Russian Fires Near Nuclear Base - Russian Atomic Bomb: US Sends Firefighting Equipment to Russia

Russian officials say one of 500 raging wildfires is nearing their "main nuclear centre," where a "secret town"  houses it's "most sophisticated" research labs - as well as the "Russian atomic bomb." A recording breaking summer heat and lightening striking a pine tree sparked the deadly blazes. The U.S. is sending firefighting equipment. Do you think Russia will like us now?

Other reports are saying our equipment has arrived and the nuclear site is no longer endangered.

John Bolton: Time for Israel to Strike Iran

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, says now is the time for Israel to strike Iran, and if they do not, nothing will stop the Mullah's nuclear facilities.

Israeli Air Force

Bolton (I think I would vote for him for U.S. President) sees no possibility of the Obama administration taking any meaningful action - translated: If Israel does not do it, who will?

The Reaganite Republican

This is an important story, and the hard work has been done for us. James at Reaganite Republican Resistance has the story, and has done major research on the subject. He lays out Israel's capabilities, Iran's capabilities, and the lack of them, and why the IDF's recent tepid responses will not be duplicated when dealing with the regime . He explains the issue of Israeli air space, which we hear will be forbidden to them, and tells us just how many targets Israel must hit for the strike to be effective.

Read the research on and Israeli strike against Iran, and tell me what you think. Click the link under The Reaganite Republican's banner above, or click here.

America in the Year 2016? Obama: Whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower: America in the year 2016:

We all will rest better tonight knowing that our president is concerned about America's outrageous military power. We can be comforted that he plans to do something to tamp it down. If you think Obama did not mean exactly what he says in the video below: "whether we like it or not we remain a dominant military superpower," you are seriously not paying attention to the world around you - check yourself for ADHD. Some country, perhaps some dictator, will always be the "most powerful." Who would Obama choose to fill the void America leaves...one day probably not too far away? Perhaps we might look to the year 2016. If you are already aware of Obama's "superpower" comment, just skip on down the page to the year 2016.

America 

in the 

Year 

2016

First Obama's "superpower comment" from Cassy Fiano at Hot Air:

Now, Obama may have been simply referring to the fact that we get dragged into world conflicts. As a world superpower, that is true. But as I recall, we are supposed to be a force for good in the world. Part of being a force for good in the world means that, occasionally, we have to be the “world’s police”. 

Let’s think about WWII and Germany. If Obama was president then, would he have bothered fighting the Nazis? Or would he have just let them continue their evil reign throughout Europe, murdering millions along the way? 

Yeah, sure, it’s easy to say now, in retrospect, that of course he would have helped to liberate Europe and destroy the Nazis. But remember his position on preventing genocide during the campaign? Specifically, he said that preventing genocide in Iraq was not a good enough reason to keep our troops there. 

Why should we believe he’d have wanted to stop Hitler if he wouldn’t have had a problem letting Hussein continue his tyranny and terrorization of Iraq? The point is, being a superpower in the world is a good thing

In January 2008, the New York Times published a piece by Parag Khanna. The 8-page article goes on an on - I'll admit I did not read every word; it was written by a Liberal. I'll admit that on the first page there is some scolding of America for Afghanistan and Iraq and our "imperialism." That aside, the article takes us to 2016 and a world where "America's standing in the world remains in steady decline:"

It is 2016, and the Hillary Clinton or John McCain or Barack Obama administration is nearing the end of its second term. America has pulled out of Iraq but has about 20,000 troops in the independent state of Kurdistan, as well as warships anchored at Bahrain and an Air Force presence in Qatar. Afghanistan is stable: Iran is nuclear. China has absorbed Taiwan and is steadily increasing its naval presence aroudnt he Pacific Rim and, from the Pakistani port of Gwadar, on the Arabian Sea. The European Union has expanded to well over 30 members and has secure oil and gas flows from North africa, Russia and the Caspian Sea, as well as substantial nuclear energy. America's standing in the world remains in steady decline...

At best, America's unipolar moment lasted through the 1990's, but that was also a decade adrift. The post-cold-war "peace dividend" was never converted into a global liberal order under American leadership. So now, rather than bestriding the globe, we are competing -- and losing -- in a geopolitical marketplace alongside the world's other superpowers: The European Union and China. This is geopolitics in the 21st century: the new Big Three. Not Russia, an increasingly depopulated expanse run by Gazprom.gov; not an incoherent Islam embroiled in internals wars; and not India, lagging decades behind China in both development and strategic appetite. The Big Three make the rules -- their own rules -- without any one of them dominating. And the others are left to choose their suitors in this post-American world...

And Europe's influence grows at America's expense. While America fumbles at nation-building, Europe spends its money and political capital on locking peripheral countries into its orbit. Many poor regions of the world have realized that they want the European dream, not the American dream. Africa wants a real African Union like the E.U. We offer no equivalent. Activists in the Middle East want parliamentary democracy like Europe's, not American-style presidential strongman rule. Many of the foreign students we shunned after 9/11 are now in London and Berlin: twice as many Chinese study in Europe as in the U.S. We didn't educate them, so we have no claims on their brains or layalties as we have in decades past. More broadly, America controls legacy institutions few seem to want -- like the International Monetary Fund -- while Europe excels at building new and sophisticated ones modeled on itself. The U.S. has a hard time getting its way even when it dominates summit meetings -- consider the ill-fated Free Trade Area of the Americas -- let alone when it's not even invited, as with the new East Asian Community, the region's answer to America's Apec.

Let's skip to the last page of the essay:

[On the last page he says the American president in 2016 should] "channel" his/her "inner J.F.K." "You are president, not emperor. You are commander in chief and also diplomat in chief.  Your grand strategy is global strategy, yet you must never use the prhase "American national interest."...that means no more talk of advancing "American values" either." What is worth having is universal first and American second. This applies to "democracy" as well...

Of course, we know today that this author adores Barack Obama. Let us make certain his 2016, or any other similar possibilities, never becomes reality beginning with November 2010.


Obama at end of Nuclear Summit: Whether we like or not, we remain a dominant military superpower (video)

Pantex Nuclear Plant Locked Down in Amarillo Texas

Pantex Nuclear Plant is locked down in Amarillo, Texas. Employees are being "sheltered in place." Apparently this is a security threat. More as available. Update: The emergency was due to hunters, armed of course, seen in the fields near Pantex. The lockdown is over now.

Pantex Activates Emergency Response Organization
· The Pantex Plant has activated its Emergency Response Organization to respond to a potential security situation. The event occurred at approximately 8:00am.

· The Plant is in a lockdown status and the situation is being evaluated in order to facilitate security actions. Pantex employees are sheltered-in-place.

· Pantex’s response effort is being conducted by the Emergency Response Organization, a highly trained group of employees with detailed knowledge of plant operations and emergency response procedures. These employees represent plant functions such as security, logistics, safety, medical response, radiological assessment, firefighting, operations and public information.

· The emergency responders’ top priorities are the safety of the public, workers and the environment, as well as ensuring security is maintained.

· Pantex is also in the process of establishing communication links with various local, state and federal government agencies that will work with Pantex and communicate with the public during the response to this event.

Pantex is a government-owned, contractor-operated nuclear weapons assembly/disassembly facility. It also manufactures high explosive components.

The plant is located 17 miles NW of Amarillo.

Nuclear Physicist, CERN Lab, Arrested for al-Qaeda Links

The French have arrested an unnamed nuclear physicist who works for the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, located in Geneva, Switzerland. He is believed to be have ties with al-Qaeda. See update 10-11-09  10-12-09 below. Dr. Adlene Hicheur was arrested, along with his brother, Dr. Halim Hicheur, who may have been released.

CERN

The man, 32, and his 25-year-old brother were arrested and their computers seized.

He was a physicist who worked on data analysis "in the context of a contract with another institute" and "none of his research had a potential military application", it said in a statement.

Previously known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, AQIM waged a war with the Algerian authorities in a bid to install an Islamic state at the cost of tens of thousands of lives in the 1990s.

But since joining al-Qaeda it has spread its activities to neighbouring countries such as Mali, Niger and Mauritania.

Cern is famous for the development of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) pictured above:

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a gigantic scientific instrument near Geneva, where it spans the border between Switzerland and France about 100 m underground. It is a particle accelerator used by physicists to study the smallest known particles – the fundamental building blocks of all things. It will revolutionise our understanding, from the minuscule world deep within atoms to the vastness of the Universe.

Two beams of subatomic particles called 'hadrons' – either protons or lead ions – will travel in opposite directions inside the circular accelerator, gaining energy with every lap. Physicists will use the LHC to recreate the conditions just after the Big Bang, by colliding the two beams head-on at very high energy. Teams of physicists from around the world will analyse the particles created in the collisions using special detectors in a number of experiments dedicated to the LHC.

The LHC, lies deep feet beneath the ground under the border of France and Switzerland in a tunnel, and is scheduled to be operational in November 2009. It is sometimes dubbed "the greatest physics experiment in the world."

Beyond the LHC, CERN says it is one of the world's "largest and most respected centres for scientific research," and "its business is fundamental physics...." CERN stands for Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire or European Council for Nuclear Research." This site says that although CERN has "never been involved in research on nuclear power or nuclear weapons...."

CERN and the scientists and engineers working there have no interest in weapons research. They are trying to understand how the world works, not how to destroy it.

The French are characterizing this arrest as "a very high level" case. The men are being held in Paris and are accused of being in contact with members of "al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghred (AQIM)," an Algerian-based member of al-Qaeda. For information more on Cern, go here.


With the identification of these two men, I have a new post here.

Update 10-11-09:

The two arrested men are still unidentified. The CERN physcist exchanged correspondence "over the Internet" with a a branch of al-Qaeda in north Africa. Terror attacks were discussed, according to an unnamed French official.

The physcist's brother was arrested but was released yesterday.

US monitors picked up the exchange between the scientist and his contact in the militant group, known as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.

Update: 10-12-09:
The scientists arrested from CERN for having al-Qaeda contacts are Dr. Adlene Hicheur and his brother Dr. Halim Hicheur. The brother may have been released - reports conflict.

The men are French Algerian. Detention is reportedly at a "high security prison near Paris."

...a judge, said they were being held under suspicion of "criminal activities related to a terrorist group". They can be held for four days before being formally charged.
Investigators described the older man as "very high level" and said that he had been in contact with individuals linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim) – the North African wing of the terrorist network – about potential targets in France.

Intelligence sources said Hicheur had expressed a "wish, a desire" to carry out a terrorist attack but had "not committed material preparatory acts".

The brothers apparently came to the attention of the secret services when agents monitored the internet as part of an inquiry into the recruitment of extremists to fight in Afghanistan. Several exchanges were recorded between the two men and suspected al-Qaeda contacts. 

Hicheur was employed by CERN at the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Lausanne.

A source at CERN added: "It's quite likely that he had access to the experimental zones rather than just the office and academic areas."

Nuclear Material Around the World Moved to Russia and U.S.

This Fox News report shows how nuclear material is kept out of the hands of terrorists and rogue nations. Fascinating.

Iran's 25-Year Atomic Program and the U.N.'s Failure to Launch

This Bloomberg Report says that Iran has concealed its "atomic program for two decades before 2003." That would be about 25 years that Iran has been working on an "atomic program."

The U.N. Atomic Agency reports that they have verified the "non-diversion" of declared nuclear material in Iran. So, materials haven't been diverted to nuclear? Or have they?

The U.N. jumped right on evaluating American's racist attitudes (because voters may not want to vote for Barack Hussein Obama), but the U.N. cannot feed the hungry, they cannot contain the peacekeepers who rape and pillage, they cannot stop greenhouse gases and they certainly cannot stop Iran - who, according to the report, "probably will not have enough uranium for a bomb until 2010, at the earliest...."

No need to worry, Israel, you still have about 1-1/2 years before you must launch (you do have complete faith in the U.N. and the IAEA, don't you?)

(Emphasized text is mine)

Iran Withholding Atomic Weapons Research, UN Reports (Update 1)

By Jonathan Tirone

May 26 (Bloomberg) -- Iran continues to defy United Nations demands that it suspend its nuclear program, has expanded its fabrication of atomic fuel and continues to stonewall investigators looking into documents alleging its government researched atomic weapons, the UN atomic agency said.

``The agency is of the view that Iran may have additional information, in particular, on high explosives testing and missile-related activities, which could shed more light on the nature of these alleged studies and which Iran should share,'' according to a nine-page report the International Atomic Energy agency transmitted to the Security Council today from Vienna.

Iran ``maintains that all the allegations are baseless and that the data have been fabricated,'' the report said. IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei will present the findings to the Vienna-based agency's 35-member board of governors June 2.

The IAEA findings are likely to intensify international pressure on Iran, holder of the world's No. 2 oil and gas reserves, over its atomic work. The Security Council has imposed three sets of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. Tehran's government says it's not making a bomb and wants enriched uranium to fuel nuclear energy reactors.

Surprise Visits

UN inspectors, who have made 14 surprise visits since March 2007 to Iran's uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, were ``able to continue to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran,'' according to the report.

The country increased the number of centrifuges it's operating by 17 percent since February to 3,500 and may by the beginning of the third-quarter be able to install 6,000 of the fast-spinning machines that separate uranium isotopes, according to the agency.

Read more.

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