Netanyahu Lauds Pres. Obama's Efforts Not To Let Iran Develop Arsenal Of Nukes (Video)

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Sources: Al JaZeera English, CNN, Youtube, Google Maps

Merkel & Obama Want Qaddafi Out! Pledge Future Partnership

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Today During A Press Conference Held At The White House, Pres. Obama & His Guest Of Honor German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Called For Libyan President Moammar Qaddafi's Resignation.

Both Leaders Also Assured European Financial Market Experts & Other World Leaders That The Business Partnership Between The U.S. & Germany Remains Strong.

Pres. Obama Also Stated Optimistically "He Was Not Worried About The American Economy Experiencing A Double-Dip Recession".




Merkel backs Libya mission, joins Obama in call for Gadhafi to leave

German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday in saying Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi must step down, expressing support for the NATO military mission even though her country abstained from the U.N. Security Council vote that authorized it.

At a joint news conference at the White House, Merkel said Germany's participation in NATO operations shows its support for the Libya mission. She also noted that Germany has increased resources to the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan to free other countries to contribute to the Libya mission.

"It is our joint will that this NATO mission is successful," Merkel said of the Libya operation, adding that what happens in North Africa affects Europe. "Those are our immediate neighbors, and we have a choice. Either this works out well, or we have an enormous refugee problem. and so it's not only out of charity ... there's not only a moral obligation, but we have also a vested interest in seeing to it that this continent, this region comes on its feet."

Obama and Merkel also said they oppose unilateral actions by players in the Middle East peace process, including a push for a U.N. General Assembly vote on an independent Palestinian state. And Obama warned of possible new sanctions against Iran if an upcoming International Atomic Energy Agency report cites continued non-compliance involving the nation's nuclear energy program.



Both played down any major differences in how they think their countries and the international community should deal with continuing economic challenges.

On the United States, Obama said he isn't concerned about a possible double-dip recession, but added he is concerned that the nation's economic recovery is not creating jobs more quickly. Merkel diplomatically said she has confidence that the United States will deal with its economic issues.

The news conference included some minor unscripted moments, such as Merkel stumbling as the pair walked to the microphones and later shutting off her cell phone when it rang while Obama was speaking.

The two leaders were meeting for the 10th time as part of Merkel's official visit to Washington that includes a state dinner Tuesday night where she will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

Obama and Merkel emphasized the cooperative and vital relationship between their countries, with Obama paying special tribute to the German chancellor.

In addition to their 10 meetings, he said, the two communicate regularly by phone and video conference.

"There's hardly any global issue where we don't consult one another," Obama said, adding, "I trust her."

Merkel received an official welcome to the White House earlier Tuesday in a ceremony marked by pomp and circumstance, a major honor for an ally who at times has differed on key issues from her American counterparts.




During talks on Tuesday morning, the two leaders discussed a range of economic and security topics, including the turmoil in the Middle East and the shaky global economy.

At the news conference afterward, Obama said the situation in Europe -- where Greece and some other countries face mounting debt crises that threaten to drag down the global economy -- involves "tough" politics.

"You recall how difficult it was for us to make investments in our own auto industry or to make sure that we didn't have a financial meltdown here," the president said. "Well, imagine if you're having to make those same decisions with 27 other countries with respect to somebody else's economic problems."

He expressed confidence that "Germany's leadership, along with other key actors in Europe, will help us arrive at a path for Greece to return to growth, for this debt to become more manageable. but it's going to require some patience and some time." He pledged full U.S. cooperation, including working through international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund.

"We think it would be disastrous for us to see an uncontrolled spiral and default in Europe, because that could trigger a whole range of other events," Obama said. "And I think Angela shares that same view. and so we're going to have to work through this issue methodically, and we will be supportive in any ways that we can to make sure that all of the best ideas are brought to bear on the problem."

In welcoming Merkel earlier, Obama said the German-U.S. alliance "at its core is a partnership between two peoples."

"The story of Germany and our alliance in the 20th century shows what's possible in the 21st," Obama said. "Wars can end, adversaries can become allies, walls can come down. At long last, nations can be whole and can be free."

Obama also referenced his unique status as America's first African-American president, as well as Merkel's as Germany's first female chancellor.

"It's obvious that neither of us looks exactly like the leaders who preceded us," he said. "The fact that we can stand here today as president of the United States and chancellor of a united Germany is a testament to the progress and freedom that is possible in our world."

Merkel praised America's role in the Cold War, noting that "when Germany and Europe were divided by the war and barbed wire, America consistently stood on the side of freedom."

"This we shall never forget," she said. "Europe and Germany have no better partner than America."

Washington and Berlin, however, have been at odds in recent months over the NATO-led war in Libya, among other things. Germany abstained from the U.N. Security Council vote establishing a no-fly zone over the North African country.

In April, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared in a speech in Germany that "the world did not wait for another Srebrenica in a place called Benghazi," referring to the site of a Bosnian massacre and the Libyan rebel stronghold that was under siege by forces loyal to Gadhafi.

On the economic front, Germany continues to expand its trade surplus with record exports, causing critics to complain it should boost domestic consumption to ease the imbalance as part of global efforts to quicken recovery from the recession.

Merkel advocates tough austerity measures for European Union colleagues, and recently decided to close all of Germany's nuclear power plants in coming years in the wake of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami that caused reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Obama, facing a tough political fight over Republican demands to shrink the government to reduce the federal deficit and national debt, calls for continued investment in education, infrastructure and clean energy while cutting wasteful spending and raising taxes on people with the highest incomes.

His administration proposes a broad energy policy that increases domestic oil production as well as nuclear power while pushing to develop solar and wind energy production to compete in a growing global market.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney noted Monday that because Merkel is a head of government, rather than a head of state, her trip has been labeled an official visit rather than a state visit. But Tuesday night's gathering, he stressed, will be a state dinner.


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Sources: Bloomberg News, CNN, Forbes, MSNBC, Youtube, Google Maps

Ahmadinejad Threatens 2012 Elections Just Like Osama: Jihad!

Just As Former Al-Qaeda Leader Osama Bin Laden Was Planning To Disrupt The United States' 2012 General Elections By Plotting To Kill Pres. Obama, Now Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Appears To Be Encouraging Muslim Extremists Across The Globe To Carry Out The Slain Al-Qaeda Leader's Dark Wishes Via A Mass Jihad.

Apparently Ahmadinejad Wants Muslim Extremists To Help Collapse The United States' Political System & Diminish Our Nation's Foreign Relations Bargaining Power.

If This Isn't A Clear Warning The U.S. & U.N. Needs To Begin Taking Actions To Stop Iran's Ability To Use Nuclear Weapons, I Don't Know How Much More Proof Is Needed.

Iran Has Proven Itself Time & Time Again To Be A Rogue, Rebellious Nation Unwilling To Work Peaceably With Any Other Nation.

I Believe Both U.S. & U.N. Leaders Should STOP Playing With Ahmadinejad By Giving Him Slaps On The Wrist (Useless Sanctions) And Come Together With A Viable Solution That Will Not Only Protect Israel But The United States.

If Not Than God Help America Come 2012!

ALERT:

This Blog Post Was NOT Published To Attack Or Encourage Discrimination Against Muslims In Any Way. Instead It Was Published To Warn America Of Possible Terrorist Plots With Iran's Involvement.

PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST!!

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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

U.S. political system will collapse soon: Ahmadinejad

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said the current political system of the United States will collapse soon.

“Freedom-seekers will rule this country (the U.S.) soon,” Ahmadinejad said during an address on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony of the first phase of a gasoline production unit in Abadan, Khuzestan Province on Tuesday.

He added, “Those who speak of freedom (in the U.S.) themselves say which group has freedom (in their country) and can rule the country. What person seeking freedom has been able to win an election so far in this country, which calls itself the cradle of freedom?”

Only one group, either Democratic or Republican, can attain political power in the U.S., and the others are not allowed to express their ideas, he stated.

“(Barack) Obama is a neophyte and views nations from an imperialistic point of view, and he, through playing with words, speaks as if he is different than his predecessors, while their policy is the same and has not changed,” he stated.

“This is all a puppet show, and Obama is nothing but a puppet, since those who have a role (in defining) the major policies of the U.S. are behind the scenes, but we know them and show the nations who they are,” he added.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Ahmadinejad expressed hope that a new Middle East would emerge without the presence of the occupiers, including the Zionist regime.

The hegemonic powers are bullying regional nations, including North African countries, but this will end soon, he predicted.

The major powers offer regional counties loans and then ask them to act in line with their policies in order to maintain their dominance in the region, he said.

Ahmadinejad called this a new form of innovative hegemony.

“I tell all Muslim nations not to give in to this pressure and that Iran is ready to share all its scientific, industrial, and agricultural achievements with them in order to help them flourish,” he stated.

And Iran is not seeking to serve its political interests through this offer, he added.

All nations should know the United States is not a reliable friend of any country, and Iran knows Washington’s tricks and how it uses other countries to achieve its objectives, the president noted.

Regional nations should maintain close relations with each other and remain vigilant in order to foil the U.S. plots, which have been devised to create divisions between them through, for example, causing conflicts between Sunnis and Shias.



Kill Obama: Bin Laden plotted to assassinate President before 2012 election


Bin Laden called on followers to kill President in run up to 2012 election

Longed for another 9/11 to replicate mass attacks of the past

Orders to not only target New York, but smaller U.S. cities such as Los Angeles

Desperately wanted to 'sow political dissent' in Washington, DC

Urged followers to strike on anniversary of 9/11 and Fourth of July

But arrogant leader became 'lazy and complacent' about own security

Kill as many Americans as possible in a single attack

Only death toll in thousands would shift U.S. policy in Middle East

Target trains as well as planes

Spread out the targets in the U.S.


Osama Bin Laden wanted to assassinate President Obama as in the run up to the 2012 presidential elections, the terror leader's journal seized by U.S. forces reveals.

The mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks wanted to kill the President in a follow up mission, 10 years after the devastating 2001 attack.

U.S. intelligence officials are currently analysing over one million pages of data taken from the terror leader's compound, including his handwritten journal.

The documents reveal that the Al Qaeda leader was still plotting attacks against the U.S. and wanted to find a way to kill Obama.

Bin Laden's own writings indicate that he had urged followers to assassinate Obama as a way of disrupting the 2012 presidential election.

Former intelligence officials said that Bin Laden was focussed on killing the President.

'I would say this is probably very personal on Bin Laden's part, to kill [Obama] that he believes has violated the Muslim faith,' Brad Garrett, a former FBI profiler, told ABC News.

'He is incensed, inflamed, obsessed about killing the President.'

Video footage of Bin Laden watching TV in his hideout showed that whenever Obama came on the screen, the terror leader would quickly try to change the channel.

The seized documents could be the most valuable find of all - a written record that takes readers inside the mind of America's greatest enemy.

Osama Bin Laden's handwritten journal was found at the Pakistan compound where the terror chief was killed in a dramatic U.S. raid more than a week ago.

In it, he directed Al Qaeda operatives to not only focus on New York City, but spread their operations to target smaller cities such as Los Angeles.

The discovery shatters previously held beliefs that Bin Laden was a 'has been' - acting simply as Al Qaeda's spiritual leader rather than its operational chief.

The journal, as well as hundreds of computer 'pen' drives also containing directives, will only add to the heightened threat level across the U.S.

Among the edicts, one particularly macabre note reveals a mathematical calculation of how many people Al Qaeda would have to kill to finally force the U.S. out of the Middle East - concluding it would take another 9/11 at least.

U.S. officials said the Al Qaeda leader's diary is filled with planning ideas and details of operations.

Among them were the notes for the potential plots against the U.S. rail system which prompted an advisory from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security last week.

In the journals he tells his disciples that only a body count of thousands, something on the scale of the September 11 attacks in 2001, would shift U.S. policy.

He also schemed about ways to sow political dissent in Washington and play political figures against one another, officials said.

They give a clear indication that Bin laden was communicating with other extremists.

'There are strong indications there is back and forth with other terrorists,' an official said.

The handwritten journal included significant dates bin Laden noted as preferred for attacking American targets, including the Fourth of July and the 10th anniversary of 9/11, a U.S. official said.

No imminent plots have been discovered in the journal, which officials have been pouring over since the raid, officials said.

The journal was part of a huge cache of intelligence that included about 100 flash drives and five computers taken by a U.S. Navy SEALs assault team after they swept through the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

And rather than reducing his role, Bin Laden had worked frantically to direct Al Qaeda operations from his secret hideout.

One official said Bin Laden had worked like a 'crime boss'.

But the 51-year-old killer had become so arrogant that he believed he was virtually untouchable - plotting destruction by day and bedding down with his wife at night.

'Bin Laden got lazy and complacent,' a source told the Washington Post.

'I don’t think he thought he would meet his maker in that house. And he certainly didn’t make any preparations.'

Another raised the possibility that he may not have been restricted to his compound.

'There are strong indications there is back and forth with other terrorists,' the official said.

Questions were raised about why Bin Laden did not attempt to escape the building during the raid or hide in a secret compartment, but it now appears that he never feared he would be caught there.

Bin Laden has long been known to record his thoughts, but the discovery of his journal is a real coup for American intelligence chiefs.

His son, in a memoir, has described his father as recording his thoughts and plans, spending hours speaking into a Dictaphone.

The diary may also reveal more about the psyche of the man - his secret fears and terrors.

The treasure trove of intelligence recovered from the 'safe' house is producing a new lead every hour, it has emerged.

Intelligence officials told CBS News that Bin Laden had actually been killed 'relatively early' in the 40-minute operation inside the house.

At least half the time was then spent scooping up every single document, laptop, hard drive and CD that the hit team could find.

In the aftermath of the raid, the CIA has been analysing the information - which comes in at 2.7 terrabytes of data or 220 million pages of text - round the clock.

'Home videos' of Bin Laden recovered from the compound which show the terror chief watching Barack Obama on the news and fluffing his lines in a recorded message, have already been released.

The terror journal shows Bin Laden was communicating from his walled compound in Pakistan with al-Qaeda's offshoots - including the Yemen branch that has emerged as the leading threat to the United States.

Though there is no evidence yet that he was directly behind the attempted Christmas Day 2009 bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner or the nearly successful attack on cargo planes heading for Chicago and Philadelphia, it's now clear that they bear some of bin Laden's hallmarks.

Officials have not yet seen any indication that bin Laden had the ability to coordinate timing of attacks across the various al-Qaeda affiliates in Pakistan, Yemen, Algeria, Iraq and Somalia, and it is also unclear from bin Laden's documents how much the affiliate groups relied on his guidance.

The Yemen group, for instance, has embraced the smaller-scale attacks that bin Laden's writings indicate he regarded as unsuccessful.

However, the real value of the intelligence is likely to come from leads to other members of Al Qaeda and an insight into the terror network, including how Bin Laden communicated with his subordinates.

The diary could play a key role in that.

Speaking in a 60 Minutes interview on Sunday, President Obama described the information as a treasure trove that 'could serve us well in the weeks and months to come'.

'We've got a chance to, I think, really deliver a fatal blow to this organisation if we follow through aggressively in the months to come,' he said.

In a chilling statement posted on Islamic extremist sites last night, Al Qaeda warned the U.S. that it had made a 'big mistake' and a 'serious sin' in killing Bin Laden.

The terror group's media arm, al-Fajr, said the American people 'will pay the price' for the May 2 raid.

It acknowledges that Barack Obama 'is protected by armies', but asks Americans: 'Who will protect you from our assault?'

It also urges Muslims to use Bin Laden's death as motivation to carry out attacks, according to a transcript provided yesterday by the SITE Intel group, which monitors militant messages.

Tensions are still running high in Pakistan where politicians hijacked a parliamentary session in Islamabad to pray for the dead Bin Laden.

The group, including former minister Atta-ur-Rehman, claimed it was their duty as Muslims to carry out the action.

Maulvi Asmatullah, who led the prayers, said: 'Bin Laden was an international figure and above all a Muslim.

'I took it as my religious duty to offer prayers for him.'

The killing of Bin Laden has given Obama's approval rating a huge bounce to the highest point in two years.

It now stands at 60 per cent with more than half of Americans saying he deserves to be re-elected, according to The Associated Press-GfK poll.

Al-Qaeda has not named bin Laden's successor, but all indications point to his Number two, Ayman al-Zawahri.

The question is whether al-Zawahri, or anyone, has the ability to keep so many disparate groups under the al-Qaida banner. The groups in Somalia and Algeria, for instance, have very different goals focused on local grievances. Without bin Laden to serve as their shepherd, it's possible al-Qaida will further fragment.


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Sources: Daily Mail, MSNBC, Tehran Times, Youtube, Google Maps

Ivory Coast Abandoned By U.S. & U.N.! No Oil Interests!

So More Than 800 People Have Been Shot To Death During A Four-Month Long Civil/ Tribal War On The Ivory Coast. Excuse Me But Isn't This Also A Humanitarian Issue? Where's The U.N.? Where's France?? Could It Be The Lack Of America & France's Involvement Is Largely Due To Neither Country Having Any OIL Interests In That Part Of The World? Hmmm.





Red Cross: 800 killed In Ivory Coast Town

In an especially grisly chapter of Ivory Coast's four-month conflict, hundreds of people have been killed in the western cocoa-producing town of Duekoue.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said 800 people were shot to death. A United Nations official put the death toll so far at 330.

Guillaume Ngefa, the deputy human rights director at the U.N. mission in Ivory Coast, blamed 220 of the deaths on forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the man recognized by the United Nations and other global powers as the rightful president of Ivory Coast. Ngefa said pro-Gbagbo forces killed 100 people.

The massacre occurred between Monday and Wednesday as Ouattara's Republican Forces led an offensive through the country to the commercial center of Abidjan, Ngefa said.

"We have evidence, we have pictures. This was retaliation," he said, referring to Ouattara's forces.

The Ouattara camp denied the accusations.

"The government firmly rejects such accusations and denies any involvement by the Republican Forces of Cote d'Ivoire (the French name for Ivory Coast) in possible abuses," it said in a statement.

"The government wishes to establish that the situation is quite the opposite," it said. "Forces loyal to former President Laurent Gbagbo, and its affiliated mercenaries and militias that have engaged in countless atrocities in western Cote d'Ivoire, during their flight before the advance of Republican Forces of Cote d'Ivoire."

Ngefa said so far, 320 bodies have been identified and the actual number could be much higher. He said the dead included civilians as well as mercenaries.

Before the Duekoue killings, human right monitors documented 462 deaths in the Ivory Coast conflict. This was the single bloodiest incident yet.

The International Committee of the Red Cross sent a team to Duekoue on Thursday and said most of the victims were civilians, said spokesman Kelnor Panglungtshang in Abidjan.

"They saw the bodies on the streets," he told CNN. "There were so many.

"There is always a lot of resentment after something like this and it can explode," he said. "It's highly tense, obviously."

Ngefa said a contingent of U.N. peacekeepers are stationed in Duekoue and are patrolling the town.

The massacre illustrated the bloody nature of Ivory Coast's conflict, now in its fifth month. The violence erupted after a disputed November election led Gbagbo and Ouattara to both claim the presidency.

The international community recognized Ouattara as the legitimate winner but Gbagbo refused to cede power and violence engulfed the nation, escalating this week with a major offensive launched by Ouattara's Republican Forces.

Fierce fighting erupted for control of Abidjan, Ivory Coast's largest city. Gbagbo's forces were thought to be on the brink of defeat but regained key areas Saturday.

They retook control of Ivory Coast's all-powerful state-run television network that has been the embattled president's voice in his standoff with Ouattara.

An Abidjan resident, who asked not to be named for security reasons, said the network, which had gone dark after pro-Ouattara forces took control of the building, began broadcasting again Saturday morning.

An American teacher, holed up in her Abidjan apartment, told CNN she was frightened and was trying desperately to get help from U.S. or French officials to help evacuate her.

She said she last went to school Thursday and by that afternoon, she could hear the rattle of gunfire and the boom of explosions everywhere. She, too, was not identified for security reasons.

"I am very scared," she said, "because the shelling is intense."

A U.N. peacekeeping patrol came under attack from Gbagbo's forces Saturday in an Abidjan suburb, a U.N. statement said. In the exchange of fire, five members of Gbagbo's forces were shot, the statement said.

Gbagbo adviser Abdon Bayeto blamed the United Nations and global leaders -- including France and the United States -- for Ivory Coast's bloodshed by recognizing Ouattara as the legitimate president.

Ouattara knows he lost the election, Bayeto told CNN, adding that Gbagbo is a true democrat.

"For 30 years there was no trouble in the country," he said. "We are going to be victorious."

Gbagbo's whereabouts were unknown. He has not recently appeared in public and the French ambassador said his residence was empty.

Ngefa, the U.N. human rights official, said tension was running high everywhere and could explode as it did in Duekoue.

The nation had been on the rebound from a 2002 civil war and the elections last year had been expected to help begin a new chapter that would take Ivory Coast closer to becoming a stable democracy.

But the political chaos inflamed old tensions, including land issues in the nation's western region, rich with cocoa plantations that attract migrants from other parts of Ivory Coast as well as foreign workers from regional countries like Burkina Faso and Mali, said Panglungtshang of the Red Cross.

The violence has also displaced 1 million of Abidjan's 4 million people and sent thousands fleeing across the border into countries like Liberia, which is trying to hold onto its own fragile peace.

Some 1,400 foreigners, including 500 French citizens, have sought refuge at a French military camp, a spokeswoman for the French Defense Ministry said Saturday.

"The situation on the streets has deteriorated to such an extent that it's just become too dangerous to go outside," said Henry Gray, a field coordinator with Medicins Sans Frontieres, a humanitarian medical group known in English as Doctors Without Borders.

He said doctors were treating civilian casualties, many of them for gunshot wounds.

"There's a lot of pillaging and looting going on, and if you're out on the streets, you're basically a target," Gray said.

Abidjan, said Gray and others interviewed for this report, was now a shadow of its former self.


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Sources: CNN, Google Maps

Robert Gates vs Obama: Dismantling U.S. Nuclear Program, Gates Disagrees

President Obama, Robert Gates Not Always Eye-to-Eye On New Nukes


President Barack Obama has been clear. He wants no new nukes.

Pentagon chief Robert Gates has been equally direct, advocating in recent years for a new generation of warheads.

And nearly 14 months into their bi-partisan-tinged partnership, Obama and Gates haven’t publicly reconciled their views. Some anti-nuclear activists suspect the pair still don’t see completely eye-to-eye and that Gates has never fully abandoned his goal of refurbishing the American nuclear arsenal with new weapons.

Now, the administration is on the verge of releasing a major nuclear policy review that could call attention to this disagreement between the Democratic president and his holdover Defense Secretary – just in time for a nuclear safety summit Obama is hosting for heads of state next month in Washington.

“Quite clearly,” said Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists, “the secretary has been stating he sees a need for replacement warheads and new designs, and I’m not sure those are the words the president would want to use at this stage in the process.”

The Obama administration is acutely aware of perceptions that the Nuclear Posture Review has divided senior officials—with Vice President Joe Biden viewed as heading up an arms-control focused camp, and Gates perceived as speaking for a military and nuclear establishment that favors more funding and new weapons programs.

“This is the big challenge of the Obama administration, that it has to find some common ground for those two relatively, I wouldn’t say contradictory, but what can be distant positions,” Kristensen said.

When Obama asked Gates to stay on, the move was widely hailed for bringing continuity to the Pentagon at a time of two wars, and for avoiding the temptation any president faces to purge all of his predecessor’s appointees.

But holding over a member of the Cabinet, especially one who served a president of the opposing party, inevitably means some awkward policy clashes.

It’s not merely that a president and one of his senior advisers might diverge on an important policy question. It’s that Obama’s call to move toward a world without nuclear weapons is one of the signature tenets of his foreign policy.

And liberal arms control activists worry that Obama’s 2011 budget – which would spend more on nuclear weapons labs and related activities than the United States did at the height of the Cold War, even adjusted for inflation—goes too far to assuage the concerns of the defense secretary and leaders of the nuclear weapons complex.

“Increasing funds for nuclear weapons appears to conflict with a vision of a world without them,” former Office of Management and Budget analyst Robert Civiak said.

Asked directly about whether Obama and Gates had squared up their past differences, White House officials dismissed the question as premature ahead of the release of the policy review.

“The NPR is still being worked,” National Security Council Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said in response to questions from POLITICO.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the Obama administration’s overall approach is in line with Gates’ views. Gates “still believes in the fundamental goals of ensuring warhead safety, security, and reliability, and believes we need a modern infrastructure to support that. Those investments are in the budget,” the spokesman said. “The RRW [Reliable Replacement Warhead] program was killed by Congress, and isn't coming back. Sec. Gates recognizes that fact.”

However, Morrell said it was too soon to say how modernization of nuclear warhead stocks would be carried out. The Pentagon is "not going to say now what the policy will be on this issue," the spokesman said.

During the presidential campaign, Obama was unequivocal in his opposition to new designs. “I will not authorize the development of new nuclear weapons,” he told Arms Control Today in September 2008.

About a month later, while still working for Bush, Gates delivered a speech calling for “urgent attention” to the Bush administration’s call for a new Reliable Replacement Warhead and warning of a “bleak” outlook for the U.S. nuclear arsenal if the new devices weren’t pursued.

“Sensitive parts do not last forever. We can and do re-engineer our current stockpile to extend its lifespan,” Gates said. “With every adjustment we move farther away from the original design that was successfully tested when the weapon was first fielded…At a certain point it will become impossible to keep extending the life of our arsenal—especially in light of our testing moratorium.”

Gates might have been expected to keep mum on the point after Obama was elected, at least in public. He didn’t.

“It is clear, at least to me, that it is important for us to continue to make investments, and I think larger investments in modernizing our nuclear infrastructure, the labs and so on, the expertise in those places, to have the resources for life extension programs and in one or two cases probably new designs that will be safer or more reliable,” Gates said last September, fielding a question at an Air Force Association conference.

So it was no accident that when Biden delivered a policy address last month about nuclear disarmament and the need to boost funding for America’s atomic labs, Gates introduced the vice president—who quickly downplayed any divisions.

“This speech was a collaborative document,” Biden told the audience at the National Defense University, in an apparent ad lib. “Bob Gates could have delivered this speech.”

Unsurprisingly, Obama’s categorical opposition to any new nuclear weapons appears to have carried the day—at least on the surface. When the administration’s 2011 budget plan emerged last month, there was no mention of any new atomic weapons programs.

But the question of whether Gates is still pushing for new designs isn’t as clear-cut, despite Biden’s 22-minute speech and the public budget proposal.

Analysts say squaring the previously stated positions of the president and the Pentagon chief depends on what the definition of the word ‘new’ is. And, as is so often the case with the federal government, the Obama budget’s proposal for a huge injection of cash should help smooth over any hard feelings at the Pentagon and the nuclear labs.

“It comes down to what constitutes ‘new,’ ’’ Kristensen added. “Even very new concepts can be proposed that are not necessarily considered ‘new,’ but as modifications of existing types of warheads. It’s not a black and white thing.”

“A big part of the nuclear review was to assure Secretary Gates and others that we would be investing in all the tools and programs necessary to keep the arsenal safe and effective for the indefinite future,” said one longtime arms control advocate, Joseph Cirincione of the Ploughshares Fund. “I believe the Secretary’s concerns have been met.”

Some say Gates, a veteran government official who served as CIA director under Bush’s father, also knows when he has to get on the team.

“My guess is that Gates’s bureaucratic instincts are on autopilot,” said John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. under the Bush administration. He said the Defense Secretary may be trying to adjust to the “overwhelmingly pro-arms control” Obama team.

No matter how the Obama administration irons out its differences, Bolton contends that the U.S needs new nuclear weapons, like bunker-busters and low-yield nuclear weapons. “It would be better, cleaner, safer and more reliable simply to design what are clean, new designs intended for that purpose, which is very necessary given countries like Iran and North Korea are doing to bury hardened targets,” he said.

If Gates were to publicly renounce his call for new warheads, he would be able to cite a new study released last fall in which scientists concluded the current arsenal could last for decades without all-new warheads. In his public comments, Gates has consistently said his sole concern was reliability and safety, not trying to seek a military advantage.

“We have no desire for new capabilities. That's a red herring,” Gates said last September. “This is about modernizing and keeping safe a capability that everyone acknowledges we will have to have for some considerable period into the future.”

While the arms control community has generally been ecstatic about the repeated public calls from Obama and his administration to move towards a nuclear-free world, they are nervous that the large budget hike the White House proposed for nuclear programs pulls in the opposite direction, all but ensuring that the U.S. will have a large and growing nuclear weapons complex for the indefinite future.

Obama is proposing spending $7.3 billion in nuclear weapons-related activities in fiscal 2011, up 14 percent from this year, according to Civiak. The total 2011 request is the largest ever, and 40 percent higher, adjusted for inflation, than during the Cold War.

“Future administrations could use this new capacity to produce new nuclear weapons,” warned said Nickolas Roth of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability.

Administration officials are scrambling to wrap up the delayed nuclear posture review in advance of Obama’s nuclear safety summit in Washington and a Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty review conference set to take place in May at the United Nations.

Given Gates’s earlier statements in favor of new warheads, arms control advocates will be reading the U.S. strategy paper closely to see whether programs purportedly aimed at refurbishing the current nuclear arsenal could amount to new weapons programs in disguise.

“That’s a very fair concern,” Cirincione said. “People will be taking a very close look at what the posture review says about the Life Extension Program for exactly this reason…..I think this is mostly on the up and up.”

Speaking to reporters earlier this year, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control Ellen Tauscher said she was keenly aware of suspicions that ramping up funding for the nuclear labs could be seen as undercutting disarmament efforts. She said the scientists have been given explicit instructions to avoid that. “You’re not going to do things that are going to cause people to think that we’re saying one thing and doing another. Because we don’t have enough time in the day to unwind that monster,” she said.

Tauscher also insisted that Gates was fully on board with the administration’s approach—notwithstanding his past statements. “A lot of people have morphed to where we are right now,” she said.

Sources: Politico, MSNBC

Hamas Leader Murder Suspects Wanted By Interpol (Dubai)

Interpol Puts Dubai Suspects On Wanted List


Interpol places 11 people suspected in the slaying of a Hamas militant leader in Dubai on its most-wanted list on Thursday.

The international police agency said it has issued red notices, its highest-level alert, to its member countries worldwide for "11 internationally wanted individuals who have been charged by UAE-Dubai authorities with coordinating and committing the murder."

Interpol said it was acting on the request of Dubai authorities and that it believes the suspects used false passports.

Interpol issued the notices — which include photographs — "to limit the ability of accused murderers from traveling freely using the same false passports."

Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh's body was found Jan. 20 in his room at a luxury hotel near Dubai's international airport.

Dubai's police chief said on Thursday that Interpol should issue a warrant to arrest the head of Israel's spy agency Mossad if the organization was indeed responsible for the killing.

In comments to be aired later on Dubai TV, police chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim called for the police authority to issue "a red notice against the head of Mossad ... as a killer in case Mossad is proved to be behind the crime, which is likely now."

Israel has declined to comment on whether its spy agency was responsible, although security officials have also said they were convinced the Mossad was behind the assassination, and harshly criticized the spy agency for allegedly stealing the identities of its own citizens to carry out the hit.

Increasing mystery

Names released by Dubai matched seven people living in Israel, raising questions about why the agency would endanger its own people by using their passport data as cover for a secret death squad.

At the same time, some Israeli experts said the Dubai evidence pointed to a setup to falsely blame Israel.

A vague comment from Israel's foreign minister, who neither confirmed nor denied Mossad's involvement, only added to the spy novel-like mystery surrounding the slaying of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

"Israel never responds, never confirms and never denies," Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in Israel's first official comment on the affair, then added: "I don't know why we are assuming that Israel, or the Mossad, used those passports."

Some senior Israeli security officials not directly involved in the case were less circumspect, saying they were convinced it was a Mossad operation because of the motive — Israel says al-Mabhouh supplied Gaza's Hamas rulers with their most dangerous weapons — and the use of Israeli citizens' identities.

A significant Mossad bungle?

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a government order not to discuss the case, characterized the operation as a significant Mossad bungle.

If it develops into a full-blown security scandal, that could harm Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu politically.

Some compared the case to another Mossad embarrassment during Netanyahu's previous term as prime minister, the failed attempt to kill Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in 1997. Two Mossad agents posing as Canadian tourists were captured after injecting Mashaal with poison, and Israel was forced to send an antidote that saved Mashaal's life. Today Mashaal is Hamas' supreme leader.

Still, there was praise for the Dubai operation from some analysts who noted the major difference between it and the Mashaal case is that the latter failed and the former achieved its goal — the assassination of a Hamas commander.

"Al-Mabhouh is dead and all the partners to the operation left Dubai safely," wrote analyst Ronen Bergman of the Yediot Ahronot newspaper.

Critics slammed the Mossad, not for killing al-Mabhouh on foreign territory but for doing it sloppily and endangering Israeli citizens in the process. A front-page commentary in Israel's Haaretz daily by defense analyst Amir Oren called for the ouster of Mossad director Meir Dagan.

"What is needed now is a swift decision to terminate Dagan's contract and to appoint a new Mossad chief," he wrote. "There's no disease without a cure."

Identities appear to be stolen

Dubai authorities released names, photos and passport numbers of 11 members of the alleged hit squad this week, saying all 11 carried European passports. But most of the identities appeared to have been stolen, and at least seven matched up with real people in Israel who claim they are victims of identity theft.

Among them is Melvyn Adam Mildiner, a dual Israeli-British citizen who said one of the numbers matched his own UK passport. He told The Associated Press he had never been to Dubai.

Others expressed shock that their names were used. Paul John Keeley, a 43-year-old father of three, told Haaretz he was worried "that someone will try to harm us." Stephen Hodes told Israel Radio: "I'm simply afraid. These are powerful forces."

The revelations by Dubai, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel, raised many questions: Could someone be trying to make it look like the Mossad carried out the hit? Might Israel have wanted to leave behind a fingerprint to enhance the Mossad's mystique? Did Israel underestimate Dubai's policing abilities? Why would Israel risk exposing 11 agents by allowing them to be filmed by Dubai surveillance cameras, even if they were disguised?

Answers were not forthcoming, yet if Israeli involvement is confirmed, the al-Mabhouh killing is likely to be remembered as one of the more stunning hits in the Mossad's history of undercover operations.

The affair could have unwanted diplomatic repercussions for Israel. Britain's Foreign Office summoned Israeli Ambassador Ron Prossor for talks about the case Thursday.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised an inquiry, saying: "The British passport is an important document that has got to be held with care."



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Iran's Military Dictatorship Puts Israel & World's Security In Precarious Position

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Iran Becoming Military Dictatorship


U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that Iran is becoming a military dictatorship, a new U.S. accusation in the midst of rising tensions with Iran over its nuclear ambitions and crack down on anti-government protesters.

Speaking to Arab students at Carnegie Mellon's Doha campus, Clinton said Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps appears to have gained so much power that it effectively is supplanting the government.

"Iran is moving toward a military dictatorship," she said. "That is our view."

Last week the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it was freezing the assets in U.S. jurisdictions of a Revolutionary Guard general and four subsidiaries of a previously penalized construction firm he runs because of their alleged involvement in producing and spreading weapons of mass destruction.

The Revolutionary Guard has long been a pillar of Iran's regime as a force separate from the ordinary armed forces. The Guard now has a hand in every critical area including missile development, oil resources, dam building, road construction, telecommunications and nuclear technology.

It also has absorbed the paramilitary Basij as a full-fledged part of its command structure — giving the militia greater funding and a stronger presence in Iran's internal politics.

Serious Negotiations

In her Doha appearance, Clinton also said she foresees a possible breakthrough soon in stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

"I'm hopeful that this year will see the commencement of serious negotiations that will cover every issue that is outstanding," she said, adding that "everyone is anticipating" progress after more than a year of impasse between the negotiating parties.

The peace talks broke down in late 2008 with Israel's incursion into Gaza, which had launched rocket attacks on Israeli targets.

Clinton spoke in an interview with the Al-Jazeera TV network before a live audience of mostly Arab students at Carnegie Mellon's Doha campus.

In remarks in the Qatari capital on Sunday, Clinton said she and the president are disappointed that the administration's efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks had failed thus far.

A Carnegie Mellon audience member who identified himself as an Iranian expatriate asked Clinton if the U.S. would be present in Iraq if Iraq had no oil resources. She said the U.S. wants a normal relationship with the Iraqi government, regardless of its natural resources.

"When we leave Iraq, as has been agreed to, with our military — and we're on schedule to do that — we will hopefully have a relationship with Iraq as we have with any other country," she said. On Sunday she said the number of U.S. troops in Iraq had fallen this month below 100,000 and that the United States is on track to have all combat troops out of the country by the end of summer.

Reflecting the extent of concern in the Persian Gulf region about a U.S. confrontation with Iran, another member of the audience asked Clinton about the outlook for improving relations with Tehran. Clinton reiterated the Obama's administration view that Iran has violated its international obligation to use nuclear technology only for peaceful purposes. And she regretted that Iran has not accepted U.S. offers of nuclear negotiations.

"Unfortunately, there has not been the kind of response that we had hope for from the Iranian leadership," she said.

Clinton makes a point of raising the topic of women and girls' rights whenever she travels abroad. In a speech Sunday to a forum on U.S.-Muslim relations, she stressed it in the context of U.S. support for nations seeking to build democratic institutions.

"As nations strive to build and strengthen governments that reflect the will of their people, grounded in their own traditions, they can count on the United States to be their partner," she said. "But the will of the people means the will of all the people, men and women. Women's rights are an issue of singular importance to me personally and as secretary of state."

She also cited the issue of violence against women, without mentioning any specific country.

"Even today, in 2010, women are still targets of violence," she said Sunday. "And all too often, religion might be used to justify it. But there is never a justification for violence against women. It is not cultural. It is criminal. And it is up to religious leaders to take a stand for women, to call for an end to honor killings, child marriages, domestic and gender-based violence."

Later Monday, Clinton was flying to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for a meeting with King Abdullah and a session with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.

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Iran Is Now A Nuclear State


President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed Thursday that Iran has produced its first batch of uranium enriched to a higher level, saying his country will not be bullied by the West into curtailing its nuclear program a day after the U.S. imposed new sanctions.

Ahmadinejad reiterated to hundreds of thousands of cheering Iranians on the anniversary of the 1979 foundation of the Islamic republic that the country was now a "nuclear state," an announcement he's made before. He insisted that Iran had no intention of building nuclear weapons.

It was not clear how much enriched material had actually been produced just two days after the process was announced to have started.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs dismissed Iran's claims, saying that country's leadership has made a series of statement based on politics, not physics.

The claim of new progress in Iran's nuclear program came a day after the U.S. Treasury Department imposed new sanctions, freezing the assets in U.S. jurisdiction of a Revolutionary Guard general and four subsidiaries of a construction firm he runs.

David Albright of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security said that any 20-percent enriched uranium produced just a few days after the start of the process would be "a tiny amount."

The United States and some of its allies accuse Tehran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to build nuclear weapons but Tehran denies the charge, saying the program is just geared toward generating electricity.

"I want to announce with a loud voice here that the first package of 20 percent fuel was produced and provided to the scientists," he said.

Enriching uranium produces fuel for nuclear power plants but can also be used to create material for atomic weapons if enriched further to 90 percent or more.

"We have the capability to enrich uranium more than 20 percent or 80 percent but we don't enrich (to this level) because we don't need it," he said in a speech broadcast live on state television.

Iran announced Tuesday it was beginning the process of enriching its uranium stockpile to a higher level. The international community reacted by discussing the imposition of new U.N. sanctions.

Revolutionary Guard assets frozen

The U.S. Treasury Department went ahead on Wednesday and froze the assets in U.S. jurisdictions of a Revolutionary Guard general and four subsidiaries of a construction firm he runs for their alleged involvement in producing and spreading weapons of mass destruction.

Tehran has said it wants to further enrich the uranium — which is still substantially below the 90 percent plus level used in the fissile core of nuclear warheads — as a part of a plan to fuel its research reactor that provides medical isotopes to hundreds of thousands of Iranians undergoing cancer treatment.

But the West says Tehran is not capable of turning the material into the fuel rods needed by the reactor. Instead it fears that Iran wants to enrich the uranium to make nuclear weapons.

Ahmadinejad restated Iran's position that it was not seeking to build nuclear weapons.

"When we say we do not manufacture the bomb, we mean it, and we do not believe in manufacturing a bomb," he told the crowd. "If we wanted to manufacture a bomb, we would announce it."

"We told them the Iranian nation will never give in to bullying and illogical remarks," Ahmadinejad added.

Western powers blame Tehran for rejecting an internationally endorsed plan to defuse the situation by having Iran export its low enriched uranium for enrichment abroad and returned as fuel rods for the Tehran reactor.

Iran, in turn, asserts it had no choice but to start enriching to higher levels because its suggested changes to the international plan were rejected.

The president said Iran will triple the production of its low-enriched uranium in the future but didn't elaborate.

"God willing, daily production (of low enriched uranium) will be tripled," he said.

A confidential document from the U.N. nuclear agency shared Wednesday with The Associated Press said Iran's initial effort at higher enrichment is modest, using only a small amount of feedstock and a fraction of its capacities.


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Obama Sanctions Iran; The Real Deal Or More Politics?

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White House Announces New Iran Asset Freeze


The Obama administration announced Wednesday that it was freezing the assets of four subsidiary companies of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a senior commander.

The move, which comes ahead of official rallies in Iran to celebrate Revolution Day on February 11, extends existing sanctions to ban any American firms or citizens from dealing with the four companies and the commander, IRGC General Rostam Qasemi, who is also in charge of the Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters.

"As the IRGC consolidates control over broad swaths of the Iranian economy, displacing ordinary Iranian businessmen in favor of a select group of insiders, it is hiding behind companies like Khatam al-Anbiya and its affiliates to maintain vital ties to the outside world," said Stuart Levey, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the Treasury Department.

"Today's action exposing Khatam al-Anbiya subsidiaries will help firms worldwide avoid business that ultimately benefits the IRGC and its dangerous activities."

The sanctions were issued under an Executive Order, which freezes the assets of those considered to be involved in spreading weapons of mass destruction and their supporters.

Billions of Dollars

The four companies, which are owned or controlled by Khatam al-Anbiya and mostly involved in mining and engineering projects, are: Fater Engineering Institute, Imensazen Consultant Engineers Institute, the Makin Institute and the Rahab Institute.

The statement added that the IRGC had a "growing presence" in Iran's business community and "extensive economic interests" in defense production, construction and the oil industry, "controlling billions of dollars of business."

The announcement comes amid on-going political unrest within Iran, where police said Wednesday they had arrested several people who were allegedly preparing to disrupt rallies Thursday marking the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Opposition leaders have called on supporters to take to the streets, raising the risk of renewed violence eight months after a disputed election plunged Iran into crisis.

The authorities say the pro-reform opposition will face a firm response if it tries to hijack state-sponsored celebrations of the anniversary, when they say the Iranian nation in a display of unity will "punch the faces" of its Western enemies.

The hardline leadership is also facing increased international pressure after the Islamic state announced this week an expansion of nuclear work which the West suspects is aimed at making bombs, a charge Tehran denies.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday the international community was moving "fairly quickly" toward imposing broader sanctions on Iran, a major oil producer.

A senior U.S. official said Wednesday that the U.S. hopes a United Nations debate on Iran next week will shine new light on Tehran's mistreatment of prisoners, its repression of protesters and its imprisonment of journalists and intellectuals.

John Limbert, who was among dozens of Americans held captive in Iran in 1979-1980, said he wanted to hear honest credible discussions about Iran's human rights situation even if the U.N. Human Rights Council holding the debate has a spotty record in that regard.

The four-year-old U.N. body has been criticized for failing to address some of the world's most serious rights violations, but Limbert, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Iran, said Monday's hearing offers the world a valuable forum.

People in Iran have been "gassed, arrested, beaten up and shot" since its disputed presidential election in June, Limbert told reporters.

"The U.S. and the international community can bear witness to what is going on there, and can speak a simple truth."

Sources: MSNBC

Secretary of Defense Gates Issues A Stern Warning To North Korea

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates: "The policy of the U.S. has not changed. Our goal is complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and we will not accept North Korea as a Nuclear Weapons State. The transfer of Nuclear weapons or materials by North Korea to states or non-states entities would be considered a grave threat to the U.S. and our allies."

"We would hold North Korea fully accountable for the consequences of such actions."

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