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US
- 
Iran
- 
Foreign
- 
Terrorism
- 
Military
- 
Government
- 
Religious
- 
History
- 
Nuclear
- "U.S.
Weighing Terrorist Label for Iran Guards." ... "The
[Republican President] Bush administration is preparing to declare that
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps is a foreign terrorist organization, senior
administration officials said Tuesday." ... "If imposed, the declaration
would signal a more confrontational turn in the administration’s approach
to Iran and would be the first time that the United States has added the
armed forces of any sovereign government to its list of terrorist organizations."
... "The Revolutionary Guard is thought to be the largest branch of Iran’s
military. While the United States has long labeled Iran as a state sponsor
of terrorism, a decision to single out the guard would amount to an aggressive
new challenge from an American administration that has recently seemed
conflicted over whether to take a harder line against Tehran [Iran's capital]
over its nuclear program and what American officials have called its destabilizing
role in Iraq." ... "The United States government has not made a public
estimate about the size of the Revolutionary Guard, an organization that
dates to the Islamic revolution of 1979 and whose branches are believed
to extend widely throughout the Iranian military. An estimate by GlobalSecurity.org,
a research group based in Alexandria, Va., puts the total guard forces
at 125,000." (1, 2)
-By Helene Cooper with contributions by Thom Shanker
and David Rohde -NYTimes
US
- 
Pakistan
- Military
- 
Intelligence
- 
Politics
- "Sources:
U.S. assessing Pakistan nukes if Musharraf falls."
... "U.S. military intelligence officials are urgently assessing how secure
Pakistan's nuclear weapons would be in the event President Gen. Pervez
Musharraf were replaced as the nation's leader, CNN has learned." ... "Key
questions in the assessment include who would control Pakistan's nuclear
weapons after a shift in power." ... "Three U.S. sources have independently
confirmed details of the intelligence review to CNN but would not allow
their names to be used because of the sensitivity of the matter." ... "The
sources include military officers and intelligence community analysts."
... "The assessment is part of a broader review of the military and security
situation in Pakistan." ... "Officials say that Pakistan and its nuclear
weapons are always a high intelligence priority for the United States."
-CNN
US
- 
India
- 
Energy
- Military
- 
Technology
- Politics
- History
- 
UN
- 
Law
- "U.S.,
India reach deal on nuclear technology." ... "The
United States and India announced Friday a landmark deal on nuclear cooperation
for civil purposes that they said will benefit both countries and strengthen
international non-proliferation efforts." ... "But the deal is drawing
criticism as being too conciliatory to India and opening the way to the
spread of nuclear weapons." ... "Several steps need to be taken before
the agreement can be implemented. India must negotiate an inspection regime
with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency,
and gain approval from the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group." ... "The
U.S. Congress must also review the deal. Many lawmakers and non-proliferation
experts have voiced concern about what they see as U.S. concessions to
New Delhi. In particular, the United States has agreed to ensure continued
delivery of nuclear fuel to India even if it tests a nuclear weapon and
the United States suspends cooperation, as required by law." ... "U.S.
officials said that a further Indian nuclear test is unlikely, although
the Indian government has maintained its right to test nuclear weapons
and the deal does not place India's considerable nuclear weapons arsenal
under international monitoring." -By Elise Labott
-CNN
Environmental
- Safety
- Secrecy
- 
Business
- Law
- 
Tenn
- "Secrecy
Shrouds Accident at Nuclear Plant." ... "A factory
that makes uranium fuel for nuclear reactors had a spill so bad that it
kept the plant closed for seven months last year and became one of only
three incidents in all of 2006 serious enough for the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission to include in an annual report to Congress. After an investigation,
the commission changed the terms of the factory’s license and said that
the public had 20 days to request a hearing on the changes." ... "But no
member of the public ever did. In fact, no member of the public could find
out about the changes. The document describing them, including the notice
of hearing rights for anyone who felt adversely affected, was stamped “official
use only,” meaning that it was not publicly accessible. “Official use only”
is a category below “Secret” and, while documents in that category are
not technically classified, they are kept from the public." ... "The agency
would not even have told Congress which factory was involved were it not
for the efforts of one of the five commissioners, Gregory B. Jaczko, who
named the company, Nuclear Fuel Services, of Erwin, Tenn., in a memo that
became part of the public record." -By Matthew L.
Wald -NYTimes
Russia
- US
- 
Poland
- 
Lithuania
- 
Czech
Republic - History
- 
Maine
- Politics
- Nuclear
- "Russians
threaten to counter US shield." ... "Russia could
site cruise missiles in Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave between Poland
and Lithuania, if the US goes ahead with plans for a missile defence shield
in central Europe, Russia’s first deputy prime minister warned on Wednesday."
... "The televised comments by Sergei Ivanov – a possible successor to
President Vladimir Putin – came two days after Mr Putin proposed using
a new radar station being built in southern Russia in place of a planned
US radar in the Czech Republic. The proposal was made during informal talks
with US [Republican] president George W. Bush in Kennebunkport, Maine."
... "Mr Putin warned last month that Moscow would once again target Europe
with nuclear missiles if the US shield went ahead." ... "Formerly the German-speaking
region of East Prussia, Kaliningrad became part of the Soviet Union after
1945. In the cold war it was a military base and closed to outsiders. After
the break-up of the USSR in 1991, Kaliningrad became an enclave cut off
from Russia." -By Neil Buckley in Moscow and Demetri
Sevastopulo -FT.com
Analysis
- Countries
- 
People
- Law
- Money
- Environment
- Religion
- Terrorism
- Nuclear
- Military
- Politics
- "The
Failed States Index 2007." ... "The world’s weakest
states aren’t just a danger to themselves. They can threaten the progress
and stability of countries half a world away." ... "The problems that plague
failing states are generally all too similar: rampant corruption, predatory
elites who have long monopolized power, an absence of the rule of law,
and severe ethnic or religious divisions." ... "For the second year in
a row, Sudan tops the rankings as the state most at risk of failure. The
primary cause of its instability, violence in the country’s western region
of Darfur, is as well known as it is tragic. At least 200,000 people—and
perhaps as many as 400,000—have been killed in the past four years by janjaweed
militias armed by the government, and 2 to 3 million people have fled their
torched villages for squalid camps as the violence has spilled into the
Central African Republic and Chad. These countries were hardly pictures
of stability prior to the influx of refugees and rebels across their borders;
the Central African Republic plays host to a modern-day slave trade, and
rebels attacked Chad’s capital in April 2006 in a failed coup attempt.
But the spillover effects from Sudan have a great deal to do with the countries’
tumble in the rankings, demonstrating that the dangers of failing states
often bleed across borders. That is especially worrying for a few select
regions. This year, eight of the world’s 10 most vulnerable states are
in sub-Saharan Africa, up from six last year and seven in 2005." ... "That
is not to say that all failing states suffer from international neglect.
Iraq and Afghanistan, the two main fronts in the global war on terror,
both suffered over the past year. Their experiences show that billions
of dollars in development and security aid may be futile unless accompanied
by a functioning government, trustworthy leaders, and realistic plans to
keep the peace and develop the economy." ... "Today, two countries among
the world’s 15 most vulnerable, North Korea and Pakistan, are members of
the nuclear club. Their profiles could hardly be less similar: The former
faces the very real prospect of economic collapse, followed by massive
human flight, while the latter presides over a lawless frontier country
and a disenchanted Islamist opposition whose ranks grow by the day." (1
of 9)
Sudan
Iraq
Somalia
Zimbabwe
Chad
Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire)
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Afghanistan
Guinea
Central African Republic
Haiti
Pakistan
North Korea
Burma (Myanmar)
Uganda
Bangladesh
Nigeria
Ethiopia
Burundi
Timor-Leste (East Timor)
Russia
- 
Azerbaijan
- US
- Poland
- Iran
- Nuclear
- Military
- "Putin
surprises US with missile suggestion." ... "Vladimir
Putin sprang a diplomatic surprise yesterday in his dispute with America
over the siting of a US missile defence system in Europe, suggesting instead
that it could be placed in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan." ...
"The Russian leader, who raised the prospect of a new cold war with the
west in his hawkish speech on the eve of the summit, claimed he had already
secured the agreement of the Azerbaijani government to the proposal." ...
"The US proposal for a missile defence system, including interceptor and
radar, sited in the former Warsaw pact countries of Poland and the Czech
Republic, has prompted fury in Moscow [Russia's capital]. Mr Putin has
threatened to train his nuclear arsenal on Europe as a reprisal, as well
as withdraw from arms control treaties." ... "But yesterday Mr Putin said
he would drop his objections to Mr Bush's plan if the interceptors and
radar were in the former Soviet republic. He argued that a system based
in Azerbaijan would be more effective in combating missiles aimed at Europe
and the US by so-called rogue states such as Iran." - By
Patrick Wintour -Guardian.co.uk
Cheney
- 
Douglas
Feith
- US
- 
China
- 
Taiwan
- Iraq
- Intelligence
- Nuclear
- Military
- History
- Politics
- "Defense
Officials Tried to Reverse China Policy, Says Powell Aide."
... "The same top [Republican President] Bush administration neoconservatives
who leap-frogged Washington’s foreign policy establishment to topple Saddam
Hussein nearly pulled off a similar coup in U.S.-China relations—creating
the potential of a nuclear war over Taiwan, a top aide to former Secretary
of State Colin Powell says." ... "Lawrence B. Wilkerson, the U.S. Army
colonel who was Powell’s chief of staff through two administrations, said
in little-noted remarks early last month that “neocons” in the top rungs
of the administration quietly encouraged Taiwanese politicians to move
toward a declaration of independence from mainland China — an act that
the communist regime has repeatedly warned would provoke a military strike."
... "The top U.S. diplomat in Taiwan at the time, Douglas Paal [head of
the American Institute in Taiwan], backs up Wilkerson’s account, which
is being hotly disputed by key former defense officials." ... "With the
election of George W. Bush in 2000, some of Taiwan’s most fervent allies
were swept back into power in Washington, particularly at the Pentagon,
starting with Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld." ... "They included
such key architects of the Iraq War as Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy defense
secretary, Douglas Feith, the undersecretary for policy, and Steven Cambone,
Rumsfeld’s new intelligence chief, Wilkerson said. President Bush’s controversial
envoy to the United Nations, John Bolton, was another." ... "While Bush
publicly continued the one-China policy of his five White House predecessors,
Wilkerson said, the Pentagon “neocons” took a different tack, quietly encouraging
Taiwan’s pro-independence president, Chen Shui-bian." ... "“The Defense
Department, with Feith, Cambone, Wolfowitz [and] Rumsfeld, was dispatching
a person to Taiwan every week, essentially to tell the Taiwanese that the
alliance was back on,” Wilkerson said, referring to pre-1970s military
and diplomatic relations, “essentially to tell Chen Shui-bian, whose entire
power in Taiwan rested on the independence movement, that independence
was a good thing.”" ... "Wilkerson said Powell would then dispatch his
own envoy “right behind that guy, every time they sent somebody, to disabuse
the entire Taiwanese national security apparatus of what they’d been told
by the Defense Department.”" ... "“This went on,” he said of the pro-independence
efforts, “until George Bush weighed in and told Rumsfeld to cease and desist
[and] told him multiple times to re-establish military-to-military relations
with China.”" ... "[Wilkerson, responding to denials of his assertions]
“They are dangerous men who will lie about almost anyone or anything,”
Wilkerson angrily responded by e-mail, singling out Feith, [former Rumsfeld
spokesman Lawrence] DiRita, Cheney and Rumsfeld for scorn." ... "He called
back-stage encouragement of the Taiwanese “even more serious” than the
alleged manipulation of Iraq intelligence, because it could provoke China
to attack the island, triggering a U.S. response and the world’s first
nuclear shooting war." -By Jeff Stein
-CQ.com
US
- Russia
- Nuclear
- Technology
- "Russia
tests new rocket to beat missile defenses." ... "Russia
successfully test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday
featuring multiple warheads designed to overcome missile defense systems,
the defense Ministry said." ... ""The RS-24 intercontinental ballistic
missile will strengthen the military potential of Russia's strategic rocket
forces to overcome anti-missile defense systems and thereby strengthen
the potential nuclear deterrent of Russia's strategic nuclear forces,"
the Strategic Missile Forces command said in a statement." ... "Russian
military experts said the new missile launch formed part of a "highly effective
response" promised by President Vladimir Putin to a missile defense shield
which Washington aims to build in Europe to detect and shoot down hostile
missiles." ... "The new RS-24 missile can be armed with up to 10 different
warheads and is intended to replace Russia's earlier generation intercontinental
missiles such as the RS-18 and RS-20." (1, 2,
3)
-By Michael Stott -Reuters
Business
- Government
- 
Labor
- Politics
- Nuclear
- Environmental
- Safety
- Law
- 
Mich
- "U.S.
lets whistle-blowers lose jobs." ... "The federal
government is sanctioning agreements that cost whistle-blowers their jobs
after they expose safety and security lapses at nuclear facilities and
toxic waste sites, Labor Department records show." ... "Federal law requires
the department to safeguard whistle-blowers from reprisals and approve
settlements of their retaliation claims against private or federal employers.
Yet 45 of 73 settlements approved since 2000 involving whistle-blowers
who complained of environmental and nuclear safety problems included permanent
bans on working for the employer." ... "[Michigan Democratic Representative]
Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee,
said in a statement that the clauses amount to blacklisting, which is barred
under whistle-blower protection laws. He promised to investigate their
use: "It is especially troubling to now learn that our own Department of
Labor & is recklessly approving (employment bans) to the detriment
of individuals who had the audacity to report wrongdoing."" -By
Peter Eisler -USATODAY
Iran
- UN
- Military
- Technology
- Business
- Politics
- "Iran
Is Defiant, Vowing to U.N. It Will Continue Nuclear Efforts."
... "Iran on Sunday reacted defiantly to the United Nations Security Council
resolution imposing sanctions because of the country's nuclear program.
Iranian officials vowed to continue efforts to enrich uranium and warned
that the Security Council action would change Iran's relationship with
the United Nations nuclear monitoring agency." ... "The Security Council
voted unanimously on Saturday to impose sanctions on Iran banning the import
and export of materials and technology used in uranium enrichment, reprocessing
and ballistic missiles." ... "The Security Council on Saturday requested
that Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the United Nations' nuclear monitoring
agency, report to the Council within 60 days on whether Iran had complied
and suspended its enrichment program." -By Nazila
Fathi -NYTimes
Secret
- US
- Iraq
- Nuclear
- Government
- Military
- Intelligence
- 
Internet
- Archive
- History
- Hoekstra
- Michigan
- Roberts
- 
Kansas
- Legislation
- Politics
- "U.S.
Web Archive Is Said to Reveal a Nuclear Primer."
... "Last March, the federal government set up a Web site to make public
a vast archive of Iraqi documents captured during the war. The Bush administration
did so under pressure from Congressional Republicans who had said they
hoped to “leverage the Internet” to find new evidence of the prewar dangers
posed by Saddam Hussein." ... "But in recent weeks, the site has posted
some documents that weapons experts say are a danger themselves: detailed
accounts of Iraq’s secret nuclear research before the 1991 Persian Gulf
war. The documents, the experts say, constitute a basic guide to building
an atom bomb." ... "Last night, the government shut down the Web site after
The New York Times asked about complaints from weapons experts and arms-control
officials. A spokesman for the director of national intelligence said access
to the site had been suspended “pending a review to ensure its content
is appropriate for public viewing.”" ... "Officials of the International
Atomic Energy Agency, fearing that the information could help states like
Iran develop nuclear arms, had privately protested last week to the American
ambassador to the agency, according to European diplomats who spoke on
condition of anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity. One diplomat
said the agency’s technical experts “were shocked” at the public disclosures."
... "The documents, roughly a dozen in number, contain charts, diagrams,
equations and lengthy narratives about bomb building that nuclear experts
who have viewed them say go beyond what is available elsewhere on the Internet
and in other public forums. For instance, the papers give detailed information
on how to build nuclear firing circuits and triggering explosives, as well
as the radioactive cores of atom bombs." ... "The director of national
intelligence, John D. Negroponte, had resisted setting up the Web site,
which some intelligence officials felt implicitly raised questions about
the competence and judgment of government analysts. But President Bush
approved the site’s creation after Congressional Republicans proposed legislation
to force the documents’ release." ... "The campaign for the Web site was
led by the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Representative
Peter Hoekstra [Republican] of Michigan. Last November, he and his Senate
counterpart, Pat Roberts [Republican] of Kansas, wrote to Mr. Negroponte,
asking him to post the Iraqi material." (1, 2,
3)
-By William J. Broad with contributions by Scott Shane
-NYTimes
US
- North
Korea - Nuclear
- Military
- History
- Politics
- "N.
Korean Nuclear Conflict Has Deep Roots: 50 Years
of Threats and Broken Pacts Culminate in Apparent Atomic Test." ... "Democrats
and Republicans have been quick to use North Korea's apparent nuclear test
to benefit their own party in these final weeks of the congressional campaign,
but a review of history shows that both sides have contributed to the current
situation." ... "There is more than 50 years of history to Pyongyang's
attempt to gain a nuclear weapon, triggered in part by threats from Presidents
Harry S. Truman [Democrat] and Dwight D. Eisenhower [Republican] to end
the Korean War." ... "In 1950, when a reporter asked Truman whether he
would use atomic bombs at a time when the war was going badly, the president
said, "That includes every weapon we have."" ... "Three years later, Eisenhower
made a veiled threat, saying he would "remove all restraints in our use
of weapons" if the North Korean government did not negotiate in good faith
an ending to that bloody war." ... "In 1957, the United States placed nuclear-tipped
Matador missiles in South Korea, to be followed in later years, under both
Republican and Democratic administrations, by nuclear artillery, most of
which was placed within miles of the demilitarized zone." ... "It was not
until President [Democrat] Jimmy Carter's administration, in the late 1970s,
that the first steps were taken to remove some of the hundreds of nuclear
weapons that the United States maintained in South Korea, a process that
was not completed until 1991, under the first [Republican] Bush administration."
-By Walter Pincus -WashingtonPost
North
Korea - International
- US
- 
Japan
- 
South
Korea - China
- Russia
- UN
- Military
- Politics
- "Outcry
at N Korea 'nuclear test': North Korea's claim to
have successfully tested a nuclear weapon has sparked international condemnation."
... "President George W Bush said the US was working to confirm the claim,
which he branded a "provocative" act." ... "Japan and South Korea also
condemned the test and even Pyongyang's closest ally China expressed its
"resolute opposition", calling the move "brazen"." ... "Members of the
United Nations Security Council have begun meeting in New York to discuss
their reaction." ... "The size of the bomb is uncertain. South Korean reports
put it as low as 550 tons of destructive power but Russia said it was between
five and 15 kilotons. The 1945 Hiroshima bomb was 12.5-15 kilotons." ...
"South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said it would be "difficult" to maintain
his country's policy of engagement with the North." ... "He feared the
move could "spark a nuclear arms build-up in other countries", although
Japan quickly said it would maintain its ban on nuclear weapons." ... "If
confirmed, the test would make North Korea the ninth country known to have
nuclear weapons." -BBC
/News
US
- Iran
- Iraq
- Military
- Nuclear
- Intelligence
- Politics
- Peter
Hoekstra - Mich
- "U.N.
Inspectors Dispute Iran Report By House Panel: Paper
on Nuclear Aims Called Dishonest." ... "U.N. inspectors investigating Iran's
nuclear program angrily complained to the Bush administration and to a
Republican congressman yesterday about a recent House committee report
on Iran's capabilities, calling parts of the document "outrageous and dishonest"
and offering evidence to refute its central claims." ... "Officials of
the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency said in a letter
that the report contained some "erroneous, misleading and unsubstantiated
statements." The letter, signed by a senior director at the agency, was
addressed to Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), chairman of the House intelligence
committee, which issued the report. A copy was hand-delivered to Gregory
L. Schulte, the U.S. ambassador to the IAEA in Vienna." ... "The IAEA openly
clashed with the Bush administration on pre-war assessments of weapons
of mass destruction in Iraq. Relations all but collapsed when the agency
revealed that the White House had based some allegations about an Iraqi
nuclear program on forged documents." ... "After no such weapons were found
in Iraq, the IAEA came under additional criticism for taking a cautious
approach on Iran, which the White House says is trying to build nuclear
weapons in secret. At one point, the administration orchestrated a campaign
to remove the IAEA's director general, Mohamed ElBaradei. It failed, and
he won the Nobel Peace Prize last year." -By Dafna
Linzer -WashingtonPost
Iran
- Military
- Energy
- Technology
- UN
- "Highly
Enriched Uranium Found at Iranian Plant." ... "The
global nuclear monitoring agency deepened suspicions on Thursday about
Iran’s nuclear program, reporting that inspectors had discovered new traces
of highly enriched uranium at an Iranian facility." ... "Inspectors have
found such uranium, which at extreme enrichment levels can fuel bombs,
twice in the past. The International Atomic Energy Agency concluded that
at least some of those samples came from contaminated equipment that Iran
had obtained from Pakistan." ... "But in this case, the nuclear fingerprint
of the particles did not match the other samples, an official familiar
with the inspections said, raising questions about their origin." ... "In
a six-page report to the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, the
agency withheld judgment about where the material came from and whether
it could be linked to a secret nuclear program." (1, 2)
-By Elaine Sciolino with contributions by William
J. Broad and David E. Sanger -NYTimes
Iran
- UN
- Technology
- Politics
- "Iran
turns away U.N. nuclear inspectors: Move comes after
Khamenei vows Tehran will pursue technology." ... "Iran has turned away
U.N. inspectors wanting to examine its underground nuclear site in an apparent
violation of the Nonproliferation Treaty, diplomats and U.N. officials
said Monday." ... "The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because
of the confidentiality of the information, told The Associated Press that
Iran's unprecedented refusal to allow access to the facility at Natanz
could seriously hamper international efforts to ensure that Tehran is not
trying to make nuclear weapons." ... "The revelation came on the eve of
Iran's self-imposed Aug. 22 deadline to respond to a Western incentives
package for it to roll back its disputed nuclear program." ... "The United
Nations has given Tehran until the end of August to suspend uranium enrichment."
-AP via -MSNBC
US
- Iran
- Nuclear
- Military
- UN
- 
Germany
- 
Britain
- 
France
- Russia
- China
- "Rice
tells Iran to heed UN, or face sanctions." ... "U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Iran on Monday to heed a U.N.
resolution demanding it suspend uranium enrichment by August 31 or face
sanctions." ... "The United Nations passed a resolution on Monday which
gives Iran until the end of this month to suspend its enrichment activities
or face "appropriate measures" under Article 41 of Chapter 7 of the U.N.
Charter, which pertains to economic sanctions." ... "Rice said the U.N.
resolution did not "close the door to diplomacy" with Iran, adding Tehran
still had a package of incentives on the table presented by Germany and
the five Security Council members with veto power -- the United States,
Britain, France, Russia and China." -By Sue Pleming
-WashingtonPost
Hacker
- Government
- Nuclear
- Energy
- 
Computer
- Identity
Theft - 
New
Mexico - "Energy
Dept. Tells Workers of Data Theft." ... "Energy Department
officials have informed nearly 1,500 individuals that their Social Security
numbers and other information may have been compromised when a hacker gained
entry to a department computer system eight months ago, a spokesman said
Monday." ... "The computer theft occurred last September, but Energy Secretary
Samuel Bodman and his deputy, Clay Sell, were not informed of it until
last week. It was first publicly disclosed at a congressional hearing on
Friday." ... "The file that was compromised contained the names, Social
Security numbers, security clearance levels and place of employment of
1,502 people working throughout the government nuclear weapons complex
[in New Mexico]." -H. Josef Herbert
-AP via -HoustonChronicle.com
Hacker
- Government
- Nuclear
- Energy
- Military
- Intelligence
- Computer
- Identity
Theft - N.M.
- "DOE
computers hacked; info on 1,500 taken." ... "A hacker
stole a file containing the names and Social Security numbers of 1,500
people working for the Energy Department's nuclear weapons agency." ...
"The data theft occurred in a computer system at a service center belonging
to the National Nuclear Security Administration in Albuquerque, N.M. The
file contained information about contract workers throughout the agency's
nuclear weapons complex, a department spokesman said." ... "NNSA Administrator
Linton Brooks told a House hearing that he learned of the security breach
late last September, but did not inform Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman
about it. It had occurred earlier that month." ... "Brooks blamed a misunderstanding
for the failure to inform either Bodman or Deputy Energy Secretary Clay
Sell about the security breach. Brooks' NNSA is a semiautonomous agency
within the department and he said he assumed DOE's counterintelligence
office would have briefed the two senior officials." -By
H. Josef Herbert -AP
via -BusinessWeek
US
- Iran
- 
Aircraft
- Technology
- Politics
- "AP:
U.S. to Give Iran Nuclear Technology." ... "A package
of incentives presented Tuesday to Iran includes a provision for the United
States to supply Tehran with some nuclear technology if it stops enriching
uranium _ a major concession by Washington, diplomats said." ... "Diplomats
had revealed Monday that the United States had upped the ante on what had
initially been a European offer by agreeing to provide Boeing aircraft
parts for Iran's aging civilian fleet. Just days before, Washington broke
with decades of official policy of no high-level diplomatic contacts with
Tehran, announcing it was ready to join in multinational talks with the
Islamic republic over its nuclear program." -By George
Jahn -AP via
-HoustonChronicle.com
US
- Iran
- Nuclear
- "Iran
in surprise approach to Bush." ... "Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad,
Iran's president, on Monday demonstrated again his capacity to surprise
the world by writing directly to President George W.?Bush, in an apparent
effort to deflect American pressure for international action over its nuclear
programme." ... "His gambit marked the highest level direct communication
between Tehran and Washington since relations were severed during the 1979
Islamic revolution." -By By Gareth Smyth, Roula Khalaf,
and Edward Alden -FT.com
US
- Iran
- Michael
Hayden - Military
- Nuclear
- Intelligence
- Michigan
- "C.I.A.
Nominee May Face Tough Fight." ... "President Bush
announced today that he was nominating Gen. Michael V. Hayden to lead the
Central Intelligence Agency, despite concerns raised over the weekend by
Republicans as well as Democrats about the wisdom of installing a military
officer at the civilian spy agency." ... "Speaking from the Oval Office,
Mr. Bush said that General Hayden would bring "vast experience" to his
new post. "He knows our intelligence community from the ground up," he
said." ... "But in a possible preview of the difficulties that could await
General Hayden on Capitol Hill, the Republican chairman of the House intelligence
committee today strongly criticized the choice and suggested that the White
House was undoing an agreement with Congress on how the intelligence community
should be restructured." ... "The chairman, Representative Peter Hoekstra
of Michigan, was one of several other Republicans, including some with
close ties to the White House, who spoke out on Sunday and said that President
Bush should find someone else to run the embattled agency." ... "Mr. Hoekstra
said today that it was wrong to choose a military official to lead the
C.I.A., especially as crucial questions like the state of Iran's nuclear
program loomed. "We need to be able to get the unvarnished intelligence
and we need to be able to get it from a civilian," whose independence would
be unquestioned, he said."" (1, 2)
-By John O'Neil -NYTimes
Government
- Law
- Politics
- Military
- Immigration
- Nuclear
- Science
- History
- Opinion
- 
NY
- "Bush
challenges hundreds of laws: President cites powers
of his office." ... "President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to
disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that
he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts
with his interpretation of the Constitution." ... "Among the laws Bush
said he can ignore are military rules and regulations, affirmative-action
provisions, requirements that Congress be told about immigration services
problems, ''whistle-blower" protections for nuclear regulatory officials,
and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research."
... "Legal scholars say the scope and aggression of Bush's assertions that
he can bypass laws represent a concerted effort to expand his power at
the expense of Congress, upsetting the balance between the branches of
government. The Constitution is clear in assigning to Congress the power
to write the laws and to the president a duty ''to take care that the laws
be faithfully executed." Bush, however, has repeatedly declared that he
does not need to ''execute" a law he believes is unconstitutional." ...
"David Golove, a New York University law professor who specializes in executive-power
issues, said Bush has cast a cloud over ''the whole idea that there is
a rule of law," because no one can be certain of which laws Bush thinks
are valid and which he thinks he can ignore." ... "''Where you have a president
who is willing to declare vast quantities of the legislation that is passed
during his term unconstitutional, it implies that he also thinks a very
significant amount of the other laws that were already on the books before
he became president are also unconstitutional," Golove said." ... "Golove
said that to the extent Bush is interpreting the Constitution in defiance
of the Supreme Court's precedents, he threatens to ''overturn the existing
structures of constitutional law."" ... "A president who ignores the court,
backed by a Congress that is unwilling to challenge him, Golove said, can
make the Constitution simply ''disappear."" -By Charlie
Savage -Boston/Globe
Iran
- Military
- Energy
- Technology
- Intelligence
- UN
- "Nuclear
Agency Says Iran Defying U.N.." ... "The United Nations'
atomic monitoring agency reported Friday that Iran continues to expand
its uranium enrichment technology and to hold back information that would
allow inspectors to determine whether a covert military nuclear program
exists." ... "The report by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy
Agency said Iran is conducting an enrichment program in defiance of U.N.
Security
Council demands to halt it. Agency inspectors who visited Iranian sites
observed construction of additional centrifuges for expanding uranium enrichment
operations, the report said." -By Molly Moore
-WashingtonPost
Iran
- Nuclear
- Military
- Energy
- UN
- "Iran
says does not "give a damn" about UN resolution."
... "Iran's president said on Friday his country would pay no attention
to international calls to halt its nuclear work, hours before the U.N.
atomic watchdog reports on whether Tehran has met U.N. Security Council
demands." ... ""Those who want to prevent Iranians from obtaining their
right, should know that we do not give a damn about such resolutions,"
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a rally in northwest Iran, the official IRNA news
agency reported." -Reuters.co.uk
US
- Iran
- Religious
- Nuclear- Politics
- "Iran
Threatens Retaliation if Attacked." ... "Iran's supreme
religious leader vowed Wednesday that Iran would retaliate "twofold" if
it were attacked by the United States over its refusal to comply with demands
regarding its nuclear activities. He made his comments as other senior
Iranians traveled to Vienna just days ahead of the deadline for international
monitors to report on Iran's nuclear program." ... ""Iranian people and
the Islamic regime will not invade any country, but the Americans should
know that if they invade Iran, their interests around the world would be
harmed," the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told workers gathered
ahead of May Day, the international workers' holiday, the ISNA news agency
reported." ... ""Iran will respond twofold to any attack," Ayatollah Khamenei
said." -By Nazila Fathi
-NYTimes
Iran
- Nigeria
- US
- NY
- Nuclear
- Military
- Business
- History
- "Oil
Rises to a Record $75.15 on Concern About Iran, Nigeria."
... "Crude oil rose to a record $75.15 a barrel in New York on concern
that shipments from Iran and Nigeria will be disrupted as the U.S. increases
output of gasoline for the summer driving season." ... "The standoff over
Iran's nuclear program has intensified, increasing the chances of sanctions
against the world's fourth- biggest oil producer. Rebel attacks in Nigeria
have shut about 20 percent of output in Africa's biggest oil producer.
Oil was pulled lower in early trading on speculation that refiners will
increase output because of improved profit margins." ... "Oil prices more
than doubled in 1979 after a revolution in Iran slashed the nation's oil
exports. By February 1981 U.S. refiners were paying an average $39 a barrel
for imported oil, according to Energy Department figures, or $86.88 in
2006 dollars." -By Mark Shenk
-Bloomberg
Iran
- Military
- Energy
- Technology
- UN
- Politics
- "New
Iran Nuke Claim Causes Concern." ... "Iran's recent
claim it was conducting research and tests on a more sophisticated type
of nuclear enrichment centrifuge could significantly speed the process
of making fuel for either electrical plants or bombs, analysts familiar
with the technology said." ... "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told
students Wednesday that the Islamic republic was testing the P-2 centrifuge
— a more sophisticated type. A day earlier, he trumpeted Iran's success
in enriching uranium using a less-sophisticated type of centrifuge." ...
"Last month, the U.N. Security Council demanded that Iran stop all enrichment
activity by April 28 because of suspicions the program really aims to make
weapons. But Iran has rejected the demand and announced last week that,
for the first time, it had enriched uranium with 164 of the less-sophisticated
P-1 centrifuges." -AP
via -CBSNews
Iran- Military
- Energy
- Science
- UN
- Politics
- "Iran
Insists Enrichment Goal Is Peaceful: Iran Announces
It Has Enriched Uranium for First Time, a Development Certain to Heighten
Tensions." ... "Iran's hard-line president said Tuesday that the country
"has joined the club of nuclear countries" by successfully enriching uranium
for the first time a key process in what Iran maintains is a peaceful energy
program." ... "The announcement from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was
certain to heighten international tensions surrounding Iran's nuclear program.
The U.N. Security Council has demanded that Iran stop all enrichment by
April 28 because of suspicions the program is designed to make nuclear
weapons." ... "Ahmadinejad warned the West that trying to force it to abandon
uranium enrichment would "cause an everlasting hatred in the hearts of
Iranians."" ... "Uranium enrichment can produce either fuel for a nuclear
energy reactor as Iran says it seeks or the material needed for an atomic
warhead." (1, 2,
3)
-By Ali Akbar Dareini -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
US
- Iran
- Religious
- Military
- Intelligence
- Politics
- "The
Iran Plans: Would President Bush go to war to stop
Tehran from getting the bomb?" ... "The Bush Administration, while publicly
advocating diplomacy in order to stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon,
has increased clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified planning
for a possible major air attack. Current and former American military and
intelligence officials said that Air Force planning groups are drawing
up lists of targets, and teams of American combat troops have been ordered
into Iran, under cover, to collect targeting data and to establish contact
with anti-government ethnic-minority groups. The officials say that President
Bush is determined to deny the Iranian regime the opportunity to begin
a pilot program, planned for this spring, to enrich uranium." ... "American
and European intelligence agencies, and the International Atomic Energy
Agency (I.A.E.A.), agree that Iran is intent on developing the capability
to produce nuclear weapons. But there are widely differing estimates of
how long that will take, and whether diplomacy, sanctions, or military
action is the best way to prevent it. Iran insists that its research is
for peaceful use only, in keeping with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,
and that it will not be delayed or deterred." ... "There is a growing conviction
among members of the United States military, and in the international community,
that President Bush’s ultimate goal in the nuclear confrontation with Iran
is regime change. Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has challenged
the reality of the Holocaust and said that Israel must be “wiped off the
map.” Bush and others in the White House view him as a potential Adolf
Hitler, a former senior intelligence official said. “That’s the name they’re
using. They say, ‘Will Iran get a strategic weapon and threaten another
world war?’”" ... "A government consultant with close ties to the civilian
leadership in the Pentagon said that Bush was “absolutely convinced that
Iran is going to get the bomb” if it is not stopped. He said that the President
believes that he must do “what no Democrat or Republican, if elected in
the future, would have the courage to do,” and “that saving Iran is going
to be his legacy.”" ... "One former defense official, who still deals with
sensitive issues for the Bush Administration, told me that the military
planning was premised on a belief that “a sustained bombing campaign in
Iran will humiliate the religious leadership and lead the public to rise
up and overthrow the government.” He added, “I was shocked when I heard
it, and asked myself, ‘What are they smoking?’”" -By
Seymour M. Hersh 20060417
issue -NewYorker
US
- Iraq
- Dick
Cheney - Lewis
Libby
- Government
- Nuclear
- Military
- Intelligence
- 
Media
- Politics
- "Iraq
Findings Leaked by Cheney's Aide Were Disputed."
... "President Bush's apparent order authorizing a senior White House official
to reveal to a reporter previously classified intelligence about Saddam
Hussein's efforts to obtain uranium came as the information was already
being discredited by several other officials in the administration, interviews
and documents from the time show." ... "The filing [in court by Central
Intelligence Agency leak prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald] revealed for
the first time testimony by Mr. Libby saying that Mr. Bush, through Mr.
Cheney, had authorized Mr. Libby to tell reporters that "a key judgment
of the N.I.E. [National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq] held that Iraq was
'vigorously trying to procure' uranium."" ... "In fact, that was not one
of the "key judgments" of the document." ... "In fact, the estimate's key
judgments, which were officially declassified 10 days after Mr. Libby's
meeting with [NYTimes journalist] Ms. Miller, say nothing about the uranium
allegations. The key judgments on Iraq's nuclear program — namely, that
Iraq was again trying to build a bomb — were based instead on other intelligence,
like the assertion that Iraq was seeking high-strength aluminum tubes for
nuclear centrifuges." ... "In an interview with The Times in 2004, a senior
intelligence official involved in drafting the estimate said the uranium
allegations were excluded from the key judgments because the drafters knew
there were serious doubts about their accuracy." (1, 2) -By
David E. Sanger and David Barstow -NYTimes
US- Iraq
- 
Niger
- Dick
Cheney - Lewis
Libby
- Government
- Nuclear
- Military
- Intelligence- Politics
- "A
'Concerted Effort' to Discredit Bush Critic: Prosecutor
Describes Cheney, Libby as Key Voices Pitching Iraq-Niger Story." ... "As
he drew back the curtain this week on the evidence against Vice President
Cheney's former top aide, Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald for the
first time described a "concerted action" by "multiple people in the White
House" -- using classified information -- to "discredit, punish or seek
revenge against" a critic of President Bush's war in Iraq." ... "Bluntly
and repeatedly, Fitzgerald placed Cheney at the center of that campaign.
Citing grand jury testimony from the vice president's former chief of staff,
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Fitzgerald fingered Cheney as the first to voice
a line of attack that at least three White House officials would soon deploy
against former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV." ... "Cheney, in a conversation
with Libby in early July 2003, was said to describe Wilson's CIA-sponsored
trip to Niger the previous year -- in which the envoy found no support
for charges that Iraq tried to buy uranium there -- as "a junket set up
by Mr. Wilson's wife," CIA case officer Valerie Plame." (1, 2)
-By Barton Gellman and Dafna Linzer with contributions
by Julie Tate -WashingtonPost
US
- Iraq
- Niger
- Military
- Nuclear
- Intelligence
- Secrets
- Politics
- Dick
Cheney - Lewis
Libby
- Kansas
- "Playing
Hardball With Secrets." ... "For more than two years,
Senate Republicans have dragged out an investigation into how the Bush
administration came to use bogus intelligence on Iraq to justify a war.
A year ago, [Kansas Republican] Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Intelligence
Committee, called it "a monumental waste of time" to consider whether the
White House manipulated intelligence to exaggerate the threat posed by
Saddam Hussein." ... "Meanwhile, the evidence has steadily mounted that
President Bush and his team not only did that before the war, but kept
right on doing it after the invasion. The most recent additions to this
pile came yesterday, in reports by The New York Sun, The National Journal
and other news organizations on documents from the case against Lewis Libby,
the former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney who is charged with
lying about the unmasking of Valerie Wilson, a covert C.I.A. agent." ...
"According to these papers, Mr. Libby testified that President Bush authorized
him to tell reporters about classified intelligence on Iraq as part of
an effort to discredit Mrs. Wilson's husband, Joseph Wilson, a retired
diplomat who had cast doubt on the claim that Iraq tried to acquire uranium
for nuclear bombs from Niger. The National Journal reported that Mr. Libby
has also said that Mr. Cheney authorized him to leak classified information
before the invasion to make the case for war."
-NYTimes
US
- Iraq
- Niger- Government
- Military
- Nuclear- Intelligence
- Secrets
- Dick
Cheney - Lewis
Libby
- Media
- "Bush
Authorized Secrets' Release, Libby Testified: Prosecutor
Says Disclosures on Iraq Were Aimed at War Critic." ... "President Bush
authorized White House official I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to disclose highly
sensitive intelligence information to the news media in an attempt to discredit
a CIA adviser whose views undermined the rationale for the invasion of
Iraq, according to a federal prosecutor's account of Libby's testimony
to a grand jury." ... "The court filing by Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald
for the first time places Bush and Vice President Cheney at the heart of
what Libby testified was an exceptional and deliberate leak of material
designed to buttress the administration's claim that Iraq was trying to
obtain nuclear weapons. The information was contained in the National Intelligence
Estimate, one of the most closely held CIA analyses of whether Iraq had
weapons of mass destruction before the war." ... "Fitzgerald said Libby's
disclosure took place as the result of "a strong desire by many, including
multiple people in the White House, to repudiate" claims made in a July
2003
newspaper article by former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, who was hired
by the CIA to evaluate whether Iraq sought nuclear material in Niger. Wilson
wrote that "some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons
program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat."" ... "Bush has been
a major critic of leaks of classified information, and his aides have repeatedly
said they want to "get to the bottom" of who leaked the name of Wilson's
wife, covert CIA operative Valerie Plame, to the media, which touched off
Fitzgerald's investigation . But in the past 33 months the White House
has never disclosed Bush's apparent involvement in the deliberate disclosure
of information meant to undermine Wilson." (1, 2,
3)
-By R. Jeffrey Smith with contributions by Dafna Linzer,
Walter Pincus and Jim VandeHei and Lucy Shackelford
-WashingtonPost
US
- Iraq
- Government
- Nuclear
- Military
- Intelligence
- Law- Lewis
Libby
- Dick
Cheney - Karl
Rove
- Politics
- "Bush
Authorized Leak to Times, Libby Told Grand Jury."
... "A former White House aide under indictment for obstructing a leak
probe, I. Lewis Libby, testified to a grand jury that he gave information
from a closely-guarded "National Intelligence Estimate" on Iraq to a New
York Times reporter in 2003 with the specific permission of President Bush,
according to a new court filing from the special prosecutor in the case."
... "The court papers from the prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, do not suggest
that Mr. Bush violated any law or rule. However, the new disclosure could
be awkward for the president because it places him, for the first time,
directly in a chain of events that led to a meeting where prosecutors contend
the identity of a CIA employee, Valerie Plame, was provided to a reporter."
... "Mr. Fitzgerald's inquiry initially focused on the alleged leak, which
occurred after a former ambassador who is Ms. Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson,
wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times questioning the accuracy of
statements Mr. Bush made about Iraq's nuclear procurement efforts in Africa."
... "While prosecutors initially said Mr. Libby was the first government
official to disclose Ms. Plame's identity, it subsequently emerged that
a Washington Post reporter, Bob Woodward, learned earlier about her CIA
employment from another government official. Neither Mr. Woodward nor Ms.
Miller wrote about Ms. Plame at the time. Another journalist, Robert Novak,
first disclosed the employment of Mr. Wilson's wife in a syndicated column
released on July 14, 2003. The columnist based his story on interviews
with Mr. Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, and another official
who has not been officially identified." ... "Prosecutors argued that Mr.
Libby covered up his role in the disclosures because "he knew the White
House had publicly staked its credibility on there being no White House
involvement in the leaking of information about Ms. Wilson." They also
noted that Mr. Bush publicly declared he would fire anyone found to have
leaked classified information." -By Josh Gerstein
-http://NYSun.com
Iran
- US
- Germany
- Russia
- China
- France
- Britain
- UN
- Politics
- "Iran
Defiantly Rejects New U.N. Demands: Iran Rejects
New U.N. Demands to Stop Uranium Enrichment; Rice Says International Community
United." ... "Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran on Thursday
the "international community is united" in the dispute over its nuclear
program, but a Tehran envoy defiantly rejected a U.N. call to reimpose
a freeze on uranium enrichment." ... "Rice spoke after a meeting in Berlin
among diplomats from the five veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security
Council plus Germany over ways to press Iran to stop enriching uranium,
which can be used for weapons. Iran says its program is peaceful." ...
"The meeting follows agreement Wednesday by the 15-member Security Council
to ask the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency,
to report back in 30 days on Iran's compliance with demands to stop enriching
uranium." ... "Wednesday's statement from the Security Council took into
account the Russian and Chinese reservations about too much toughness,
while meeting U.S., French and British calls for keeping the pressure on
Tehran." (1, 2,
3)
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
US
- Iraq
- Karl
Rove - Secret
- Government
- Nuclear
- Military
- Intelligence
- 2004
Election - "Insulating
Bush." ... "Karl Rove, President Bush's chief
political adviser, cautioned other White House aides in the summer of 2003
that Bush's 2004 re-election prospects would be severely damaged if it
was publicly disclosed that he had been personally warned that a key rationale
for going to war had been challenged within the administration. Rove expressed
his concerns shortly after an informal review of classified government
records by then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley
determined that Bush had been specifically advised that claims he later
made in his 2003 State of the Union address -- that Iraq was procuring
high-strength aluminum tubes to build a nuclear weapon -- might not be
true, according to government records and interviews." ... "Hadley was
particularly concerned that the public might learn of a classified one-page
summary of a National Intelligence Estimate, specifically written for Bush
in October 2002. The summary said that although "most agencies judge" that
the aluminum tubes were "related to a uranium enrichment effort," the State
Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research and the Energy Department's
intelligence branch "believe that the tubes more likely are intended for
conventional weapons."" ... "Three months after receiving that assessment,
the president stated without qualification in his January 28, 2003, State
of the Union address: "The British government has learned that Saddam
Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.
Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength
aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production."" -By
Murray Waas with contributions by Brian Beutler
-NationalJournal
US
- China
- Government
- Transport
- Nuclear
- Terrorism
- Military
- Intelligence
- "U.S.
Hiring Hong Kong Co. to Scan Cargo: U.S. Hiring [a
Chinese] Hong Kong Conglomerate to Help Detect Nuclear Materials Passing
From Bahamas to U.S.." ... "But U.S. customs agents won't be on site to
supervise the machine's use as a nuclear safeguard for the American shoreline
that is just 65 miles away from Freeport. Under an unusual arrangement,
a Hong Kong company [Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. in a no bid contract]
will help operate the detector." ... "While President Bush recently reassured
Congress that foreigners would not manage security at U.S. ports, the Hutchison
deal in the Bahamas illustrates how the administration is relying on foreign
companies at overseas ports to safeguard cargo headed to the United States."
... "Three years ago, the Bush administration effectively blocked a Hutchison
subsidiary from buying part of a bankrupt U.S. telecommunications company,
Global Crossing Ltd., on national security grounds." ... "And a U.S. military
intelligence report, once marked "secret," cited Hutchison in 1999 as a
potential risk for smuggling arms and other prohibited materials into the
United States from the Bahamas." (1, 2,3,
4)
-By Ted Bridis and John Solomon with contributions
by Bill Foreman and Jim Gomez -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
US
- Iraq
- Dick
Cheney - Secret
- Government
- Military
- Nuclear- Technology
- "What
Bush Was Told About Iraq." ... "Two highly classified
intelligence reports delivered directly to President Bush before
the Iraq war cast doubt on key public assertions made by the president,
Vice
President Cheney, and other administration officials as justifications
for invading Iraq and toppling Saddam Hussein, according to records
and knowledgeable sources." ... "The first report, delivered to Bush in
early October 2002, was a one-page summary of a National Intelligence Estimate
that discussed whether Saddam's procurement of high-strength aluminum tubes
was for the purpose of developing a nuclear weapon." ... "Among other things,
the report stated that the Energy Department and the State Department's
Bureau of Intelligence and Research believed that the tubes were "intended
for conventional weapons," a view disagreeing with that of other intelligence
agencies, including the CIA, which believed that the tubes were intended
for a nuclear bomb." ... "The disclosure that Bush was informed of the
DOE and State dissents is the first evidence that the president himself
knew of the sharp debate within the government over the aluminum tubes
during the time that he, Cheney, and other members of the Cabinet were
citing the tubes as clear evidence of an Iraqi nuclear program. Neither
the president nor the vice president told the public about the disagreement
among the agencies." -By Murray
Waas -NationalJournal
Iran
- Iraq
- US
- UN
- Secret
- Military
- Intelligence
- Politics
- "Case
Against Iran Differs From Iraq: This time, the U.N.
nuclear agency is the key source of data. It has evidence that may back
up suspicions of a secret weapons program." ... "In stark contrast to U.S.
allegations against Iraq three years ago that were based on secret intelligence,
today's suspicions about Iranian nuclear ambitions draw on evidence made
public by a U.N. agency, the same one that found no case against Saddam
Hussein." ... "The information appears in a series of reports by the International
Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear monitoring arm, whose
latest assessment of the material is due out early this week. The IAEA
has credibility internationally as an impartial analyst, which may explain
the greater consensus in the world community about the need for a concerted
response to Iran." (1, 2)
-By Alissa J. Rubin with contributions by Paul Richter
and Kim Murphy -LAtimes
US
- 
United
Arab Emirates - 
Water
- Transportation
- Nuclear
- Terrorism
- "FACTBOX-UAE
in focus amid port security concerns." ... "The planned
management takeover by state-backed Dubai Ports World of several major
U.S. seaports is raising national security concerns among U.S. lawmakers,
even as top administration officials defend the United Arab Emirates as
a strong ally in the war on terrorism." ... "* The International Atomic
Energy Agency has said Dubai, a member of the United Arab Emirates, was
the headquarters of the nuclear black market run by disgraced Pakistani
scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. The Khan network supplied centrifuge technology
to countries including Libya and North Korea."
-Reuters
US
- World
- Water
- Transportation
- Nuclear
- Terrorism
- Politics
- "White
House Defends Port Sale to Arab Co.." ... "The Bush
administration on Thursday rebuffed criticism about potential security
risks of a $6.8 billion sale that gives a company in the United Arab Emirates
control over significant operations at six major American ports." ... "Four
senators and three House members asked the administration Thursday to reconsider
its approval. The lawmakers contended the UAE is not consistent in its
support of U.S. terrorism-fighting efforts." ... "U.S. lawmakers said the
UAE was an important transfer point for shipments of smuggled nuclear components
sent to Iran, North Korea and Libya by a Pakistani scientist, Abdul Qadeer
Khan. They also said the UAE was one of only three countries to recognize
the now-toppled Taliban as Afghanistan's legitimate government." ... "Critics
also have cited the UAE's history as an operational and financial base
for the hijackers who carried out the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001." (1, 2)
-By Ted Bridis and Devlin Barrett
-AP via -WashingtonPost
Iran
- Nuclear
- Nigeria
- Military
- Terrorism- US
- Business
- "Update
8: Oil Prices Climb to Three-Month High." ... "Crude-oil
prices charged to a three-month high above $66 a barrel Tuesday amid growing
unease about the possibility of sanctions against Iran, OPEC's second-largest
producer, because of its nuclear ambitions." ... "Analysts also said recent
attacks on oil facilities in Nigeria - Africa's leading oil exporter and
the fifth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports - were supporting crude's
rise. Amid the rising violence in Nigeria, Royal Dutch Shell PLC said it
was forced to slash output there by another 115,000 barrels per day, bringing
total production cuts to 221,000 barrels per day." ... "Negotiators were
working Tuesday to free four foreigners held hostage in the nation's southern
oil region as militants claiming to hold the captives said they would target
oil installations if their demands were not met within days." -By
Brad Foss with contributions by George Jahn, William Nsoyoh
-AP via -Forbes
Iran
- China- Sudan
- Burma
- UN
- Nuclear
- Energy
- Politics
- "Iran
crisis a dilemma for China." ... "The first step
is to persuade China to agree to support - or not to block - an International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) referral of Iran to the UN Security Council."
... "China's most obvious interest is energy." ... "Three years ago, when
Iran was already supplying 13 per cent of China's oil needs, the two governments
signed a major deal which included Chinese development of Iranian oil fields."
... "Chinese willingness to take sides with the US against a friend and
energy supplier like Iran could alarm some of its other suppliers, from
Sudan to Burma." -By Jill McGivering -BBC
/News
Russia
- China
- Iran
- Britain
- France
- Germany
- US
- UN
- Nuclear
- Military
- Energy
- "Russia,
China join pressure against Iran." ... "The five
nations with permanent seats on the UN Security Council agreed at a crisis
meeting Monday that Iran must suspend attempts to make nuclear fuel, but
Russia and China stopped short of demanding that Iran be referred to the
Security Council for possible sanctions." ... "The crisis was set in motion
in August when Iran broke the IAEA's monitoring seals on the fuel-conversion
line at its Isfahan plant, thus breaking its agreement with Britain, France
and Germany not to make nuclear fuel. The Europeans, backed by Washington,
referred the matter to the IAEA, which passed a resolution criticizing
Iran but declined to vote on referring the matter to the UN." ... "That
emboldened the Iranians to push the envelope a bit further. This month
they cracked the seals on the uranium-enrichment plant at Natanz, provoking
the Europeans to declare that its 2 1/2-year effort to find a diplomatic
solution to Iran's nuclear ambitions had reached a dead end." (1, 2)
-By Tom Hundley and Alex Rodriguez
-ChicagoTribune
Iran
- United
States - UN
- Energy
- Military
- "Ignoring
Protests, Iran Resumes Nuclear Program." ... "Defying
its European partners and the United States, Iran reopened its vast uranium
enrichment complex today, resuming nuclear activities that it suspended
14 months ago, according to the United Nations International Atomic Energy
Agency." ... "Iran had agreed in November 2004 to freeze most of its nuclear
activities, including nuclear research, in exchange for a broad package
of political and economic incentives. It had earlier admitted that it had
deceived nuclear inspectors for years, although it continues to insist
that its program is meant for peaceful purposes only." ... "The United
States, and to an increasing extent European governments, say they believe
that Natanz is part of a long-suspected nuclear weapons program that they
contend is more advanced than the Iraqi program was at its height under
Saddam Hussein's rule." (1, 2)
-By Elaine Sciolino and John O'Neil
-NYTimes
US
- North
Korea - Nuclear
- Business
- 
Enforcement
- "US
rejects N.Korea demand to end finance crackdown."
... "The United States on Tuesday rejected North Korea's demand to end
a crackdown on the communist state's finances before nuclear weapons talks
can restart and said this matter is "not subject to negotiation."" ...
"In a tough statement, the White House also insisted that it would continue
to take action to thwart what it said was North Korea's money laundering
and counterfeiting activities." ... ""We've made very clear what the concerns
are when it comes to those activities, whether it's counterfeiting U.S.
money, engaging in drugs or proliferation of weapons technology," spokesman
Scott McClellan told reporters." (1, 2)
-By Carol Giacomo -Reuters
US
- Iran
- Nuclear
- Military
- Politics
- Bill
Frist
- "Reining
in Iran." ... ""Iran's ruling mullahs have waged
a 26-year campaign to suppress dissent, support terror and pursue a nuclear
weapons program. In recent weeks, it has become clear that international
efforts to stop Iran's atomic program have failed to bear fruit. Unless
we act quickly, the United States will have a nuclear crisis on its hands."
... "If we let Tehran develop nuclear weapons covertly while IAEA negotiations
slog forward, Iran's theocrats will have little reason to negotiate with
anyone. The U.S. needs to act before a regime that has denied the real
Holocaust unleashes another. " -By Bill Frist
-LAtimes
Iran
- Russia
- "Iran
says it didn't get Kremlin nuclear plan: Deal would
move enrichment to Russia." ... "Iran denied Sunday that it received a
proposal to move its uranium-enrichment facilities to Russian soil, a compromise
Europe is seeking to resolve a standoff over Iran's nuclear program." ...
"Russia had announced Saturday that it sent the formal proposal to Tehran,
which has insisted it would not agree to moving enrichment abroad." -By
Nasser Karimi -AP
via -ChicagoTribune
Iran
- Secret
- Nuclear- Military- Politics
- 
EU
- US
- UN
- "The
West's patience wears thin with Iran's hard line."
... "When European nations resume talks with Iran in Vienna Wednesday over
that country's nuclear ambitions, two dangerous new factors are in play.
On the one hand, the patience of the Europeans and the United States with
Iran is running thin. On the other hand, Iran's newly elected president
has shocked a string of nations with some megalomanic pronouncements that
if supported by his people would plunge Iran back into isolation. The stage
is not set for compromise and consensus." ... "At issue is whether Iran's
suspected pursuit of nuclear technology for military purposes is purely
for peaceful purposes, as it claims. The European nations and the US doubt
that, pointing to a string of deceptive Iranian actions, including hiding
from the International Atomic Energy Agency its secret installations to
enrich uranium and produce plutonium." -By John Hughes
-CSMonitor
Iran
- 
Israel
- Nuclear
- "Iran's
leader drawing fire: President Ahmadinejad is proving
too radical even for some Iranian conservatives." ... "Courting confrontation
both at home and abroad, Iran's hard-line president is inserting like-minded
ideologues into key positions. He's holding strong to Iran's nuclear ambitions.
And he's inviting ire in the West with more anti-Israel rhetoric." (1,
2)
-By Scott Peterson -CSMonitor
Iran
- Religious- Nuclear
- Military
- Terrorism
- Politics
- "Iran's
not-so-secret hatred." ... "Since taking office,
Ahmadinejad has pushed Iran further into hatred, intolerance and theocratic
tyranny--quite a feat in a repressive country that funds terrorists around
the world. He has sacked many of the pragmatists in the government and
replaced them with hard-liners. There are signs that even the despotic
mullahs who run the country are getting nervous. They reportedly moved
recently to strip him of some of his power." ... "If only the threat from
Iran were limited to fierce rhetoric." ... "Just a few days ago, Mohamed
ElBaradei, the ultra-cautious head of the International Atomic Energy Agency,
hinted that Iran could be a lot closer to developing a bomb than was thought
previously. He said the international community is "losing patience" with
Iran. Robert Joseph, a top State Department official, said Friday that
Iran is "very aggressive, very determined to develop nuclear weapons.""
-ChicagoTribune
Government
- Politics
- Nuclear
- "9/11
Panel Criticizes U.S. Terror Response." ... "The
members of the Sept. 11 commission gave dismal grades to the Bush administration
and Congress on Monday in measuring the government's recent efforts to
prevent terrorist attacks on American soil, concluding that the government
deserved many more F's and D's than A's." ... "The new report by the 9/11
Public Discourse Project, a private group established by the commission's
five Republicans and five Democrats when the panel formally went out of
business last year, graded the government's response to the 41 recommendations
made in the commission's final report 17 months ago." ... "There were 17
F's or D's - including an F to Congress for its failure to allocate the
domestic antiterrorism budget on the basis of risk and a D for the government's
effort to track down and secure nuclear material that could be used by
terrorists." -By Philip Shenon
-NYTimes
Iran
- EU
- France
- Russia
- US
- UN
- Politics
- "Iran
stays course on nukes: The EU has also drawn a firm
line against allowing Iran to enrich uranium." ... "Iran says it is ready
for "constructive and serious" talks over its controversial nuclear program,
but Monday spelled out a bedrock position on enriching uranium that European
negotiators deem "unacceptable."" ... "But just as Iran draws its red line,
Europeans are sticking to theirs, insisting that no enrichment can take
place in Iran." ... "France's foreign minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy,
expressed dismay at Iran's stance Monday, saying that its insistence on
enriching uranium was a "unilateral" rejection of a Russian proposal to
resolve the standoff." ... "The Europeans and the US will support action
against Iran by the UN Security Council unless there is compromise over
what they see as a proliferation risk. But on Saturday, Iran approved a
bill that would halt international inspections of its atomic facilities
if Iran were taken before the Security Council." -By
Scott Peterson -CSMonitor
Government
- Nuclear
- Terrorism
- Politics
- "Dirty
Bomb Suspect Padilla Indicted." ... "Jose Padilla,
a U.S. citizen held in a Navy brig as an enemy combatant for more than
three years, was charged Tuesday with being part of a North American terror
cell that sent money and recruits overseas to "murder, maim and kidnap.""
... "However, absent from the indictment were the sensational allegations
made earlier by top Justice Department officials: that Padilla sought to
blow up U.S. hotels and apartment buildings and planned an attack on America
with a radiological "dirty bomb.""" ... "The charges are the latest twist
in a case pitting the Bush administration's claim that the war on terrorism
gives the government extraordinary powers to protect its citizens, on one
side, against those who say the government can't be allowed to label Americans
"enemy combatants" and hold them indefinitely without charges that can
be fought in court." (1, 2)
-By Mark Sherman -AP
via-WashingtonPost
US
- Russia
- World
- Religious
- Terrorism
- "US
faulted on handling nuclear threat." ... "The U.S.
government is not doing enough to protect nuclear weapons from terrorists
and its handling of terrorism suspects is undermining America's image in
the Muslim world, members of a commission that investigated the September
11 attacks said on Monday." ... "Although President George W. Bush calls
arms proliferation the country's biggest threat and al Qaeda has sought
nuclear weapons for a decade, the former commission's chairman Thomas Kean
said, "the most striking thing to us is that the size of the problem still
totally dwarfs the policy response."" ... ""In short, we still do not have
a maximum effort against the most urgent threat ... to the American people,"
he told a news conference, noting that half the nuclear materials in Russia
still have no security upgrade." (1, 2)
-By Carol Giacomo -Reuters
UN
- World
- US
- Russia
- "US
and Russia back 'nuclear fuel bank'." ... "Mohamed
ElBaradei, head of the UN nuclear monitor, said on Monday he had won commitments
from the US and Russia for an initiative to create an international nuclear
fuel bank." ... "The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said
only such an international approach could resolve the problem of countries
being able to develop a nuclear bomb through their own development of the
fuel cycle." -By Guy Dinmore with contributions by
-FT.com via
-MSNBC
World
- Iran
- Israel
- France
- Russia
- Palestine
- Nuclear
- Military
- "World
Leaders Condemn Iranian's Call to Wipe Israel 'Off the Map'."
... "In a joint statement, the E.U. leaders "condemned in the strongest
terms" the Iranian president's call, saying it "will cause concern about
Iran's role in the region and its future intentions." President Jacques
Chirac of France told reporters that Ahmadinejad risked Iran "being left
on the outside of other nations."" ... "Russia's foreign minister, Sergei
Lavrov, in Israel, called the Iranian president's statement "unacceptable.""
... "The statement was widely reported in the Arab world; leaders there
reacted for the most part with silence. Most Arab countries have no diplomatic
relations with Israel. But the Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said,
according to the Associated Press: "We have recognized the state of Israel
and we are pursuing a peace process with Israel, and . . . we do not accept
the statements of the president of Iran. This is unacceptable."" ... "U.S.
and European leaders have grown increasingly worried about the bellicose
attitude of Iran at a time when it is pursuing a nuclear program that they
have said may be intended to produce a nuclear weapon." (1, 2)
-By Mary Jordan and Karl Vick with contributions by
Scott Wilson and Robin Wright-WashingtonPost
Iran
- Israel
- Nuclear
- Military
- Terrorism
- "Iranian
leader sparks alarm by saying Israel 'must be wiped off the map'."
... "Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran's president, yesterday said Israel must
be "wiped off the map", in remarks certain to cause alarm in western capitals
at a time of rising concern over Tehran's nuclear programme." ... "His
comments came as Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian group allied to Iran, killed
at least five Israelis with a bombing in the Israeli town of Hedera." ...
"The president told an audience of students there was "no doubt the new
wave [of attacks] in Palestine will soon wipe off this disgraceful blot
from the face of the Islamic world"." -By Gareth Smyth
-FT.com
Canada
- Iran
- Israel
- Nuclear
- "Canada
blasts Iran for seeking Israeli destruction." ...
"Canada strongly condemned Iran's president on Wednesday for urging that
Israel be "wiped off the map," saying the comments were particularly worrying
because of Tehran's nuclear ambitions." -Reuters
Iran
- Israel
- United
States - Nuclear
- Military
- Religion
- "Iran
leader calls for Israel's destruction." ... "President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Wednesday that Israel is a "disgraceful blot"
that should be "wiped off the map" - fiery words that Washington said underscores
its concern over Iran's nuclear program." ... ""The United States said
Ahmadinejad's remarks show that Washington's fears about Iran's nuclear
program are accurate."" ... "Ahmadinejad also condemned Iran's neighbors
which seek to break new ground in their relations with Israel. "Anybody
who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury,"
state-run television quoted him as saying." -By Ali
Akbar Dareini -AP
via -SeattlePI.NWsource
US
- Iraq
- Nuclear
- Journalist
- Law
- Politics
- "Cheney
Told Aide of C.I.A. Officer, Lawyers Report." ...
"I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, first
learned about the C.I.A. officer at the heart of the leak investigation
in a conversation with Mr. Cheney weeks before her identity became public
in 2003, lawyers involved in the case said Monday." ... "Notes of the previously
undisclosed conversation between Mr. Libby and Mr. Cheney on June 12, 2003,
appear to differ from Mr. Libby's testimony to a federal grand jury that
he initially learned about the C.I.A. officer, Valerie Wilson, from journalists,
the lawyers said." ... "The notes, taken by Mr. Libby during the conversation,
for the first time place Mr. Cheney in the middle of an effort by the White
House to learn about Ms. Wilson's husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV, who was
questioning the administration's handling of intelligence about Iraq's
nuclear program to justify the war." (1, 2)
-By David Johnston, Richard W. Stevenson, and Douglas
Jehl -NYTimes
US
- 
Syria
- Iran
- France
- Russia
- Britain
- Military
- Nuclear
- "Rice
enlists support for Syria, Iran showdowns." ... "U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice mobilized support among major powers
for diplomatic showdowns over the next few weeks with Syria and Iran on
a trip that ended on Sunday." ... "Over three days, Rice held talks with
the leaders of France, Russia and Britain -- all holders of vetoes at the
U.N. Security Council - on how to make the two U.S. foes meet U.N. security
demands." ... "In a show of diplomacy that reflected the Bush administration's
efforts this year to consult partners more, Rice crisscrossed Europe seeking
to build a common front against Syria's suspected support for militants
in Lebanon and Iran's nuclear ambitions." (1, 2)
-Reuters
US
- Iran
- UN
- MIL
- Terrorism
- "Iran
accused over nuclear plans: The US ambassador to
the United Nations has accused Iran of spending 18 years trying to develop
nuclear weapons while lying about its intentions." ... "John Bolton told
the BBC that Iran wanted nuclear arms to intimidate the rest of the Middle
East and possibly supply them to terrorists." ... "He said Iran had violated
its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty." ... "Iran
has denied US allegations about its nuclear programme."
-BBC /News
Iran
- UN
- Military
- "Iran
Threatens to Resume Enrichment." ... "Iran threatened
Tuesday to resume uranium enrichment and block U.N. inspections of its
nuclear facilities unless the U.N. nuclear agency retracted its moves to
refer the country to the Security Council for possible sanctions." ...
"Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters Iran was giving
a ``serious warning'' to its European negotiating partners and the [IAEA]
International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog." -By
Ali Akbar Dareini -AP
via -Guardian.co.uk
Iran
- India
- UN
- Energy
- Business-
"Iran
warns India on nuclear vote."Iran has singled India
out for criticism over Delhi's support for Iran to be referred to the UN
Security Council over its nuclear plans." ... ""India's vote came as a
great surprise to us," an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday."
... ""We will reconsider our economic cooperation with those countries
that voted against us."" ... "India and Iran are in negotiations over a
$7bn gas pipeline deal that would help India's energy supply problems."-BBC
/News
Florida
- 
Weather
- Hurricane
Katrina - Hurricane
Rita - 
Medical
- Nuclear
- MIL
- Disaster
- "AP:
Report Warned of Hurricane Health Woes." ... "Eight
months before the devastation of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, an internal
Homeland Security Department review warned that the nation was woefully
unprepared for a medical disaster and lacked a coherent plan for taking
charge of mass casualties." ... "Government medical teams had difficulty
coordinating and delivering help during 2004 hurricanes in Florida, said
the report obtained by The Associated Press. The report also said there
was inadequate planning for dealing with a surge of patients during a disaster
like a biological or nuclear attack." ... "It called for creation of a
uniformed medical reserve corps, including specialists, fashioned after
the National Guard." -By Cheryl Wittenauer
-AP via-WashingtonPost
US
- Iran
- UN-
"White
House Warns Iran About Referral." ... "Armed with
fresh international backing for bringing Iran before the U.N. Security
Council for its nuclear activities, the White House on Monday warned Tehran
it has just one chance left to avoid referral for possible economic sanctions."
... "On Saturday, a majority on the 35-nation board of the U.N.'s nuclear
watchdog agency approved a resolution that cited Iran for "a long history
of concealment and deception" in a nuclear program Tehran insists is only
for the peaceful production of nuclear power. The International Atomic
Energy Agency resolution found Tehran at odds with its obligations under
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that Iran signed." -By
Jennifer Loven -AP
via-WashingtonPost
-
--
- Politics
-"North
Korea Says It Won't Disarm Before New Reactor (Update7)."
... "The North Korean government said it wouldn't abandon nuclear weapons
until the nation receives a light- water reactor for producing power, highlighting
a dispute over timing one day after an agreement was reached on disarming."
... "At the United Nations today, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said they would rely on the
written promises of the accord rather than the North Korean comments. In
Washington, Frederick Jones, a spokesman at the National Security Council,
said U.S. officials would give the North Korean regime ``some time to reflect
upon what they agreed to.' ... "Light-water reactors use ordinary water
as a coolant, rather than ``heavy water,'' which involves a hydrogen isotope
and can be used in connection with weapons production."' -By
Aaron Sheldrick and Allen T. Cheng -Bloomberg
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- "North
Korea does quick reversal on nuclear-arms pact."
... "After four rounds of discussions spanning several years, the United
States, North and South Korea, Japan, Russia and China said yesterday that
they had agreed on a vaguely worded plan under which North Korea promised
to dismantle its nuclear weapons in return for energy assistance, eventual
U.S. and Japanese diplomatic recognition and a pledge by Washington that
it would not attack the country." ... "The agreement also said the United
States and other nations would discuss giving North Korea a light-water
reactor for generating electricity, though it skirted the question of when."
... "But the North Koreans made it clear today that they are in no mood
to defer their reward." ... "In a blunt statement, North Korea's official
KCNA news service warned that "the U.S. should not even dream of the issue
of [North Korea's] dismantlement of its nuclear deterrent before providing"
a light-water reactor, which it called "a physical guarantee for confidence-building.""
-By Barbara Demick, Mark Magnier and Sonni Efron with
contributions by Alissa J. Rubin and Bruce Wallace -LAtimes
with -AP and -SeattleTimes.NWsource
-
- -
-
-
- Politics
- "U.S.,
EU Want Iran Sent Before UN Security Council (Update3)."
... "U.S. and European diplomats drafted a resolution asking the United
Nations Security Council to confront Iran about its intention to enrich
uranium." ... "The resolution asks the UN's International Atomic Energy
Agency to report Iran to the Security Council, according to a four-page
draft obtained by Bloomberg News. The 15-member council should tell Iran
to suspend uranium enrichment, it said." ... "Calls to send Iran before
the Security Council intensified after talks with France, Germany and the
U.K., representing the European Union, collapsed last month. Iran broke
IAEA seals on an idled uranium conversion plant on Aug. 9. Iran says it
needs nuclear fuel to generate electricity. The U.S. says the Islamic Republic
wants to build an atomic bomb." -By Jonathan Tirone
-Bloomberg
Iran
-
-
- Politics
- "Iran
warns West over Security Council referral." ... "Iran
warned the West on Tuesday it would start uranium enrichment — which can
be used to make atomic bombs — and review its membership of the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty if sent to the U.N. Security Council." ... "The
comments by Tehran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani are likely to
heighten tensions at this week's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
meeting in Vienna where Iran's nuclear program is being discussed." ...
"Tehran argues it has every right to enrich the uranium it mines in its
central deserts for use in electricity-generating power stations."
-Reuters via -ABCNEWS.com
Iran
- Japan
- Oil
- Politics
-
- "Iran
warns it could quit nuclear treaty, issues oil threat."
... "Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani warned that Tehran could
quit the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if it is subjected to the 'language
of force' in a stand-off over its nuclear programme." ... "Responding to
European efforts to haul Iran before the UN Security Council over 'breaches'
of international atomic safeguards, Larijani also said Tehran would link
its oil business and other economic trade with individual countries based
on whose side they took in the dispute." ... "He was later asked if this
meant countries like Japan -- which recently signed a major contract to
develop Iran's Azadegan oil field -- could lose contracts in Iran." ...
"'It is not only Japan but other countries that are concerned. We will
examine their attitude,' Larijani said, adding that the future of the Azadegan
contract 'depends on their (Japan's) conduct'."
-AFXNews via -Forbes
-
-
-
-
-
- "North
Korea Pledges to Drop Nuclear Weapons Program." ...
"North Korea pledged today to end its nuclear weapons program and rejoin
global treaties aimed at stemming the spread of atomic arms in return for
energy aid and diplomatic recognition." ... "According to a joint statement
by the six nations involved in negotiations for more than two years, Pyongyang
"committed to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs
and to return at an early date to the nonproliferation treaty of nuclear
weapons." It also said North Korea would accept International Atomic Energy
Agency safeguards." (1, 2)
-By Mark Magnier and Barbara Demick with contributions
by Yin Lijin -LAtimes
-
-
-
- "U.S.
Pleased With Korea Nuclear Agreement." ... "President
Bush said Monday that North Korea's pledge to end its nuclear weapons programs
is a positive step, but he expressed some skepticism about whether Pyongyang
will live up to its promises." ... "``They have said - in principle - that
they will abandon their weapons programs,'' Bush said. ``And what we have
said is, `Great. That's a wonderful step forward.' But now we've got to
verify whether that happens.''" ... "``The question is, over time will
all parties adhere to the agreement,'' Bush said." -By
Nedra Pickler -AP
via -Guardian.co.uk
-
- "Pakistan
Successfully Tests Nuclear-Capable Missile (Update2)."
... "Pakistan successfully test-fired a cruise missile capable of carrying
a nuclear warhead, the army said in a statement[.]" ... "``Pakistan today
conducted a successful test of its first- ever ground-launched cruise missile
HATF-VII, also known as Babur,'' the army said from Islamabad. The ``Babur
cruise has the capability to carry nuclear and conventional warheads to
a range of 500 kilometers (300 miles) with a pinpoint accuracy.''" -By
Khalid Qayum -Bloomberg
Nuclear warfare - Wikipedia - http://www.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_warfare
Google Search: "Stockpile Stewardship Program"
Google Search: U.S. Strategic Command United States Strategic Command - http://www.stratcom.af.mil - USSTRATCOM
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