Nouvelles du Moyen-Orient

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Nouvelles du Moyen-Orient

UN says 'network' killed Hariri

A UN commission investigating the death of former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri says the evidence suggests a network of people was responsible for the attack.

No individuals were named, but the investigators said what it called the "Hariri Network" might also be behind other deadly attacks in Lebanon.

What is really revealing are the reader comments for this article.

Arab leaders warn Israel over belligerency

Arab leaders said that Israel is sabotaging the Middle East peace process and warned they could withdraw their landmark offer of peace with Israel in exchange for a return of Arab lands, unless Israel explicitly accepts the initiative.

Hezbollah Warns US Not to Set Up Base

Hezbollah has argued that Washington's attempts to boost military ties with Lebanon are a ploy for domination and could turn the country into another Iraq. Some in Lebanon have expressed fears that a foreign military presence in the country could attract al-Qaida and other militants.

Lebanon's top Shiite Muslim cleric accused the Bush administration of trying to force the Lebanese to choose between turning their country into an American military base or face new strife.

High noon in Egypt?

The parallels between President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and the deposed shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi of Iran, are attention-getting.

Mr. Mubarak uses his "Central Security Force," that now consists of more than half of his entire military, to impose a measure of censorship on the mass media and ban most forms of political organization, activities and literary expression.

And remember, folks, this is another one of "our thugs", who we keep propping up with American tax dollars in order to assure "stability" in the region.

Unfortunately, when you have masses of a country's population suppressed, that can only go on just so long.

And when some kind of overthrow happens, just watch the pals in Washington roll their eyes, and say "Darn! We never saw this coming!" (As with the fall of the Shaw, Batista, etc., etc.,)

IGNORANCE IS NO LONGER CONSIDERED BLISS

Lebanon blast kills army general

Looks like "someone" is trying to kick off a war despite the NIE.

Spectre of civil war returns as al-Qaeda suicide bombings kill 67

Who benefits from a meltdown in Algeria?

Certainly not the Algerian people.And keep in mind: Algeria has huge natural gas reserves (some estimates put it at about 3,200 billion cubic meters of proven recoverable gas).

Controlling the money from those reserves could nicely line lthe pockets of whatever group declared that they needed to go in and "stabilize" Algeria's geopolitical situation.

Pakistan

Pakistan : le plus dur reste à faire

US/NATO crisis in Afghanistan generates greater pressure on Pakistan

US general Dan McNeill, the outgoing commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), told journalists in early June that at least 400,000 troops would be needed to control a country as large and populous as Afghanistan.

The ISAF, however, consists of just 53,000 troops, of whom about 20,000 are deployed in the ethnic Pashtun southern provinces where the vast bulk of insurgent activity is taking place.

What is happening here is the US and NATO essentially blaming Pakistan for their horrendously poor planning in terms of never, ever having had enough boots on the ground to do the job in the first place.

Look for more demonization of Pakistan (read: potential US/NATO seizing the Pakistani side of this border) in the weeks ahead.

Missile strike kills 12 in Pakistan

"We could see a small, white plane flying over the village for the past several days," villager Dildar Khan said.

Pakistan, Iran finalize gas pipeline deal

Pakistan and Iran on Monday resolved all issues regarding the $7.5 billion gas pipeline project, paving way for inking an agreement soon at a mutually agreed date in Tehran.

The US is making threats; meanwhile, Iran is making deals in the region, and there's nothing the US can actually do to stop them., short of a massive military intervention.

Pakistan's Sharif to join Bhutto party in coalition

In an ominous sign for Musharraf, Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's widower and new leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), agreed to restore judges who Musharraf dismissed when he imposed emergency rule in early November.

It will be interesting to see how this coalition will view Pakistan's ties with the US, and how these new developments will influence what kind of military presence the US will be able to have in Pakistan henceforward.

U.S. CIA Says Pervez Musharraf Killed Benazir Bhutto

Pakistanis Deal Severe Defeat to Musharraf in Election

Pakistanis dealt a crushing defeat to President Pervez Musharraf in parliamentary elections Monday, in what government and opposition politicians said was a firm rejection of his policies since 2001 and those of his close ally, the United States.

Pakistani Coalition nears collapse

Pakistan's month-old coalition government is on the brink of collapse because of a standoff between the Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz over reinstating the judges who were summarily dismissed last fall by President Pervez Musharraf.

In a bid to avert the collapse of the country's first popularly elected government in nearly a decade, leaders of the two parties spent seven hours in emergency meetings yesterday in Dubai, but were unable to reach agreement.

Pakistan coalition averts collapse with deal to restore ousted judges

Pakistan's fledgling civilian government appeared last night to have found a way out of the crisis threatening to pull it apart when it announced that the nation's ousted judges would be restored this month.

The former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, whose Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) is the junior coalition party, said 12 May had been set as the date for the reinstatement of the 60 judges - including the ousted chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry - who were kicked out by President Pervez Musharraf last year.

Pakistan fails to pressure Taliban on Afghan border: Gates

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Pakistan's failure to put pressure on Taliban forces on the country's border with Afghanistan had fueled a rise in violence, but said Islamabad appeared to recognize the problem.

At the point where Musharraf is out of the government, watch Pakistan morph from "brave collaborator in the war on terror" to a new component in the "axis of evil" fast enough to make your head spin!

Even though the Pakistani government has pledged to stop attacks on Afghanistan from its soil, the first time they don't prevent this from happening, the US is going to be agitating for more of a US/NATO presence inside the Pakistani portion of that border.

And if the US doesn't get what it wants..........all bets are off in terms of what Washington might do.

You could almost hear the drumbeat of the demonization of Pakistan getting louder and faster in the last couple of weeks.

Ex-Taliban fighter tells of training from Pakistani military

Zaher insists he was neither forced to go public with his story nor coached by Afghan officials, whose routine response to terrorism on their soil is to blame neighbouring Pakistan.

Pakistan officially sides with the West against the insurgents and vigorously denies mounting accusations that it is a two-faced participant in the war on terror.

Anyone hear that rapid crescendo of drumbeats toward a total demonization of Pakistan, because the US and NATO are not getting what they want from its government??

Look for this to increase in the weeks ahead, even though the Pakistan military is beginning to crack down on militants on its side of the border.

Pakistan could be flipped by this administration from "partner in the war on terror" to part of the "axis of evil" in a heartbeat, if it serves their purposes.

This little "dog and pony show" in Afghanistan may well be part of a propaganda headed precisely in this direction.

Admiral: Pakistan OKs bigger U.S. role

Pakistan is taking a more welcoming view of U.S. suggestions for using American troops to train and advise its own forces in the fight against anti-government extremists, the commander of U.S. forces in that region said Wednesday.

Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, commander of U.S. Central Command, said he believes increased violence inside Pakistan in recent months has led Pakistani leaders to conclude that they must focus more intensively on extremist al-Qaida hideouts near the border with Afghanistan.

A presence inside Pakistan opens up another front for a possible military confrontation with Iran.

24 Killed in Suicide Attacks in Pakistan; More Than 200 Others Wounded

Massive suicide bombs ripped through a seven-story police headquarters and a house on Tuesday, killing at least 24 people and wounding more than 200 others in attacks that deepened Pakistan's security crisis.

One wonders just how long before Musharraf caves, and American "advisors" wind up going in to assist the government in preventing violence.

Unfortunately, any enhanced US presence is very much apt to ratchet the violence up, rather than prevent it.

Tape caught Pakistani official saying vote will be rigged

A prominent U.S.-based human rights group Friday released what it said was a recording of Pakistan's attorney general acknowledging that next week's national elections would be "massively" rigged.

Major General who rigged Pakistan 2002 polls, spills the beans

A retired Pakistan Major General, who was part of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has spilled the beans on how the 2002 general elections in the country were rigged.

Taliban commander in Pakistan orders halt to attacks

The top Taliban commander in Pakistan called a cease-fire Thursday and ordered followers to halt attacks, while the government said it was pursuing peace talks with tribal elders in the volatile border region.

This appears to be a real step forward in the direction of peace from the new Pakistani government.

It was, of course, the absolute opposite of what the US administration wanted to happen.

Pakistan drafts peace deal with militants: officials

Pakistan's new government has drafted a peace agreement with Taliban militants in its troubled tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, officials and a rebel spokesman said Wednesday.

"Work is in progress swiftly on a new peace agreement with the Taliban Movement of Pakistan," a senior Pakistani security official told AFP, adding that "indirect negotiations" through tribal elders were ongoing.

That collective and consistent "thud" you're hearing is created by US state department officials, banging their heads against a wall in the white house.

This agreement was absolutely logical, and critical, for peace to come to Pakistan.

This, of course is why the Bush administration fought it tooth and nail.

It appears that Pakistan will be making its own way in domestic and foreign policy these days, and the US administration had better sit up, take notice, and behave much more tactfully to the newly elected Pakistani Parliament.

U.S. angry as Pakistan seeks peace deal with Islamists

"We are concerned about it, and what we encourage them to do is to continue to fight against the terrorists and to not disrupt any security or military operations that are ongoing in order to help prevent a safe haven for terrorists there," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. "We have been concerned about these types of approaches because we don't think that they work."

So now, for attempting to create a peaceful settlement with the militants, is Pakistan about to make Bush's "axis of evil" list?!?

I think my head just spun around backward on that one. And a small note to policy makers regarding the newly elected Parliament in Pakistan: tread very, very lightly here.

Looking at the legacy of misery and devastation the US has created in Afghanistan and Iraq, (and the propping up of Musharraf in their own country) the Pakistanis are not very happy at this point with any great degree of US "involvement" in their political and military life

Pakistani Taliban chief pulls out of peace talks

A Pakistani Taliban commander pulled out of a peace deal with the government after it refused to withdraw the army from tribal lands on the Afghan border, the militant's spokesman said on Monday.

Unless there is a meaningful cease-fire agreement, and the Pakistani Taliban are thoroughly included in the political process, as is true for their neighbor Afghanistan, there can be no peace in the region.

Turquie

50 Turkish Warplanes Bomb Kurdish Rebel Targets In Northern Iraqt

Turkish warplanes hit Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq early Sunday, Turkey's military said, the first such attack since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. An Iraqi official said the planes attacked several villages, killing one woman.

..... With the tacit permission of the US military (which can barely hold on to Baghdad these days).

TURKEY: Relations with Iraq Become Explosive t

Clashes between Turkish army units and Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas intensified during the weekend along Turkey's borders with northern Iraq and in the country's eastern province of Tunceli. Twenty suspected Kurdish rebels were killed, according to Turkish NTV network.

Fighting in the district of Pulumur began Sunday morning, involving 8,000 Turkish security troops, backed by helicopter gunships, who surrounded rural Dokuzkaya, Sariyayla, Kizilmescit and Zagge areas located in the Pulumur and Nazimiye districts of Tunceli. The highway that gives access to the rest of the province was cut off.

This is nothing compared to the military activity we will see from Turkey in Iraq if Edrogan goes back home empty-handed after his meeting with Bush in Washington next week.

We truly have a "never saw it coming" cronyocracy running this government, and unfortunately, they still have way too much time in which to create a world of hurt internationally.

Turkish army sends soldiers into Iraq

Korée du Nord

NKorea to delay nuclear disablement

Economic compensation pledged by the United States, South Korea, Japan, China and Russia in return for disabling its nuclear facilities by the end of 2007 "is being delayed," said Hyon Hak Pong, vice director-general of North Korea's Foreign Ministry, according to footage from broadcaster APTN.

"To cope with this, we have no option but to adjust the speed of the disablement process," Hyon said.

It looks as though what was widely touted as a foreign policy coup for this administration may turn out to be a major embarrassment.

And then, after hearing the rhetoric against Iran in recent days, North Korea may have decided not to abandon their nuclear capabilities quite so quickly after all.

White House to Detail N. Korean-Syrian Nuke Connection

In an oddly timed move, the White House has decided to brief Congress this week about a nuclear facility the North Koreans allegedly helped Syria build more than a year ago.

I don't see any cooling towers in that photo.

UN censures US and Israel over Syria nuclear row

The director general deplores the fact that this information was not provided to the agency in a timely manner, in accordance with the agency's responsibilities under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, to enable it to verify its veracity and establish the facts," ElBaradei said in a statement today.

If the US really believed that what they had was credible proof, why didn't they share this with El Baradei and his group months ago?

This incident happened last September.

Blackmailing Bush; how the "Dear Leader" duped "The Decider"

The agreement will remove the North from the State Department’s list of terrorist states and provide 50,000 tons of fuel oil just for shutting down its Yongbyon reactor. But that won’t address the north’s clandestine nuclear program or Kim’s nuclear weapons stockpile. In fact, these are not even on the table!

George Bush, and his administration: acheving the absolute diometric opposite of what they claimed they sought to acheive: way to go, folks, heck of a job on North Korea!

Israël

Israel kidnaps 30 Palestinian civilians

Israeli army has resumed its kidnapping campaign against Palestinians in the West Bank, abducting dozens of civilians including a lawmaker.

Report: Israel committed more than 51 violations since the truce started

Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, stated Thursday that the IOF troops had committed more than 51 violations and 400 military assaults, and kidnapped 300 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank since the truce took effect. In a report monitoring the Israeli violations of the calm, the Brigades said that in the fifth week of the truce, Israel committed eight violations during which a Palestinian citizen was wounded north of Gaza and two others were kidnapped in Khan Younis.

Israeli settlers spray chemicals on Palestinian farmers during attack

Israeli settlers sprayed chemicals on a group of Palestinian farmers while attacking them in the Qalqilia area of the northern West Bank on Monday, human rights fieldworkers reported.

ZIORATS

"Rats have become an Israeli weapon to displace and expel Arab residents of the occupied Old City of Jerusalem," it said in a report. "Over the past two months, dozens of (Jewish) settlers come to the alleyways and streets of the Old City carrying iron cages full of rats. They release the rats, which find shelter in open sewage systems," the report said.

In the first book of Samuel, the story is told of how the Philistines conquered the Israelites and captured the Ark of the Covenant. Shortly thereafter, the Philistines are struck down by a plague which Israel attributes to God. The Philistines have another idea and seek to end the plague by returning the Ark of the Covenant to Israel, and the plague went away. But along with the Ark, the Philistines sent 5 golden spheres, or "Buboes" representing the swollen glands of the plague, together with five gold statues of mice, a clear signal that the Philistines knew exactly what had been done to them and how.

This may be the oldest recorded instance of biological warfare in history, and the precedent for the rats being released in Old Jerusalem.

Jewish settlers smash village

Palestinian security says more than 20 Jewish settlers have attacked a Palestinian village in the West Bank, smashing cars and windows and cutting electricity wires.

Israeli rockets target Palestinian villages

Two homemade Israel rockets have landed in two villages in the Palestinian territories south of the West Bank city of Nablus.

Residents of the villages of Odala and Awarta say the neighboring Israeli settlers have launched the rockets into the Palestinian territories on Monday.

Palestinians: Settlers fire mortar shells at West Bank village

The Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported Tuesday that the makeshift bombs had the words "Sharon-1" and "Sharon-2" inscribed on them. One of the Palestinian policemen in the village said that the bombs were locally manufactured, and that they struck near the school.

Apparently mortar shelling here is not a one-way incident.

Gaza reporter: Israeli security officials broke my ribs

A Palestinian journalist said from his hospital bed on Monday that Israeli security personnel abused him and broke his ribs on his way home to the Gaza Strip after receiving a journalism award in Britain.

Mohammed Omer, who writes for the pro-Palestinian Washington Report, said he was strip-searched and detained for nearly four hours at the Israeli-controlled Allenby Bridge when he crossed from Jordan into the West Bank, en route to the Gaza Strip, on June 26.

A CALL FOR GENOCIDE?

"All of the Palestinians must be killed; men, women, infants, and even their beasts." This was the religious opinion issued one week ago by Rabbi Yisrael Rosen, director of the Tsomet Institute, a long-established religious institute attended by students and soldiers in the Israeli settlements of the West Bank.

Official PA paper: Israel poisoning prisoners

In a series of reports published in the 'al-Hayat al-Jadida' newspaper Israel is accused of poisoning Palestinian prisoners in its custody and conducting "medical experiments' on them.

Israel's ambassador says Britain has become a hotbed of radical anti-Israeli feeling

Look how Israel behaves! Not even a mother could love THAT spoiled a child!

Italy: Mosques must recognize Israel

Many Muslims around the world do not recognize Israel, saying the United Nations had no right to allow the establishment of a state in a land that has long belonged to the Palestinians.

In point of fact, the UN did not do any such thing. The UN Resolution calling for both a Jewish state and Palestinian state was never ratified. David Ben Gurion simply declared Israel to be in existence and the United States immediately recognized the new nation. In so doing, the US and Israel did to Palestine what Hitler tried (but failed) to do to France.

Iran

Provoking Iran into war

Sy Hersh report

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7942G_x-So

Olbermann accuses U.S of trying to FAKE new Gulf of Tonkin

Les conséquences des bombardements sur les installations nucléaires de l'Iran

par Floyd Rudmin

Mondialisation.ca, Le 30 avril 2008

Regardez attentivement les conséquences qu'auraient des bombardements sur les installations nucléaires de l'Iran et ensuite, priez

Rapport du Directeur Général de l'AIEA sur le Programme Nucléaire de l'Iran

Rapport du Directeur Général de l'AIEA sur le Programme Nucléaire de l'Iran

par Directeur général de l'AEIA Mohamed ElBaradei

Mondialisation.ca, Le 25 fevrier 2008

Teheran Times

Ci-dessous la traduction du texte intégral du rapport du Directeur Général de l'AIEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, sur le programme nucléaire de l'Iran, remis au Conseil des Gouverneurs de l'AIEA le vendredi 22 février 2008 et publié en anglais sur le site iranien Tehran Times

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wants Iranian blockade because of "anti-semitism"

England's economy is in malaise and PM Gordon Brown wants war with Iran, because it is "anti-semitic." This proves that England (and Canada) are kosher, not liberal. Would real liberals start a war with a country that is peaceful to it?

West to flex military muscles against Iran

The United States is set to lead a joint military exercise in the Atlantic Ocean to show off its combat capability as a warning to Iran.

The Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX) 08-4 'Operation Brimstone' will take place on July 21-31 in North Carolina and off the eastern US coast from Virginia to Florida, involving France, Britain and Brazil.

It would be wonderful if the reasonably cool heads, and sane, grown-up individuals in Tel Aviv and Washington could prevail to prevent a military attack against Iran.

Unfortunately, given these countries' mutual histories of geopolitical belligerence, it is very difficult to see this kind of outcome happening.

The EU has just come out and said that they will not support a military attack against Iran.

Now the question remains: will they actually be able to convince the US and Israel that a military attack, far from resolving anything, will only make matters worse?

European Union says it won't support military action against Iran

European Union foreign ministers say they will not support a military strike on Iran but want more talks to try to resolve worries Tehran might be developing nuclear weapons.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband says it is now up to Iran to respond to global powers and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana after talks in Geneva on Saturday.

He says Britain and others involved in the negotiations with Iran are "100 per cent focused on a diplomatic resolution" to the Iranian issue.

Memo to the writer of this article: Iran's nuclear program is simply that of creating a power station, and for that, they are enriching uranium at 3%, not the 98% necessary for a weapons program.

The IAEA has seen absolutely nothing indicating that Iran is engaged in a weapons development program.

It's very nice that the EU has made this statement, but what are they going to do to convince Israel and the US that military intervention would be a really, really bad idea?Mp>And what is Russia going to do to protect its geopolitical and financial interests in Iran, which are considerable, if such an attack does take place?

Iran given two-week deadline to end the nuclear impasse

The failure to reach agreement appeared likely to trigger new European and UN sanctions and to raise tensions in the Gulf. An Iranian rejection would also represent a rebuff to conciliatory moves from Washington, including the dispatch of a senior diplomat to Geneva to attend high-level talks with the Iranians for the first time in nearly three decades. The diplomat, William Burns, left Geneva without making any public comments.

Threats are NOT 'Conciliatory gestures.' What looked like a possibility to avoid yet another disastrous war for the US is apparently only a repeat of the cheap theatrics the US engaged in just prior to the invasion of Iraq, where the US tried to look like it was searching for a peaceful solution even as the bombs were being loaded onto the airplanes.

The tip off is Condi's statement that Iran would have to suspend enrichment prior to any negotiations. This is a classic tactic intended to wreck the possability of a solution by giving the other side the choice of total capitulation to US demands before any negotiations (with the guaratnee that any subsequent negotiations would not produce anything in return) or being portrayed as the bad guy for "sabotaging" the "negotiations".

Under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has a legal right, recognized by the US Government, to build nuclear power plants and to make fuel rods for them, and NOBODY has produced an iota of evidence that Iran is doing anything else.

Iran Nuke Laptop Data Came from Terror Group

The George W. Bush administration has long pushed the "laptop documents" -- 1,000 pages of technical documents supposedly from a stolen Iranian laptop -- as hard evidence of Iranian intentions to build a nuclear weapon. Now charges based on those documents pose the only remaining obstacles to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) declaring that Iran has resolved all unanswered questions about its nuclear programme.

But those documents have long been regarded with great suspicion by U.S. and foreign analysts. German officials have identified the source of the laptop documents in November 2004 as the Mujahideen e Khalq (MEK), which along with its political arm, the National Council of Resistance in Iran (NCRI), is listed by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organisation.

There are some indications, moreover, that the MEK obtained the documents not from an Iranian source but from Israel's Mossad.

Iranian Jews say republic safe for them

A top Jewish community leader in Iran on Wednesday described the recent immigration of 40 Iranian Jews to Israel as a "misinformation campaign" and insisted that Jews living in the Islamic Republic were not endangered by the hard-line policies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"This is a misinformation campaign, a campaign of lies against Iran and its Jewish community. We can't confirm that 40 Iranian Jews landed in Israel," Morsathegh told The Associated Press.

AFP: Bush says US would defend Israel if Iran attacks

US President George W. Bush said Washington would defend its close ally Israel in the event of an Iranian attack, in remarks broadcast on Israeli army radio on Sunday.

"Whether there's an imminent attack coming, I don't think so," Bush said in excerpts of an interview with an Israeli television station to be aired in its entirety later in the day.

"If Iran did strike Israel... We will defend our ally, no ands, ifs or buts," he said.

Translation: look for some kind of false flag attack against Israel to get some kind of war against Iran going before Bush leaves office.

And the venue here is fascinating: Israeli Army radio?!?

Israel to brief George Bush on options for Iran strike

Israeli security officials are to brief President George W Bush on their latest intelligence about Iran’s nuclear programme - and how it could be destroyed - when he begins a tour of the Middle East in Jerusalem this week.

Now, keep in mind that what Israel is talking about is not a weapons facility (like the one Israel has underneath the Dimona reactor). Israel wants to destroy Iran's power station, just as they did Iraq's power station, because Israel, itself guilty of clandestine weapons manufacturing, cannot accept that its neighbors are building nuclear power plants merely to generate electricity. Israel never does anything wrong (according to Israel) and therefore must assuage its guilt over its clandestine nuclear facility by believing that everyone else is doing it too.

As for Bush, he is in violation of international law merely by agreeing to Israel's plans, because both the United States and Iran (but not Israel) signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which gives Iran the legal right to build nuclear power stations and to manufacture the fuel rods for them. George Bush is breaking that treaty by bowing to Israel desire to continue its monopoly on nuclear power in the Mideast.

There is no other way to spin this; Israel and George Bush are the criminals in this issue.

WRH: THE MUST-HAVE WAR

History is repeating itself, and because history does repeat, no doubt Bush and his advisers are thinking that if they can start a major war, they will be off the hook. Once more the American people will silently endure their hardships for the war effort, silence their complaints, and accept with dignity yet another enforced decline in their standard of living.

For this, to save themselves, Bush and his advisers are willing to risk turning a regional war with Israel's enemies into a wider war, possibly a global war with Russia, possibly with China, possibly with the rest of the entire world as the globe realizes that the United States has become this century's embodiment of the Nazi empire.

It is for this reason that President Bush scarcely missed a step when the National Intelligence Estimate proved Iran innocent of Bush 'a accusations, before trying to stage a new "Gulf of Tonkin" provocation in the Straight of Hormuz. Bush doesn't want this war. Bush NEEDS this war. The entire US Government needs it. Indeed, having already depleted the nation's resources to fund the current invasions, the US Government probably will not be able to survive without a new world war.

Which is why they will do anything, and I stress ANYTHING, to start one.

Stop threats then we'll talk, Iran tells West

Iran on Sunday told the West it would only hold talks over its disputed nuclear programme if world powers stopped threatening further punitive measures against Tehran.

Israel "would not dare attack Iran": Ahmadinejad

Of course not. Israel just ordered Bush to have the Americans attack Iran FOR Israel.

Gulf allies turn their backs on Bush

All eyes are now on the report of ElBaradei at the IAEA meeting in March. Tehran, naturally, is pinning high hopes that the Iran nuclear file may become a routine affair involving a nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty member country. But the most important outcome of the ElBaradei visit is perhaps its impact in molding regional opinion in the Middle East and in the Persian Gulf region.

Saudi cannot be launchpad for Iran attack: report

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.

Two days before a visit to Saudi Arabia by US President George W. Bush, the pro-government daily Al-Riyadh said: "We refuse to be used to launch wars or tensions with Iran.

Good!

Let us hope that the governments of all the other Middle Eastern countries Bush is visiting are unanimous in this.

Just like Israel did to Iraq.

Olmert renews threat on Iran

Israel renewed a veiled threat to attack Iran's nuclear facilities pre-emptively.

Seems like Israel is the threat to world peace, doesn't it?

Toward Militarism, War, Empire, Caskets, and Bankruptcy

The incident in the Gulf of Tonkin - excuse me, Gulf of Hormuz - this past week confirms how easy it is for an American ruler to send the entire nation into war, especially given that he is now permitted to ignore the constitutional provision requiring a congressional declaration of war. If the captains of those U.S. battleships and destroyers had blown those Iranian speedboats out of the water, one can already hear Bush and Cheney proclaiming, "We've been attacked! We've been attacked! The Department of Defense is responding by defending our nation from this attack by bombing Iran. Support the troops. God bless America!"

Question: If China, Iran, and Venezuela sent a fleet of destroyers and battleships into the Gulf of Mexico for joint war games, how would U.S. officials respond? Wouldn't they go ape?

Bush assured Israel over Gaza violence: Olmert

US President George W. Bush has assured Israel that no peace deal with the Palestinians will be implemented until violence from Hamas-run Gaza stops, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday.

Translation; even if it's the Mossad hurling Kassams in Israel's direction, this "understanding" guarantees that there will never be a peace treaty between Israel and Palestine.

Israel rules out peace with Iran

Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a parliamentary committee that peace with Iran is impossible and that military actions against the Islamic state was legitimate.

From Palestine's point of view, peace with Israel is impossible. Therefore, following Olmert's own logic, military actions against Israel are legitimate!

Basically, Olmert has just declared that military action by Israel is "legitimate" against any nation that doesn't do what Israel tells it to do. That could even mean the US itself (and maybe that's the reason the US gives Israel everything they want!)

Bush Tells Israelis He Doesn't Believe Iran NIE Report

In private conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last week, the president all but disowned the document, said a senior administration official who accompanied Bush on his six-nation trip to the Mideast. "He told the Israelis that he can't control what the intelligence community says, but that [the NIE's] conclusions don't reflect his own views" about Iran's nuclear-weapons program, said the official, who would discuss intelligence matters only on the condition of anonymity.

Bush's behind-the-scenes assurances may help to quiet a rising chorus of voices inside Israel's defense community that are calling for unilateral military action against Iran.

"What Bush has done, in essence, is to have characterized every single individual in those 16 agencies who collectively came to the conclusions they did regarding Iran's nuclear program as complete morons

And who is supposed to start this so-called "unilateral action"?

Not Israel on its own, that's a sure bet.

Bush Disowns U.S. Intel, Tells Israelis Iran NIE ‘Doesn’t Reflect My Own Views’

"I don't see it and I don't hear it, and you can't make me, nyah, nyah, nyah!!!" -- Official White Horse Souse

(Ahem)

So, here we have a President who totally abandons the work product of all 16 (taxpayer funded) intelligence agencies and has his own "opinion" which just happens to exactly match that of the foreign government that spies on America, buys and blackmails the Congress, repeatedly and stages false-flag attacks on us to trick us into destroying their enemies.

You have a problem with that?

Bush takes distance from key Iran findings

US President George W. Bush on Tuesday appeared to distance himself from what he called an "independent" US intelligence finding widely seen as dousing the likelihood of armed confrontation with Iran.

"I defended our intelligence services, but made it clear that they're an independent agency; that they come to conclusions separate from what I may or may not want," said the president.

Bush characterized this as an"Independent" US intelligence finding?!?

On what planet does he live, and is he absolutely unaware that the NIE is generated by US governmental agencies?

When you have a president of a major power who appears to be pathologically allergic to the truth, be afraid: be very afraid.

Israel won't accept nuke weapons in Iran

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a powerful parliamentary panel on Monday that Israel rejects "no options" to block Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, a meeting participant said.

The statement was the Israeli leader's clearest indication yet that he is willing to use military force against Iran.

WHAT NUCLEAR WEAPONS!!!

First, there is absolutely no evidence that Iran has nuclear weapons or that they are trying to make them. On the other had Israel has over 300 nuclear warheads and the whole world knows it. The refuse to join the Nuclear Non-proliferation treat or allow anyone to inspect their facilities.

Also, notice how the media says Iran has quit their nuclear weapons program

THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT THEY EVER HAD A NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM!!

Here is the real problem. When Olmert talks about military action against Iran he is not talking about Israeli kids invading Iran, he is talking about sending AMERICAN kids to die in Iran, and the fact that he is talking this tough AFTER Bush's visit proves that Bush has already agreed to this!

George Bush calls Iran 'leading terror sponsor'

President George W Bush has condemned Iran as the foremost threat to global security as he attempted to rally Gulf states behind a tougher line against the Islamic Republic during a tour of the region.

"They smell funny!" -- Official White Horse Souse

Bush: Iran threatens world security

"They have ski-boats of mass destruction!" -- Official White Horse Souse

Bush says US, allies must confront Iran

"We must confront Iran because
They have nookular bombs.
They sent bombs to Iraq.
They threatened our warships.
They said Israel must be wiped off of the map.
They dress funny." -- Official White Horse Souse

US, Israel on 'same page' on Iran

Ummm, just what language is that page written in?

'All options on table' to stop nuclear Iran: Israel

"In assessing the threat from Iran we see in sync and think similarly. Both America and Israel understand the severity of the threat, the implication of the threat if it grows," Israel's US Ambassador Sallai Meridor said.

You can be that Israel is furiously doing everything they can to insure that Bush will order an attack on Iran before the end of his term, as it cannot count on just how carnage-prone the next president will be on this issue.

And perhaps that little Strait of Hormuz "incident" last weekend might well have been a part of their strategy in creating some kind of boil-up.

There are just a few, minor problems with this, however.

First and foremost, Russia has stated in no uncertain terms that an attack against Iran will be considered an attack against Russia.

And seriously, is anyone in the US military or administration quite mad enough to believe that a war with Russia over Iran's nuclear just to appease Israel on this is a good thing?

I would certainly hope not.

Iran still a threat, Bush tells Israeli TV

"God told me so!" -- Official White Horse Souse

"Ummm, tell me Dubya, does God look and sound like Dick Cheney?"

"YOU TOO????"

We'll nuke Iran - Bush promises Israel

US President George W. Bush promised Israel's opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu that the United States will join the Jewish state in a nuclear strike against Iran, Israel Radio reported today.

Bush Says US, Allies Must Confront Iran

Chiding U.S. allies who have withheld civil liberties, Bush said governments will never build trust by harassing or imprisoning candidates and protesters. But his rebuke was general, and he did not single out any U.S. partner in the region for oppressive practices.

"You cannot expect people to believe in the promise of a better future when they are jailed for peacefully petitioning their government," Bush said. "And you cannot stand up a modern, confident nation when you do not allow people to voice their legitimate criticisms."

This from the man who has condoned torture as part of American policy?

? The heavy irony of these statements was surely lost on Bush, who probably has no clue what the word means.

I am absolutely certain, however, that it was not lost on his host countries during this tour.

And the charge that "Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terror," is laughable.

How many times in last 8 years has Iran started pre-emptive wars of aggression for other countries' resources, based on a pack of lies?

Not once.

But the US has.

We'll nuke Iran - Bush promises Israel

Iran reportedly says no confrontation with U.S. in Gulf

Iran on Friday denied there had been any confrontation between its forces and a U.S. ship in the Gulf, Iranian media reported, after a U.S. official said a ship contracted by the U.S Military Sealift Command fired on an Iranian vessel.

So, is someone out there PRETENDING to be Iranian boats in the hopes of kicking off a war?

Saudi king rejects Cheney's belligerency

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah in a meeting with visiting US Vice President Dick Cheney has rejected any US military strike against Iran.

Rep. McDermott: The Folly of Attacking Iran

As we know from history, controlling the oil wealth of Iran mattered more to the West than anything else. Given the choice between watching Iran construct pillars of Democracy or finding a way for the West to construct - and control - oil drilling platforms, there was no hesitation.

In 1953, the United States and United Kingdom launched Operation Ajax. It was a covert CIA operation to destabilize and remove the democratically elected government of Iran, including Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh.

President: World has not witnessed crimes bigger than Zionists

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in the whole history nobody has witnessed crimes like the ones committed by the Zionist regime against the Palestinian.

I am not sure about "whole history". History is full of assholes. But there is no question that in the present day, nobody has witnessed crimes like the ones committed by the Zionist regime against the Palestinian.

And today is what we have to deal with.

Israel gives UN watchdog secret briefing on Iran

Abramovich presented Israel's concerns about a continued nuclear program in Tehran.

"Now then, our first slides show some of you in compromising situations involving the extremely young ladies we had escorting you on your last visit to Israel..."

IS THE ‘FINAL CONFRONTATION’ FINALLY UPON US? ONE HOPES NOT, BUT THE SIGNS ARE NOT GOOD.

I have for some time been warning of the impending final confrontation between the US-Israeli alliance and Iran. The pointers indicating that the moment of that final confrontation may have almost arrived are now too irresistible to ignore. I hope I’m wrong.

Iran vows to retaliate against U.S. bases in Gulf if it attacks first

Iran's top military commander said Saturday that his forces would retaliate against American military bases in the Persian Gulf if they are involved in any possible future attack on Iran.

So, if Israel attacks Iran, YOUR kids get the return fire.

Iran unveils first major space centre, launches research rocket

Iran reportedly launched a research rocket Monday and unveiled its first major space centre, which it says will be used to launch research satellites.

Iran receives nuke fuel

Iran received a third shipment of nuclear fuel from Russia on Friday for a power plant being constructed in the southern port of Bushehr, state radio reported.

So, if Israel (or the US) bombs the power station now, it will unleash a nuclear disaster in the region and downwind.

Iran to Get Russian Anti-Missile Defense

Russia is preparing to equip Iran with a powerful new air defense system that would dramatically increase its ability to repel an attack, Iran's defense minister said Wednesday.

Iran receives last nuclear fuel shipment

Iran received the final shipment of uranium fuel from Russia on Monday for its first nuclear plant, state media reported, a key step toward the launch of the reactor's operations expected later this year.

If Israel or the US bombs the power station now, it will unleash a major radiological disaster in the region.

Livni: Inconceivable that Russia is supplying Iran with nuclear fuel

Foreign affairs minister meets with Russia's Lavrov in Moscow, slams shipments of fuel to Bushehr nuclear plant despite Tehran's refusal to stop enriching uranium.

A reminder: Iran is enriching uranium to the 3% needed for a power station, which they are legally allowed to do under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Weapons require better than 90% encirchment, and there is no evidence that Iran is doing that.

What Israel wants is to maintain their monopoly on nuclear power and weapons in the Mideast. Like the classic paranoid, Israel will not feel safe until everyone else is totally helpless before them, but like the true paranoid, Israel will never feel safe no matter how helpless the rest of the world are. Sooner or later, as Israel is doing in Gaza, extermination becomes the final solution.

IAEA makes 1st visit to Iran centrifuge site

Iran has allowed top U.N. nuclear monitors to visit an advanced centrifuge development site for the first time in a gesture of transparency about its disputed atomic programme, diplomats familiar with the matter said.

Now then, about Dimona...

US pushes EU to shut down Iranian banks

This proves that the real issue is not nuclear weapons, but Iran's Oil Bourse, which threatens the dollar.

The US, over the last 30 years, lost its manufacturing leadership, and no longer able to keep the dollar high with commerce, Bush is attempting to make the dollar strong by making every other competitor weak; by shutting down their banks, by freezing their funds, by bombing their infrastructure.

France backs sanctions on Iran

So now France will violate the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Iran pulls assets out of Europe banks

Iran has withdrawn a huge sum of its foreign exchange reserves from European banks and has deposited some of it into Asian banks.

"Based on a decision made by a government working group, Iran has switched to 'genuine' assets like gold and shares... We have decreased our foreign currency holdings in international banks," said Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs, Mohsen Talaei.

Sending a message?

US and EU issue new Iran warning

The EU and the US have threatened Iran with further sanctions unless it verifiably suspends nuclear enrichment.

The "additional measures" would include "steps to ensure Iranian banks cannot... support proliferation and terrorism", said a joint statement.

Oh, yes, this is really going to make a huge difference, considering, as reported on the 8th of this month in the on-line version of the "Telegraph" from the UK, that "The president of Iran has ordered the country's leading banks to transfer billions of dollars of assets from Europe to the Central Bank to prevent them being frozen by international sanctions, according to Western diplomats."

In the immortal words of my wife's late grandmother "the horse is already out of the barn" on this one.

Gazprom to develop two or three South Pars blocks in Iran

Russia’s gas giant Gazprom has agreed the terms on which it will be developing “two or three” blocks of the South Pars field in Iran, and also on the participation of its daughter company, Gazpromneft, in an oil project in Iran, Gazprom press office said on Tuesday upon the end of Tuesday’s visit to Teheran by the company’s delegation under Gazprom CEO, Alexei Miller.

Russia is not going to want any interruption of its business dealings (particularly regarding oil) with Iran.

Any Israeli and/or US tactician might want to consider; if there is a pre-emptive attack on Iran, just what will Russia do?

Does any sane person in Washington or Tel Aviv really want to go to war with Russia?

Spy photos reveal 'secret launch site' for Iran's long-range missiles

A close examination of the photographs has indicated that the Iranians are following the same path as North Korea

Folks, remember all those photos the mainstream media showed us that were claimed to be Iraqi WMD sites? Then after the invasion they turned out to be rather benign? (In one case, a building marked as a biological weapons lab on a US photo turned out to be a bakery.)

Then there was the photo of an Iraqi nuclear facility that a sharp-eyed Google Earth user recognized as actually being in another country entirely?

With that sordid history in mind, let us take a real look at the photo from this article, which purports to show where Iran is "developing long-range ballistic missiles capable of reaching targets in Europe".

AFP: Israel stressed to Bush that Iran is a nuclear 'threat': general

"We tried hard to present him the situation as we see it," Amos Gilad, reserve general and political adviser to Defence Minister Ehud Barak, told Israel's public radio.

"From a professional point of view the situation is clear: there is an Iranian nuclear threat," Gilad said.

Translation: Israel wants the US to strike Iran militarily before Bush leaves office, putting our sons and daughters in harm's way (again) to neutralize what it believes is an existential threat to its existence.

Perhaps this is about time to let Israel go after all those countries it believes threaten its existence... on their own.

Mischievous 'Filipino Monkey' could have triggered latest US-Iran row

A heckling radio ham known as the Filipino Monkey, who has spent years pestering ships in the Persian Gulf, is being blamed today for sparking a major diplomatic row after American warships almost attacked Iranian patrol boats.

"Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, it was a radio ham. That's it. A radio ham. Yeah, yeah, sure, sure." -- Official White Horse Souse

(Ahem)

Okay, White House, HOW DID 'FILIPINO MONKEY' KNOW THAT THE IRANIAN SPEEDBOATS WERE GOING TO BE RIGHT NEXT TO THE US WARSHIPS AT THAT PARTICULAR MOMENT?

Bush Promises to Nuke Iran

VIDEO

Whether or not Bush manages to plunge the world into a new dark age may depend upon which version of the recent US/Iran confrontation is believed. So far, Bush's utter lack of credibility may be working to our advantage. One dares not think of the consequences to world peace if Bush had embarked upon this tour of the middle east with a shred of credibility, a modicum of political capital among every Middle Eastern capital but Jerusalem.

*****Unemployment Spreads As Foreclosure Storm Hits Major Cities

Folks, here is the "sitch".

The US econ-tanic is down by the bow and taking on water fast. Desperate measures are being taken to keep the ships of state afloat but the ultimate outcome is inevitable (and has been known to be so for some time).

Bush knows that the economy is about to unravel, and he also knows that the people will blame the government for the melt-down and rightly so, seeing all the money that the government borrows without ever really thinking about how it will be repaid. The Social Security Trust Fund has been looted (along with many others such as the Native American Trust Fund and various Federal Employee Pensions). The Federal Reserve is just printing up new money as fast as it can to keep the liquidity up, but the problem has never been liquidity but solvency.

So, the big kaboinga is right around the corner and this is a major reason WHY Bush is pushing so hard to start a new war, because throughout the history of the United States, the government has ALWAYS distracted from domestic economic blunders by distracting the people with a major war. Most of us recall the connection between the Great Depression and WW2, but few recall that the US was in economic trouble just prior to WW1. In both cases, the fever of war masked the symptoms of hard economic times, and tricked people into lowering their living standards thinking it was for the war when in reality it was to salvage the economy. Capitalism only works when the vast majority of people are intentionally kept poor, and war is a great way to impoverish the people without getting them pissed off.

So, this is why that lame stunt with the speed boats and US warships was pulled. It was supposed to be another "Gulf of Tonkin" hoax to kick off a new war.

and as the economy deteriorates, expect Bush to do something, ANYTHING, to get the war back on track.

Because without a war to mask the economic hardships, the people will turn on the government.

Doubts grow over Iranian boat threats

Mystery remains over where voice came from.

Not over here. What nation has a prior history of fake radio messages to trick the US into killing its enemies?

Official Version of Naval Incident Starts to Unravel

Despite the official and media portrayal of the incident in the Strait of Hormuz early Monday morning as a serious threat to U.S. 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 U.S. commander was on the verge of firing at the Iranian boats.

Was Bush trying to pull a "Gulf of Tonkin" to start his war?

US backs down over Gulf claims

Once again we catch the US Government red-handed lying to justify a war of conquest.

You remain silent at risk of being judged complicit in the crime.

US Complaints of Harassment by Iran “Blown out of the Water” by Video

"The U.S. has a long history of sailing into Iranian waters and otherwise provoking Iran," according Journalist Reese Erlich, the author the book The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis. He also recalls the incident where the USS Vincennes shot down an unarmed Iranian passenger plane and the US tried to cover up the incident. He further states, “In that context, the US version of events must be carefully examined."

ABC News: U.S. Concedes Voices on Recording May Not Have Been From Iranian Speedboats

Olmert to lay down Israel's red lines - Israel News, Ynetnews

Translation: Bush gets his marching orders from Tel Aviv as to precisely what he will do geopolitically in the Middle East during his last year in office.

The Israelis Prepare for Bush Visit

As President Bush prepares to visit Israel for the start of an eight-day tour of the Mideast, Israel has two chief issues on its mind: the Palestinians and Iran. But which one does the country want the American president to act on first? Iran.

The Israelis are openly lobbying for the United States to attack Iran. They're not even trying to keep it low key. If they're so worried about Iran why don't the Israelis do the attacking? Because their own children are too precious, while American children, well, heck, dying in Israel's wars is what they are FOR!

Iran denies threat to blow up US ships

Just stop and think; why would Iran do something so provocative right after the NIE proved to the world that Iran was telling the truth (as had Iraq) and the US was again lying to create a war? Iran has just dodged a bullet. Why would they do something that cranks the war back up?

Isn't it far more likely that USreal, which HAS been lying all along, is simply lying again to try to restart the war they want?

Israel to brief Bush on options for Iran strike during visit

Israel still doesn't have 'smoking gun'

"NIE? What NIE?!? Iran has nookular bombs! God told me so!" -- Official White Horse Souse

IAEA chief warns against military action to solve Iranian nuclear issue

In an interview with Egyptian TV, ElBaradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said a military strike to settle the Iranian nuclear issue would complicate the situation and send the Middle East region into a vicious cycle of violence.

What El Baradei is saying is logical, intelligent, and sane.

This is why the White House will ignore it completely.

Bush Admits He Plans to Attack Iran

Bush needs that war in Iran to distract from the plunging economy.

So, if tomorrow really does bring a huge crash on Wall Street, it would be a great time for "someone" to nuke the New York financial district (freezing the losses and justifying the declaration of a national emergency) and blame Iran for it.

Kristol: Bush Might Bomb Iran If He 'Thinks Senator Obama's Going To Win'

On Fox News Sunday this morning, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol said that President Bush is more likely to attack Iran if he believes Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) is going to be elected.

However, "if the president thought John McCain was going to be the next president, he would think it more appropriate to let the next president make that decision than do it on his way out," Kristol said, reinforcing the fact that McCain is offering a third Bush term on Iran.

Okay folks, since it does look like Obama will win the election (as long as he stays out of small airplanes), and since Obama will probably not support starting a whole new war with Iran, then the Neocons and Israel-firsters not only have to start a war with Iran while Bush is still in office, but have to have long enough to get the US so stuck in Iran that Obama can't pull us out without it looking like a new military defeat for the United States. That will take a good three months to do, so to get a good war with Iran going the Israel-firsters have to get it kicked off by end of summer at the latest.

Which is why I an a touch nervous about the Fourth of July as a potential false flag date.

The Raw Story | Bogus Iran story was product of Pentagon spokesman

No reference was made to a US ship nearly firing on an Iranian vessel, or suggestions that the US ships would "explode," or white boxes dropped into the water in the path of the US fleet.

Porter identifies Bryan Whitman, the Pentagon's top spokesman, as the culprit for the spurious account. Most of Whitman's remarks that formed the basis for Starr's and other stories were drawn from an off the record press briefing that was held on the condition he not be identified as a source.

How desperate is this administration to start a shooting war with Iran?

Apparently, very desperate.

Unfortunately, even having got caught red-handed on this doesnot guarantee that they won't try something else to get it started.

Policy Shift Seen in U.S. Decision on Iran Talks

The presence of William J. Burns, the under secretary of state for political affairs, at the meeting with Saeed Jalili, Iran's nuclear negotiator, in Geneva on Saturday, will send "a strong signal to the Iranian government that the United States is committed to diplomacy," the State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, told reporters on Wednesday. Mr. McCormack insisted that there had been no change in policy

"...No change in policy" , my astrolabe!

This appears to be a significant change in US policy, a real attempt at engagement rather than saber-rattling.

We'll have to wait and see what the results of Saturday's meetings may be, but based on the wailing, moaning, and gnashing of teeth one is getting from the Israeli press on-line this morning, it looks as though the world may have just dodged the bullet of another horrendous world war.

Report: U.S. to station diplomats in Iran for first time since 1979

The United States intends to station diplomats in Iran for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution which saw a severence of ties between the two countries, The Guardian reported on Thursday.

Looks like the war with Iran may be called off, which is why the Pentagon boys are being told to go play nice in Pakistan, to keep them happy. But with the Russian/Iran gas deal, an attack on Iran is an attack on Russia's strategic interests. Plus that reactor, until it is paid for, is Russian property and currently staffed with Russian nationals.

Of course, the neocon Israeli-firsters are not going to be happy about peace breaking out, and they may still try a false-flag attack of some kind, but for the moment it looks like the wheels have come off of the war wagon.