₦airaland Forum

On the 24 September at Israel’s National Institute of Security Studies, an obdurately dull building off a main road in Tel Aviv, three dozen men and women drawn from the top echelons of Israel’s political and military elite met to play a war-game, the outcome of which could help decide whether Israel goes to war with Iran.

The game began when the players were told that just after midnight, in a surprise air raid, Israeli bombers had attacked nuclear installations deep inside Iran. First reports indicated that Israel had acted alone without consent or help from the Americans.
The Iranians responded quickly to the Israeli strike, launching a barrage of Shahab-3 ballistic missiles (based on the North Korean Nodong-1 missile) at Israeli targets, including the country’s largest city, Tel Aviv. Then they discussed their political goals.

The most immediate of these was the desire to rebuild the nuclear programme, preferably to a level “beyond what it was on the eve of the strike.” Given their newfound status as victims of an attack, another priority was to have the sanctions on Iran lifted; and to have sanctions placed on Israel for its “unprovoked act.”

They also decided to offer Jordan and Egypt extensive aid packages to cancel their peace treaties with Israel, before debating a key dilemma: whether or not to attack US targets. With Iran’s considerable influence in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention its huge presence in the Gulf, the Iranians could cause huge problems for Washington.

In the end, though, the decision was taken to refrain; Washington was one more complication they didn't need. Russia (which has been building the Bushehr nuclear power plant) was also approached for immediate help to rebuild the devastated facilities, as well as delivery of S-300 surface-to-air missiles and a consignment of Sukhoi 24 aircraft.
Militarily, Iran tried to get its allies – namely, its proxy militia groups Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza – to enter the conflict on its behalf.

Iran develops Ababil-T – a 2,000-km range stealth attack drone

Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi warned Sunday, Oct. 28, in Tehran: “The drone was definitely not the latest Iranian technology.” DEBKAfile: He was talking about the drone which Iran and Hizballah sent over Israeli airspace on Oct. 6 and stressing that it was not the last word in their UAV armory - or even the last to invade Israel’s skies.

According to our military sources, in mid-September, Tehran secretly shipped to Lebanon a batch of dismantled Ababil-T UAVs although the Iranians could not be sure that Israel would not discover their location and its air force bomb them before they were launched. The Syrian war is also making it hard to maintain permanent Iranian launching teams in Lebanon.

However, Iran is making great strides in producing drones with more capabilities and longer ranges. During the 2006 Lebanon War, Hizballah launched an earlier model of the Ababil to bomb Tel Aviv. It was shot down by the Israeli Air Force.  Since then, the Iranians have produced the more advanced Ababil-T for short and medium range attack and Ababils-B and –S.

Our military sources identify Ababil-T as Iran’s most advanced drone in operational service. It has electronic warfare, military intelligence-gathering and online transmission capabilities suited to conditions of front-line battle. It is designed to disable enemy electronic systems in combat, especially those of the United States and Israel.

1.  Its air force flew 1,800-1,900 kilometers to reach the Sudanese arms factory, a distance longer than the 1,600 kilometers to the Iranian underground enrichment site of Fordo. This operation may have been intended to show Tehran that distance presents no obstacles to an Israeli strike on its nuclear program.

2.  The IAF has an efficient in-flight refueling capability.

3.  The raid would have degraded Iran’s ability to retaliate for a potential Israel or US attack.

If it was conducted by Israel, it would add a third item to the list of backdoor assaults in which Iran and Israel appear to be engaged in the past three months.
On August 17, the power lines to Fordo were sabotaged, interrupting the work of enrichment taking place there and causing some of the advanced centrifuges to catch fire.
On Oct. 6, an Iranian stealth drone was launched from Lebanon into Israeli air space and photographed its most sensitive military sites as well as the Dimona nuclear reactor before Israel brought it down.

Less than 24 hours after Sudanese President Omar Bashir pledged “decisive steps against Israeli interests which are now legitimate targets,” for the destruction of the Iranian missile plant in Khartoum, Palestinian rocket teams early Sunday, Oct. 28, fired Grad missiles as target finders against Israel’s nuclear reactor in Dimona. This is reported exclusively by DEBKAfile.

They exploded on open ground in the Ramat Negev district southwest of the town of Dimona.  

The nuclear plant is only 42.5 kilometers as the crow flies from the southern Gaza Strip.  Saturday night, the Israeli Air Force struck a Palestinian rocket team in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younes, killing one Hamas operative and injuring a second critically.

The Palestinian Hamas has evidently launched a new and expanded targeting-policy marking two developments of grave import: One: Its rulers have submitted the Gaza Strip to Tehran for use as its southern operational arm against Israel, complementing Hizballah’s pivotal role to the north of Israel; and two, having acquired improved surface missiles, Hamas is setting its sights firmly on the most sensitive locations within their reach, e.g., Israel’s nuclear reactor and air force bases and the American X-band radar station in the Negev.

The Islamist rulers of Gaza are expected to keep on trying to perfect their aim.

The bombed Sudanese factory produced Iranian Shehab missiles
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report October 24, 2012, 11:03 PM (GMT+02:00) Tags:  Sudan   Shahab missiles   Iran   air strike 

Sudanese missile factory in flames

The Yarmouk Complex of military plants near Khartoum, whicht was bombed five minutes after midnight Wednesday, Oct.  24, by four fighter-bombers, recently went into manufacturing Iranian ballistic surface-to-surface Shehab missiles under license from Tehran, DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources disclose. Western intelligence sources have not revealed what types of Shehab were being turned out in Sudan but they believe the Yarmouk’s output was intended to serve as Tehran’s strategic reserve stock in case Iran’s ballistic arsenal was hit by Israeli bombers.

The Israeli Air Force has a long record of pre-emptive attacks for destroying an enemy’s long-range missiles in the early stages of a conflict. In June 2006, for instance, the IAF destroyed 90 percent of Hizballah’s long-range missiles in the first hours of the Lebanon war.
Videos of the explosions caused in the air raid over Sudan showed large quantities of phosphorus flares in the sky suggesting that a large stockpile was demolished along with the manufacturing equipment.

Western sources did not divulge information about the comings and goings of Iranian missile specialists or whether the Bashir government had given Tehran permission to stage attacks from Sudan against Middle East targets, in return for the allotment of a number of missiles to the Sudanese army. All they would say is that the complex's structures had been completely leveled by the aerial bombardment and subsequent fire.
Sudan accused Israel of the attack and stated it reserved the right to respond at a time and circumstances of its choosing. Israeli officials declined to comment in answer to questions.

This past Wednesday, nobody reported that a squadron of 8 Israeli F-15 jets dropped 4 two-ton bombs on the giant Yarmouk missile factory on the outskirts of Sudan's capital Khartoum. Which is just as Israel wanted it. Because what otherwise would be a provocative incursion tantamount to war (if only Sudan wasn't a complete basket case of a country), was really nothing short of a dry-run for an Israeli attack on Iran. At least according to the Sunday Times. "A long-range Israeli bombing raid last week that was seen as a dry run for a forthcoming attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities has destroyed an Iranian-run plant making rockets and ballistic missiles in Sudan.... The raid, in which two people died, triggered panic across the city. Witnesses said they heard a series of loud blasts followed by the sound of ammunition exploding. “It was a double impact — the explosion at the factory and then the ammunition flying into the neighbourhood,” said Abd-al Ghadir Mohammed, 31, a resident. "The ground shook. Some homes were badly damaged." And... nobody cares. Here we leave it up to readers to imagine the epic horror, deep revulsion that would greet news that Iran had conducted a pre-emptive strike against Israel by blowing up a missile factory in Turkey, killing two innocent people, just to make sure it can.

A visual summary of the attack:



This is what was left of the Somali factory after the Israeli self-appointed (because national borders are for chumps) punishment force was done with it:



And the full post-mortem of the operation that took place 4 days ago, via Voice of Russia:

The attack occurred in the early morning of October 24, when eight Israeli F-15I jets – four of them carrying two one-ton bombs, escorted by four fighters – struck a gigantic Yamrouk missile site. The evidence is that this strike is a general rehearsal before the Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.
 
According to western defense sources, the 2,400-mile return flight took the Israelis four hours, with the jets flying south along the Red Sea. The planes entered the Sudanese air space from the east to avoid Egypt’s missile defenses.
 
The anti-Iranian operation kicked off two years ago when Mossad agents murdered a Palestinian businessman and a HAMAS highflyer, Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh, in a Dubai hotel suit, retrieving a suitcase with a military agreement between Iran and Sudan, wherein Khartoum offered Tehran its military sites to make weapons.
 
The Yamrouk facility produced Shahab ballistic missiles, which were then to be delivered to HAMAS rebels in the Gaza strip and other Middle Eastern regions.
In other words: add the Israeli invasion of Iran on the "To Do" list, alongside Grexit, the official Spanish bailout request, the Chinese Congress, the Japan-China territorial re-escalation, sliding down the Fiscal Cliff, and the debt ceiling breach, as soon as possible after the November 6 election.

And all that, of course, assuming Sky Net does not finally take over tomorrow when only robots will be left trading.

"People should limit mobile and cordless use until we know more."

The World Health Organisation urged limits on mobile use last year, calling them a Class B carcinogen.

"Parents need to know their children are at risk of this illness."

British scientists have claimed there is insufficient evidence to prove any link to mobiles.

But the respected oncologist and professor of environmental mutagenesis Angelo Gino Levis gave evidence for Mr Marcolini — along with neurosurgeon Dr Giuseppe

They said electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobile and cordless phones can damage cells, making tumours more likely.
Prof Levis told The Sun: "The court decision is extremely important. It finally officially recognises the link.

"It'll open not a road but a motorway to legal actions by victims. We're considering a class action."

Their report advises that the bulbs should not be left on for extended periods, particularly near someone’s head, as they emit poisonous materials when switched on.

Peter Braun, who carried out the tests at the Berlin's Alab Laboratory, said: “For such carcinogenic substances it is important they are kept as far away as possible from the human environment.”

The bulbs are already widely used in the UK following EU direction to phase out traditional incandescent lighting by the end of this year.

But the German scientists claimed that several carcinogenic chemicals and toxins were released when the environmentally-friendly compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) were switched on, including phenol, naphthalene and styrene.

ENERGY SAVING LIGHT BULBS CONTAIN CANCER CAUSING CHEMICALS



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/8462626/Energy-saving-light-bulbs-contain-cancer-causing-chemicals.html

Innocente Marcolini, 60, an Italian businessman, fell ill after using a handset at work for up to six hours every day for 12 years.

Now Italy's Supreme Court in Rome has blamed his phone saying there is a "causal link" between his illness and phone use, the Sun has reported.

Mr Marcolini said: "This is significant for very many people. I wanted this problem to become public because many people still do not know the risks.

"I was on the phone, usually the mobile, for at least five or six hours every day at work.

"I wanted it recognised that there was a link between my illness and the use of mobile and cordless phones.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/9619514/Mobile-phones-can-cause-brain-tumours-court-rules..html

NIGERIA NEEDS TO ARISE TO FULFILL HER POTENTIAL!!! SAY NO TO ETHNICITY ON NAIRALAND

"Sabotage, theft, and decrepit infrastructure". Every African nation in a nutshell. Really, there's not any news in this article to anyone who's paid the slightest attention to Africa in the last 40 years.

What's the point? That African countries (sub-saharan or otherwise) are grabastic piles of amphibian shit ready to detonate at any momoent into sectarian and/or tribal violence? That despite sitting on some of the most valuable remaining mineral deposits on this resource-ravaging planet, they can't get it together enough to turn all that resouirce wealth into real working nations?

Again, this is not news. Shit, Nigeria is still struggling to come to terms with the Biafran war, much less drag themselves into the 21st century.

Mass violence is just about a daily occurrence in Nigeria. This week, for example, “at least” 24 people were killed in Maiduguri, a city of over 1 million people in Borno State, north-eastern Nigeria, when the military skirmished with the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram. On Wednesday, a bomb exploded in Potiskum, a city of 200,000 people, in Yobe State, killing a police officer. Boko Haram likely targeted the military, which responded with door-to-door searches and burned down “at least” four houses. Gunshots were fired throughout the day. The same day, police disclosed that “at least” 30 people were killed in Benue State in Central Nigeria, when nomadic Muslim herdsmen attacked a village of Christian Tiv people.

The oil industry in the Niger Delta hasn’t been spared either. Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa and has the ninth largest proven natural gas reserves in the world. Oil accounts for 95% of its export income and 40% of its government revenues. The sector currently produces about 2.13 million barrels per day (bbl/d), though it has the capacity to produce over 3 million bbl/d, if it weren’t for this nightmarish scenario—described in the dry manner of the US Energy Information Agency:

Local groups seeking a share of the oil wealth often attack the oil infrastructure and staff, forcing companies to declare force majeure on oil shipments. At the same time, oil theft, commonly referred to as “bunkering,” leads to pipeline damage that is often severe, causing loss of production, pollution, and forcing companies to shut-in production.

I've got an answer of sorts.

When I was in N Africa, Libya 1991, I saw that, despite draconian economic sanctions, Libyans were on the up ... because the oil-wealth was being widely distributed due to Qadafi and his Jamaharia/Islamic 'socialist' ideology.

It is a matter of public record - just Google - that Libya had record in nearly everything in Africa, e.g. literacy, health-care, education, infant mortality and more ... better than some "first world" countries though, after WW2, the UN classed Libya as amongst the poorest countries, under the British installed King Idris and who enriched himself with proceeds from newly discovered oil ... which is why Qadafi was able to lead a bloodless coup.

Subsequently oil was nationalized, the wealth was shared and there was no social unrest ... well not until a year or so ago when Qadafi tried to break ties to the USD, establish a central bank backed with gold and proposed a Pan-African liberation from Western domination.

The rest is the recent history of destroyed Libya, so whilst some Nigerian might try to implement a "Libyan solution", the result would be his gruesome death and Hillary Clinton gloating over the bloodied corpse.

So unless you believe the MSM about Qadafi and therefore support Washington/Wall Street, you should realize that Nigeria has no answer to social unrest ... because it would be ruined like Libya, Iraq, Syria, etc..

http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-10-18/nigeria’s-oil-and-gas-fiasco


Nigeria has a big goal: increase production to 4 million bbl/d. In 2005, it reached 2.63 bbl/day. But then militant violence surged, including kidnappings of workers and takeovers of rigs. Companies withdrew their people. By 2009, production had plunged 25%.

That year, an amnesty deal was negotiated with the militants. But it didn’t stop the problems. Pipeline vandalism and oil theft skyrocketed 224% in 2011 from prior year—thieves might puncture pipelines, or steal the black gold from the wellhead, or, ingeniously, fill up their tankers at the export terminal. Some of this crude ends up at illegal refineries in the swampy area of the delta, some of it on the international markets. In April alone, the staggering quantity of 400,000 bbl/d was pilfered, pushing official oil sales down 17%.

Incidentally, the US is still the largest export market for Nigerian crude. But rising production in the US has driven down all crude imports, with a disproportionate impact on Nigerian crude, down to a 5% share, from 11% in 2010 [ The Coming American Energy Independence].

Sabotage, theft, and decrepit infrastructure have caused about 2,400 oil spills between 2006 and 2010, contaminating soil and water, destroying fish stocks and agriculture, and depriving locals of their livelihoods—which has given rise to additional tensions.

And there are pirates: in the Gulf of Guinea, 53 piracy attacks occurred in 2011, up from 47 the year before, resulting in harmed crew members and stolen crude, and impacting deepwater operations that had mostly been spared.

When I traveled overland through Africa, I ran into Nigeria for the first time in Togo. The official language is French in Togo, but Nigerians speak English—and they were everywhere. One evening, an acquaintance in Lomé unloaded: Nigerians were crooks and thieves, he said, and no one wanted to deal with them. He had gotten hit. Three times. With stolen credit cards and forged CFA francs. Nigeria was falling apart, he said, and Nigerians were spreading out all over the place. They were economic refugees, so he wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, but…. And his voice trailed off.

Company officials say they had produced five litres of petrol in less than three months from a small refinery in Stockton-on-Tees, Teesside.

The fuel that is produced can be used in any regular petrol tank and, if renewable energy is used to provide the electricity it could become “completely carbon neutral”.

The £1.1m project, in development for the past two years, is being funded by a group of unnamed philanthropists who believe the technology could prove to be a lucrative way of creating renewable energy.

While the technology has the backing of Britain’s Institution of Mechanical Engineers, it has yet to capture the interest of major oil companies.

But company executives hope to build a large plant, which could produce more than a tonne of petrol every day, within two years and a refinery size operation within the next 15 years.

A small company in the north of England has developed the “air capture” technology to create synthetic petrol using only air and electricity.

Experts tonight hailed the astonishing breakthrough as a potential “game-changer” in the battle against climate change and a saviour for the world’s energy crisis.
The technology, presented to a London engineering conference this week, removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The “petrol from air” technology involves taking sodium hydroxide and mixing it with carbon dioxide before "electrolysing" the sodium carbonate that it produces to form pure carbon dioxide.
Hydrogen is then produced by electrolysing water vapour captured with a dehumidifier.

http://ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=101643:flood-high-levy-on-rice-trigger-fears-of-food-crisis&catid=31:business&Itemid=562

THE planned hike in levy on imported rice by the Federal Government has triggered fear of imminent food crisis in the country, especially those from the flood-ravaged states.

Besides, there is a worldwide apprehension over imminent food crisis in 2013, due largely to severe weather condition in the United States and other food-exporting countries.

Grains such as rice, millets, corn, remained a staple food in Nigeria and stakeholders had expressed fears that with the recent 100 per cent increase in duty on imported rice, an average and low-income earner might not be able to purchase the farm produce.

The 2013 budget proposes a 100 per cent levy on imported polished rice. Several voices of concern are emerging from all sectors, urging the Federal Government to reconsider its levy regime on imported rice to avert food crisis in the country.

The Minister of Environment, Hajiya Hadiza Mailafia, who spoke to State House Correspondents, after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council recently, revealed that several thousands of farmlands had been destroyed by the ravaging floods across the country.

She said: “The consequences of the floods are that there are huge losses of farmlands, there are likely threats to food security, we are likely going to have challenges that have to do with the health of the people in some areas”.

Also, the Federal Director of Agriculture in Adamawa, Wali Hamman, said there was a real possibility of food crisis in Adamawa State next year.

Considering the huge damage on the farmlands, he said there was likelihood of food crisis in the state, if immediate action was not taken to address the situation.

He said: “Most of the farmers affected by the disaster are more preoccupied with how to save themselves and their families from the disaster than of their farms”.

Kano State has equally been badly affected by the floods, which resulted in the disruption of rice production in the state.

A statement from the association of rice growers in the state, disclosed that about 95 per cent of all rice farms in Kano State have been destroyed by flood.

Also, Plateau state government said that the flood that affected eight local government areas in the state, had washed away eight bridges and rendered more than 10,000 people homeless.

The state’s Commissioner for Information and Communication, Abraham Yiljap, told newsmen after the weekly executive council meeting few days ago, that more than 100 villages and 4,000 hectares of farmlands were destroyed.

“Unfortunately and tragically, Plateau has been affected by another flood disaster after the one in Jos North.  Several crops had also been washed away by the disaster. This situation would lead to likely shortage of food supply in the state, as the areas ravaged were mainly agricultural areas.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/12/us-nobel-peace-idUSBRE89A1N820121012

THE EU IS QUITE HOSTILE TO THE STATE OF ISRAEL WHICH IT ACCUSES OF APARTHEID AND WAR CRIMES

(Reuters) - The European Union won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for promoting peace, democracy and human rights over six decades in an award seen as a morale boost as the bloc struggles to resolve its economic crisis.

The award served as a reminder that the EU had largely brought peace to a continent which tore itself apart in two world wars in which tens of millions died.

The EU has transformed most of Europe "from a continent of wars to a continent of peace," Nobel Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said in announcing the award in Oslo.

"The EU is currently undergoing grave economic difficulties and considerable social unrest. The Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to focus on what it sees as the EU's most important result: the successful struggle for peace and reconciliation and for democracy and human rights," he said.

Jaglund praised the EU for rebuilding Europe after World War Two and for its role in spreading stability after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

"I was at Abuja mid way last month for a conference held Transcorp Hilton, a former school mate who happens to be a bit high up there at the ministry of finance told me how the Finance Minister has succeeded to blocking most the leakages that supplied monies into theirs own and others pockets so much that BDC operators are complaining of very low patronage!!!

He told me pointblank that the House of Reps are kicking this hard against Jonathan because they not able to get what other before them were collecting (even up to their immediate predecessors in office) and the taking away of the constituency projects from them (except that they decide the type, scope and location of these projects). This has been a very bitter pill for them to swallow!

Governments after governments have been giving the legistors the monies for constituency projects and no project gets executed anywhere, except for a couple of bore-holes here and there, but Jonathan’s government changed that! Now, whether the implementation of these projects are fast or slow, at least something is being done all the same unlike before now!"

Missing copiously from the budget was a provision for fuel subsidy, an indication perhaps that government may fully remove the subsidy in 2013.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/nigeria-s-external-reserves-hit-2-year-high/127506/

He noted that the amount in the ECA was $8 billion as at October 3 and had been projected to grow to $10 billion by the end of this year.
Sanusi, who also represented the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said was that eventually, subsidy on petroleum products would be removed, even though he acknowledged that it was difficult removing 50 per cent of it at the beginning of the year.

According to him, “there have been concerns about the unsustainable subsidy regime and we now have a taskforce and a number of importers are now being investigated for subsidy payments that do not relate to importation of petroleum products.

“In 2011, over N2 trillion was paid as subsidy for importation of petroleum products .This has come to about N888 billion in 2012. Ultimately, this subsidy will have to go. It is difficult to remove, but the government was able to remove 50 per cent this year- it is a major, major achievement, especially for the fact that for a long time no one could remove the subsidy.”

We hope we can get justice from the SHELL criminals in their own backyard.
Their headquaters is also in the Netherlands and the ICJ is only good at indicting hapless africans!!!