The Front Of The War On Terror Is Iran

Iran continues to repeat and repeat nonsense about the Holocaust. Yesterday, the Iranian regime once again branded the Holocaust a "big lie" created to place the Islamic republic's arch-foe Israel in the Middle East.

"The Holocaust is a concept coming from a big lie in order to settle a rootless regime in the heart of the Islamic world," Iranian government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham told a conference on Gaza in central Iran's religious city of Qom.

Of course, the big lie about the Holocaust has been a government message since Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad branded the Holocaust a "myth" in 2005.

Yesterday was a particularly convenient day for Iran to try and rewrite the history books since the United Nations designated January 27 as International Holocaust Memorial Day in 2005. The date observes the day that Soviet troops liberated the largest Nazi death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, in Poland.

It all never happened according to Iran. The Holocaust is a lie and the Iranian nuclear program is really designed for peace and not for political and military power.

Yesterday, U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates accused Iran of "subversive activity" in Latin America. Its not very surprising since Iran has been the most active sponsor of international terrorism since 1979. The Iranian regime openly supports many terrorist organizations, including Hamas and Hezbollah and the People's Mujahedeen terrorist Organization in Iran.

So, its not too hard to find the mother regime and the front of the War on Terror. Its not in Afghanistan and its not in Pakistan. Indeed, the front in the war on terror can be found in what soon will be a nuclear Iran.

Also Read Todays Daily Vu: The Mystery Ship Of Terror From Iran

A Crisis With Iran In The New Year

For more than three years, every quarterly International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Iran has contained details of various violations.

Usually the reports cite obstruction of inspector's visits, inconsistencies between official claims and the results of tests from samples taken from various facilities and other actions of non-compliance with international regulatory oversight.

The final assessment in each report, signed by IAEA Director-General, Mohamed Elbaradei absurdly concludes that the evidence does not demonstrate that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.

However, the last IAEA update contained new information that has increased concern in the International community. The latest IAEA report indicates that as of last month, Iran had made 630 kilograms, or about 1,390 pounds, of low-enriched uranium. Many experts now say that this amount of enriched uranium is enough to build a bomb.

Meanwhile, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz can see a showdown between Iran and the West coming. He recently told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in New York; "Iran's nuclear program is proceeding like an express train. The diplomatic efforts to thwart Iran are like a slow train. If we cannot derail the Iranian train from the tracks, we are on the verge of a nuclear era that will totally alter the regional reality."

Indeed, the most up-to-date intelligence predictions by US nuclear experts is that by the end of 2009, Iran will have stocked enough weapons-grade fuel to build three nuclear bombs. The first will be ready for assembly by the time Barack Obama is sworn in as US president on January 20, 2009; the second shortly after Israel’s February 10, 2009 general election produces a new prime minister, and the third by the end of the year.

So, time is fast running out for the International community to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions. To do nothing, means taking a high risk security gamble that holocaust denier Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a nuclear capability can safely be ignored. However, a decision to bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities means higher worldwide energy prices and another Middle East war.

The failure of international diplomacy and the speed in which Iran is enriching uranium are backing the President-elect into a very difficult corner. As a result, Barack Obama's first major foreign policy test will soon follow his January inauguration. A crisis with Iran is on the horizon for the next Administration early in the new year.

A Bounty Of Death For Pirates In Somalia

The M.V. Iran Deyanat was a dead weight tonnage bulk Carrier in a very big hurry. The ship owned by a state run company controlled by the Iranian military set sail from Nanjing, China in late July.

The Iranian vessel had a twenty eight member crew including two Russians,two Pakistanis and a Syrian. Its manifest describes a plan to unload Iron Ore and other products in Rotterdam and proceed to the Gulf of Aden. However, its arrival in the Gulf was unusual because the ship was several days early.

Speed was also a priority as the vessel next moved in a westerly direction toward the Suez Canal. At that point, it was attacked by 40 Somali pirates in high speed boats, all armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades.

The Iran Deyanat was captured by the pirates of Somalia and the ship was taken to Eyl, a fishing village off the northeastern coast . The pirates issued a two million dollar ransom demand for the ship and its crew. It was a ransom demand that would extract a heavy price.

In the days that followed, as the pirates attempted to assess their bounty, things would take a terrible turn. Upon opening one of the ship's seven heavily-secured containers, they found it filled with a "gritty, sand-like" substance. In the next several days, a number of the pirates suffered severe skin burns and loss of hair, and within two weeks sixteen pirates were dead.

Today, the ship remains in Eyl and there is a international bidding war underway to purchase the ship and understand its contents. The ship has been sanctioned and Iran cannot access the vessel while the United States Navy as well as the French are sitting off of the coast to seize the ship if it should get underway.

So, the mystery of the M.V. Iran Deyanat continues. The question is what caused the bounty of death for those pirates in Somalia? As of now, it is impossible for anyone to say. However chemical experts indicate that the pirates symptoms sound inconsistent with chemical poisoning, but may well be the effects of an exposure to radiation.

Meanwhile, Russian sources make an ominious claim. They describe the ship as "an enormous floating dirty bomb, intended to detonate after exiting the Suez Canal. The detonation would have been in close proximity to the coastal cities of Israel, sending a deadly radioactive cloud onshore.

If this explanation turns out to be true, its an act of war by Iran against Israel and the world's first known attempt at a dirty bomb attack. Indeed, a bounty of death for Pirates in Somalia needs to be watched closely, since it may eventually become the biggest international news story of the year.

Israel's Choice Is War Or A Nuclear Iran

Israeli Prime Minister-designate Tzipi Livni just announced that she cannot form a coalition government and new general elections will soon be held in the State of Israel. Many current public opinion polls indicate that in the general election, former Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu will be elected Prime Minister of Israel in early 2009.

The fact is that these new Israeli elections are likely to end the current peace process with the Palestinians, restarted with U.S. backing at Annapolis, Md., nearly one year ago.

Meanwhile, Iran continues to build a strategic relationship with Russia through a new energy alliance. Both countries should soon announce the formation of a natural gas cartel. In addition, Iran continues to enrich uranium, well along its path to becoming the only nuclear power in the Middle East.

It has become obvious that the hope of any additional strong United Nations Sanctions against Iran for its illegal nuclear enrichment program are now non-existent. Previous United Nations Sanctions have proven too weak and have not worked anyway.

In the United States, the deteriorating economy and the 2008 Presidential election dominates the national news. The dubious prospect of a nuclear Iran has dropped well down the list of problems that need immediate national attention.

For Israel, after the general election, the decision that they face is unfortunately clear. Their choice between war or the threat of a nuclear Iran is the direct result of another failure of international diplomacy and the United Nations.

It all adds up to an unresolved international problem destined to escalate into a major world wide event. Indeed, a major foreign policy crisis is on the horizon, soon after the start of the new year.

A Possible October Surprise In Election 2008.

Five days before the Presidential election in October 1968, Democratic President Lyndon Johnson announced a complete halt to the bombing of North Vietnam. This conveniently timed announcement was intended to assist the failing Presidential campaign of Democrat Hubert Humprey.

Four years later, in October 1972, the Nixon Administration would declare that " Peace was at hand" in the Vietnam War. That announcement helped Nixon to a 20 point margin of victory in that Presidential election over George Mcgovern.

The truth is that it is not unusual for newspapers, political campaigns, think tank studies and even books to release studies or disclosures to be timed just before election day in order to influence the outcome of an election. It certainly is not without precedent for a sitting President.

In the 2008 Presidential election, foreign policy experience is a problem for Democrat Barack Obama. It was the primary reason he selected Joe Biden to be his Vice President. However, foreign policy is a political strength for Republican John McCain.

Now consider that there is a real problem in International foreign policy that will simply not go away. It is the problem and danger of a nuclear Iran. Three sets of United Nations sanctions have not deterred the country from enriching Uranium. In fact, Iran has just announced an increase in its effort to achieve a nuclear capability.

The prospect of any meaningful future United Nations sanctions simply does not exist with Russia holding veto power in the United Nations Security Council. Meanwhile, Israel is holding elections in September 2008 which will determine the future leadership of the country. Israel is already on record as saying that it will not accept a Nuclear Iran. (see: Israel Will Act To Prevent A Nuclear Iran on eworldvu.com).

Also consider that after the November election, President George Bush would have to clear any bombing action against Iran through what could well be a reluctant Democratic president and Democratic Congress. So, October could well be George Bush's last chance to deal with the problem in Iran without leaving it for the next administration.

Of course, any October military action against Iran would also serve to remind America of the importance of a candidate's foreign policy experience. It would also be one last chance to help the potential sagging political fortunes of the campaign of Republican John McCain.

Therefore, various political and International conditions are favorable for an October Surprise in Election 2008. In addition, consider the implications of a recent article from the Dutch newspaper, De Telegraaf, ( see article below).

Will there be an October surprise in Election 2008? Will that surprise include the bombing of Iran? It certainly would not be without precedent in American political history. Watch John McCains public opinion poll numbers closely in the next few weeks. If they begin to fall and if I was in Iran, I would keep a close eye to the sky.

Here is the article on September 1, 2008 in the Telegraph. U.K.

Dutch withdraw spy from Iran because of 'impending US attack'

The Dutch intelligence service has pulled an agent out of an "ultra-secret operation" spying on Iran's military industry because spymasters in Netherlands believe a United States air attack was imminent. According to reports in the newspaper De Telegraaf, the country's intelligence service, the AIVD, has stopped an espionage operation aimed at infiltration and sabotage of the weapons industry in Iran.

"The operation, described as extremely successful, was halted recently in connection with plans for an impending US air attack on Iran," said the report. "Targets would also be bombed which were connected with the Dutch espionage action." "Well placed" sources told the paper that a top agent had been recalled recently "because the US was thought to be making a decision within weeks to attack Iran with unmanned aircraft". "Information from the AIVD operation has in recent years been shared with the American CIA secret service." Brig Gen Seyyed Massoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of the Iranian armed forces, warned at the weekend that military attacks against Iran would trigger a Third World War."The exorbitant demands of the US leaders and the global Zionism which have created the current situation in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan and Caucasus are gradually directing the world to the edge of the cliff," he said.

The US has refused to rule out a military attack against Iran if its government continues to enrich uranium as part of its civilian nuclear programme, which the West suspects has the clandestine objective of developing atomic weapons. Iran has warned it would close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the Gulf and a major oil shipping route, if it is attacked.

On Friday, the Israel newspaper Ma'ariv reported that Israel has stepped up preparations for a contingency plan to attack Iran, should diplomatic efforts, via the United Nations, fail to derail Tehran's suspected nuclear weapons programme.

The Crisis With Iran Is About To Escalate

There was an important item of interest in world headlines yesterday. Ehud Olmurt resigned as the Prime Minister of Israel. His resignation (due to an ongoing scandal) paves the way for a new Israeli Prime Minister in the Fall.

This new leader of Israel will have several difficult choices to make concerning that country's security. At the top of the list is the option to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities if the United Nations cannot get Iran to stop enriching uranium. The truth is that the Western World and countries throughout the Middle East are very concerned that Iran may now be less than one year away from having the capability to produce a nuclear weapon.

In fact, the deadline given by the West for Iran to decide on its latest offer expires next week. Under that offer, sponsored jointly by the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, Iran would not expand its uranium enrichment program while the international community refrained from imposing further sanctions. This phase would last six weeks, possibly paving the way for suspension of enrichment and more comprehensive talks.

Iran has shown no intention to accept this offer to date. They have already defied two rounds of United Nations sanctions. A refusal to accept this latest offer by Iran in the next few days will lead to an escalting international crisis and a new round of U.N. sanction proposals in September. Tensions will rise in the Gulf. Oil and gold prices will increase again. The prospect of war with Iran will escalate.

We will follow this story closely in the days ahead.