then starting to understand why, then supporting with money, then granting legitimacy. This is a phenomenon that needs to be acted against.”

With Hamas issuing mixed messages about the future of its military activities, Livni cautioned the world against accepting vague Hamas statements. “There is no negotiation here with Hamas about what it will and will not agree to,” she said. “The conditions here are very clear, the situation is black and white.”

Hamas, while adhering to its violent ideology, has voiced willingness to agree to a long-term truce if Israel would reciprocate. Hamas has largely honored a year-old cease-fire.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has invited his Israeli counterpart, Shaul Mofaz, to visit Russia to make Israel’s views known, but Mofaz hasn’t decided whether to accept the invitation, the Israeli Defense Ministry said Sunday. The two men met on Saturday on the sidelines of a NATO meeting.

Hamas Expects No Conditions on Talks in Russia

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Some Personal Web Pages Give Dark Glimpses

By ANDREW RYAN, Associated Press Writer 57 minutes ago

BOSTON - It's like countless Internet photo albums: An adorable baby girl aglow at Christmas, at her baptism, in a skunk costume for Halloween — joined in some frames by one or both of her smiling parents.

Those pictures of Lillian Rose Entwistle, now heart-wrenching, have a far broader audience than the friends and family for whom they were intended, after she and her mother were slain and her father charged with killing them. The warm images helped catapult the Hopkinton murder from cable news onto the cover of People magazine and newspapers in Neil Entwistle's native Britain.

As Web diaries and personal home pages proliferate, the likelihood that the victim or suspect of a high-profile crime had a life online is increasing. The blogs and photos normally lost in the clutter of the Internet can speak for the dead and hint at the motivation of killers when violence thrusts ordinary people into the spotlight.

"People share their intimate thoughts, writing and rambling," said Lisa Bloom, an anchor for Court TV, who has covered several homicides in which personal home pages shed light on the cases. "You are really looking inside their heads."

Jacob Robida, who was being sought in a hatchet-and-gun attack at a New Bedford gay bar when he killed a police officer, a companion and himself in Arkansas, left behind a Web site decorated with swastikas, bloodied axes and obscenities. "I'm interested in death, destruction, chaos, filth and greed," the 18-year-old wrote.

Myspace.com, the forum where Robida created his site, has more than 53 million users, with 220,000 new members logging in every day. Overall, the online Blog Herald estimates there are about 200 million blogs or Internet diaries.

"Back in the old days one of the first things we looked for in some cases was a diary," said Andy Spruill, a police officer in Orange County, Calif., who works at Guidance Software, a cyber forensics firm. "Now that diary just happens to be online and everybody can see it."

Last year in Vienna, Va., the online musings of a missing 17-year-old college freshman captivated a region for weeks. Taylor Behl's online poems and photographs paint a picture of a naive young woman excited to venture into the world.

"I just graduated from high school," Behl typed one day on her blog. "and ... I love to meet new people."

Prosecutors allege that Ben Fawley, 38, an amateur photographer, killed Behl in September after talking with her online. Investigators found Fawley with the help of his own online postings, including photos of an abandoned shack where Behl's remains were found. His trial is scheduled for May.

In Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, authorities have said they will review Joseph Duncan's blog, called "The Fifth Nail," for possible evidence in the convicted child molester's upcoming murder trial.

On May 11, 2005, Duncan wrote: "I am scared, alone and confused, and my reaction is to strike out toward the perceived source of my misery, society."

Five days later police found the bludgeoned bodies of Mark McKenzie, his girlfriend, Brenda Groene, and her 13-year-old son, Slade. Investigators would later discover the remains of 9-year-old Dylan Groene.

In Craig, a remote island in Alaska, a jury is currently deliberating the fate of teenager Rachelle Waterman. Prosecutors say she conspired with two men to murder her mother, Lauri Waterman in November 2004.

At age 15, Waterman began a blog she called, "My Crappy Life." She rambled about fights with her parents, and railed against coerced trips to church on Sunday. At the same time, the blog is laced with happy moments, baking Christmas cookies with her mother and academic triumphs.

"I think the Internet allows more insight into the people's lives," said Roxanna Z. Sherwood, a producer at ABC's "Nightline." "It helps us in the media learn about the victims quickly, but at the same time we have to do our independent reporting and sort out fact from fiction."

Police have the same problem.

"People lie a lot," said Hollywood, Fla., police Capt. Tony Rode. "They like to embellish how much money they make, or how tall they are. They touch up photos or take a picture from five years ago and say, 'That's me.'"

Another consequence can be saturation media coverage. The Web pages, blogs and photos become fodder for reporters, especially when investigators are sharing few details about a case.

"It's oxygen for what should be a one- or two-day story," said Tobe Berkovitz, an associate dean at Boston University's communications college.

"You go from just an ordinary person in the suburbs to B-roll on the cable news night after night," Berkovitz said. "What it does is it takes a regional crime story and turns it national frenzy."

Some Personal Web Pages Give Dark Glimpses

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Iran Rejects Charge of Inflaming Violence

By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer 57 minutes ago

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran on Sunday rejected U.S. and Danish accusations that the government had inflamed and encouraged last week's violent protests against Western embassies in Tehran over caricatures of Islam's Prophet Muhammad and demanded an apology.   

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi singled out comments by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and said Denmark should apologize to help calm the furor that has erupted over the images that first appeared in a Danish newspaper four months ago.

"What happened was a natural reaction. Rice and Danish officials should apologize. Such comments could worsen the situation and an apology could alleviate the tension," Asefi said.

While many of the protests over the caricatures deemed offensive to Islam have been peaceful, Danish and other European diplomatic missions were attacked by demonstrators last week in Syria, Lebanon and Iran. Nearly a dozen people also were killed in protests in Afghanistan.

Rice said Wednesday that "Iran and Syria have gone out of their way to inflame sentiments and to use this to their own purposes. And the world ought to call them on it."

When asked to offer evidence on ABC's "This Week," the Secretary of State pointed to the fact that little happens in the two countries without government permission.

"I can say that the Syrians tightly control their society and the Iranians even more tightly. It is well known that Iran and Syria bring protesters into the streets when they wish, to make a point," she said Sunday.

The drawings — including one that depicts the prophet wearing a turban shaped like a bomb — have been reprinted in several publications in Europe, the United States and elsewhere in what publishers say is a show of solidarity for freedom of expression.

Protests continued Sunday. Ultra-nationalist Turks, chanting "vengeance," pelted the French consulate in Istanbul with eggs as about 2,500 pro-Islamic demonstrators shouted "Down with America, Israel and Denmark."

Graffiti insulting the Prophet Muhammad — including offensive slogans equating Islam's founder with a pig, an animal Muslims regard to be unclean — also was found scrawled on a West Bank mosque, touching off a protest in which three Palestinians were shot by Israeli soldiers and an Israeli woman was slightly injured by stones thrown at her car.

Israeli soldiers erased the slogans, but hundreds of villagers in the area gathered to protest the graffiti, which they blamed on Jewish settlers.

The Iranian foreign minister told reporters Sunday that Denmark could have resolved the problem had it apologized immediately for the caricatures. He also repeated claims by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the drawings were part of an Israeli conspiracy.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen repeatedly has said he cannot apologize for the actions of a free press.

"Neither the government, nor the Danish people can be held responsible for what is published in a free and independent newspaper," he said Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition."

He also said he agreed with Rice.

"I think she has a point. It's obvious to me that certain countries take advantage of this situation to distract attention from their own problems with the international community, including Syria and Iran," he said.

Denmark has withdrawn embassy staff from Iran, Syria and Indonesia. It also warned Danes to leave Indonesia, saying they faced a "significant and imminent danger" from an extremist group.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said Sunday that the decision was "too hasty" as protests in the world's most populous Muslim nation had been "orderly enough" and police had boosted security at Denmark's diplomatic facilities.

Protests over the cartoons have been relatively small across Indonesia, although hard-liners last week briefly stormed the lobby of the high-rise building housing the Danish Embassy in Jakarta and threw stones at the Scandinavian country's consulate in Surabaya city.

Protesters took to the streets again Sunday, with about 1,000 Muslims staging a noisy but peaceful demonstration in the West Java town of Sumedang, according to the el-Shinta radio station. Around 500 turned out in Jakarta.

Also Sunday, a poll published in Jyllands-Posten, the paper that first published the prophet drawings in September, showed that the anti-immigration Danish People's Party is gaining support as outrage sweeps the Muslim world over the cartoons.

The party received 17.8 percent support in the Feb. 6-8 survey by pollster Ramboll Management, up 3.6 points from a similar survey a month earlier. The margin of error was not available, but pollsters said they questioned 1,058 people for the survey.

The Danish People's Party leader Pia Kjaersgaard has accused a group of Danish Islamic leaders of inciting the outrage in Muslim countries by spreading anti-Danish propaganda. She called them "the enemy within" in her most recent weekly newsletter.

In other developments:

• Algerian editors Kamel Bousaad and Berkane Bouderbala have been taken into police custody for publishing the caricatures of the prophet, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said Sunday.

• The Indian government expressed its "deep concern" about the growing controversy in an official statement late Saturday, urging greater sensitivity to the beliefs of others.

Iran Rejects Charge of Inflaming Violence