Proposed Syrian WMD compromise could serve as template for Iran

Syria’s readiness to consider relinquishing its stockpiles of chemical weapons in hopes of evading punitive strikes by the US military should serve as a template for the international community’s strategy in confronting a nuclear-driven Iran, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.

Israeli officials are closely monitoring the latest diplomatic developments on the Syrian front, according to Israel Radio.

Officials in Jerusalem told Israel Radio on Tuesday that while they were skeptical of Syria’s willingness to hand over its chemical weapons stockpile in hopes of warding off a US military assault, the very proposal is proof that a real, credible military threat “gets the job done.”

“When the Americans deploy their warships in the Mediterranean, the Syrians get scared and say they are ready to consider placing their arsenal of unconventional weapons under international inspection, and perhaps even giving up those weapons altogether,” a source told Israel Radio.

“Iran, too, will change its approach on the issue of its nuclear program if there will be a real, credible threat against it,” the source said.

Washington, however, appears to be holding out hope that it can solve the Iranian impasse through diplomacy. US President Barack Obama is eager to “turn a new page” in his government’s relations with Iran and its newly installed president, Hassan Rouhani, it was revealed on Tuesday.

According to the London-based pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat, Obama communicated his message to the Tehran regime through an emissary, the ruler of Oman, Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said.

Washington has called on Iran to move beyond rhetoric take practical steps which demonstrate its willingness to improve ties with the West, according to Al-Hayat.

Rouhani vowed that Tehran “will not give up one iota” of its nuclear rights, the Mehr news agency reported on Tuesday.

Rouhani reportedly made the remarks to a group of clerics in Iran.

"Our government will not give up one iota of its absolute rights" on the nuclear issue, Rouhani said.

Last week, the United States voiced disappointment that Iran's new president has not moved more swiftly to allay international concerns about the country's atomic program, saying Tehran is undermining hopes of ending its nuclear standoff with the West.

Rouhani said on Thursday the foreign ministry would take over talks with world powers on Iran's contested nuclear program, an apparent move to smooth the diplomatic process after years of control by conservative Iranian hardliners.

However, US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power did not sound impressed with Rouhani's initial steps on Iran's nuclear program, which Western powers suspect is aimed at developing the capability to produce atomic weapons - a charge Tehran vehemently denies.

"Like others here, the United States hopes that the inauguration of President Rouhani creates an opportunity for Iran to act quickly to resolve the international community's serious concerns about Iran's nuclear intentions," Power told a meeting of the 15-nation Security Council on Iran sanctions.

"Unfortunately, we have not yet seen any clear signs that Iran is committed to addressing the most pressing concerns about its nuclear program," Power said. "To the contrary, recent developments trouble us."

Last week, the UN nuclear watchdog said Iran plans to test about 1,000 advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges it has completed installing.

"Rather than take steps to meet the obligations imposed by this Security Council, Iran is installing advanced centrifuges, which may be two to three times more efficient at enriching uranium than its current centrifuges," Power said.

Iran has been hit with four rounds of UN sanctions for refusing to halt its nuclear enrichment program and other sensitive activities.

Reuters contributed to this story.

credit Jerusalem Post

Russia to sell Iran anti-aircraft system, nuclear reactor

Kremlin sources have reportedly confirmed that Russia will supply Iran with five state-of-the-art S-300 anti-aircraft missile batteries and a new nuclear reactor in Bushehr.

After calling off a transfer of five S-300 missile batteries to Iran three years ago, Russia is now interested in renewing the agreement and in setting up a civilian nuclear reactor for its long-time ally as part of a deal worth $800 million, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported Wednesday.

The two countries initially signed the S-300 missile system deal in 2007, but it was called off three years later as part of UN Security Council sanctions against the Islamic Republic. The cancellation of the agreement led to tensions between the two countries, including a $4 billion Iranian lawsuit against Russia.

Israel and the West have expressed concern in the past over Iran obtaining the state-of-the-art anti-aircraft missiles, as they could severely affect the outcome of an airstrike against Iran’s nuclear reactors.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet Friday with Iranian President Hasan Rouhani in Kazakhstan, where the two leaders are expected to discuss the deal in further detail, the report said.

Rouhani on Tuesday stated that his country “will not give up one iota” of its nuclear program, despite recent hopes that the new president, widely considered a relative moderate, would cooperate with United Nations inspectors on his country’s nuclear facilities.

Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon speculated in June that Russia would deliver the the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system to Syria in 2014.

The sale of Russian missiles to the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad was a hot topic earlier this year. Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in May in an attempt to dissuade him from going ahead with the deal, reportedly indicating that Israel would destroy Syrian S-300 missiles before they became fully operational.

Israeli media had earlier reported that Netanyahu warned Putin of a descent into war should Russia make the delivery. Netanyahu said that if acquired by Assad, the S-300 “is likely to draw us into a response, and could send the region deteriorating into war,” Channel 2 reported in the immediate aftermath of the meeting.

Aside from the unique strategic capacities that the S-300 air-defense missiles would afford Syria, putting planes taking off from central Israel and its main international airport within the missiles’ range, Jerusalem also fears that the system could fall into the hands of terror groups like Hezbollah.

Some experts say that Putin has thus far been loath to supply the S-300 system to Iran or Syria for fear that Israel’s advanced radar-scrambling abilities could beat the system in a future airstrike, thus deterring other potential buyers.

On Wednesday, a senior Russian lawmaker said that Russia could expand arms sales to Iran and revise the terms of US military transit to Afghanistan if Washington launched a strike on Syria.

Alexei Pushkov, the Kremlin-connected chief of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of parliament, told lawmakers that Russia hoped the US would back Russia’s proposal for Syria to put its chemical weapons under international control for their subsequent dismantling.

During Wednesday’s debate of a draft resolution on Syria, Communists called for an increase in Russian weapons supplies to Iran and a revision of conditions for transit via Russia of supplies for US forces in Afghanistan.

Pushkov said action now would be premature, but warned that if the “party of war” prevails in Washington, Russia should consider those moves.

Asher Zeiger contributed to this report.

Credit Times of Israel

Border Patrol wants 40,000 rounds of .308 Hornady ammo for its top marksmen

By: Jacob Goodwin




To arm the precision marksmen who are part of the U.S. Border Patrol Tactical Unit’s precision marksman/observer program, CBP plans to procure 40,000 rounds of .308 Hornady 168 grain, A-MAX Tactical Application Police ammunition.

“The PM/O has the ability to engage threats that cannot be successfully or tactically engaged by other Border Patrol or law enforcement personnel,” says the CBP’s solicitation, which was issued on September 6.

The Border Patrol Tactical Unit, nicknamed BORTAC, maintains a precision marksman program that is loosely modeled after the U.S. Marine Corps’ scout/sniper program for specialized federal law enforcement missions.

“A PM/O is a specially selected, equipped, and highly-trained certified marksman who uses his training and equipment to obtain a tactical position to provide real-time information to other elements of the team,” explains the solicitation.

CBP intends to purchase 40 cases of ammunition -- containing a total of 40,000 rounds -- produced by the Hornady Manufacturing Company, of Grand Island, NE.

“Hornady Manufacturing Company’s .30 caliber .308 inch, 168 grain A-MAX TAP ammunition is engineered specifically for law enforcement agencies to combat the dangers of over-penetration while still providing the ballistic performance needed to meet mission requirements,” said CBP.

“Superformance Match Ammunition achieves muzzle velocities of 100 - 200 fps faster than any conventional ammunition,” says Hornady on its own Web site. “Amazing ammunition performance starts with outstanding bullets, and Hornady AMAX and Boattail Hollow Point Match bullets, now featuring revolutionary new AMP (Advanced Manufacturing Process) bullet jackets, raise the standard.”

“Topped with the finest bullets, Superformance Match ammunition marries the very best cartridge cases with extremely stable propellants that are custom blended for each individual load to provide true ammunition performance enhancement,” the company continues. “Highpower competitors, as well as law enforcement and military shooters and snipers will all benefit from the Superformance Match advantage -- higher muzzle velocity, phenomenal accuracy, increased range and reduced wind drift.”

CBP announced that it wants to execute this procurement as a small business set-aside contract. It requires prospective vendors to submit their proposals by September 12.

Credit GSN

Syria will become Afghanistan if we don’t act now, says Kerry

Syria will become Afghanistan if the United States doesn’t help rebels defeat Bashar Assad, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday during a Google+ Hangout session.

If America doesn’t strike, he said, “the greatest likelihood is: that Syria implodes, that the institutions of the state crash, that Syria breaks up,” creating “ungoverned free open spaces” where radical organizations “which are far worse, incidentally, than al-Qaeda” will start operating. When this happens, America will be forced to go to war in any case, “for the simple reason that they have already announced that they want to attack the US and the West.”

Kerry reiterated that while a military strike did not preclude a diplomatic solution, a diplomatic solution would not be possible without a strike – because as long as Assad saw himself as invincible, he would not agree to enter negotiations over a transitional government.

“Sometimes wars have started later because people didn’t do things that might’ve prevented them earlier. We believe this is a moment where not sending this message now could in fact present us with much greater dangers at a later point in time,” he said.

Therefore, for Washington, not striking would mean “willfully allowing ourselves to create a new Afghanistan, where al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden attacked us originally.”

Kerry said Moscow and Washington were trying to work together to organize a Geneva II conference, where a follow-up transition government would be decided upon.

“Right now, the problem has been that Assad thinks he’s winning and has no desire to come to negotiate,” Kerry explained. “So we are intending to upgrade the support to the opposition to try to help the opposition change the situation on the ground. We don’t believe there’s a military solution here, ultimately people are going to have to negotiate with each other, and we are doing everything in our power to push them in that direction.”

As he had been during his Congress address earlier Tuesday, Kerry remained adamant that no American boots would touch Syrian soil, “not today, not ever in the future.”

What America was prepared to do and was already doing, he said, was support the military opposition in Syria. Washington wasn’t the only one shouldering the cost of transferring arms and humanitarian supplies to the fighters – the Gulf states were ready to support the cost as well, meaning that US President Barack Obama’s plans weren’t “a huge threat to America’s treasure or treasure, young Americans.”

Kerry stressed that the case of Syria differed from that of Iraq or Afghanistan in that the US possessed strong intelligence and clear indications of Assad’s complicity in the August 21 chemical attack – knowledge Hezbollah, Iran and Russia were all privy to, but did not think it warranted outside involvement in the Syrian conflict.

“This is not Iraq, this is not Afghanistan, the intelligence is there for everyone to see,” Kerry said, referring viewers to the declassified report on the White House’s official website.

Kerry, who had spoken to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov just before the start of the online conference, said his Russian counterpart had “some interesting observations” on how Assad’s chemical arsenal could be secure.

“He is sending those to us. They’ll be coming in formally during the course of the day. We’ll have an opportunity to review them.”

“If we can, in fact, secure all of the chemical weapons in Syria through this method, clearly that’s by far the most preferable way, and would be a very significant achievement,” he said, but added that he wasn’t so confident it could be done quickly enough to suit Obama.

“For better or worse, the fact that Assad has been running a highly controlled and very hierarchical process has forced them to contain all of these weapons in the regime-controlled areas. As a result, it is our argument that they, therefore, can control access to these sites, and so we believe that they need to show us an entirely verifiable, completely accountable and ongoing verifiable process by which we know we have all of the weapons, access to any sites in question, unlimited access, investigation, verifiability – this cannot be a game, and that we have made very, very clear to the Russians,” he said.

“So far there are indications we will at least be able to have a serious conversation, whether we can meet what is necessary for president Obama to make the judgment that the objectives are being accomplished – we’ll just have to see,” he concluded, adding that a Security Council resolution would be necessary in order to monitor Syria’s chemical weapons caches.

“It also has to have consequences if games are played or if somebody tries to undermine this,” Kerry went on to warn. “I believe it is preferable to sending a message by use of force, which in the end wouldn’t in fact contain all of the weapons. So hopefully we can make it work, and this is something we’ve been discussing for some period of time, and my hope is with good faith it could be brought to fruition – but I don’t want raise expectations, because there are some big hurdles in terms of the verifiability and implementation that we have to cross.”

When asked why the US had decided to act only when the death toll in the Syrian civil war had crossed the six-figure threshold, Kerry replied that before the sarin gas incident which the US says killed over 1,400 Syrian civilians, there had not been sufficient proof that Assad was committing war crimes to justify a strike.

“We have consistently spoken out against Assad’s slaughter of his own people using Scud missiles, using airplanes against civilians, dropping napalm on children in schools – these are war crimes by almost any standard,” saidKerry. “But there hasn’t been a will in the global community, let alone in our own country, to get involved in Syria’s civil war.”

Once the line was crossed in August, Obama decided to support Assad’s military foes, but without direct American involvement.

“That’s was the straw that broke the camel’s back and the president decided that it needed a response from the world, because chemical weapons were suddenly being used as a tactical weapon in a civil war and any use of chemical weapons is unacceptable.”

Kerry said the justifications for US involvement ranged from “a moral imperative” to strategic, practical and military objectives which would be achieved by sending Assad “a message that his capacity to wage war could be affected if he continues to use these prohibited, outlawed, and outrageous weapons.”

The US secretary of state said the goings-on in Syria affected Americans and their security directly, because Assad’s tactical use of chemical weapons despite a century-long prohibition could threaten US soldiers in the future.

Assad’s actions also threatened US allies in the region, namely Jordan, Israel and Turkey.

“We believe that if we don’t stand up now … we can see those weapons used by terrorists,” Kerry said. This would not only “make the region more unstable than it is today,” but even “threaten us directly here at home.”

Asked whether US support wouldn’t empower the more radical, al-Qaeda-affiliated groups fighting Assad, Kerry said only the moderate opposition, which was more numerous than the Islamist groups, was being supported and groomed as “a barrier, a bulwark, against the very bad elements that are out there that do want to attack the United States.”

While the radical elements have “proven themselves to be the best fighters” and are probably the most trained and aggressive on the ground, he said, Washington and its allies have “put down a firm barrier between the assistance that goes to the moderate opposition and anything to those groups.”

Most experts and leaders in the region, added Kerry, believe that if you can hold Syria together as a country, put a transitional government in place and allow and the Syrian people choose their future, they will expel and stand up against these other groups.

“They will not have any standing, except by force, and they will be handled by the vast majority of Syrians who want a secular country in which minorities are protected,” Kerry said.

In a final bid to convince Americans to support Obama’s plan, Kerry added that Assad’s choice of allies proved he was a far from benign force.

“What does it mean to you that the principal supporters of Assad are Hezbollah, a terrorist organization and a client of Iran, with whom we are in a big struggle to prevent them from getting weapons of mass destruction, specifically nuclear weapons?” Kerry asked.

“We’re dealing, on the other hand, with Britain, France, Germany, Italy, countless other countries in the region, the neighborhood, Turkey, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the Jordanians – [which] are all struggling with the problem of what Assad is wreaking on their region,” he said.

The times of Israel

Intelligence insider speaks on the record about false flags & government lies

By Douglas J. Hagmann

10 September 2013: Our nation and all of humanity stands at a critical crossroads in history, with Syria as the epicenter of a looming global conflict that will leave no one untouched. Despite a nearly unanimous consensus of the American people against military action in Syria, elements of our government are determined to override the will of the people and push us headlong into war in Syria, which will lead to a much greater conflagration than most are willing to believe or imagine.  

As I have extensively written over the last 12 months, we are being pushed into World War III. This war, like others in the past, is based on lies and “false flag” operations, some of which have occurred, some thwarted, and others that loom just over the horizon.

Regular readers of my columns and listeners to my talk show know that the information I’ve provided about Syria and Benghazi has not only been proven accurate, but provided months in advance of the reports by the corporate media and even most conservative talk show hosts. 

I mention this not for self-aggrandizement, but to validate the credibility and authenticity of my “intelligence insider” who has provided me with this information. He has been extremely accurate on every aspect of what is taking place behind the veil of lies packaged for Western consumption. For the first time ever, this insider has agreed to speak on the record in an exclusive 90-minute interview about what is really taking place behind the curtain of lies and deception.

Despite the risks, he has agreed to lend his voice to the growing opposition to the madness we see taking place at the highest levels of our government, and tell us exactly what appears to be playing out in real-time. The Western-backed uprising in Syria has claimed the lives of around 150,000 men, women and children, and displaced some five million people. If permitted to continue, some estimate the deaths of four million people in Syria alone, with death spread on a wholesale level across the globe. And it’s being done in your name.

The information you will hear in this interview will forever change the way you look at the world today. This source talks explicitly about the incident at the Dyess Air Force Base involving the reported unauthorized shipment of nuclear warheads from that base. The incident at Dyess was broken exclusively by Anthony Gucciardi & Alex Jones of Infowars last Tuesday, on the same day that war hawk Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) made a speech citing the need for the U.S. to attack Syria. During that speech, Graham made the extraordinary and almost surreal statement that failure by the U.S. to intervene could result in nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists, and that “could result in a [nuclear] bomb coming to Charleston Harbor.” Coincidence?

Consider the incident at Dyess with the details provided by this insider about a little-known incident that took place on Friday, March 8, 1968 involving a rogue Golf II Russian submarine with nuclear missile capabilities and a failed launch against an American city – a false flag event that could have forever changed the course of human history. Never heard of it? Or if you did hear about it, was it the truth?

We have rogue elements within and outside of our government pushing for war. The time clock is running down, and we must wake up, wake others up and take a stand.

This insider did, putting himself and his identity at risk. Why? Because we’re running out of time to stop this madness.

Please listen to this incredible interview below. (NOTE: If the Sound Cloud box does not appear in your browser, please CLICK HERE for the interview). Meanwhile, please spread it to others so we can collectively stand up against the rogue elements who are intent on exporting death at wholesale levels in your name. In our name. For the sake of all of humanity, it must be stopped.

Credit The Hagmann and Hagmann Report

The Law of Redemption

Iran says wont budge on Nuclear program, demands respect from West

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani took a hard-line position on the nuclear issue Tuesday.

“Our government will not give up one iota of its absolute rights,” Rouhani said, ahead of a new round of talks between Iran and the IAEA set for September 27.

The Iranian leader’s statement, reported byAFP, casts a pallor on prospects for a negotiated settlement to the dispute over suspicions the Islamic Republic is in the process of developing nuclear weapons.

Rouhani took office last month, and his election led some to believe that compared to his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a more moderate policy would be pursued.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif plans on holding a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in New York on the sidelines of the upcoming UN General Assembly meeting on September 22.

Iraq Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussain al-Shahristani said in a meeting with Zarif earlier this week that his country was ready to help Iran develop its nuclear program, the Iranian Students’ News Agency reported on Tuesday.

Iraq’s Shi’ite leadership has long been suspected of being close to Iran.

The two men also discussed energy cooperation and the talks between Iran and the West over the country’s nuclear program.

The Student’s News Agency also quoted Zarif as saying that Iran and the US have exchanged messages on Syria.

“The West must understand that it will not achieve success through sanctions and pressures against the Iranian nation…. If the West uses the language of logic, reason and mutual interests on an equal footing, the Iranian administration is also ready to respond in the language of wisdom, prudence and logic,” Rouhani said, according to the Iranian Fars News Agency.

He also warned that an attack would cause the attackers great suffering.

“Our entire efforts have been focused on preventing war, and this idea has gained momentum this week thanks to efforts and initiatives of some countries. We hope there will be no war, but if there was one, the warmongers would have to pay dearly for it,”he said, according to the Iranian Tasnim News Agency.

A senior Iranian cleric, Ayatollah Seyet Hashem Hosseini Bushehri, told Tasnim on Tuesday that wars are easy to start but difficult to end.

“It is easy to start a war. All it needs is to fire a couple of missiles. But continuing with it and bringing it to an end are very difficult issues,” he said.

He added that an attack could spread insecurity throughout the region and put “the bases of the US and its allies in harm’s way.”

The possibility of a deal that would avert a US-led attack against Syria has led to Iranian boasting and credit-taking.

Hojjatollah Souri, an Iranian lawmaker and a member of the important National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said on Tuesday that Iran’s military power deterred a US attack.

“One of the elements which has made the US dubious about its decision for attacking Syria is Iran’s military assistance to the resistance line,” he said, according to Fars.

“Certainly, the Islamic Republic’s military equipment is as good as the foreign states’ weapons and sometimes outpaces them, and this progress will definitely increase security in our country and the region,” explained Hojjatollah.

Another lawmaker, Muhammad Javad Karimi Qoddousi, a fellow member of the commission, similarly told Fars on Saturday that Iran was responsible for the delay in the US attack.

“We have studied the most important cause of the delay in the US attack on Syria and understood that the revolutionary and effective positions taken by the Islamic Republic [and] of Iran’s officials have caused the delay,” he said.

Iran supports Russia’s offer to work with Syria to put its chemical weapons under international control, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

US President Barack Obama said on Monday he saw a possible breakthrough in the crisis with Syria after Moscow proposed that its ally hand over chemical weapons for destruction, offering a path that averts US military strikes. Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government has welcomed the Russian proposal.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran favors that initiative, and we find this to be within the framework of putting a halt to militarism in the region,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham told a news conference carried live on state television.

Iran has staunchly supported Assad against rebels seeking to oust him, and has said the rebels, whom it calls “terrorists,” were responsible for the chemical attack.

Afkham said any action on chemical weapons should ensure they are not available to the rebels.

“There are concerns regarding possession of an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in the hands of terrorists,” Afkham said. “We think that any kind of initiative should actually cover terrorists.”

Syria has also signed “major contracts” with Iran that would cover its needs for food, medical and other supplies, state television said on Tuesday.

A protracted civil war has left Syria divided and displaced millions of people. The country has struggled to buy food in recent weeks, issuing tenders to buy sugar, flour, rice and wheat, citing extreme urgency yet failing to make any purchases.

Credit Jerusalem Post