Congress Stands Unified Against Obama’s Wrongheaded Iran Policy

Posted on 20/03/2014 by terrortrends

Members of the US House of Representatives and US Senate sent letters to President Obama detailing principles for any deal with Iran over its nuclear program.

Essentially, the the letters amount to a rejection of Obama’s policy approach to Iran’s nuclear program as it stands now.

The letters are especially significant in that they are signed by an overwhelming bipartisan roster of Congressman and Senators.

In the House, 395 of the 435 members signed and in the Senate 83 members of  100 signed, including 41 Democrats.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2014/03/19/congress-nearly-unanimous-in-its-dismay-over-obamas-iran-policy/

Perhaps just as significant is who did NOT sign the letter. Rumored GOP presidential candidate Rand Paul refused to sign:

“…if one ever needed evidence that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is the odd man out on foreign policy in his party and in the country at large, this is it. He did not sign the Senate letter nor did he sign onto the most recent sanctions legislation; he’s made clear previously he wants to give Obama room to negotiate. That is Hillary Clinton’s position, as well as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s. It is not “Reaganesque” any more than is his interest in a containment strategy. Reagan’s Cold War philosophy was: “We win, they lose.” Rand Paul’s philosophy seems to be: Obama’s got it handled. That puts him in sync with not a single 2016 GOP contender. On the most important national security issue of our time, he’s got it exactly wrong on the president and the mullahs.”

Paul stood with Harry Reid, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Tom Harkin, Patrick Leahy, Carl Levin, Jay Rockefeller and Bernie Sanders in refusing to sign the letter.

 

Filed under: nuclear program, nuclear talks, Obama, sanctions, U.S. Congress, Useful Idiots | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

Two Important Articles from Dr. Andrew Bostom

Posted on 16/03/2014 by terrortrends

Few, if any, Americans have a more sober and complete understanding of Islamic doctrine, particularly Shariah and Jihad, than Dr. Andrew Bostom.

Two days ago, he penned two very important and educational articles on the threat from the Islamic Republic of Iran and the willful blindness and denial Westerners and Americans in particular have when it comes to that threat. It is just this willful blindness and denial that has allowed us to sit back and watch for 20+ years as Iran builds nuclear infrastructure and ballistic missiles, all while sponsoring Jihadist terrorism directed at us…

Everyone should read these two articles…

http://www.andrewbostom.org/blog/2014/03/15/iran-denial-left-and-right-illustrated-simply-and-clearly/

http://pjmedia.com/blog/educating-conservatives-about-modern-shiite-quietists/?singlepage=true

 

 

 

Filed under: Jihad, Khamenei, Khomeini, nuclear program, nuclear talks, Obama, sanctions, Shariah, Terrorism, U.S. Congress, USA, Useful Idiots | Tagged: , , | Leave a comment »

The Other Threat Obama and Kerry Ignored: Ballistic Missiles

Posted on 27/11/2013 by terrortrends

334241_Iran-Qadr-missile

 

For over a decade, Iran has had a robust, active ballistic missile development program. There are new developments on this front that are being covered ably by the crew over at the Free Beacon. Before we link those, here are the basics of the Iranian ballistic missile program…

Iran has several types of ballistic missiles, ranging from Short Range Ballistic Missiles (SRBM) to Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBM). Some are imported systems, some are domestic copies of foreign systems and some are indigenous systems. Iran is also known to be working on ICBMs–Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles.

According to the Obama Defense Department’s “Annual Report on the Military Power of Iran,” published in April of 2012, US intelligence estimates indicate that Iran will be capable of testing Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles in 2015.  A May 2009 joint US-Russian assessment published by the East-West Institute estimated that Iran was 6-8 years away from fielding an ICBM. The United States Institute of Peace estimates that Iran will have an ICBM capable of striking the US by 2020.

Iranian Short-Range Ballistic Missiles

Fateh-110

This solid-fueled, mobile missile system was developed jointly with Red China, North Korea and Syria as a replacement for SCUD missiles. It entered production in 2002 and has a range of 185 miles. This is far enough to hit targets into US installations in Afghanistan, Kuwait and Qatar.

Shehab-1

Developed from the Soviet-era SCUD-B, this mobile, liquid-fueled rocket has a range of 185 miles. This is far enough to target US bases in Afghanistan, Kuwait and Qatar.

Shehab-2

Developed as an improvement from imported North Korean SCUD-C ballistic missiles, this liquid-fueled, mobile missile system has a range of 435 miles. This is sufficient range to reach US bases in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.

Tondar-69

This is the name given by Iran to its CSS-8 rockets acquired from Red China. This solid-fueled, mobile missile has a range of 90 miles and is more of a battlefield rocket, though it could reach targets outside Iran if fired near Iran’s coast or borders.

Medium Range Ballistic Missiles (MRBM)

Shehab-3

This mobile, liquid-fueled missile was developed from North Korea’s NoDong 1 missile. Estimate’s of the Shehab-3’s range capabilities vary; some estimates place it in the IRBM category, rather than the MRBM category. The range estimates vary between 550 and 1500 miles. The upper end of this range would include all of Israel, as well as the eastern Mediterranean, all of Turkey, parts of Greece and all of Saudi Arabia. The lower end of the spectrum would place much of Saudi Arabia within range. There are several variants of the Shehab-3 with different names.

Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBM)

Sajjil

There are at least three generations of this ballistic missile. It is a solid-fueled, mobile rocket and represents a significant advancement in Iranian capability because it is two-staged and thus lays the foundation for intercontinental flight. Also, because it is solid-fueled, it can be launched relatively quickly with little preparation. Range estimates vary from 1200 to 1800 miles, potentially putting targets as far as parts of Poland and parts of Italy within range.

Iranian Space Rocketry

Of particular significance and concern are Iranian efforts at space rocketry, through which it is in the process of mastering the multi-stage rocketry that is required for long-range Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles capable of hitting the US from Iran. Readers may recall that North Korea has also used the cover of a space program to develop ballistic missile technology.

Iran’s Safir rocket was used to place a satellite in orbit in 2009. That launch displayed a new level of capability in propulsion and multi-stage rocketry that the Iranians had previously not demonstrated. The rocket appears to be a development of the Sajjil with greater length but a similar diameter.

Iran has unveiled a prototype of a larger, more capable multi-stage rocket known as the Simorgh, designed to achieve higher orbits with heavier payloads than the Safir. Thus far, the Simorgh has not flown.

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We provide this background because of announced developments by Iran’s ballistic missile program that have coincided with the Obama-Kerry-Ayatollah Agreement.

This morning, Bill Gertz of the Free Beacon detailed the latest on Iranian-North Korean cooperation on ballistic missiles. House Republicans revealed that US intelligence is warning them that Iran and North Korea are developing new engines for ballistic missiles at the same time that Obama and Kerry are asking Americans to back an agreement on nuclear technology with the Ayatollahs:

Iranian collaboration with North Korea on a new rocket booster for long-range missiles undermines the deal with Tehran on its nuclear program, key Senate and House Republicans said on Tuesday.

“While the president was undertaking his secret negotiations—which Congress wasn’t informed of—he had to know Iran and North Korea were testing new engines for ballistic missiles to target the United States,” said Rep. Mike Rogers (R., Ala.) chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces.

The chairman, whose subcommittee is in charge of overseeing U.S. strategic weapons, ballistic missile defenses, and space programs, made the comments in response to a report Tuesday revealing that Iran is covertly working with North Korea on a new 80-ton rocket booster that can be used in both nations’ long-range missile programs.

In the Senate, Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) also criticized the Iran nuclear deal for not addressing the threat of Iran’s ICBM program.

Reports of Iran-North Korea ICBM collaboration follow new anti-America and anti-Israel outbursts from the Islamist regime in Tehran, Cruz said.

http://freebeacon.com/iran-north-korea-missile-cooperation-undermines-recent-geneva-nuclear-deal/

On the heels of Gertz’s article, Adam Kredo posted an article about a report directly from Iranian state-run media quoting an announcement on ballistic missile technology from a leader of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC):

A top Iranian military leader announced late Tuesday that Iran has developed “indigenous” ballistic missile technology, which could eventually allow it to fire a nuclear payload over great distances.

Brigadier General Hossein Salami, the lieutenant commander of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), made the critical weapons announcement just days after Iran and the West signed a deal aimed at curbing the country’s nuclear activities.

Salami claimed that “Iran is among the only three world countries enjoying an indigenous ballistic missile technology,” according to the state-run Fars News Agency. [Editor’s note: this claim would no doubt come as a surprise to Great Britain, France, Red China, India, and Israel.]

Of particular interest and significance from Kredo’s article are these passages from Michael Rubin:

Former Pentagon adviser Michael Rubin said that the United States is not paying great enough attention to Tehran’s military advancements.

“Perhaps, [Secretary of State] John Kerry believes that Iran only wants ballistic missiles for peaceful purposes,” said Rubin, author of Dancing with the Devil: The Perils of Engaging Rogue Regimes.

“The fact of the matter is that Kerry and crew left both ballistic missiles and the nuclear warhead trigger experimentation at Parchin [military site] off-the-table” during talks in Geneva, Rubin said. “It’s the diplomatic equivalent of installing a burglar alarm system in your house but leaving the keys in the door.”

http://freebeacon.com/iran-announces-development-of-ballistic-missile-technology/

 

 

 

Filed under: ballistic missiles, IRGC, John Kerry, missiles, nuclear program, nuclear talks, Obama, space program, U.S. Congress | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Why the Iran Nuclear Agreement is NOT Designed as a Distraction from the Obamacare Debacle

Posted on 25/11/2013 by terrortrends

There is speculation in the blogosphere and on the airwaves this morning that the timing of the Obama/Kerry/Ayatollahs Agreement was designed to distract Americans from the Obamacare debacle.

This speculation is wrong for two reasons:

1. Look at the timing of the announcement of the agreement with Iran. It was announced late on Saturday night before a short holiday week, hardly the time you’d want to announce something to distract the citizenry from anything. If anything, the timing of the announcement seems to have been designed to cloak the agreement with Iran in hopes that by the time the next news cycle began other news stories would push it down the order.

It was released so late on Saturday night, in fact, that the agendas for the Sunday morning news shows had been set and there wouldn’t be any opportunity for administration officials to be called before the cameras to be questioned about the deal in any depth.

In other words, just the opposite of what a lot of people supposed about the announcement of this horrible deal with Iran, this announcement was designed to be timed so as few people as possible would be paying close attention.

2. The ObamaBomb, as the Center for Security Policy’s Frank Gaffney is calling the agreement with Iran, is as significantly scary in its own way as Obamacare is.

At least theoretically, Obamacare can be undone. The American people can choose to vote new Congressional representatives and a new president in 2016 who have the intention of rolling back or even repealing Obamacare.

That isn’t the case with the agreement with Iran. It is a multilateral capitulation that puts the Ayatollahs firmly on the road to building nuclear bombs. Even if America changed its mind and decided to re-tighten its sanctions against Iran, there is no way that China and Russia would allow such a move to succeed in the UN Security Council. Pandora’s Box has been opened and closing it now won’t do any good.

The American people can elect new leaders who think differently that Obama and Kerry on this, and they will still be powerless to undo what Obama and Kerry have done to the entire western civilization.

The only thing future leaders can do thanks to this agreement is try to prepare for a world in which the foremost state sponsor of Jihadist terrorism–and avowed, sworn enemy of the United States–is a nuclear power. Iran will now be untouchable in much the same way that North Korea became untouchable once Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter facilitated their construction of nuclear weapons through an agreement that fell outside the constitutional requirement for senate ratification.

Once Iran fulfills its dream of becoming a nuclear power, which is perhaps only months away, the world geopolitical landscape will become completely changed forever. Not only will Iran approach superpower status as it weaponizes its ballistic missiles capable of at least hitting all of Europe, but it will increase Iran’s economic power in the world as countries seek to establish ties so as not to be on the bad side of a genocidal regime armed with nuclear weapons. Most significantly, Iran will be able to operate and facilitate its global terror networks under a nuclear umbrella. Never again will striking Iran when a Jihadist organization they sponsor carries out a terrorist attack be an option. You can’t just go bombing a nuclear power, even if that nuclear power is sworn to your (America’s) destruction and has a constitutional mandate to export its Islamic revolution.

Future generations will ask:

How did they ever let it happen?

Filed under: ballistic missiles, China, John Kerry, missiles, nuclear program, nuclear talks, Obama, Russia, sanctions, Terrorism, U.S. Congress, United Nations, Useful Idiots | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »

New Iran sanctions passed, Obama given right to waive

Posted on 25/06/2010 by terrortrends

Congress has approved new U.S. sanctions against Iran with legislation that reserves for President Obama the right to waive the sanctions on a case-by-case basis.

The sanctions, passed by the House and Senate on June 24, were meant to target Iran’s banking and energy sectors. Under the legislation, passed about two weeks after sanctions by the United Nations Security Council, foreign companies with links to Iranian energy projects and banks would also be banned from doing business in the United States.

At one point, the White House pressed the Democratic leadership in Congress to grant Obama the power to grant blanket exemptions from sanctions. Instead, the bill would allow the president to waive sanctions on companies on a case-by-case basis for no more than a year.

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2010/ss_iran0572_06_25.asp

Filed under: Gas & Petroleum, nuclear program, Oil, sanctions, U.S. Congress, United Nations | Leave a comment »