generalspeaking

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, when he met US Secretary of State John Kerry in Jerusalem Wednesday night, bitterly accused the Obama administration of yielding to the Russian-backed Iranian position. Should Tehran renege on the deal, the US proposal leaves it with the capacity for enriching enough weapons-grade uranium in 10 days to build several nuclear weapons.

This US proposal calls for Iran to halt enrichment of uranium up to 20-percent grade (a short jump to weapons-grade) and slow construction on the Arak heavy water plant for plutonium production. In return, the US offers a start on selective sanctions relief. This proposal is likely to be approved by the six powers at the Geneva conference.

Kerry was reminded of his pledge that “no deal is better than a bad deal.” This deal is bad, Israel says because it leaves Iran wth all the stocks it has already built up of 20-percent enriched uranium and the ability to continue the production of low 5-percent grade unrestricted.

debkafile’s sources report that the Palestinian issue did not come up in either of the two conversations Kerry held with Netanyahu Wednesday. Both were dominated by the Iranian row and ended with differences as wide as ever.

Israel accused Washington of capitulating to the plan Moscow and Tehran handed in to President Barack Obama last week. That plan, according to our sources, entails suspending the work of 10,000 centrifuges on all grades of enrichment (3, 5 and 20 percent). However, Iran has a total of 19,000 machines of which only 9,000 are active anyway. Therefore, the offer to freeze 10,000 already idle centrifuges was a subterfuge. It is nonetheless being presented by the Russians – and now by the Americans, too – as a major Iranian concession.

The truth is that Iran is being allowed to keep its full stock of centrifuges intact, operational and available for use at any time.

This means that if Tehran decides tomorrow to renege on its deal with Washington and the world powers - after its approval in Geneva – it will retain the capacity to restart centrifuge operations in full and within 10 days accumulate enough weapons-grade material to build several nuclear bombs or warheads.

By the time Washington or the nuclear watchdog catch on, it will be too late: Iran will have The Bomb.

Last week, Moscow claimed that Iran had agreed to “restrain the weaponization processes.” This admission alone belied Tehran’s insistence that its entire nuclear program was peaceful and exposed as false Moscow’s denials of proofs that Iran was engaged in developing nuclear arms.

According to our sources, the “restraint” on offer refers only to the process of miniaturizing a nuclear bomb for use in a missile warhead or dropped from an airplane.

In sum, therefore, the US president has agreed in essence to “photograph” Iran’s nuclear program and freeze it as it stands now. Tehran would place nuclear development in suspension without, however, relinquishing a single component of its program.

The new American proposal broke surface Wednesday, as the seven delegations gathered in Geneva for the morrow’s session.A nameless US spokesman told reporters that America was now proposing that Iran, as a first step, stop its nuclear program advancing any further and start rolling parts of it back. In return, Washington offered "very limited, temporary, reversible sanctions relief.”

The spokesman said: “This phase must involve levels of Iran's uranium enrichment, its stockpiles of the material as well as international monitoring.”

Israel is not buying this plan.

Labels: Capitulation, Controversy, Hypocrisy, Iran, Israel, Nuclear Technology, Security Defence, United States

posted by Pieface @ Thursday, November 07, 2013

Identity Disorder

"Chelsea didn't want to have this be something that overshadowed the case, wanted to wait until the case was done to move on to the next stage of her life."
David Coombs, Bradley Chelsea Manning's defence lawyer 

In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Army, Pfc. Bradley Manning poses for a photo wearing a wig and lipstick. Manning plans to live as a woman named Chelsea and wants to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible, the soldier said Thursday, a day after he was sentenced to 35 years in prison for sending classified material to WikiLeaks.    Photograph by: U.S. Army, File , AP Photo

Perhaps it is a matter of cunning cupidity aided and abetted by a terminal case of entitled egotism that has motivated the young Bradley Manning to act as he did. A confused young man, accustomed to attention-seeking, finding it conflicting to his needs. As a gay in the American military he would not be very popular.

As a young man in the military entrusted with sensitive data in an employment requiring discretion, skill and patriotism to a degree, whose personal plate was piled so high with angst one wonders at the lack of wisdom of those who assigned him to that particular duty.

The vision of the young man at work on his computer, retrieving secret files, downloading them on a thumb drive to be stored elsewhere than where they belonged, for some future use that would bring huge embarrassment to his country, still confident and self-amused by his situation, is an intriguing one. He was described as wearing ear buds while working, listening to the pop-cult music that appealed to his sensibilities, actually bopping along as he downloaded restricted files.

All to a good cause, though, to make the great American public aware of its military's lack of ethics, morals, world citizenship. Its "blood-lust" disgusted him and he had every intention of revealing it to the public. So they could rise up as one in rage against the machine and demand accountability. So everyone in America could end up proud to be Americans.

That his treachery to his country back-fired on him when he was revealed to have been the source for WikiLeaks' scoops was his misfortune.

Or was it? He's only 25 years of age, after all, and although he was given a 35-year prison sentence, a cordially magnanimous system will give him credit for time already served, and he will likely get time off for 'good behaviour', which in his case is somewhat absurd, but there you have it. Six and a half years, some in the know assess. Why, he'd just be entering his 30th year, or slightly beyond at that rate.

His whole life ahead of him.

As Breanna or Chelsea, whatever the mood takes him. For Chelsea E. Manning, aka Bradley Manning, wishes to be known henceforth, proudly and with huge entitlement, as a woman. The arcane pathology that has afflicted him was presented by his lawyer as his defence of his client's actions. Have some compassion, people. Free Bradley Manning to live out Chelsea E. Manning's life.

For Chelsea would so much appreciate that kind consideration.

"The ultimate goal is to be comfortable in her skin and be the person she never had an opportunity to be", said Chelsea's lawyer in explanation. Evidently because he is assigned to a military prison and not a federal prison, he will not be given hormone treatments as he wished. After all, the military teaches its members various types of skills useful both within the military and outside it. Why not sex re-assignment, sans surgery?

"As I transition into the next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me. I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female. Given the way I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible." Utterly precious.

Labels: Communications, Conspiracy Theories, Crisis Politics, Fidelity, Security Defence, United States

posted by Pieface @ Saturday, August 24, 2013

Erdogan: Don't Expect 'Normal' Ties, Despite Apology

Before Turkey normalizes ties with Israel, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Sunday, it expects Israel to “fulfill its promises. It is impossible to normalize ties without Israeli actions, Erdogan wrote in his Twitter feed. “Turkey has done its part to defend the Palestinian people,” he added.

More on this topic

Labels: Controversy, Crisis Politics, Gaza, Hamas, Heritage, Hypocrisy, Islamism, Israel, Security Defence, Turkey

posted by Pieface @ Sunday, March 24, 2013