Hand back Falklands, Venezuela tells BlairDowning Street today refused to be drawn into a fresh war of words with Venezuela's president after he called on Britain to hand over the Falklands to Argentina.
Hugo Chavez said the islands belonged to Argentina and demanded Prime Minister Tony Blair give them back.
Mr Blair infuriated Mr Chavez earlier this week when he said he should respect the rules of the international community.
The Prime Minister also said he would prefer to see Venezuela's al... (more)
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Gasoline Crisis in IraqContract mismanagement and possible corruption in the Iraqi government are fueling a crisis over international gasoline delivery into Iraq. Citing a mountain of unpaid bills, the governments of Turkey and Saudi Arabia have shut off gasoline exports to Iraq. With it's options dwindling and beleaguered Iraqis demanding fuel, Baghdad has begun to negotiate with former arch-rival, Iran. Meanwhile, hundreds of irate Iraqi security guards, who work for the gasoline delivery companies, are threatening ... (more)
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A war against Iran, as indicated by war games.Quotes from 'Iran and the jaws of a trap' by Paul Levian, writing in Asia Times online http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HB03Ak02.html
The somewhat standard scenario for this war - as indicated by Chinese and Russian war games - has the following features:
An initial Israeli air attack against some Iranian nuclear targets, command and control targets and Shahab missile sites.
Iran retaliates with its remaining missiles, tries to close the Gulf,... (more)
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Hawks have warplanes ready if the nuclear diplomacy failsIT IS the option of last resort with consequences too hideous to contemplate. And yet, with diplomacy nearly exhausted, the use of military force to destroy Iran’s nuclear programme is being actively considered by those grappling with one of the world’s most pressing security problems.
For five years the West has used every diplomatic device at its disposal to entice Iran into complying with strict conditions that would prevent its nuclear programme being diverted to p... (more)
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Blair: 'British troops in Iran? We can never say never'TONY Blair yesterday refused to rule out a British military invasion of Iran.
He told MPs the rogue Middle Eastern state was helping to spread the "virus" of Muslim fanaticism across the world.
It was a problem which needed "sorting", the Prime Minister said.
And asked if the British military option was on the table, he admitted: "You can never say never in any of these situations."
The warning is a significant increase in the language ... (more)
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Russian Ultranationalist Leader Expects U.S. to Attack Iran in Late MarchA senior Russian parliamentary official and leader of the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Vladimir Zhirinovsky believes that a US attack on Iran is inevitable, he has told Ekho Moskvy radio station.
“The war is inevitable because the Americans want this war,” he said. “Any country claiming a leading position in the world will need to wage wars. Otherwise it will simply not be able to retain its leading position. The date for the strike is already known &mdash... (more)
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Ex-U.N. inspector: Iran's next: Ritter warns that another U.S. invasion in Mideast is imminent(Santa Fe New Mexican, The (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) The former U.N. weapons inspector who said Iraq disarmed long before the U.S. invasion in 2003 is warning Americans to prepare for a war with Iran.
"We just don't know when, but it's going to happen," Scott Ritter said to a crowd of about 150 at the James A. Little Theater on Sunday night.
Ritter described how the U.S. government might justify war with Iran in a scenario similar to the buildup to the Iraq... (more)
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Bilderberg Connection To Muslim RiotsThe controversy continues over the anti-Islamic cartoons published in a Danish publication. The latest word notes that Merete Eldrup, managing director of JP/Politikens Hus, the company that published the cartoons, is the wife of Anders Eldrup, chairman of DONG (Danish Oil and Natural Gas), a currently state-owned energy provider about to be privatized.
Moreover, according to a posting on Indymedia UK, as well as several other sources, Anders has been among the attendees at the la... (more)
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Reuters: Grenade Attack on Mexican Newspaper Office Near U.S. BorderNEW YORK Gunmen blasted their way into the offices of a newspaper near Mexico's border with the United States on Monday, tossing a grenade and gravely wounding a reporter.
A night shift reporter at El Manana in Nuevo Laredo, Jaime Orozco, is fighting for his life today, Reuters reports, based on a phone conversation with director Daniel Rosas. One of the gunmen tossed a grenade into the newsroom, he said. Orozco received five bullet wounds.
Nuevo Laredo is on the fr... (more)
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Britain could start pulling out of Iraq in May, US general reveals British troops could start withdrawing troops from Iraq within months, a senior American general has suggested.
Brigadier-General Mark Kimmitt of the US Central Command said the American-led coalition would be happy to reduce troop numbers as local security forces became ready to take responsibility for security in the war-torn state, where two British soldiers were killed last week.
He spoke as speculation mounted that Britain was preparing to reduce troop number... (more)
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US Attack on Iran from Azerbaijan Territory Impossible — President Azerbaijan will not allow the U.S. to launch military attacks on Iran from the country’s territory, Azeri president told Iran envoy Afshar Soleymani at their joint press conference on Monday.
President Ilham Aliyev assured Soleymani that Azerbaijan would not allow to use its territory for attacks on Iran, Soleymani was quoted by IRNA agency as saying.
The envoy also ruled out the actual possibility of U.S. launching military action against Iran.
... (more)
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Use of force against Iran is on agenda, warns bullish RumsfeldAMERICAN military action against Iran because of its nuclear ambitions is still an option, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has warned.
With Iran remaining defiant in the face of international pressure over its atomic programme - it yesterday ended snap United Nations inspections of its atomic sites - Mr Rumsfeld upped the stakes, describing Iran as a "main sponsor" of terrorist groups.
A senior Iran defence official added to the tough talk yesterday with a sen... (more)
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Iran to pay "heavy price" for nuclear weapon ambition: Israel Israeli acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday that Iran would pay "a very heavy price" if the Islamic Republic defiantly resumes full-scale uranium enrichment to build nuclear weapons.
"At the end of the day, it shows that Iran will pay a very heavy price if it continues with its plans to try and enrich its fuel in order to be able to use it as an option to make non-conventional weapons," said Olmert at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
He also sa... (more)
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'Hitler a baby next to Bush'Caracas - President Hugo Chavez extended his verbal war with Washington, likening US President George W Bush to Hitler while saying he was considering buying enough rifles to arm one million Venezuelans ready to repel a possible US invasion.
Speaking at a mass rally on Saturday commemorating a failed 1992 coup he led as a lieutenant colonel, Chavez warned that Washington was considering invading Venezuela and the country needed more weapons to defend itself.
"We sti... (more)
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Bush's Budget to Call for Nuclear Partnership With RussiaWASHINGTON, Feb. 3 — The Bush administration will propose in its budget on Monday the creation of an atomic energy partnership with Russia, offering countries a supply of fuel for their reactors under restrictions intended to prevent them from developing nuclear weapons, according to administration officials.
Under the proposal, the United States and Russia would provide reactor fuel to other countries and take back the spent fuel afterward to prevent its use in weaponry. Pr... (more)
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Pentagon sees China as greatest potential rivalChina has the “greatest potential to compete militarily” with America in the future, but the US is also increasingly worried about Russian arms sales, the Pentagon said in major review of military priorities.
Underscoring mounting concerns about the rise of China, the highly anticipated quadrennial defence review [QDR] focusses on the potential future threat from a Chinese military build-up that “already puts regional military balances at risk”.
... (more)
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Iraqis Want US WithdrawalThe majority of Iraqis want a timetable set for the withdrawal of United States forces even while believing that the presence of the military in their country is permanent, a new opinion poll shows.
Discussing the results at a Saban Center for Middle East Policy briefing at the Brookings Institution Tuesday, senior fellow Kenneth Pollack recommended close attention to the poll, calling Iraqi public opinion "a growing political force."
The poll, conducted by the Prog... (more)
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N Korea 'not forging US dollars'North Korea is no longer forging US dollars, contrary to US claims, South Korea's intelligence agency has said.
The agency had no evidence Pyongyang has made forged, so-called "supernotes" since 1998, a lawmaker briefed by the National Intelligence Service said.
US sanctions imposed in connection with the alleged forgery have stalled talks on the North's nuclear ambitions.
The US negotiator to the talks warned on Wednesday that diplomacy was the prefe... (more)
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Iran Incapable of Building Nuclear Bomb — Russian ExpertIran is not capable of building its own nuclear weapons, the former head of a nuclear power plant and current regional leader in southern Russia said Wednesday.
“In reality, the U.S. is provoking Iran, accusing it of aiming, along with the implementation of its peaceful nuclear programs, to create its own nuclear weapons,” Governor of the Saratov Region Pavel Ipatov was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying.
Ipatov, who was head the Balakovo power plant for ... (more)
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Iran’s real crime?If Iran starts its own euro-denominated oil bourse and it takes off, the US dollar — already an ailing currency due to huge deficits in the US economy — will be marginalised as the global currency. Iran is taking a calculated risk
Iran proposes to set up by March 2006 an “oil/energy bourse” for trading based on the euro, rather than the US dollar. While it may seem innocuous, this represents a grave threat to the continued global hegemony of the United Stat... (more)
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Russia Owns New Unbeatable Missile Systems — PutinRussian President Vladimir Putin boasted on Tuesday that Russia has missiles capable of penetrating any missile defense system, an apparent allusion the U.S. defense network, Russian news agencies reported.
“Russia last year tested missile systems that no one in the world has and won’t have for a long time,” he was quoted by the ITAR-Tass and RIA-Novosti news agencies as telling a news conference.
“These missile systems don’t represent ... (more)
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