Posted: May 2, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern


By Joseph Farah
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
WASHINGTON – Former CIA chief James Woolsey affirms the work of a special commission investigating the threat of a nuclear-bomb generated electromagnetic pulse attack on the U.S. by rogue states or terrorists and is urging the country to take steps necessary to protect against the potentially devastating consequences.
In testimony before the House International Terrorism and Non-Proliferation Subcommittee, chaired by Ed Royce, R-Calif., Woolsey, director of the CIA from 1993 through 1995, referred to the nuclear EMP threat, characterized in intelligence circles, he said, as "a SCUD in a bucket."
"That is a simple ballistic missile from a stockpile somewhere in the world outfitted on something like a tramp steamer and fired from some distance offshore into an American city or to a high altitude, thereby creating an electromagnetic pulse effect, which could well be one of the most damaging ways of using a nuclear weapon," he said.
Woolsey commended the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from EMP Attack for its years of work on the subject and for its dire report concluding that it is a means of attack that could lead ...   more »

By Dan Eggen and Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, August 13, 2006; A01
It was the last week of July, heading into the lazy dog days of official Washington, but Michael Chertoff was suddenly busy.
The homeland security secretary discreetly asked subordinates about plans developed months or even years ago, focused on aviation safety, threat levels and other minutiae. In briefings, he quizzed staffers about responses to an aviation threat: What was the default plan for going to "orange alert"? What items can we ban from airplanes if we need to?Those taking the questions -- including many of Chertoff's closest aides -- had no idea what was really going on, two senior counterterrorism officials said.
Chertoff's stealthy information-gathering was just one example of the U.S. government's secretive response to an emerging terrorist plot, in which at least 41 suspects were arrested in Britain and Pakistan in connection with alleged plans to blow up jetliners as they flew from London to the United States.
Until the last hours, details of the British probe were confined to a limited coterie of U.S. Cabinet members and senior officials, according to interviews with more than a dozen people who were involved ...   more »

Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak has told the visiting Iranian foreign minister that his government should help in world efforts to bring stability back to war-battered Lebanon, Egyptian official media reported Sunday.
Ahead of Mubarak's meeting with Mottaki, the state-owned Al Gomhuria quoted "a senior official source" at Mubarak's office as saying the Egyptian leader plans to urge Iran to support diplomacy in Lebanon.
"Egypt believes that it would be wise to work at easing tension in order to avoid any further escalation that would threaten the existence of Lebanon as an Arab state," the official told the paper.
The official said that Mottaki was intending to press for Egypt to forge a unified Egyptian-Iranian stance in support of Hizbullah and against Israel's invasion of southern Lebanon.
"The Egyptian position is that the region cannot bear more tension," the Egyptian official said. Egypt will press for the full implementation of the international resolutions on Lebanon, he added. The UN resolution unanimously approved Friday calls for the withdrawal of Israel's 30,000 troops in Lebanon and the deployment of an international peacekeeping mission on the border.
The Egyptian president, a key US ally, met for over an hour with Mottaki in his summer ...   more »

Mother of reserve soldier forced to collect military gear, contributions, after IDF fails to supply her son and his comrades with proper equipment
Yossi Yehoshua  
Honey from kibbutz Lahav has two sons who serve in IDF elite unit: One in compulsory service, the other one in the reserves. The younger son tells his mother that everything is ok, as much as possible considering the circumstances. The reservist, however, complains that he and his comrades lack basic military equipment, without which it is impossible to go to war.  
The son told his mother that his and his friends' requests for additional gear have all been rejected, and that their last resort is to ask for help from home.  
"It's unbelievable," she said. "What country do we live in? My son is being sent to risk his life, but they won't even give him the proper  
equipment to fight with. Is he supposed to stop the bullets with his body?" she asked.  
Forced to take matters into her own hands, Honey decided to recruit the missing gear herself. She posted a sign on the kibbutz's notice board, asking kibbutz members to contribute either equipment or money. On ...   more »

Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki met here on Friday afternoon with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In the 40-minute meeting, held behind closed door, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul was also present.
Mottaki arrived in Istanbul on Friday afternoon and in a brief talk with reporters at the airport said, Iran and Turkey have common concerns about current crisis in the Lebanon.
The Iranian foreign minister said he was carrying a message from President Ahmadinejad to senior Turkish officials concerning current developments in Lebanon and added, negotiations between the two countries are going on at a high level, the latest one being recent meeting of President Ahmadinejad and Prime Minister Erdogan in Malaysia.
Original Source


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TEHRAN, Iran In yet another rejection of a Friday U-N Security Council deadline to cease enriching uranium, Iran says its nuclear program is irreversible.
Earlier this month, Iran announced for the first time that it had enriched uranium using 164 centrifuges. It was a step toward large-scale production of nuclear fuel that can be used either in atomic weapons or civilian nuclear reactors.
The United States and some allies charge Iran is using the program as a cover for weapons production. Iran says it is designed only for power generation.
A spokesman says a Russian plan for joint uranium enrichment in Russia is still on the table.
Iran's envoy to the U-N nuclear watchdog agency said yesterday that Iran has reached a "basic deal" with the Kremlin.
Original Source
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By Yuval Zaliouk   August 12, 2006
If you take account of it, devoid of politics, Ehud Olmert has caused more damage and destruction to Israel than any of her enemies. Here are the cold facts:
Beginning with his role as mastermind of the "disengagement" from Gush Katif, Gaza, and northern Samaria, no Israeli leader in history has ever caused so much damage to Israel and Israelis.
1) He caused the destruction of more than 24 thriving Jewish communities.
2) He displaced more Jews than any Arab enemy in Israel's history.
3) He allowed hundreds of Kassam rockets from Gaza to rain with impunity on communities in the Negev.
4) By his defeatism, he invited horrible destruction of Israel's north.
5) By his conduct of the Lebanon war, he managed to squander much of Israel's military image and deterrence.
6) He squandered the best goodwill accorded to Israel by any of US Presidents ever.
7) He lulled the Israeli public to a false calm, convincing many that demolishing Jewish homes is a panacea for Israel and a solution for our enemies' hatred.
8) Instead of preparing and training the IDF for the unavoidable wars, he used anguished soldiers for policing the ...   more »

Senior Hizbullah official: If a mere organization succeeded in defeating Israel, why would Arab nations not succeed in doing so?
Roee Nahmias
Preliminary implications: As the war reaches an end, more and more worrisome voices are heard from Arab nations, asking loudly and boldly if the 'triumph' against Israel in Lebanon will advance 'the day in which Israel will disappear'.  
Ahmed Barakat, a member of Hizbullah's central council, said in an interview to Qatari newspaper al-Watan that "Today Arab and Muslim society is reasonably certain that the defeat of Israel is possible and that countdown to the disappearance of the Zionist entity in the region has begun."  
According to Barakat, "This is the reason that Shimon Peres said it was a life or death battle and this is why the triumph of the resistance is the beginning of the death of the Israeli enemy. For, if a mere organization succeeded in defeating Israel, why would Arab nations not succeed in doing so if they allied? Many Arabs and Muslims viewed Israel in a fictional way and the resistance has succeeded in changing this."  
When asked how the resistance (aka Nasrallah) succeeded in achieving this victory, he answered: ...   more »

As a result of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's declaration that victory in the Lebanese war would advance his withdrawal plan, ten reserve soldiers have announced their refusal to fight. 
For the past several months, Olmert has championed his "convergence" plan, which is in essence another unilateral withdrawal and the planned destruction of most of the remaining Jewish communities located throughout Judea and Samaria. Olmert has said he will "converge" them together into settlement blocs, but the international community has not agreed to this.
Speaking with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Prime Minister Olmert said, "I'll surprise you. I genuinely believe that the outcome of the present [conflict] and the emergence of a new order that will provide more stability and will defeat the forces of terror will help create the necessary environment that will allow me... to create a new momentum between us and the Palestinians."
"We want to separate from the Palestinians," he added. "I'm ready to do it. I'm ready to cope with these demands. It's not easy, it's very difficult, but we are elected to our positions to do things and not to sit idle."
Word of Olmert's statements quickly spread through the ranks of the IDF ...   more »