Text Fwd: Israel calls for attack on Iran

* Image & caption source: same as the link
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu


* Informed at the CGL News

Press TV
Israel calls for attack on Iran
Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:25AM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for “a credible military option against Iran” to force Tehran to end its nuclear energy program.


On Tuesday, Netanyahu said that military action should be taken by the international community and headed by the United States.

"You have to ratchet up the pressure and… I don't think that this pressure will be sufficient to have this regime change course without a credible military option that is put before them by the international community led by the United States," he stated.

He went on to say that sanctions are not enough to stop Iran's nuclear energy program, and they should be backed by some military action.

He has made similar bellicose remarks in the past, but they were always rejected by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Netanyahu made the comments a week after Tehran announced Iran's nuclear sites were being opened to envoys representing "geographical and political groups" in the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The invitation came ahead of the multifaceted talks between Iran and the P5+1 group — Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States, and Germany — that are scheduled to be held in Turkey from January 21 to 22.

Iran and the P5+1 group wrapped up two days of comprehensive talks in Geneva on December 7, during which the two sides agreed to hold the next round of negotiations in Turkey.

Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili represented Iran at the talks and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton represented the P5+1 group.

The UN Security Council imposed a fourth round of sanctions on Iran last year.

But Tehran says sanctions have failed to hamper its efforts to master peaceful nuclear technology.

And the IAEA continues to conduct regular inspections and camera surveillance of Iran's nuclear facilities.

Iranian officials say the talks provide an opportunity to display Iran's policy of nuclear transparency to the international community.

[Site Fwd] [Minagahet Chamorro] An Open Letter from Gaza

Michael Lujan Bevacqua's Minagahet Chamorro
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
An Open Letter from Gaza

We the Palestinians of the Besieged Gaza Strip, on this day, two years on from Israel's genocidal attack on our families, our houses, our roads, our factories and our schools, are saying enough inaction, enough discussion, enough waiting – the time is now to hold Israel to account for its ongoing crimes against us. On the 27th of December 2008, Israel began an indiscriminate bombardment of the Gaza Strip. The assault lasted 22 days, killing 1,417 Palestinians, 352 of them children, according to main-stream Human Rights Organizations. For a staggering 528 hours, Israeli Occupation Forces let loose their US-supplied F15s, F16s, Merkava Tanks, internationally prohibited White Phosphorous, and bombed and invaded the small Palestinian coastal enclave that is home to 1.5 million, of whom 800,000 are children and over 80 percent UN registered refugees. Around 5,300 remain permanently wounded.

This devastation exceeded in savagery all previous massacres suffered in Gaza, such as the 21children killed in Jabalia in March 2008 or the 19 civilians killed sheltering in their house in the Beit Hanoun Massacre of 2006. The carnage even exceeded the attacks in November 1956 in which Israeli troops indiscriminately rounded up and killed 275 Palestinians in the Southern town of Khan Younis and 111 more in Rafah.

Since the Gaza massacre of 2009, world citizens have undertaken the responsibility to pressure Israel to comply with international law, through a proven strategy of boycott, divestment and sanctions. As in the global BDS movement that was so effective in ending the apartheid South African regime, we urge people of conscience to join the BDS call made by over 170 Palestinian organizations in 2005. As in South Africa the imbalance of power and representation in this struggle can be counterbalanced by a powerful international solidarity movement with BDS at the forefront, holding Israeli policy makers to account, something the international governing community has repeatedly failed to do. Similarly, creative civilian efforts such as the Free Gaza boats that broke the siege five times, the Gaza Freedom March, the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, and the many land convoys must never stop their siege-breaking, highlighting the inhumanity of keeping 1.5 million Gazans in an open-air prison.

Two years have now passed since Israel’s gravest of genocidal acts that should have left people in no doubt of the brutal extent of Israel’s plans for the Palestinians. The murderous navy assault on international activists aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea magnified to the world the cheapness Israel has assigned to Palestinian llife for so long. The world knows now, yet two years on nothing has changed for Palestinians.

The Goldstone Report came and went: despite its listing count after count of international law contraventions, Israeli “war crimes” and “possible crimes against humanity,” the European Union, the United Nations, the Red Cross, and all major Human Rights Organizations have called for an end to the illegal, medieval siege, it carries on unabated. On 11th November 2010 UNRWA head John Ging said, “There's been no material change for the people on the ground here in terms of their status, the aid dependency, the absence of any recovery or reconstruction, no economy…The easing, as it was described, has been nothing more than a political easing of the pressure on Israel and Egypt.”

On the 2nd of December, 22 international organizations including Amnesty, Oxfam, Save the Children, Christian Aid, and Medical Aid for Palestinians produced the report 'Dashed Hopes, Continuation of the Gaza Blockade’ calling for international action to force Israel to unconditionally lift the blockade, saying the Palestinians of Gaza under Israeli siege continue to live in the same devastating conditions. Only a week ago Human Rights Watch published a comprehensive report "Separate and Unequal" that denounced Israeli policies as Apartheid, echoing similar sentiments by South African anti-apartheid activists.

We Palestinians of Gaza want to live at liberty to meet Palestinian friends or family from Tulkarem, Jerusalem or Nazareth; we want to have the right to travel and move freely. We want to live without fear of another bombing campaign that leaves hundreds of our children dead and many more injured or with cancers from the contamination of Israel’s white phosphorous and chemical warfare. We want to live without the humiliations at Israeli checkpoints or the indignity of not providing for our families because of the unemployment brought about by the economic control and the illegal siege. We are calling for an end to the racism that underpins all this oppression.

We ask: when will the world’s countries act according to the basic premise that people should be treated equally, regardless of their origin, ethnicity or colour – is it so far-fetched that a Palestinian child deserves the same human rights as any other human being? Will you be able to look back and say you stood on the right side of history or will you have sided with the oppressor?

We, therefore, call on the international community to take up its responsibility to protect the Palestinian people from Israel’s heinous aggression, immediately ending the siege with full compensation for the destruction of life and infrastructure visited upon us by this explicit policy of collective punishment. Nothing whatsoever justifies the intentional policies of savagery, including the severing of access to the water and electricity supply to 1.5 million people. The international conspiracy of silence towards the genocidal war taking place against the more than 1.5 million civilians in Gaza indicates complicity in these war crimes.

We also call upon all Palestine solidarity groups and all international civil society organizations to demand:

- An end to the siege that has been imposed on the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a result of their exercise of democratic choice.
- The protection of civilian lives and property, as stipulated in International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law such as The Fourth Geneva Convention.
- The immediate release of all political prisoners.

- That Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip be immediately provided with financial and material support to cope with the immense hardship that they are experiencing
- An end to occupation, Apartheid and other war crimes.
- Immediate reparations and compensation for all destruction carried out by the Israeli Occupation Forces in the Gaza Strip.

Boycott Divest and Sanction, join the many International Trade Unions, Universities, Supermarkets and artists and writers who refuse to entertain Apartheid Israel. Speak out for Palestine, for Gaza, and crucially ACT. The time is now.

Besieged Gaza, Palestine
List of signatories:

General Union for Public Services Workers

General Union for Health Services Workers

University Teachers' Association

Palestinian Congregation for Lawyers

General Union for Petrochemical and Gas Workers

General Union for Agricultural Workers

Union of Women’s Work Committees

Union of Synergies—Women Unit

The One Democratic State Group

Arab Cultural Forum

Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel

Association of Al-Quds Bank for Culture and Info

Palestine Sailing Federation

Palestinian Association for Fishing and Maritime

Palestinian Network of Non-Governmental Organizations

Palestinian Women Committees

Progressive Students’ Union

Medical Relief Society

The General Society for Rehabilitation

General Union of Palestinian Women

Afaq Jadeeda Cultural Centre for Women and Children

Deir Al-Balah Cultural Centre for Women and Children

Maghazi Cultural Centre for Children

Al-Sahel Centre for Women and Youth

Ghassan Kanfani Kindergartens

Rachel Corrie Centre, Rafahoc

Rafah Olympia City Sisters

Al Awda Centre, Rafah

Al Awda Hospital, Jabaliya Camp

Ajyal Association, Gaza

General Union of Palestinian Syndicates

Al Karmel Centre, Nuseirat

Local Initiative, Beit Hanoun

Union of Health Work Committees

Red Crescent Society Gaza Strip

Beit Lahiya Cultural Centre

Al Awda Centre, Rafah

Text Fwd: SIPRI: Comabt Planes Top World Arms Sales, U.S. Top Provider 전투기들, 세계 무기 판매 1위, 미국 1위 판매자

Stop NATO

Defense News letter
Combat Aircraft Top International Sales: SIPRI
By IGOR GEDILAGHINE, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Published: 10 Nov 2010

STOCKHOLM - Combat planes account for one-third of all global arms transfers, with the United States topping the list of sellers and India, the United Arab Emirates and Israel the biggest buyers, according to the SIPRI think tank.

In a report published Nov. 10, just a week before China opens its massive airshow in Zhuhai, the independent Swedish institute cautioned that increased sales of combat aircraft could have a destabilizing effect in many parts of the world.

Between 2005 and 2009, according to the report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the U.S. had sold 341 fighter jets, up from 286 planes sold during the previous five-year period, while Russia sold 219 planes, down from 331, and France sold 75, up from 58.

Only 11 of the world's countries figure on the list of combat aircraft producers: the United States, Russia, China, France, Sweden, India and Japan on their own, and Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain as part of the Eurofighter consortium.

However, the list of buyers is far longer.

During the five-year period, more than 50 countries, including Algeria (32), Bangladesh (16), Israel (82), Jordan (36), Pakistan (23), Syria (33), Venezuela (24), Chile (28), Poland (48), China (45) and Yemen (37), purchased a total of 995 new and second-hand fighter planes.

READ MORE

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Stop NATO
Blog site

Text Fwd: Seoul to dispatch troops to UAE 서울, 유나이티드 아랍 에미레이츠에 군대 파견 계획

* Image source: Global Research. click HERE

* Image source: Japan Focus (click HERE)

Middle East states that have discussed bilateral nuclear cooperation agreements since 2008

* Image source: Japan Focus (click HERE)

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Korea Times
11-03-2010 17:00
Seoul to dispatch troops to UAE
By Jung Sung-ki

Korea plans to dispatch about 130 troops to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) next year as part of efforts to establish closer defense ties with the Middle Eastern nation, the Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday.

The plan was discussed during a policy coordination meeting in Seoul, a ministry spokesman said. Defense Minister Kim Tae-young and ruling party lawmakers belonging to the National Assembly Defense Committee attended the session, he said.

The troop dispatch plan comes after Seoul won a landmark $20 billion contract last December to build four nuclear reactors in the UAE.

Before the contract was announced, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young flew to the Middle East country twice to support the contract and discuss bilateral defense issues.

Kim and his UAE counterpart reportedly signed a closed-door agreement on specific defense cooperation measures, including the dispatch of Korean troops.

UAE military leaders also asked for the troop dispatch when they visited Seoul earlier this year, the spokesman said.

The local contingent will help train UAE troops and protect Korean nationals there from any possible terror attack, he added.

“A motion for the troop deployment will be presented in the Assembly’s regular session,” he said. “Once approved, the deployment could be possible early next year.”

The UAE military is interested in Korea’s operational skills and training methods, such as the battlefield Military Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES), harbor protection systems and pilot training.

The armed forces of the UAE, officially called the Union Defense Force, consist of 65,000 troops, and are headquartered in Abu Dhabi. It is a federal military force and is primarily responsible for the defense of all seven emirates.

Korea has 650,000 troops and is supported by 28,500 U.S. forces. The troops are being equipped with high-tech weapons under the Defense Reform 2020 modernization program.

An official at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said a closer military relationship with the UAE could help exports of Korean weapons systems.

Seoul is seeking to boost its defense exports to nations in the Middle East and Africa.

Last year, the UAE selected Italy’s M-346 trainer jet as the preferred model for its trainer acquisition program.

But both sides have failed to finalize the deal, so there is a possibility that the UAE will reopen talks with officials over the sale of the T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer.

Seoul is also trying to sell its K-9 self-propelled howitzer to the UAE.
gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr

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See all the blogs on United Arab Emirates

Monday, December 28, 2009
Text Fwd: Korea, UAE Seek Closer Defense Ties

Monday, December 28, 2009
Text Fwd: Landmark nuclear power plant deal sounds energy alarm within South Korea

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Some excerpts from previous blogs

Friday, April 30, 2010
Text Fw: Propaganda about PAC-3 from Pro-MD organization

Excerpt

Last week MDAA had the honor to visit and interact with our nation's men and women in uniform at Fort Sill, Oklahoma; home of the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery (ADA) School. This school teaches all current and soon to be deployed air defense soldiers who are stationed with the 13 Patriot battalions deployed in support of U.S. missile and air defense throughout the world; most prominently in the Middle East and East Asia. Fort Sill runs courses for Patriot operators and maintenance crews ranging in length from 8 to 30 weeks. The ADA school trains approximately 1,500 to 2,000 U.S. soldiers a year, as well as several hundred soldiers from Israel, Germany, Japan, South Korea,United Arab Emirates and other allied nations that have Patriot Air and Missile Defense Systems.
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Thursday, March 18, 2010
Text Fwd: S. Korea, Japan Can Build Nuclear Weapons Quickly

Excerpt

The 2008 report categorized South Korea, Taiwan and Japan as three "threshold nuclear states" that have the capability to develop nuclear weapons rapidly, should their political leaders decide to do so.

South Korea is recognized globally as a pioneer in the study of the "pyprocessing" method aimed at reprocessing spent fuel without extracting weapons-grade plutonium from it.

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Thursday, January 7, 2010
Text fwd: [Exclusive] S. Korea to Transfer UAV, Missile Technologies to UAE

Excerpt

Korea promised to transfer technology for its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), following its successful bid to build four nuclear reactors in the Middle East nation, a government source said Thursday.

EMPs can severely disrupt electronic equipment, which is susceptible to damage by transient power surges. An EMP attack is generated by a very short, intense energy pulse or high-altitude nuclear blast.

The agency plans to complete the development by 2014.

Some observers say, however, potential exports of the RQ-101 to either the UAE or Libya could cause a political or diplomatic row between South Korea and Israel given the ground-control station for the UAV was developed with technical assistance from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).