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February 22, 2007 Thursday Safar 4, 1428

Missile shield to counter Iran: Rice

http://www.dawn.com/2007/02/22/int4.htm

BERLIN, Feb 21: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday a planned missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic was designed to counter a threat from Iran and posed no danger to Russia.

“We have a growing Iranian missile threat and we need to be able to deal with that,” Ms Rice told reporters after talks with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

“Everybody understands that with a growing Iranian missile threat which is quite pronounced there need to be ways to deal with that problem.

“These missile systems are for purposes having to do with post-9/11 threats,” Ms Rice said.

Russia has strongly objected to the US plan to station missile interceptors and a radar system on its western borders, in countries which used to be part of the communist bloc.

But Rice said Poland and the Czech Republic “make their own decisions” and they had decided to participate in the system.

The top US diplomat said she regretted that a high-ranking Russian general, Nikolai Solovtsov, had threatened this week that the two former Soviet states would be targeted by Russia if they hosted the system.

“I think it is unfortunate that the Russian head of strategic rocket forces would come out and say that somehow Poland and the Czech Republic would now be on the target list of Russia.—AFP
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......................................benny

Iran Strengthening Syrian Military, Report Says
By Julie Stahl
CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief
February 22, 2007

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Iran is providing "generous" funding to help Syria beef up its forces, and those troops seem to be moving closer to the Israeli border, an Israeli daily reported on Thursday.

Syrian President Bashar Assad and Iranian leaders reaffirmed their close ties at top-level meetings in Tehran earlier this week.

Washington has accused both Syria and Iran of aiding -- or turning a blind eye -- to insurgents making their way into Iraq to fight U.S. and other Western troops.

The U.S. also charges that the Syria and Iran are supplying weapons to Hizballah and helping the radical Islamic terrorist organization in its attempts to topple the pro-Democracy Lebanese government.

The Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported on Thursday that the Syrian military was strengthening its forces in an "unprecedented way" with the aid of "generous funding" from Iran.

The Syrians are concentrating on building up their missile arsenal and long-range rockets to compensate for a weak air force, the paper said.

Syria also is redeploying its troops closer to the Israeli-Syrian border on the Golan Heights, it said. (Israel shares a 45-mile border with Syria that runs through the Golan Heights.)

Reacting to the report, Syrian parliamentarian Mohammed Habash said there is nothing new along the Israeli-Syrian border but that Syria is ready for every eventuality.

In an interview with the Arabic television station Al-Arabiyah, Habash reportedly said if Israel is thinking about doing something stupid, it would pay a heavy price.

Reserve Maj. General Amos Gilad of Israel's Ministry of Defense said Israel has no intelligence information indicating that Syria intends to launch an attack against Israel "in the coming months."

Nevertheless, that assessment could certainly change "at any moment," Gilad said in a radio interview on Thursday.

Syrian missile threat

Reserve Major General Jacob Amidror, the former commander of Israel's National Defense College who is now with the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, noted that Israel has been attacked by rockets manufactured by Syria and used by Hizballah during the summertime war in southern Lebanon.

If reports are true that Syria is boosting its rocket arsenal, it will be an "important factor" in any future war, Amidror told Cybercast News Service.

Israel saw what enemy rockets could do to the northern part of the country last summer, he said.

Hizballah launched more than 4,000 rockets and missiles aimed mostly at civilians during the 34-day war. The incessant attacks killed 43 people, displaced some 300,000 Israelis and forced many others to live in bomb shelters

But according to Amidror, the war with Hizballah would pale in comparison with a war in which Syria launched its more numerous rockets at Israel.

A war between Israel and Syria would be a "full scale" war, Amridor predicted. He said he would expect Syria to launch Scud missiles against Israel. Although the advanced Scuds have a range that would threaten all of Israel, the result would not be "so severe," given Israel's greater defensive capabilities, said Amidror.

Israel's Arrow anti-ballistic missile system has proven itself to be up to 95 percent effective in intercepting such missiles in tests, he said. (The rockets that Hizballah fired at Israel last summer flew too low to be intercepted by the system.)

Israel cannot judge whether the Syrians intend to use the missiles, Amidror said, and therefore it must be prepared to defend itself against the capabilities that Syria is building.

No wishful thinking

For years, some military experts have said that changing realities in the Middle East greatly diminished the possibility that Israel would face the threat of conventional war with its neighbors.

But this line of thought is "nonsense" -- as was clearly proved by the Israeli-Hizballah war last summer, said Amidror.

Hizballah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah actually did Israel a favor by provoking the war because it exposed Israel's "weak points" said Amidror. That has forced Israelis to return to a more realistic way of thinking, he added.


............................................benny

Fifth Fleet commander warns of 'unprecedented tension' in Gulf



SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
ABU DHABI — Iran may pose a greater security threat to the strategic Persian Gulf than does Al Qaida, warned the U.S. Fifth Fleet commander at a news conference in Bahrain.



"We consider this moment in time unprecedented in terms of the amount of insecurity and instability that is in the region," U.S. Fifth Fleet commander Vice Adm. Patrick Walsh said.
"Although our presence in the Arabian Gulf is for defensive and not offensive purposes, the U.S. will take military action if ships are attacked or if countries in the region are targeted or U.S. troops come under direct attack," Walsh added.

At a news conference on Feb. 19 in Manama, Walsh said Iran could pose a greater threat to Gulf security than Al Qaida, Middle East Newsline reported. The naval commander said Iran's frequent military exercises were meant to provoke tension in the region and threaten the closure of the Straits of Hormuz, which contains about 40 percent of global oil shipping.

"When you look at the recent Iranian exercises, in the last nine months, you see the open display and the implication of the use of mines," Walsh said. "You also see and hear concerns and threats about the closure of the Strait of Hormuz."

"What is different today to a year ago has been the number of exercises and the proximity of those exercises to the Strait of Hormuz," Walsh said.

Walsh's assertion represented the clearest signal of U.S. alarm concerning Iran's threat to the region. Only two weeks earlier, leading U.S. naval commanders said the Iran Navy was acting with caution and seeking to avoid a conflict with the United States.

Officials said the United States has begun to highlight the Iranian threat as Teheran continues to test and deploy a range of medium- and intermediate-range missiles. They said the U.S. military was countering this by sending two carrier strike groups to the Gulf, ready to assure shipping through the Straits of Hormuz.



"An increasingly belligerent Iran thinks it can control, threaten and intimidate," U.S. Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for the Middle East Mark Kimmitt said.
Officials said the Defense Department has been quietly preparing for confrontation with Iran that would focus on control of the Gulf. They said naval commanders, including Walsh, were being promoted to senior positions in Central Command and the Pentagon.

"There is a historic tension between Iran and the region and we recognize that," Walsh said. "Iran is the concern that we all have at the moment."

"There is a build-up of troops and that is in response to a renewed commitment on the part of both national and international leadership to try and bring security and stability to Iraq," Walsh said.

Walsh has been scheduled to leave his post at the end of February. He has been appointed vice chief of naval operations and would be replaced by Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff.

"It is not as if we are out looking for a fight, we are not patrolling Iranian waters," Walsh said. "We have assumed a defensive posture here to reassure our friends and provide stability in the region. We have not experienced the targeting of U.S. troops.

Walsh acknowledged GCC fear of a U.S. military build-up in the region. He said Gulf Arab allies were concerned that the United States would attack Iran and then withdraw its military presence from the Gulf.

"Having lived in the region since 2005, I can understand the concerns and the skepticism of those who live here," Walsh said. "I think what they want is long-term assurances. What they don't want is offensive action meant to inflict some sort of damage to Iran and then a retreat because they will live with the consequences of any actions that we take."




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.........................................benny

Iran answers U.S. Gulf buildup with test of SSN4 anti-ship missile


Iran's military tested an anti-ship missile in the Gulf as a massive U.S. naval build-up is underway. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it fired missiles designed to destroy large enemy naval vessels. The missiles were identified as the SSN4. Fadavi termed the SSN4 a strategic anti-ship cruise missile, saying it was capable of destroying Western cruisers. He said the SSN4, with a 500-kilogram warhead, could withstand electronic counter-measures.
......................................................benny

Feb. 22, 2007 15:01
Peretz to officers: Avoid commenting about Syria
By JOSH BRANNON


Following news reports Thursday that Syria had moved troops closer to Israel's border, Defense Minister Amir Peretz said, "extraneous declarations regarding Syria, as well as a heating up the rhetoric, should be avoided.

Speaking at a weekly security assessment in Tel Aviv, with various security department heads and IDF officers in attendance, Peretz added that "the situation on the ground will be examined according to the facts and the IDF will deploy accordingly
...............................................benny

Why would I advance a theory that I know is incorrect? Please think about what you are writing. I am most certainly saying that the gog invasion is an early event during the millenium (not exactly at the start of the 1000 years. It could well be 40 or 50 years into the millenium though or even a hundred) prior to the building of Ezekiels temple and prior to the division of the land to the various tribes.


You must also think therefore that the valley of dry bones resurrection occurred in 1948. I deny that utterly and insist upon a literal interpretation of scripture. The people there in Jerusalem today are Jews of the diaspora. There is no obvious reuniting of the house of Israel, nor is there any king ruling over the nation.
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. Perhaps you think that Prime Minister Sharon lieing there in his coma is King David ruling as a shepherd over a united nation. And where is the tabernacle of God? 27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Notice that there will be a tabernacle again while the people await the building of Ezekiels temple.


That's interesting. I will look it up. The other thing that supports my view is that there is an enormous number of dead bodies. Modern warfare with sophisticated long range weapons requires few soldiers on the ground. However this chapter describes a huge army of men destroyed and rotting with the birds feasting on them. So corrupted is the land that nobody can go there for seven months until all the flesh is rotted away. After that a further seven months is required to retrieve all the bones and bury them. Only then can the land be cleansed enough for travellers to pass through it. Even after that men are kept in constant employment burying bones identified by passers by.

All of this account including the descriptions of body armour, shields and hand weapons reminds me of an old style pre-modern war.

Dear Excubitor,....The timing of the gog invasion that you are refering to, transpires at the end of the 1000 year millinium. What you also do not understand is that there is also a magog-gog invasion prior to daniels 70th week.......The lignostone formed into weapons, is something that I have been aware of for many years...........................benny

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February 23, 2007 Friday Safar 5, 1428

US plans to ‘strike Iran N-sites’

http://www.dawn.com/2007/02/23/int14.htm

WASHINGTON, Feb 22: The US capital is abuzz with reports that the Bush administration is considering a plan to launch missiles on targets inside Iran.

According to media reports, the plan aims at disabling Iran’s entire military structure. The targets include missile bases, command and control centres and air defences. Four nuclear sites would also be hit.

The action would be masterminded from Central Command in Florida, the reports said, adding that US military strategists believe the air attacks could be carried out without affecting ongoing missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Some 30 US warships are already in the Persian Gulf.

Bush administration officials, however, dismissed such reports as speculative, saying that they had no plan to take military action against Iran and were instead focused on seeking a negotiated settlement to their differences with Tehran.

The media reports, however, insisted that the Bush administration would execute its plan if it believed Iran was close to developing nuclear weapons or found evidence to prove that the Iranian government is arming militants in Iraq

Diplomatic observers in Washington say that while the nuclear and Iraq disputes dominate the list of US grievances against Iran, differences between the two countries were much deeper.

American policy-makers believe that Iran is seeking to dominate the Middle East and want to prevent it from doing so.

But Middle East experts in Washington warn that the use of force would not allow America to achieve its target.—Agencies
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.....................................benny

Syria Said Boosting Arsenal Since War

Friday February 23, 2007 1:31 AM
By STEVE WEIZMAN
Associated Press Writer
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlates...433517,00.html

JERUSALEM (AP) - Syria has embarked on an ``unprecedented'' effort to bolster its armed forces with Iranian and Russian help, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported Thursday.

Damascus has large numbers of surface-based missiles and long-range rockets, including the Scud-D, capable of reaching nearly any target in Israel, the report said, and the Syrian navy has received new Iranian anti-ship missiles.

Haaretz also said Russia was about to sell Syria thousands of advanced anti-tank missiles, despite Israeli charges that in the past Syria has transferred those missiles to Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

Syrian officials did not immediately comment on the Israeli reports, but President Bashar Assad said in a television interview immediately after the fighting that Syria was preparing to defend itself.

Israeli defense officials confirmed that Syria had ordered new stocks of the anti-tank weapons after noting Hezbollah's successful use of them against Israeli armor in last summer's fighting in south Lebanon.

Syria also ordered new supplies of surface-to-sea missiles after Hezbollah used one to hit an Israeli warship, killing four crewmen, off the Lebanese coast last July, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The officials said Syrian ground forces adjacent to the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights had been reinforced after the outbreak of last year's Israel-Hezbollah conflict and had not yet fully returned to their prewar footing.

Israel and Syria are officially at war, though there have been no open hostilities between them for decades. Syria has demanded the return of the Golan, which Israel captured in 1967 and later annexed, as the price for any peace deal. Israel says it will not discuss a formal treaty with its northern neighbor as long as Damascus continues to back Hezbollah and the radical Islamic Hamas group.
....................................benny

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Israeli daily stokes fears of Syrian attack

Compiled by Daily Star staff
Friday, February 23, 2007
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article....ticle_id=79806

A reported Syrian troop build-up near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights has fueled speculation in Israel about a future conflict, over three decades after the two enemies last went to war. Syrian armed forces appear to be moving closer to the armistice line as Damascus spearheads an "unprecedented" armaments drive, Israel's Haaretz newspaper warned from its front page on Thursday.

"The Syrian armed forces are being strengthened in a way unprecedented in recent memory with the help of generous funding from Iran," wrote military affairs correspondent Zeev Schiff.

Syrian MP Mohammad Habash told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiyya satellite channel that nothing has changed in terms of troop numbers in the area, but "Syria is fully prepared for any situation [that may develop]."

He warned that should "Israel decide to do something stupid, it would pay a heavy price."

Addressing the charge that Syria's military buildup is being funded by Iran, Habash said "cooperation between Damascus and Tehran is no secret, as both are being faced with a direct threat."

A source in the UN force in the Golan Heights charged with monitoring the armistice denied any Syrian troop build-up and lashed out at "alarmist Israeli media that repeatedly brings up the topic."

Brigadier General Yossi Beidatz, the head of Israel's military intelligence research, has also warned Syrian President Bashar Assad is preparing for a conflict with Israel, possibly through Hizbullah, which fought a 34-day war with Israel last year.

Haaretz said the main thrust of Syria's armaments drive was missiles and long-range rockets, with its navy being bolstered by an Iranian missile similar to one fired by Hizbullah, killing four Israeli sailors during the conflict last summer.

Syria is also very close to concluding a deal with Russia to procure thousands of advanced anti-tank missiles, of the sort Hizbullah used to such lethal effect against Israeli armor last year, Haaretz reported.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb

"It appears the Syrians have moved forces closer to the border [armistice line] with Israel on the Golan Heights," wrote Schiff, noting similar movements prior to the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

Syria has test-fired ballistic missiles, such as a Scud-D surface-to-surface missile, which would put most of Israel within range, Haaretz reported.

But Defense Minister Amir Peretz was quoted by journalists as telling military officials to "avoid making unnecessary comments" on Syria and asking officers to steer clear of a "war of words" with Damascus.

"The situation in the field will be examined according to facts and the Israeli Army will prepare itself accordingly," he was quoted as saying.

Amos Gilad, an aide to Peretz, denied any comparison between the troop movements reported by Haaretz and Egyptian and Syrian deployments prior to their two-pronged assault on Israel in October 1973.

"There is no danger of war. There is no deployment of forces indicating that Israel would be threatened by an offensive tomorrow," the official said.

A Northern Command source agreed that Syria had beefed up its troops along the armistice line, as Israel did following the outbreak of war in Lebanon.

"Since the end of the war, tension has remained high on both sides and at a much higher level than it was before the war. There is much more Israeli and Syrian daily military presence along the border today," the official said.

On Wednesday, Israel launched war games on the Golan Heights that Peretz flatly denied were connected to fears of a new conflict with Syria.

Syria has repeatedly demanded the return of the Golan, a strategic plateau which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and all but annexed in 1981. - Agencies
...........................................benny

WAR - TIRANNT, "Theater Iran Near Term" has identified several thousand targets inside Ira

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"Theater Iran Near Term" (TIRANNT)

by Michel Chossudovsky

Global Research, February 21, 2007


DUBAI, UAE, 21 February 2007. (revised 23 Feb 2007). Code named by US military planners as TIRANNT, "Theater Iran Near Term" has identified several thousand targets inside Iran as part of a "Shock and Awe" Blitzkrieg, which is now in its final planning stages.

According to the Kuwait-based Arab Times, an attack on Iran under TIRANNT could occur any time between late February and the end of April. This assessment, however, does not take into account the disarray of US ground forces in Iraq as well as the untimely withdrawal of several thousand British troops from the Iraq war theater, many of whom were stationed in Southern Iraq on the immediate border with Iran.

Revealed last April by William Arkin, a former US intelligence analyst, writing in the Washington Post, TIRANNT was first established in May 2003, following the invasion of Iraq.

"In early 2003, even as U.S. forces were on the brink of war with Iraq, the Army had already begun conducting an analysis for a full-scale war with Iran. The analysis, called TIRANNT, for "theater Iran near term," was coupled with a mock scenario for a Marine Corps invasion and a simulation of the Iranian missile force. U.S. and British planners conducted a Caspian Sea war game around the same time. And Bush directed the U.S. Strategic Command to draw up a global strike war plan for an attack against Iranian weapons of mass destruction. All of this will ultimately feed into a new war plan for "major combat operations" against Iran that military sources confirm now exists in draft form. [This contingency plan entitled CONPLAN 8022 would be activated in the eventuality of a Second 9/11, on the presumption that Iran would be behind it]

... Under TIRANNT, Army and U.S. Central Command planners have been examining both near-term and out-year scenarios for war with Iran, including all aspects of a major combat operation, from mobilization and deployment of forces through postwar stability operations after regime change." (William Arkin, Washington Post, 16 April 2006)

The 2003 decision to target Iran under TIRANNT should come as no surprise. It is part of the broader military roadmap. Already during the Clinton administration, US Central Command (USCENTCOM) had formulated in 1995 "in war theater plans" to invade first Iraq and then Iran.

"The broad national security interests and objectives expressed in the President's National Security Strategy (NSS) and the Chairman's National Military Strategy (NMS) form the foundation of the United States Central Command's theater strategy. The NSS directs implementation of a strategy of dual containment of the rogue states of Iraq and Iran as long as those states pose a threat to U.S. interests, to other states in the region, and to their own citizens. Dual containment is designed to maintain the balance of power in the region without depending on either Iraq or Iran. USCENTCOM's theater strategy is interest-based and threat-focused. The purpose of U.S. engagement, as espoused in the NSS, is to protect the United States' vital interest in the region - uninterrupted, secure U.S./Allied access to Gulf oil."

(USCENTCOM, http://www.milnet.com/milnet/pentago...c.htm#USPolicy , emphasis added)

First Iraq, then Iran

Consistent with CENTCOM's 1995 "sequencing" of theater operations, the plans to target Iran were activated under TIRANNT in the immediate wake of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Confirmed by Arkin, the active component of the Iran military agenda was launched in May 2003 "when modelers and intelligence specialists pulled together the data needed for theater-level (meaning large-scale) scenario analysis for Iran." (Arkin, op cit). In October 2003, different theater scenarios for an Iran war were contemplated:

"The US army, navy, air force and marines have all prepared battle plans and spent four years building bases and training for "Operation Iranian Freedom". Admiral Fallon, the new head of US Central Command, has inherited computerized plans under the name TIRANNT (Theatre Iran Near Term)." (New Statesman, 19 Feb 2007)

Concurrently, the various parallel components of TIRANNT were put in place including the Marines "Concept of Operations":

"The Marines, meanwhile, have not only been involved in CENTCOM's war planning, but have been focused on their own specialty, "forcible entry." In April 2003, the Corps published its "Concept of Operations" for a maneuver against a mock country that explores the possibility of moving forces from ship to shore against a determined enemy without establishing a beachhead first. Though the Marine Corps enemy is described only as a deeply religious revolutionary country named Karona, it is -- with its Revolutionary Guards, WMD and oil wealth -- unmistakably meant to be Iran.

Various scenarios involving Iran's missile force have also been examined in another study, initiated in 2004 and known as BMD-I (ballistic missile defense -- Iran). In this study, the Center for Army Analysis modeled the performance of U.S. and Iranian weapons systems to determine the number of Iranian missiles expected to leak through a coalition defense.

The day-to-day planning for dealing with Iran's missile force falls to the U.S. Strategic Command in Omaha. In June 2004, Rumsfeld alerted the command to be prepared to implement CONPLAN 8022, a global strike plan that includes Iran. CONPLAN 8022 calls for bombers and missiles to be able to act within 12 hours of a presidential order. The new task force, sources have told me, mostly worries that if it were called upon to deliver "prompt" global strikes against certain targets in Iran under some emergency circumstances, the president might have to be told that the only option is a nuclear one. William Arkin, Washington Post, 16 April 2006)

"Shock and Awe"

US military planning includes specific roles to be performed by NATO and Israel in the event of an attack on Iran. The German navy is deployed formally under a UN mandate in the Eastern Mediterranean. NATO bases in Europe would also be involved.

Documented by Global Research, extensive war games were conducted since last Summer by Iran and its allies of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, including Russia and China. In turn, the US has conducted war games off the Iranian coastline.

The Pentagon's Second 9/11

What is now being contemplated by Washington is an overwhelming use of military force in retaliation to Iran's alleged non-compliance. This of course is the pretext, the justification for waging war. The Pentagon has also contemplated retaliating against Iran in the case of a second 9/11 attack:

"A third plan sets out how the military can both disrupt and respond to another major terrorist strike on the United States. It includes lengthy annexes that offer a menu of options for the military to retaliate quickly against specific terrorist groups, individuals or state sponsors depending on who is believed to be behind an attack. Another attack could create both a justification and an opportunity that is lacking today to retaliate against some known targets, according to current and former defense officials familiar with the plan.

This plan details "what terrorists or bad guys we would hit if the gloves came off. The gloves are not off," said one official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject. (emphasis added, WP 23 April 2006)

The presumption of this military document, is that a Second 911 attack "which is lacking today" would usefully create both a "justification and an opportunity" to wage war on "some known targets [Iran and Syria]".

Civilian Targets

Press reports in the Middle East confirm that the planned air strikes are by no means limited to Iran's nuclear facilities. Central Command Headquarters in Florida (CENTCOM) has already selected a comprehensive list of military and civilian targets. Industrial sites, civilian infrastructure including roads, water systems, bridges, electric power plants telecommunications towers, government buildings are part of the assumptions underlying the Blitzkrieg. "A single raid could result in 10,000 targets being hit with warplanes flying from the US and Diego Garcia" (Gulf News, 21 Feb 2007, emphasis added)

Meanwhile, the US has been mustering support for its agenda following the holding of a regional Security Conference in the UAE.

Nuclear War

Military planners are said to favor the use of conventional weapons. The use of tactical nuclear weapons, which are now part of the Middle East war theater arsenal, are not explicitly contemplated, at least in the first round of the US sponsored Blitzkrieg. However, the fact that nuclear weapons are acknowledged as a possible choice in the conventional war theater is indicative that their use is an integral part of military planning.

In November 2004, US Strategic Command conducted a major exercise of a "global strike plan" entitled "Global Lightening". The latter involved a simulated attack using both conventional and nuclear weapons against a "fictitious enemy" [Iran]. Following the "Global Lightening" exercise, US Strategic Command declared an advanced state of readiness.

In this context, CONPLAN is the operational plan pursuant to the Global Strike Plan. It is described as "an actual plan that the Navy and the Air Force translate into strike package for their submarines and bombers,'

CONPLAN 8022 is 'the overall umbrella plan for sort of the pre-planned strategic scenarios involving nuclear weapons.'

'It's specifically focused on these new types of threats -- Iran, North Korea -- proliferators and potentially terrorists too,' he said. 'There's nothing that says that they can't use CONPLAN 8022 in limited scenarios against Russian and Chinese targets.' (According to Hans Kristensen, of the Nuclear Information Project, quoted in Japanese economic News Wire, op cit)

The use of tactical nuclear weapons is contemplated under CONPLAN 8022 alongside conventional weapons, as part of the Bush administration's preemptive war doctrine. In May 2004, National Security Presidential Directive NSPD 35 entitled Nuclear Weapons Deployment Authorization was issued. While its contents remains classified, the presumption is that NSPD 35 pertains to the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in the Middle East war theater in compliance with CONPLAN 8022.

(For further details on the US nuclear option, see Michel Chossudovsky, Nuclear War against Iran, January 2006, The Dangers of a Middle East Nuclear War, February 2006, Is the Bush Administration Planning a Nuclear Holocaust , February 2006)

Israel in a State of Readiness

War preparations in Israel have been ongoing since late 2004. The Israeli Air Force would attack Iran's nuclear facility at Bushehr using US as well Israeli produced bunker buster bombs. The attacks are slated to be carried out in three separate waves "with the radar and communications jamming protection being provided by U.S. Air Force AWACS and other U.S. aircraft in the area". (See W Madsen, http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/MAD410A.html

The bunker buster bombs can also be used to deliver tactical nuclear bombs. The B61-11 is the "nuclear version" of the "conventional" BLU 113. It can be delivered in much same way as the conventional bunker buster bomb. (See Michel Chossudovsky, http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO112C.html , see also http://www.thebulletin.org/article_n...ofn=jf03norris ) .

According to a recent report in the London's Sunday Times (7 January 2007): "Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear “bunker-busters”, according to several Israeli military sources."

If Iran were to respond to US-Israeli attacks in the form of targeted strikes on US military facilities in the Iraq and the Gulf States, the war would escalate to the entire region, in which case the US could retaliate in the form of "pre-emptive" nuclear attacks on Iran using bunker buster tactical nuclear war heads.

The most likely scenario is that Iran, in the logic of its own military planning, would indeed respond to the US sponsored attacks as well as deploy ground forces inside occupied Iraq.

Naval Deployment

Three strike groups including the Stennis, the Eisenhower and the Nimitz are being deployed in the Persian Gulf. According to Gulf News, "The Stennis strike group... is now strengthening a high level of US Navy presence in the Gulf. The Stennis and the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, already in the region, will soon be joined by the carrier Nimitz. (Gulf News, 21 Feb 2007). According to British military sources, the US navy can put six carriers into battle at a month's notice.

Redeployment of US Troops

Confirmed by military sources, some 8500 of US troops are being redeployed from US military facilities in Germany and Italy to Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which border on Iran. One assumes that they are being dispatched to the Middle East war theater in the eventuality that the air strikes will lead into a ground war with Iran.
The Pentagon, contradicting its own statements, has dismissed as "ludicrous" the press reports that the US is planning an all out attack on Iran in the "near term".

Meanwhile, Iran has launched a three days war games entitled Eghtedar or Grandeur. These exercises which involve naval, air and ground forces are larger than those conducted last Summer. They are slated to take place in 16 out of Iran's 30 provinces. The stated objective is to establish a state of readiness to defend Iran in the eventuality of a US attack.

Vigilant Shield 07 War Games

From September through December 2006, the US conducted a New Cold War scenario of all out war directed against Iran and its Cold war era enemies: Entitled Vigilant Shield 07, the war games are not limited to a single Middle East war theater (e.g. Iran), they also include Russia, China and North Korea.

The details of the Vigilant Shield 07 exercise scenario, is contained in a U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) briefing dated August 2006 (revealed by William Arkin in a WP article) .

The enemies are Irmingham [Iran], Nemazee [North Korea], Ruebek [Russia], Churya [China]

Details and Sequencing:

"• Road to Conflict (RTC): 11 Sep – 15 Oct 06

– Initial Irmingham Enrichment I&W [indications and warning]
– Initial Ruebeki & Irmingham Involvement
– Ruebek I&W, PACFLT [U.S. Pacific Fleet] Sub Deployments
– Initial Nemazee ICBM [intercontinental ballistic missile] I&W
– Initial MHLD [homeland defense?] I&W
– Strategic IO [information operations (cyber warfare)] operations (Ruebek & Churya)
– Ruebek & Irmingham Conduct Joint AD [air defense] Exercise

• Phase 1 / Deployment: 4 – 8 Dec 06

– Rogue LRA [Russian long-range aviation] w/CALCM [conventional air launched cruise missile] Launch
– Continue Monitoring Strategic Situation
– Continue Monitoring Nemazee Situation

• Possible Nuclear Testing
• Probable ICBM Preparation

– Continue Monitoring MHLD Situation

• Five VOIs [vessels of interest]
• Churya Flagged VOI into Dutch Harbor Supports BMDS [ballistic missile defense system] Threat to Ft Greely

– Continue Monitoring IO Activities
– Nemazee Conducts SLV [space launch vehicle] Launch – 8 Dec 06

• Phase 2 Minus 42 Days:

• Additional Nemazee ICBM Shipments to Launch Facilities
• RMOB [Russian main operating bases] Acft Conduct LR Navigation Flights
• AS-15 [nuclear armed cruise missile] Handling at RMOBs

– Minus 41 Days:
• Additional Nemazee ICBM Preps at Launch Pad # 2
– Minus 40 Days:
• Activity at Nemazee Nuclear Test Facilities
– Minus 35 Days:
• DOS [Department of State] Travel Warning
– Minus 30 Days:
• Ruebek LRA Deploys Acft to Anadyr & Vorkuta

• Phase 2 Minus 30 Days:

• Growing International Condemnation of Ruebek
• Ruebek Deploys Submarines

– Minus 20 Days:
• Nemazee Recalls Reservists
– Minus 14 Days:
• DOS Draw-down Sequencing
– Minus 13 Days:
• Ruebek Closes US Embassy in Washington DC
– Minus 11 Days:
• Nemazee Conducts Fueling of Additional ICBMs
• Ruebeki Presidential Statement on Possible US Attack

• Phase 2 Minus 10 Days:

• POTUS Addresses Congress on War Powers Act

– Minus 6 Days:
• Ruebek President Calls “Situation Grave”
– Minus 5 Days:
• CALCM Activity at Anadyr, Vorkuta, and Tiksi
• Ruebeki SS-25 [nuclear armed mobile ICBMs] Conduct out of Garrison Deployments
• Nemazee Assembling ICBM for Probable Launch
– Minus 4 Days:
• Ruebek Closes US Embassy in Washington DC
• Ruebek Acft Conduct Outer ADIZ [air defense identification zone] Pentrations
• Mid-Air Collison w/NORAD Acft During ADIZ Penetration

• Phase 2 Minus 4 Days:

• Nemazee ICBM Launch Azimuth Threatens US

– Minus 3 Days:
• NATO Diplomatic Efforts Fail to Diffuse Crisis
• USAMB to Ruebek Recalled for Consultation
• POTUS Addresses Nation
– Minus 2 Days:
• Nemazee Leadership Movement
– Minus 1 Day:
• Ruebek Expels US Mission

• Phase 2 / Execution: 10 – 14 Dec 06

– Pre-Attack I & W
– Imminent Terrorist Attack on Pentagon Suggests Pentagon COOP [continuity of operations plan]
– Nemazee Conducts 2 x ICBM Combat Launches Against United States
– Ruebek Conducts Limited Strategic Attack on United States
• Wave 1 – 8 x Bear H Defense Suppression w/CALCM
• Wave 2 – Limited ICBM & SLBM Attack
– 2 x ICBM Launched (1 impacts CMOC [Cheyenne Mountain], 1 malfunctions)
– 2 x SLBM Launched Pierside (1 impacts SITE-R ["Raven Rock" bunker on the Maryland-Pennsylvania border], 1 malfunctions)
– 3 x Bear H from Dispersal Bases w/ALCM (Eielson AFB, CANR, Cold Lake)
– US Conducts Limited Retaliatory Attack on Ruebek
• 1 x ICBM C2 Facility
• 1 x ICBM Against ICBM Launch Location
• Phase 2 / Execution:
– Ruebek Prepares Additional Attack on United States
• Wave 3 – Prepares for Additional Strategic Attacks
– 1 x ICBM Movement, NO Launch
– 3 x SLBM PACFLT Pierside Missile Handling Activity (NO Launch)
– 6 x BEAR H (launch & RTB [return to base]) w/6 x ALCM (NO launch)" [source Northern Command and William Arkin]

Complacency of Western Public Opinion

The complacency of Western public opinion (including the US anti-war movement) is disturbing. No concern has been expressed at the political level as to the likely consequences of these attacks, which could evolve towards a World War III scenario, with Russia and China siding with Iran.

With the exception of the Middle East, the war on Iran and the dangers of escalation are not considered "front page news." All of which contributes to the real possibility that the war could be carried out, leading to the unthinkable: a nuclear holocaust over a large part of the Middle East. It should be noted that a nuclear nighmare would occur even if nuclear weapons are not used. The bombing of Iran's nuclear facitlities using conventional weapons would contribute to unleashing a Chernobyl type disaster with extensive radioactive fallout.

link
__________________
..........................................benny

The following topic was written during the war last summer between Israel and the hezbollah....The Temple Mount Faithful, from what I understand do not as of yet.....recognize our Lord Jesus as the Son of God, but the topic reveals thier plans and what they believe that will soon happen............................................................................................................................................[ Print this page] | Home



b’ezrat HaShem, With the help of G–d

Israel is Attacked Again by Missiles and
Other Weapons With the Backing of Arab
and Islamic Countries -
The G-d of Israel and His Faithful Israeli
Soldiers Will Win this Battle as Well

As these words are being written Israel is being attacked by two evil terrorist organizations. Israel is being attacked from Gaza in the southwest by the Hamas terrorist organization and from Lebanon in the north by the Hezbollah terrorist organization. These two evil terror organizations are fighting against Israel with the backing of Iran and Syria especially and other nations which arm them with missiles and other kinds of weapons. Missiles are shot from both sides on Israeli towns and cities. Israel is again paying a price of blood for protecting the holy land of the G-d and the people of Israel and the end-time godly event that is taking place in Israel. This is another war against Israel with one clear goal. To destroy Israel and to push the Israeli nation into the Mediterranean. These evil terrorist organizations have the backing of the Arab and Islamic countries and other countries in the world. Together they prepare even much more heavy weapons including nuclear bombs and chemical missiles directed at Israel. They know and understand that Israel is the only obstacle before their goal to occupy all the world especially the western world and to make it an Islamic world. Israel is now again fighting against so many enemies and their terror agents of Hamas and Hezbollah. It is not only a battle for survival and protecting our fathers and mother, sisters and brothers against an inhumane cruel enemy that their religion is calling for murder, hatred and destruction. This is a battle for protecting the major godly event which is taking place in Israel now. The rebuilding of the Kingdom of G-d, His values and morals in the holy land that G-d gave to His chosen people Israel in an eternal covenant. This is a major godly event which will be an opening for the redemption of all mankind based on G-d's values and morals at a time when it is so needed. Israel will again win this battle. The small Israel will overcome this difficult time. As it was in the biblical times the G-d of Israel, the Creator of the Universe, is fighting together with the Israeli soldiers against the messengers of the devil. These evil powers want to destroy what G-d is doing with Israel at these critical times and to eliminate not only Israel but the great hope for all the world for a better mankind. They have illusions that they can win the battle against G-d and His people Israel. They never learned from their own experience and experience of other evil powers throughout the history of Israel that believed that they can destroy the G-d and the people of Israel. They were all defeated by the G-d of Israel and His Israeli soldiers and have disappeared completely under the judgement of G-d from the stage of history. The same will be their destiny now as G-d promised to His people Israel through her great prophets. They have no chance. Who can challenge the G-d of Israel and the Universe and His Israeli soldiers who swore to dedicate and give their lives for their beloved G-d, His Word that He gave them in the Torah and the holy wonderful land that He gave them forever. G-d promised Israel that His eyes, His heart and His attention will be day and night on His people Israel and their Promised Land to protect and save them from any enemy that will come to destroy His beloved wife Israel. This is not the first war against Israel and not, as we see, the last of them. This is another stage in the end-time war against Israel that started in 1948 and it is coming closer and closer to its climax. Israel together with the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is ready to face this actual war and this that is going to come, the end-time war which as G-d called it through His prophet Ezekiel "the Gog and Magog War" (please read Ezekiel 38 & 39, Zechariah 12 & 14, and Joel 4). The victory belongs to the G-d of Israel and the Universe who is determined to complete His major end-time event which is called Israel and to bring to pass the eternal cause and mission that He gave to His chosen people Israel. To be a holy nation, a kingdom of priests, a treasure and a light to all the nations.

Israel is now experiencing one of the most critical stages in the process of Redemption, the exciting process that the G-d of Israel is leading in the last century, especially since the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948. This is, as I said above, another stage in the beginning of the end-time war, the Gog and Magog War, against Israel. As G-d promised this end-time war against Israel will be the last stage before the climax of this process and the most exciting part of it: The building of the end-time Temple of G-d on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to be a house of prayer, worship and love for Israel and all mankind and the coming of the end-time Messenger of G-d, Mashiach ben David. This will open the time of redemption for all mankind. All the friends and the lovers of the G-d of Israel and His people Israel, which is now facing another evil war from evil enemies, are called to stand with and encourage her at this critical moment. All those wonderful brothers and sisters all over the world are called to stand with, help and encourage the Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement that fulfills a major part in this campaign and even more so in the near future, and G-d will bless those who bless Israel as He promised.

Gershon Salomon
Chairman, Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement



...............................................benny

Thursday, February 22, 2007
AS IRAN DEFIES U.N. ON NUCLEAR ISSUE, EVANGELICAL LEADERS FOCUS ON EZEKIEL'S PROPHECIES ABOUT IRAN



UPDATED VERSION: Fears are steadily growing in the Middle East, Europe and here at home that the United States is readying a massive air strike against Iran's nuclear and military facilities in the next year or so, but possibly as early as this spring.....Newsweek ran a cover story last week on a possible U.S. strike entitled, "RUMORS OF WAR," echoing -- whether the editors meant to or not -- Jesus' teaching in Matthew 24 that in the last days there will be and "wars and rumors of war" before the Second Coming.....The Economist ran a cover story last week, entitled: "NEXT STOP, IRAN?"....in a major front-page story today, the Times of London cites senior British officials saying "they fear President Bush will seek to 'settle the Iranian question through military means' next year, before the end of his second term if he concludes that diplomacy has failed."....as one British official put it: "He [Bush] will not want to leave it unresolved for his successor”....meanwhile, I'm getting emails from all over the world -- including from people inside Iran -- wanting to know if a U.S. attack is imminent....The White House and Pentagon say no war is being planned, but Vice President Cheney told ABC News that every option is still on the table....why?....because Iran continues to make a series of dangerous and provocative moves that could trigger hostilities after all.....at the same time, I can report a steadily growing interest among evangelical Christian leaders in the Mideast as well as in the U.S. in what the Bible has to say about the future of Iran. In fact, several prominent Christian leaders are currently developing radio and television programs that will soon be aired nationally and globally to discuss the Iranian nuclear threat and to explain the prophecies of Ezekiel 38 and 39, in which Russia and Iran form a military alliance with other Middle Eastern countries in an attempt to destroy Israel in what Ezekiel describes as "the last days"....First, let me review the latest geopolitical news; then we'll look at the inside story of rising evangelical interest in Iran.....Iran on Wednesday defied the United Nations' February 21st deadline to stop enriching uranium and instead is feverishly trying to complete the "nuclear fuel cycle," a highly complex scientific process that when mastered would allow the mullahs to build one nuclear bomb after another....."Iran has not suspended its enrichment-related activities," said a confidential IAEA report, obtained by Reuters. "Iran has continued with the operation of the (small ground-level pilot fuel-enrichment) plant....It has also continued with the construction of the (underground) Fuel Enrichment Plant, including installation of cascades, and has transferred UF-6 to the plant."...."The report -- sent both to the Security Council and the agency's 35 board member nations -- set the stage for a fresh showdown between Iran and Western powers," noted the Associated Press. "Even before it was issued, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the U.S. and its allies would use the Security Council and other 'available channels' to bring Tehran back to negotiations over its nuclear program."....Said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: "I urge again that the Iranian government should fully comply with the Security Council" as soon as possible, he told reporters in Vienna, saying Iran's nuclear activities had "great implications for peace and security, as well as nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction."....That said, as the possibility of a military showdown between the U.S. and Iran grows, a growing number of prominant pastors and evangelical Christian leaders are interested in where Iran fits into Bible prophecy.....Last month, I was invited to a Muslim country in the Middle East to brief several hundred Arab and Iranian pastors and evangelical leaders on the latest geopolitical developments in the region and to teach on Ezekiel 38 and 39.....these are prophecies that most Christian leaders in the region are unfamiliar with, but as readers of this weblog know, have profound implications for all the people of the epicenter....it is too early to say if the fulfillment of these prophecies is close at hand, but it was a fascinating day of discussions that left many of these Christian leaders with a newfound sense of urgency to share the gospel with Muslims in their countries and to develop crisis management plans should a geopolitical war or a prophetic war break out in the next few months or years....A few weeks later, I was traveling to New Mexico to preach on the implications of Ezekiel 38 and 39 for followers of Christ, and to continue working on a documentary film based on Epicenter that is being jointly produced and distributed by Tyndale House Publishers and Skip Heitzig, the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Albuquerque.....my flight took me first to Denver, and as I boarded at Washington Dulles airport, I happened to sit next to Dr. James Dobson.....Dr. Dobson and I have known each other for a number of years and have often discussed events in the Middle East. Turns out, he had been in Washington for meetings with high level administration officials to discuss Iran, Iraq and the latest developments in the Middle East. He told me he is increasingly concerned about the Iranian nuclear threat, and has been studying Ezekiel's prophecies. He asked me to send him a copy of Epicenter and then discussed with me the possibility of doing a series of radio programs to explore these urgent issues later this spring....that's still in in development and I'll let you know more when I know more.....what's more, I recently found out that Kay Arthur, the world renowned Bible teacher, is also increasingly concerned about the military alliance that's forming between Russia and Iran and how this might relate to Ezekiel's prophecies.....last fall, a friend of hers encouraged her to read The Ezekiel Option and Epicenter.....she did, and ended up giving copies of Epicenter to each of her senior staff.....A few weeks ago, Kay called me and asked if I would come down to her headquarters in Chattanooga to teach on the Biblical description of the "War of Gog and Magog" and to record a series of radio and TV programs to explain these prophecies in light of current events.....I agreed, and just spent the last several days with Kay and her team doing just that......before going to Tennessee, I spent several days with a team of Iranian Christian pastors out West......they have a satellite television ministry which is seen by between 4 and 7 million Iranian Shiites every day.....they wanted me to discuss Bible prophecies about Iran with them and help them develop a plan to communicate "God's love and plan for Iran" through their live satellite broadcasts, as well as figure out how to answer the many phone calls and emails they are sure to get from inside Iran once such programs are broadcast into the country.....they see a showdown with Iran coming, and they feel passionately about reaching their fellow Iranians with the good news of Christ's love.....these are amazing people.....one pastor and his wife used to be Shiite Muslims on the streets of Tehran in 1979 shouting, "Death to America!".....now -- because of how Christ changed their hearts and minds -- they live in the U.S., love America, love the Jewish people, and want to work together with a Jewish believer in Jesus like me to share the gospel with the people of Iran.....amazing.....There are, of course, other people teaching on these geopolitical developments and these prophecies besides me.....I simply share these developments to provide a few snapshots, to give you a sense of how Iranian actions are worrying political leaders and motivating evangelical leaders at home and around the globe.....will there be a war in the region this year or next?.....honestly, it's too early to say.....as I've been writing about for months, 2007 is the Year of Decision....President Bush and the Congressional leadership will need to decide soon just how they're going to handle the Iranian nuclear threat.....but Church leaders also need to decide just how they are going to handle the Iranian threat, as well....after all, time is short, and the stakes are high.
................................................benny

Unfortunately, it may not be strictly up to us. Considering the innocent blood that our nation is swimming in due to abortion, not to mention the rampant immorality, idolatry, and religious apostasy, it's likely only a matter of months, if not weeks, until this land begins to vomit out its inhabitants (Lev. 18:25,28).

If, due to natural disasters within our country, and/or economic decline, terrorists perceive us to be in a weakened state, that would be the ideal time to "kick us while we're down" with an attack worse that 911. Needless to say, if that happens, we'll probably kick down the doors of Iran at that time, not by choice, but out of necessity.

May the Lord have mercy in judgement. It is America's only hope.

In Christ,

Mike

The following is the Hal Lindsey report..(LIVE).....He has some eye openers......He also believes that Israel will attack Iran before 2007 has transpired............http://www.hallindsey.org/ ...........................................benny

February 24, 2007

Cheney:

To let Iran go nuclear would be mistake

thestar.com

SYDNEY (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said on Saturday it would be a serious mistake if Iran were allowed to become a nuclear power.

In talks with Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Cheney said the United States and its allies were pursuing diplomacy as their preferred course on Iran but repeated previous comments that "all options were on the table".

"We believe it would be a serious mistake if a nation such as Iran were to become a nuclear power," he told reporters.


Australian Prime Minister John Howard (L) looks on as U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney responds to a question during a joint news conference in Sydney February 24, 2007. Cheney said on Saturday it would be a serious mistake if Iran were allowed to become a nuclear power. (REUTERS/Will Burgess)
His comments came after Iran ignored a U.N. deadline to stop work on enriching uranium which the West says will be used to make nuclear weapons. Iran says it plans only the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

The Weekend Australian newspaper reported on Saturday that Cheney had endorsed U.S. Republican Senator John McCain's proposition that the only thing worse than a military confrontation with Iran would be a nuclear-armed Iran.

Cheney told the newspaper in an interview that he had no doubt that Iran was striving to enrich uranium to the point where it could make nuclear weapons.

Howard, one of Washington's firmest allies in the Iraq war, said he was concerned that if the United States and its allies were to retreat from Iraq, one of the most serious consequences would be a boosting of Iran's influence.

Anti-war protesters scuffled with police during Cheney's visit.

Australia has vowed to keep its battle group of 520 soldiers in southern Iraq.

Cheney has stressed the importance of U.S. forces remaining in Iraq to stop "jihadists" gaining a base from which to spread violence across the Middle East.
............................................benny

A Deterrence Strategy to Replace Israel’s Lost Nuclear Ambiguity

DEBKAfile Exclusive Military Analysis

December 10, 2006, 8:27 PM (GMT+02:00)
http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1242

Israel’s prime minister Ehud Olmert embarks on a European tour this week that takes him first to Rome and the Vatican, then to Berlin Tuesday, Dec. 12.

In an interview with the German Der Spiegel , Saturday Dec. 9, he expressed the hope that the international community would take firmer action against Iranian president Ahmed Ahmadinejad for seeking to wipe Israel of the map. “Such talk is criminal,” he said.

Questioned on Iran’s nuclear program, Olmert said he does not object to the proposal to engage Tehran in direct talks if they lead to the program’s suspension.

As to an Israeli pre-emptive military attack on Iran, the prime minister said: “I rule nothing out.”

Friday, in a phone conversation with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Olmert said he hoped for progress towards a Security Council vote on sanctions against Iran.
.............................................benny

Israel denies seeking US strike on IranFrom correspondents in Jerusalem

February 24, 2007 08:27pm
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599...-38201,00.html

ISRAEL has denied a report in a British daily that it is seeking permission from the United States to fly its bombers over Iraq to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.

"There has never been such a request, it is obvious,'' Deputy Defence Minister Ephraim Sneh said.

The Daily Telegraph quoted an unnamed senior Israeli defence official as saying that negotiations were taking place with the US-led coalition in Iraq to provide an "air corridor'' over Iraq if the Jewish state decided on unilateral action.

"We are planning for every eventuality, and sorting out issues such as these are crucial,'' the official said.

"If we don't sort these issues out we could have a situation where American and Israeli war planes start shooting at each other.''

Mr Sneh put the report down to "international sources who wish to dodge dealing directly with Iran and invent reports that we allegedly want to attack Iran in order to relieve themselves from the responsibility.''

Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has in the past called for Israel to be wiped off the map.

But Israel has consistently said that the Iranian nuclear question should be solved by the international community and not the Jewish state alone, even though it refuses to rule out a pre-emptive strike against Iran.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has issued a report saying that Iran had not halted, and in fact had expanded, its uranium enrichment program, defying a United Nations Security Council demand to stop by this week.

The United States, France and Britain have called for tougher Security Council sanctions on Tehran, while Germany, China and Russia have taken softer stances. Iran denies US charges that it seeks nuclear weapons.

An Israeli officer involved in the military planning told The Daily Telegraph: "One of the last issues we have to sort out is how we actually get to the targets in Iran. The only way to do this is to fly through US-controlled airspace in Iraq.''

Israel is itself considered to be the sole nuclear weapons power in the Middle East. It does not officially acknowledge that it has an arsenal although Olmert appeared to do so in an apparent lapse last year.

Israeli warplanes in 1981 destroyed the Osirak nuclear reactor near Baghdad after suspecting Iraq of aiming to build nuclear weapons.
...........................................benny

February 24, 2007
Worldwide Blitz Against Israel
by Michael G. Mickey
(2-24-07)

In January I read a news story that grabbed my attention as to the lateness of the hour we're living in as it relates to the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Its title? Israel May 'Stand Alone' in Years to Come, Professor Says

The following is an excerpt from that article (emphasis added mine):

Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz mentioned several events as reasons to be concerned. They could create "the conditions for a perfect storm," he said, with Israel at the center.

The first event is the recent publication of former President Jimmy Carter's book on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Dershowitz, addressing a recent national security conference in Herzliya, Israel, called Carter's book a "watershed event" in U.S.-Israeli and U.S.-Jewish relations.

Carter's book asserts the "old canard" that Jews control the media and because they do, it prevents fair coverage of the Palestinians' plight, said Dershowitz, who addressed the gathering by satellite.

Carter's book also promotes the idea that Jewish control of American politics makes it "suicidal" for any American politician to present a "balanced view" of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Carter gave legitimacy to arguments that undermine Israel, Dershowitz said. Until now, such arguments have only been heard from the extreme right and left, he added.

The professor also mentioned college campuses where "junk academics" have created a debate on the proper role of "Jewish influence" on American foreign policy. This is instilling questions about Israel's right to exist in the next generation, he said.
Psalm 83:4: They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.

A month later, almost to the day, there is the following news headline to consider: World-Wide Blitz against Israel.

In the Israel National News article beneath that headline, we read that "the United Nations, Russia, Arab states and the media have escalated an international broadside against Israel while touting the Hamas-Fatah coalition."

What is the present worldwide blitz against Israel designed to do? To pressure Israel into giving up even more of its covenant lands to its enemies by portraying the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be an apartheid-like situation through the United Nations.

John Dugard, who campaigned against apartheid in South Africa, has taken steps to culpritize Israel that are utterly ridiculous in content. His "findings" will be published in a full report by the U.N. next month. What follows are a few examples of what we can expect to see, which Dugard is going to say makes Israel apartheid-like, as detailed in the article:
Dugard "concluded that the racist policy is similar to that of Israel. He defined Jews as a "race" and charged that the Israeli army is guilty of terror worse than that of Arab terrorists."
And...
Dugard wrote that "Israel's laws and practices in the [Palestinian Authority (PA)] certainly resemble aspects of apartheid. Can it seriously be denied that the purpose of such action is to establish and maintain domination by one racial group, Jews, over another racial group, Palestinians, and systematically oppress them?"
As I am quick to point out, the scenario we're witnessing unfold before our very eyes is precisely what is prophesied to occur in the last days! Israel is to stand isolated and be the focus of the entire world's attention, setting the stage for the one-world government of the Antichrist to be born, most likely through the process of persecuting Israel while promising the Jewish people peace if they'll just go along with the world's agenda for them.

Zechariah 12:2-3: Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

Zechariah 14:2: For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

A worldwide blitz against Israel is underway. Not only that, we see that many knowledgeable men, like Alan Dershowitz for example, believe that Israel may soon find itself standing alone against the world. Amazing, in light of Bible prophecy, isn't it? The good news, however, is that these things point toward a day coming when the wicked nature of mankind is going to be brought to its end and Jesus Christ will be established as King of kings and Lord of lords throughout the entire universe! Mankind will know peace at last!

Zechariah 14:3-4: Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

The stage is being set for Jesus Christ, Whom so many love to mock, deny and denounce these days, to return to plead for His people, Israel. On the day His feet hit the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, the old way of doing things is going to be torn asunder just as Scripture tells us the Mount of Olives will be! On that day there will be no one on the face of the earth who will doubt that Jesus Christ is Lord. Not even one.

MARANATHA!
..............................................benny

Iran: U.S. not in position to start war By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer
51 minutes ago



TEHRAN, Iran - Iran said Saturday the United States was not in a position to take military action against it and urged Washington and its allies to engage in dialogue.

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"We do not see America in a position to impose another crisis on its tax payers inside America by starting another war in the region," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters.

Mottaki was responding to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who renewed Washington's warning to Iran earlier Saturday that "all options" were on the table if Tehran continues to defy U.N. demands to halt uranium enrichment.

At a joint news conference with Prime Minister John Howard during a visit to Australia, Cheney said the United States was "deeply concerned" about Iran's activities, including the "aggressive" sponsoring of terrorist group Hezbollah and inflammatory statements by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Cheney said top U.S. officials would meet soon with European allies to decide the next step toward planned tough sanctions against Iran if it continues enriching uranium.

"But I've also made the point, and the president has made the point, that all options are on the table," he said, leaving open the possibility of military action.

The United States and several of its Western allies fear that Iran is using its nuclear program to produce an atomic weapon — charges Iran denies, saying its aim is to generate electricity.

The International Atomic Energy Agency reported on Thursday that Iran had ignored a U.N. Security Council ultimatum to freeze its uranium enrichment program and had expanded the program by setting up hundreds of centrifuges.

Enriched to a low level, uranium is used to produce nuclear fuel but further enrichment makes it suitable for use in building an atomic bomb.

The IAEA report came after Wednesday's deadline of a 60-day grace period for Iran to halt uranium enrichment. Iran has repeatedly refused to halt enrichment as a precondition to negotiations about its program.

Mottaki said negotiations, not threats, were the only way left to resolve the standoff over Iran's nuclear activities and urged the U.S. and its allies to return to dialogue when they are scheduled to meet in London next week.

"The only way to reach a solution for disputes is negotiations and talks. Therefore, we want the London meeting to make a brave decision and resume talks with Iran," Mottaki told reporters during a press conference with Bahrain's visiting foreign minister.

Bill Richardson, the governor of the U.S. state of New Mexico and 2008 U.S. presidential candidate, on Saturday also urged the Bush administration to negotiate directly with Iran over its nuclear program.

"Saber-rattling is not a good way to get the Iranians to cooperate," Richardson said in an op-ed piece in the Washington Post. "But it is a good way to start a new war."

A better approach, said Richardson, who served as U.N. ambassador during former U.S. President Bill Clinton's administration, "would be for the United States to engage directly with the Iranians and to lead a global diplomatic offensive to prevent them from building nuclear weapons."

Iran, he said, 'will not end their nuclear program because we threaten them and call them names."

Iran has said it will never give up its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel even at the risk of sanctions.

.........................................benny

WAR - TIRANNT Will Hit 10,000 Iran Targets At Once

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This as a long article but very informative.


TIRANNT Will Hit 10,000 Iran Targets At Once

"Theater Iran Near Term" (TIRANNT) - by Michel Chossudovsky

Global Research

Code named by US military planners as TIRANNT, "Theater Iran Near Term" has identified several thousand targets inside Iran as part of a "Shock and Awe" Blitzkrieg, which is now in its final planning stages.

According to the Kuwait-based Arab Times, an attack on Iran under TIRANNT could occur any time between late February and the end of April. This assessment, however, does not take into account the disarray of US ground forces in Iraq as well as the untimely withdrawal of several thousand British troops from the Iraq war theater, many of whom were stationed in Southern Iraq on the immediate border with Iran.

Revealed last April by William Arkin, a former US intelligence analyst, writing in the Washington Post, TIRANNT was first established in May 2003, following the invasion of Iraq.

"In early 2003, even as U.S. forces were on the brink of war with Iraq, the Army had already begun conducting an analysis for a full-scale war with Iran. The analysis, called TIRANNT, for "theater Iran near term," was coupled with a mock scenario for a Marine Corps invasion and a simulation of the Iranian missile force. U.S. and British planners conducted a Caspian Sea war game around the same time. And Bush directed the U.S. Strategic Command to draw up a global strike war plan for an attack against Iranian weapons of mass destruction. All of this will ultimately feed into a new war plan for "major combat operations" against Iran that military sources confirm now exists in draft form. [This contingency plan entitled CONPLAN 8022 would be activated in the eventuality of a Second 9/11, on the presumption that Iran would be behind it]

... Under TIRANNT, Army and U.S. Central Command planners have been examining both near-term and out-year scenarios for war with Iran, including all aspects of a major combat operation, from mobilization and deployment of forces through postwar stability operations after regime change." (William Arkin, Washington Post, 16 April 2006)

The 2003 decision to target Iran under TIRANNT should come as no surprise. It is part of the broader military roadmap. Already during the Clinton administration, US Central Command (USCENTCOM) had formulated in 1995 "in war theater plans" to invade first Iraq and then Iran.

"The broad national security interests and objectives expressed in the President's National Security Strategy (NSS) and the Chairman's National Military Strategy (NMS) form the foundation of the United States Central Command's theater strategy. The NSS directs implementation of a strategy of dual containment of the rogue states of Iraq and Iran as long as those states pose a threat to U.S. interests, to other states in the region, and to their own citizens. Dual containment is designed to maintain the balance of power in the region without depending on either Iraq or Iran. USCENTCOM's theater strategy is interest-based and threat-focused. The purpose of U.S. engagement, as espoused in the NSS, is to protect the United States' vital interest in the region - uninterrupted, secure U.S./Allied access to Gulf oil."

(USCENTCOM, http://www.milnet.com/milnet/pentago...c.htm#USPolicy , emphasis added)

First Iraq, then Iran

Consistent with CENTCOM's 1995 "sequencing" of theater operations, the plans to target Iran were activated under TIRANNT in the immediate wake of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Confirmed by Arkin, the active component of the Iran military agenda was launched in May 2003 "when modelers and intelligence specialists pulled together the data needed for theater-level (meaning large-scale) scenario analysis for Iran." (Arkin, op cit). In October 2003, different theater scenarios for an Iran war were contemplated:

"The US army, navy, air force and marines have all prepared battle plans and spent four years building bases and training for "Operation Iranian Freedom". Admiral Fallon, the new head of US Central Command, has inherited computerized plans under the name TIRANNT (Theatre Iran Near Term)." (New Statesman, 19 Feb 2007)

Concurrently, the various parallel components of TIRANNT were put in place including the Marines "Concept of Operations":

"The Marines, meanwhile, have not only been involved in CENTCOM's war planning, but have been focused on their own specialty, "forcible entry." In April 2003, the Corps published its "Concept of Operations" for a maneuver against a mock country that explores the possibility of moving forces from ship to shore against a determined enemy without establishing a beachhead first. Though the Marine Corps enemy is described only as a deeply religious revolutionary country named Karona, it is -- with its Revolutionary Guards, WMD and oil wealth -- unmistakably meant to be Iran.

Various scenarios involving Iran's missile force have also been examined in another study, initiated in 2004 and known as BMD-I (ballistic missile defense -- Iran). In this study, the Center for Army Analysis modeled the performance of U.S. and Iranian weapons systems to determine the number of Iranian missiles expected to leak through a coalition defense.

The day-to-day planning for dealing with Iran's missile force falls to the U.S. Strategic Command in Omaha. In June 2004, Rumsfeld alerted the command to be prepared to implement CONPLAN 8022, a global strike plan that includes Iran. CONPLAN 8022 calls for bombers and missiles to be able to act within 12 hours of a presidential order. The new task force, sources have told me, mostly worries that if it were called upon to deliver "prompt" global strikes against certain targets in Iran under some emergency circumstances, the president might have to be told that the only option is a nuclear one. William Arkin, Washington Post, 16 April 2006)

"Shock and Awe"

US military planning includes specific roles to be performed by NATO and Israel in the event of an attack on Iran. The German navy is deployed formally under a UN mandate in the Eastern Mediterranean. NATO bases in Europe would also be involved.

Documented by Global Research, extensive war games were conducted since last Summer by Iran and its allies of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, including Russia and China. In turn, the US has conducted war games off the Iranian coastline.

The Pentagon's Second 9/11

What is now being contemplated by Washington is an overwhelming use of military force in retaliation to Iran's alleged non-compliance. This of course is the pretext, the justification for waging war. The Pentagon has also contemplated retaliating against Iran in the case of a second 9/11 attack:

"A third plan sets out how the military can both disrupt and respond to another major terrorist strike on the United States. It includes lengthy annexes that offer a menu of options for the military to retaliate quickly against specific terrorist groups, individuals or state sponsors depending on who is believed to be behind an attack. Another attack could create both a justification and an opportunity that is lacking today to retaliate against some known targets, according to current and former defense officials familiar with the plan.

This plan details "what terrorists or bad guys we would hit if the gloves came off. The gloves are not off," said one official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject. (emphasis added, WP 23 April 2006)

The presumption of this military document, is that a Second 911 attack "which is lacking today" would usefully create both a "justification and an opportunity" to wage war on "some known targets [Iran and Syria]".

Civilian Targets

Press reports in the Middle East confirm that the planned air strikes are by no means limited to Iran's nuclear facilities. Central Command Headquarters in Florida (CENTCOM) has already selected a comprehensive list of military and civilian targets. Industrial sites, civilian infrastructure including roads, water systems, bridges, electric power plants telecommunications towers, government buildings are part of the assumptions underlying the Blitzkrieg. "A single raid could result in 10,000 targets being hit with warplanes flying from the US and Diego Garcia" (Gulf News, 21 Feb 2007, emphasis added)

Meanwhile, the US has been mustering support for its agenda following the holding of a regional Security Conference in the UAE.

Nuclear War

Military planners are said to favor the use of conventional weapons. The use of tactical nuclear weapons, which are now part of the Middle East war theater arsenal, are not explicitly contemplated, at least in the first round of the US sponsored Blitzkrieg. However, the fact that nuclear weapons are acknowledged as a possible choice in the conventional war theater is indicative that their use is an integral part of military planning.

In November 2004, US Strategic Command conducted a major exercise of a "global strike plan" entitled "Global Lightening". The latter involved a simulated attack using both conventional and nuclear weapons against a "fictitious enemy" [Iran]. Following the "Global Lightening" exercise, US Strategic Command declared an advanced state of readiness.

In this context, CONPLAN is the operational plan pursuant to the Global Strike Plan. It is described as "an actual plan that the Navy and the Air Force translate into strike package for their submarines and bombers,'

CONPLAN 8022 is 'the overall umbrella plan for sort of the pre-planned strategic scenarios involving nuclear weapons.'

'It's specifically focused on these new types of threats -- Iran, North Korea -- proliferators and potentially terrorists too,' he said. 'There's nothing that says that they can't use CONPLAN 8022 in limited scenarios against Russian and Chinese targets.' (According to Hans Kristensen, of the Nuclear Information Project, quoted in Japanese economic News Wire, op cit)

The use of tactical nuclear weapons is contemplated under CONPLAN 8022 alongside conventional weapons, as part of the Bush administration's preemptive war doctrine. In May 2004, National Security Presidential Directive NSPD 35 entitled Nuclear Weapons Deployment Authorization was issued. While its contents remains classified, the presumption is that NSPD 35 pertains to the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in the Middle East war theater in compliance with CONPLAN 8022.

(For further details on the US nuclear option, see Michel Chossudovsky, Nuclear War against Iran, January 2006, The Dangers of a Middle East Nuclear War, February 2006, Is the Bush Administration Planning a Nuclear Holocaust , February 2006)

Israel in a State of Readiness

War preparations in Israel have been ongoing since late 2004. The Israeli Air Force would attack Iran's nuclear facility at Bushehr using US as well Israeli produced bunker buster bombs. The attacks are slated to be carried out in three separate waves "with the radar and communications jamming protection being provided by U.S. Air Force AWACS and other U.S. aircraft in the area". (See W Madsen, http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/MAD410A.html

The bunker buster bombs can also be used to deliver tactical nuclear bombs. The B61-11 is the "nuclear version" of the "conventional" BLU 113. It can be delivered in much same way as the conventional bunker buster bomb. (See Michel Chossudovsky, http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO112C.html , see also http://www.thebulletin.org/article_n...ofn=jf03norris ) .

According to a recent report in the London's Sunday Times (7 January 2007): "Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear "bunker-busters", according to several Israeli military sources."

If Iran were to respond to US-Israeli attacks in the form of targeted strikes on US military facilities in the Iraq and the Gulf States, the war would escalate to the entire region, in which case the US could retaliate in the form of "pre-emptive" nuclear attacks on Iran using bunker buster tactical nuclear war heads.

The most likely scenario is that Iran, in the logic of its own military planning, would indeed respond to the US sponsored attacks as well as deploy ground forces inside occupied Iraq.

Naval Deployment

Three strike groups including the Stennis, the Eisenhower and the Nimitz are being deployed in the Persian Gulf. According to Gulf News, "The Stennis strike group... is now strengthening a high level of US Navy presence in the Gulf. The Stennis and the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, already in the region, will soon be joined by the carrier Nimitz. (Gulf News, 21 Feb 2007). According to British military sources, the US navy can put six carriers into battle at a month's notice.

Redeployment of US Troops

Confirmed by military sources, some 8500 of US troops are being redeployed from US military facilities in Germany and Italy to Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which border on Iran. One assumes that they are being dispatched to the Middle East war theater in the eventuality that the air strikes will lead into a ground war with Iran.

The Pentagon, contradicting its own statements, has dismissed as "ludicrous" the press reports that the US is planning an all out attack on Iran in the "near term".

Meanwhile, Iran has launched a three days war games entitled Eghtedar or Grandeur. These exercises which involve naval, air and ground forces are larger than those conducted last Summer. They are slated to take place in 16 out of Iran's 30 provinces. The stated objective is to establish a state of readiness to defend Iran in the eventuality of a US attack.

Complacency of Western Public Opinion

The complacency of Western public opinion (including the US anti-war movement) is disturbing. No concern has been expressed at the political level as to the likely consequences of these attacks, which could evolve towards a World War III scenario, with Russia and China siding with Iran.

With the exception of the Middle East, the war on Iran and the dangers of escalation are not considered "front page news." All of which contributes to the real possibility that the war could be carried out, leading to the unthinkable: a nuclear holocaust over a large part of the Middle East. It should be noted that a nuclear nighmare would occur even if nuclear weapons are not used. The bombing of Iran's nuclear facitlities using conventional weapons would contribute to unleashing a Chernobyl type disaster with extensive radioactive fallout.

Global Research Articles by Michel Chossudovsky http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.p...t icleId=4888
__________________
Got Jesus? It's hell without Him.
..............................................benny

American armada prepares to take on Iran
By Damien McElroy aboard USS Eisenhower
Last Updated: 3:34pm GMT 24/02/2007



Cheney steps up the rhetoric against Iran
Israel seeks all clear for Iran air strike
Con Coughlin: Ready for war
Vicki Woods: Iraq inquiry could stop Iran war
In pictures: On board the USS Eisenhower
Audio: Damien McElroy on the deck of the US flagship
It is four and a half acres of American power in the middle of the Arabian Sea but the influence of USS Dwight D Eisenhower stretches for hundreds of miles.


Crew on board the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower are on alert in the Arabian Sea

The aircraft carrier, backed by its sister vessel, a handful of destroyers and a shoal of support ships, has placed a maritime ring of steel around an increasingly unstable region.

While the Eisenhower is ostensibly assisting US operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is the looming threat of Iran that increasingly occupies its attention.

Recent tensions between America and Iran over Teheran's attempts to develop a nuclear weapon have raised the prospect of its third regional war in a decade.

The addition of a second aircraft carrier to its strike groups has fuelled the belief that America is gearing up for a fight with Iran. Not since the Iraq war in 2003 has America amassed so much fire power around the Gulf.

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As flagship of the Fifth Fleet, the Eisenhower welcomed the arrival of a second Nimitz class nuclear powered aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, and its accompanying destroyers on Tuesday.

Captain Dan Cloyd, the Eisenhower's commanding officer, compared the situation with the international tension of the Cold War.

"There was a time when we had two aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean," he told The Daily Telegraph. "The world changes and we adapt."

The quiet-spoken Capt Cloyd embraced the suggestion that the dual deployment is at the forefront of efforts to stop Iran getting a nuclear bomb, pointing out that his maritime assets have been tasked to quash any challenge to global security.

"Our presence here is an affirmation of our resolve in this area to engage with the nations of the region either where we share common goals or where we face challenges."

Every hour and fifteen minutes a handful of jets scream north across the ocean. The range of missions an aircraft carrier as big as the Eisenhower - it has more than 5,000 people onboard - can carry out is virtually limitless.




The Eisenhower is not only the flagship of the carrier group that protects The Gulf through which one-fifth of the world's oil is shipped. It has also helped overthrow a hard-line Islamic regime in Somalia during a stint off the Horn of Africa.

Its fighter jets now offer close support to Nato and US forces in Afghanistan.

Lieutenant Commander Matt Pothier returned yesterday from Afghanistan having delivered air support to British soldiers. He said: "Right now I have more opportunities than I've ever had to use weapons where we know there aren't any friendly people. In combat that's very rewarding."

In the carrier's Combat Direction Centre, Warrant Officer Michael Myers can spot anything untoward in a 256 mile radius from his radar screen. He can identify objects as small as wooden boats on the open sea and small aircraft in a swathe of countries from the Arabian peninsula to the northern shore of the Sea of Arabia.

Should Lieutenant Commander Craig Stapleton, the tactical operations officer, give the order, WO Myers can put up Hawkeye, an EP2 surveillance plane with massive radar capable of establishing American air traffic control across half a continent. "Those planes alone extend our radar horizon to a huge circle of the sky. I could see for 1,000 miles if I wanted to."

As it patrols the shipping lanes of the Strait of Hormuz, the Eisenhower ensures the safe passage of oil tankers. It also prevents the trading routes being used to transport materials that would help rogue nations build a nuclear weapon.

Capt Cloyd said: "Our maritime security mission is about denying the use of the seas to any potential spread of weapons of mass destruction."

Iran's belligerent posture has increased the challenges facing the Eisenhower since it deployed to the Middle East last October. Vice Admiral Patrick Walsh, the commander of the Fifth Fleet, issued a stark warning that Iran risks triggering an "accidental war" during aggressive military maneuvres.

During the Great Prophet 2 missile test in November, the Islamic Republic fired a Shabab missile into the six mile corridor of shipping lanes in the Straits of Hormuz. In such a constricted corridor, the results could have been disastrous.

With Teheran's real strategic intentions unclear, the US takes the threats it has made very seriously.

"They threaten to use oil as a weapon. They threaten to close the Strait of Hormuz," Adml Walsh said.

"And so it is the combination of the rhetoric, the tone, and the aggressive exercises in very constrained waters that gives us concern."

US commanders ascribe the increase in instability to increasingly aggressive actions by Teheran. For that reason the deployment of the carriers in the region is designed to intensify the pressure on Iran to step back from the brink.

"In the past year and a half it [Iran] has become much more strident, more vocal and in your face," said Walsh. "What concerns me is miscalculation."

Capt Cloyd said his personnel, 70 per cent of whom have never participated in a long term mission before, are aware that the workload could grow more intense before the deployment is over.

"We're aware of the environment and the need to respond to the environment so that we can protect regional security and stability.

We're aware of what other countries could do.

"We're busy but we would move to a higher tempo if need be."

Publishers wishing to reproduce photographs on this page should phone 44 (0) 207 931 2921 or email syndication@telegraph.co.uk

...........................................benny

A Web of Peace............................by herb peters
Traveling close to icebergs can be dangerous. That's because friendly looking icebergs can roll over at any time. When they roll, because most of their huge mass is hidden beneath a calm surface, the event can be surprising and violent. Well, our lull in the prophecy related news appears over. And once again, I'm scrambling to fit the new pieces.

While posting the links to this morning's news Read about it here I Here I Here I And here, I struggled for a way to describe what we're seeing. It's obvious that today many of the news reports coming from the Middle East and Europe are, in one fashion or another, related. But, figuring out exactly how they're related isn't always easy. The description that came to mind was, A Web of Peace. I think that's what we're seeing. And, I think Israel is the target.

All serious students of Bible prophecy should be standing up and taking notice. These Arab peace summits are unprecedented. So is Israel's desire for bringing about a permanent end to the Palestinian conflict. The interesting thing is, as far as many in the so-called "moderate" world community are concerned, the remaining stumbling blocks to finding lasting peace in the Middle East are religious in nature -- with the Hamas part of the new Palestinian government, and with powerful political elements within American. Perhaps that's one reason Jordan's King Abdulla II will soon be pitching the 2002 Arab Peace Plan before a joint session of the U.S. Congress Read about it here I And here.

Friends, I believe we are seeing the end-time prophecies being fulfilled before our eyes. And if so, this naturally brings up many important questions. Right now we'll only consider one: As we see the prophecies being fulfilled, how should we respond to those who are involved? I believe the Bible provides us a clear answer. From the cross, Jesus asked His Father to forgive His killers because they didn't know what they were doing (Luke 23:34). And Paul explains why. He says our enemy is not flesh and blood, but the spiritual powers of wickedness in heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). So, we believers today should see things no differently.

Yes, I believe we're seeing a web of peace -- false peace -- being spun around Israel, just like the Bible so long ago foretold. If so, it won't be long now until all the final events of Bible prophecy will happen. If by now you're not a believer, your odds of experiencing eternal life are growing slimmer by the moment. When Jesus appears, our time of grace will be over; the friendly iceberg will suddenly roll.

And unbelief and ignorance will be no excuse.

...............................................benny

Feb. 25, 2007 19:30 | Updated Feb. 25, 2007 23:48
Olmert tells defense heads to prepare for war with Syria
By YAAKOV KATZ



Talkbacks for this article: 18

While chances for all-out war with Syria in 2007 are deemed low by Israel's top intelligence officials, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert instructed the defense establishment on Sunday to prepare for the possibility.

The cabinet heard intelligence assessments from the Mossad, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), Military Intelligence, the National Security Council and the Foreign Ministry.

Military Intelligence chief Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin opened the briefing and told the ministers that "Israel is surrounded by negative processes... that create more instability in the Middle East than in the past."

Yadlin and Mossad head Meir Dagan agreed that the chances for war with Syria are low, but they differed concerning the sincerity of Damascus's calls for peace talks.

Yadlin said the chances that Syria would initiate an all-out conventional war "like the Yom Kippur and Six Day Wars" was low, although it was likely that President Bashar Assad would respond aggressively to any Israeli action along the border.

In June, IAF warplanes buzzed Assad's summer home to convey a message to Syria to use its influence with Hamas to release captive IDF Cpl. Gilad Schalit. The overflight prompted no reaction from Syria, but intelligence officials told the cabinet Sunday that if such a flight was made now, it would be met with an aggressive Syrian response.

"The chances for a full-scale Syrian-initiated war are low," Yadlin told the ministers. "The chances are high, however, that Syria would respond militarily to Israeli acts."

Dagan agreed, saying in his briefing he did not believe Israel would go to war in 2007. He supported the IDF's forecast that while Syria would not initiate a war, it would respond to Israel operations. He refrained from elaborating, but officials said that war could erupt in response to a renewed conflict with Hizbullah or to IDF action in Syria.

"I want us to be ready, even in the areas where the probability for a conflict are low," Olmert told the ministers, adding that in the next few weeks, he plans to begin a series of security consultations on practical conclusions drawn from the annual intelligence assessment.

Military Intelligence warned the global Jihad movement saw Israel as a target, and that Sunni-Shi'ite tensions could spread throughout the region.

While discounting chances of an all-out Middle East war, Mossad officials warned that a premature US pullout from Iraq could trigger chaos there and throughout the region.

The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said a Palestinian unity government would not end the friction between the Hamas and Fatah. The agency said there was also no chance that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas would rein in terrorist organizations like Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

The Foreign Ministry representatives warned that Islamic radicals were trying to inflame the Arab world, and this could trigger violence in the region. The US was trying to correct an image of weakness, brought about by its failure in Iraq, by promoting Arab moderates, while Russia was trying to re-establish its influence in the region, they said.

Military Intelligence and the Mossad accused Iran of leading an axis of evil in the Middle East and of aiding anti-Israel terrorist groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hizbullah.

Olmert said the Islamic Republic was further than it claimed from crossing the nuclear technological threshold but "closer to it than Israel would prefer."

.............................................benny

WAR - Russia warns U.S. on Iran moves

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

February 21, 2007
Russia warns U.S. on Iran moves
Russia's foreign minister Wednesday warned the United States not to take military action against Iran.

"The Russian foreign minister said Wednesday U.S.-led multinational foreign forces in Iraq must not conduct military operations outside the country, including against Iran," the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

"The multinational force in Iraq should abide strictly by the UN Security Council's mandate, which does not provide for any operations outside the country," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Lebanese magazine Al-Watan Al-Arabi in an interview.

"The escalation of the conflict and its possible spread beyond the Iraqi borders will inevitably result in catastrophic consequences and not for the Middle East alone," Lavrov said according to the report. "I believe Washington understands this."

Lavrov told Al-Watan Al-Arabi that a timetable needed to be drawn up for the coordinated and gradual evacuation of all foreign military forces from Iraq. He said that was essential to bring stability to the troubled Middle eastern nation.

"But at the same time we believe that U.S. Army detachments and their coalition allies should not leave Iraq tomorrow," Lavrov said.

Lavrov also said that Iraq's own police, army and other security forces needed to be increased in size and strength to prepare for the pull out of U.S. and other forces.

"The long-standing confrontation between the U.S. and Iran deteriorated further Jan. 11 when American servicemen burst into Iran's mission in Erbil (Kurdistan) and detained five officials. American troops disarmed guards and confiscated computers and documents without providing any explanation," RIA Novosti noted.

The Russian news agency also noted that "earlier this month the United States accused Iran of backing the insurgency and unrest in Iraq, and suspects the Islamic Republic of pursuing a secret nuclear weapons program."

link
..............................................benny

ALERT - Devastating response' if Iran nukes attacked-Terrs getting instructions from Tehran

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Devastating response' if Iran nukes attacked

Terrorists say Tehran providing instructions in case U.S., Israel strike atomic facilities

Posted: February 26, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

JERUSALEM – Iran is anticipating a U.S. or Israeli military strike on its nuclear facilities and has been providing Palestinian terrorists and other regional allies with contingency plans for attacks against the Jewish state and American regional interests in the event of war, according to Palestinian terrorist leaders.

A senior leader of the Islamic Jihad terror group, which Israel says is backed by Iran, told WND Tehran is expecting to be attacked, but he didn't provide a time frame in which Iran anticipates a strike.

He claimed during any attack his organization has been directed by Iran to "wreck havoc" on Israel with suicide bombings, rocket attacks and "special surprises." He said rocket attacks would be launched from both the Gaza Strip and from the West Bank, which borders Jerusalem.

He threatened his terror group will target American interests in the Middle East whether any purported strike against Tehran is carried out by Israel or the U.S.

"The Zionists and the Americans are coordinated 100 percent. It doesn't matter who attacks Iran, we are planning to hit them both," said the Islamic Jihad leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he said the topic was "very sensitive."

He said overall Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shallah has been coordinating war plans with Iran, Syria and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah Lebanese militia. Shallah resides in Damascus and travels frequently to Tehran.

Abu Ahmed, the northern West Bank chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror organization, told WND all major Palestinian militant organizations are preparing to work together in the event Iran is attacked.

"Our strategy is not to leave the Islamic alliance (Iran) alone against the enemy. All Palestinian organizations will work together in shooting rockets, suicide bomb attacks and other steps and actions decided closely."

The Brigades is the declared military wing of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party. Together with Islamic Jihad, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades has taken responsibility for every suicide bombing in Israel the last two years, including a bombing last month in Eilat and an attack in Tel Aviv last April that killed eight Israelis and American teenager Daniel Wultz.

Israel says major Brigades cells in the Gaza Strip and West Bank receive Iranian funding through contacts with Hezbollah.

Abu Ahmed said in his terror group's estimation Iran will indeed be attacked.

"It's not a question of if, but when. The campaign now in the American media is just like the campaign before the invasion of Iraq," he charged.

A senior leader of the Popular Resistance Committees terror group, speaking on condition of anonymity, told WND his group has also been preparing for what he called "the upcoming war."

The Committees is a coalition of terror organizations operating in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank responsible for hundreds of anti-Israel rocket and shooting attacks. It is accused of bombing a U.S. convoy in Gaza in 2003 in which three American government contractors were killed.

"We are preparing the tomb that Allah is digging for the Zionists and Americans," said the Committees leader.

He claimed during any U.S. or Israeli military strike against Tehran, a response will be directed against Israel and American interests by Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Palestinian terrorists.

"The war will be a war on more than one front. It will be everybody against everybody. Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and the Palestinian organizations will work together. War with Iran is coming and it means the Middle East will not remain the same after it," the Committees leader said.

Syria and Iran signed a military agreement in which either will respond if the other is attacked.

Israeli security officials told WND Israel is not currently planning to strike Iran. Speaking theoretically, they said if any war breaks out involving Iran, they expect Syria, Hezbollah and Palestinian terrorists to join the fray and attack Israel.

The security officials said the greatest threat Syria poses to the