WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US Senate Monday passed a mammoth 648 billion dollar defense policy bill, shorn of attempts by disappointed anti-war Democrats to dictate President George W. Bush’s Iraq strategy. The bill included around 128 billion dollars for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate. The legislation passed by 92 votes to three after Democrats lost several attempts to dictate US troop levels
by Seymour M. Hersh In a series of public statements in recent months, President Bush and members of his Administration have redefined the war in Iraq, to an increasing degree, as a strategic battle between the United States and Iran. “Shia extremists, backed by Iran, are training Iraqis to carry out attacks on our forces and the Iraqi people,” Bush told the national convention of the American Legion in August.
By Uri Avnery “ICH” — — A respected American paper posted a scoop this week: Vice-President Dick Cheney, the King of Hawks, has thought up a Machiavellian scheme for an attack on Iran. Its main point: Israel will start by bombing an Iranian nuclear installation, Iran will respond by launching missiles at Israel, and this will serve as a pretext for an American attack on Iran. Far-fetched? Not really. It
AIM news reports that US Congressman Gary L. Ackerman led the House of Representatives Wednesday in pass a resolution calling for strong US support for the government of Lebanon by a vote of 415 to 2. Ackerman, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, warned the House that “Lebanon is being bullied by Iran, Syria and their proxies, Hizbullah, Amal and Michel Aoun’s Free
TEHRAN – Iranian lawmakers hit back on Saturday at the United States for considering sanctions against the Islamic state’s Revolutionary Guards, branding the U.S. armed forces and the CIA as “terrorist”. A statement, signed by 215 MPs and read out at a session of the 290-seat legislature, criticised the U.S. military and the Central Intelligence Agency for what it called terrorist actions, the official IRNA news agency said. It cited
TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said its defense troops have launched a new system which brings all movements in the Persian Gulf and the Straight of Hormoz under Iran’s online control. The system called ‘Hod Hod’ (Hoopoe) has been designed by IRGC experts and provides the Iranian troops with the possibility to monitor even the subtlest moves on the surface or in the air. According
The blog The Internet Activist has published a very comprehensive report on the US/Israeli efforts to isolate Iran. ——- So how have the US/Israeli efforts to isolate Iran fared around the world? “I think it’s very important for the world to unite with one common voice, to say to the Iranians that, ‘if you choose to continue forward, you’ll be isolated,’ … Let’s work in concert to convince the government
by Jonathan Cook Israel’s air strike on northern Syria earlier this month should be understood in the context of events unfolding since its assault last summer on neighboring Lebanon. From the leaks so far, it seems that more than half a dozen Israeli warplanes violated Syrian airspace to drop munitions on a site close to the border with Turkey. We also know from the US media that the raid occurred
by Gareth Porter The George W. Bush administration recently concluded that the increase in rocket attacks on coalition targets by Shi’ite forces over the summer was a deliberate move by Iran to escalate the war in order to put pressure on the United States to accept Iranian influence in Iraq, according to a senior US government official. The reported conclusions reached by administration officials suggest that the advocates of war
By Wayne Madsen WMR has learned from U.S. and foreign intelligence sources that the B-52 transporting six stealth AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missiles, each armed with a W-80-1 nuclear warhead, on August 30, were destined for the Middle East via Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. However, elements of the Air Force, supported by U.S. intelligence agency personnel, successfully revealed the ultimate destination of the nuclear weapons and the mission was
By Scott Ritter The long-awaited “progress report” of Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker on the status of the occupation of Iraq has been made, providing Americans, via the compliant media, with the spectacle of loyal Bush yes men offering faith-based analysis in lieu of fact-based assessment. In the days and weeks that have since passed, two things have become clear: Neither Congress nor the American people (including the
by Gareth Porter The Lieberman-Kyle amendment has just passed the Senate overwhelmingly after two sections were removed to satisfy Democrats that it will not serve as a backdoor authorization for war against Iran, using U.S. forces operating in Iran. Even after that compromise, it remains a poison chalice, because it endorses a set of “findings” that are fundamentally false and which are being used by the administration to lay the
AFP – The US Senate has called for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to be officially designated a “foreign terrorist organization,” a day after the House of Representatives passed a similar measure. The Senate on Wednesday voted 76-22 for the non-binding amendment sponsored by Republican Jon Kyl and independent Joseph Lieberman to place the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, or Pasdaran, on the US terrorist blacklist. Such a designation if adopted by the
PRESS TV reports: The US House of Representatives has passed a bill that would tighten sanctions on Iran’s energy sector and recognize the IRGC as terrorists. According to US media, Tuesday the US House of Representatives passed a bill only hours before Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s UN General Assembly address. Prepared by Chairman of the US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee Tom Lantos, the bill was approved by a
Demonizing the Iranian president and making his visit to New York seem controversial are all part of the neoconservative push for yet another war. By Juan Cole “Salon” — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad‘s visit to New York to address the United Nations General Assembly has become a media circus. But the controversy does not stem from the reasons usually cited. The media has focused on debating whether he should be
Enemies will regret any attack on Iran: IRGC commander TEHRAN — The enemies will bitterly regret any attack against Iran, Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander Major General Mohammad-Ali Jafari said here on Saturday. As a united nation with strong defense capabilities, Iran has become invincible and “definitely the outcome of any attack on Iran will be bitter and regretful for the enemies,” Jafari told reporters on the sidelines of
by Jim Lobe Steve Clemons’ article this week in Salon, “Why Bush won’t attack Iran,” offers, I think, a helpful corrective to what has been the growing conviction that has gripped anti-war critics and others that the administration is consciously moving toward war with Iran, possibly imminently. I think Steve’s analysis, which should be read carefully and in full, is very sound, although I’m not quite as persuaded as he
by John Byrne President Bush’s former United Nations ambassador John Bolton said the United States would stand behind a pre-emptive strike by Israel against countries developing “WMD facilities.” In his remark, printed in Tuesday’s edition of the Israeli daily Yediot Achronot, Bolton directly referenced Iran. “The greatest concern is to prevent Iran and other countries in the region from acquiring nuclear weapons,” Bolton said, according to JTA.org, a Jewish news
by Omid Memarian As the war of words between Western nations led by United States and Iran’s hardliner government over its nuclear programme has escalated in the last few weeks, a cartoon published on the editorial page of the Columbus Dispatch on Sep. 4 has created a furor amongst Iranians worldwide. The cartoon by staff member Michael Ramirez portrayed Iran as a sewer with the word “extremism” on its lid.
TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- A senior Iranian air force commander said his troops have prepared operational plans to retaliate against Israel’s possible air strikes on the Islamic Republic. “Israel’s rhetoric about air strike (on Iran) is just psychological warfare, because this regime does not have the power to launch air strikes on Iran. Israel is not capable of posing a serious threat to Iran because it does not have the
