Monday, February 1, 2010
Could Israel attack Iran with nuclear weapons?
USA ready to declare Iran a nuclear power
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Netanyahu failed on Iran
US concedes nuclear Iran
U.S. expanding missile defenses in Persian Gulf
The United States has been expanded land- and sea-based missile defense systems in and around the Persian Gulf to counter what it sees as Iran's growing missile threat, U.S. officials said.
The deployments include expanded land-based Patriot defensive missile installations in Kuwait, Qatar, UAE and Bahrain, as well as Navy ships with missile defense systems within striking distance in and around the Mediterranean, officials said.
General David Petraeus, who as head of U.S. Central Command is responsible for military operations across the Middle East, said this month that the United States has stationed eight Patriot missile batteries in four Gulf countries, which he did not identify.
The buildup began under the Bush administration, but has expanded under President Barack Obama, who is pushing for a new round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.
Officials said the expansion was meant to increase protection for U.S. forces and key allies in the Gulf.
The chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said last month the Pentagon must have military options ready to counter Iran should Obama call for them.
"The chairman has made it clear many times that he remains concerned about the ballistic missile threat posed by Iran, but it would be inappropriate to discuss any mitigation or defense measures we might have in place to deter/defeat that threat," a spokesman for Mullen said.
Obama announced a revised missile defense system last year that included the deployment of Aegis ships equipped with missile interceptors to help defend Europe and U.S. forces against Iranian rockets.
The Pentagon said it envisioned keeping three ships at any given time in and around the Mediterranean and the North Sea to protect areas of interest, with the possibility of sending additional ships to the region as needed.
The Obama administration said the decision to change plans was based mainly on technological developments and a shift in intelligence assessments to meet short- and medium-range missile threats posed by Iran.
Pentagon officials said deploying ships with SM-3 interceptors, made by Raytheon Co., would provide the flexibility to move U.S. missile defense capabilities as may be needed.
Ships with Aegis interceptor systems are capable of blowing up ballistic missiles above the atmosphere. The system can track over 100 targets, military officials said.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Libya buys S-300 air defence system
Libya is poised to pick up more than $2 billion worth of Russian arms, focusing mainly on a fleet of 200 fighter planes, Russia's Interfax news agency reports. The report comes hot on the heels of a key visit to Russia by Libya's defense minister, Gen. Abu-Bakr Yunis Jaber. The visit signals the latest show of renewed cooperation between Russia and the once pariah state of North Africa.
"Libya is ready to buy around 20 fighter planes, at least two divisions of S-300PMU2 air defense systems and several dozen T-90S tanks from Russia, and also to modernize more than 70 tanks and other weapons," Interfax reported citing unidentified military sources.
Officials on both sides have refused to openly concede the deal, which local media, including the reputable Vedomosti newspaper, put the contract at $2 billion.
The same newspaper reported that the deal would also include purchase of the sophisticated S-300 surface-to-air anti-missile systems, which Russia has also delivered to Iran.
Another part of the deal would focus on securing combat aircraft such as the SU-35, SU-30 and Yak-130. That purchase alone would absorb half of the funds Libya is set to allocate for its Russian arms design, the Interfax news agency said.
Relations between Russia and Libya have warmed in recent years following the latter's bid to shed its pariah status in 2003 when it renounced weapons of mass destruction and took responsibility for a 1988 airliner bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 270 people.
In 2008, also, during a visit to Tripoli by President Putin, Moscow agreed to cancel billions of dollars of Libyan Soviet-era debt in exchange for big contracts for Russian companies.
It was Putin's first visit to Tripoli since the 1980s.
It remained unclear whether the new, lucrative arms contract was signed during Jaber's Russia visit.
"We expect his visit will not just be of a political nature, but will also allow the signing of contracts on the delivery of arms and military hardware," Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, deputy head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, told the RIA-Novosti state news agency ahead of Jaber's visit.
The official, who oversees arms exports, did not elaborate. There was, also, no official confirmation or statement by Russia's powerful state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport.
Local media suggested that details of the contract could be revealed during a news conference on Wednesday.
The arrival of the senior Libyan minister comes days after the Libyan Investment Authority snatched up the Hong Kong initial public offering of UC Rusal, the world's biggest aluminum producer.
In 2008 UC Rusal had signed a memorandum of understanding to create a joint venture to build an "energy and metals complex" in Libya.
"Libya is ready to buy around 20 fighter planes, at least two divisions of S-300PMU2 air defense systems and several dozen T-90S tanks from Russia, and also to modernize more than 70 tanks and other weapons," Interfax reported citing unidentified military sources.
Officials on both sides have refused to openly concede the deal, which local media, including the reputable Vedomosti newspaper, put the contract at $2 billion.
The same newspaper reported that the deal would also include purchase of the sophisticated S-300 surface-to-air anti-missile systems, which Russia has also delivered to Iran.
Another part of the deal would focus on securing combat aircraft such as the SU-35, SU-30 and Yak-130. That purchase alone would absorb half of the funds Libya is set to allocate for its Russian arms design, the Interfax news agency said.
Relations between Russia and Libya have warmed in recent years following the latter's bid to shed its pariah status in 2003 when it renounced weapons of mass destruction and took responsibility for a 1988 airliner bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 270 people.
In 2008, also, during a visit to Tripoli by President Putin, Moscow agreed to cancel billions of dollars of Libyan Soviet-era debt in exchange for big contracts for Russian companies.
It was Putin's first visit to Tripoli since the 1980s.
It remained unclear whether the new, lucrative arms contract was signed during Jaber's Russia visit.
"We expect his visit will not just be of a political nature, but will also allow the signing of contracts on the delivery of arms and military hardware," Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, deputy head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, told the RIA-Novosti state news agency ahead of Jaber's visit.
The official, who oversees arms exports, did not elaborate. There was, also, no official confirmation or statement by Russia's powerful state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport.
Local media suggested that details of the contract could be revealed during a news conference on Wednesday.
The arrival of the senior Libyan minister comes days after the Libyan Investment Authority snatched up the Hong Kong initial public offering of UC Rusal, the world's biggest aluminum producer.
In 2008 UC Rusal had signed a memorandum of understanding to create a joint venture to build an "energy and metals complex" in Libya.
UK bank system no longer ranks among safest
The rating agency placed the UK's banking system in group 3 out of its 10 Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment (BICRA) categories on Dec 21 2009, alongside the banking system of the USA.
"The publication of this report is just providing more colour on what went into that decision making process," said Nigel Greenwood, analyst at Standard and Poor's.
While British banks are at the same rank as those from Portugal, Chile and Austria, the banking systems of Canada, France and Germany banks are ranked higher.
S&P said in its statement that the action was due to the Britain's weak economic environment, the reputational damage wrought upon the banking industry, and high dependence on state-support programs of a significant proportion of the industry.
The agency also said that the deleveraging process of households, government and companies would weigh on the economy and therefore the banks' financial performance.
British shares and sterling fell after the release of the report, with the FTSE 100 index <.FTSE> down 0.96 percent at 1624 GMT, and the pound trading almost a cent lower at $1.6143 from $1.6236 previously. Gilt futures also slipped. The report from S&P came just two days after the agency downgraded four Irish banks [ID:nLDE60P2E6] following a similar process. Irish banks are in BICRA group 4.
NATO-led forces kill Afghan cleric in Kabul
An Afghan civilian shot dead by NATO-led forces in the Afghan capital Kabul Thursday was a Muslim cleric, the alliance said in a statement.
Muhammad Yonus, who was imam of a mosque in central Kabul, was in a car when a convoy of troops from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) shot him.
"In an unfortunate incident this morning, an ISAF convoy fired on what appeared to be a threatening vehicle. Regrettably, an Afghan civilian was killed ... He was initially wounded in the incident, but later died of his wounds," an ISAF statement said.
The incident triggered a protest outside a large U.S. military base in Kabul. ISAF have declined to comment on the nationality of the convoy involved.
The shooting could increase tensions between Afghans and foreign troops at a time when Washington and its allies want to limit civilian casualties and protect the population as part of their strategy to weaken the Taliban insurgency.
But a number of incidents over the past year involving ISAF air strikes on Afghan villages, which have led to large numbers of civilians being killed, have undermined efforts to reduce such casualties.
Elsewhere, a member of U.S. forces was killed in a bomb attack in southern Afghanistan, ISAF said in another statement.
There are more than 110,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan fighting the insurgency, which claimed record numbers of civilian and foreign troop lives in 2009.
More than 50 countries are meeting in London to produce a plan to strengthen Afghan security forces and the Kabul government and start engaging the Taliban in order to pave the way for a gradual withdrawal of U.S. forces.
Muhammad Yonus, who was imam of a mosque in central Kabul, was in a car when a convoy of troops from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) shot him.
"In an unfortunate incident this morning, an ISAF convoy fired on what appeared to be a threatening vehicle. Regrettably, an Afghan civilian was killed ... He was initially wounded in the incident, but later died of his wounds," an ISAF statement said.
The incident triggered a protest outside a large U.S. military base in Kabul. ISAF have declined to comment on the nationality of the convoy involved.
The shooting could increase tensions between Afghans and foreign troops at a time when Washington and its allies want to limit civilian casualties and protect the population as part of their strategy to weaken the Taliban insurgency.
But a number of incidents over the past year involving ISAF air strikes on Afghan villages, which have led to large numbers of civilians being killed, have undermined efforts to reduce such casualties.
Elsewhere, a member of U.S. forces was killed in a bomb attack in southern Afghanistan, ISAF said in another statement.
There are more than 110,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan fighting the insurgency, which claimed record numbers of civilian and foreign troop lives in 2009.
More than 50 countries are meeting in London to produce a plan to strengthen Afghan security forces and the Kabul government and start engaging the Taliban in order to pave the way for a gradual withdrawal of U.S. forces.
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