Tehran plans nuclear weapon test by March

[ECH1969]

Tehran is planning a nuclear weapons test before the Iranian New Year on March 20, 2006 says a group opposed to the regime in Tehran.

The Foundation for Democracy citing sources in the U.S and Iran offered no further information.

The FDI quotes sources in Iran that the high command of the Revolutionary Guards Air Force have issued new orders to Shahab-3 missile units, ordering them to move mobile missile launchers every 24 hours in view of a potential pre-emptive strike by the U.S. or Israel. The order was issued Tuesday, Jan. 16.

The group says the launchers move only at night, and have been instructed to change their positions "in a radius of 30 to 35 kilometers." Prior to the new orders the Shahab-3 units changed position on a weekly basis. Advance Shahab-3 units have been positioned in Kermanshah and Hamadan province, within striking distance of Israel. Reserve mobile launchers have been moved to Esfahan and Fars province.

http://www.upi.com/InternationalIntelligence/view.php?StoryID=20060119-075725-6399r
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It feels alot like I have been transported to September 2002 again. Hillery and the DLC dems are also making the same sounds about Iran that they were making about Iraq. And, we are seeing the same type of anti Iran groups rear there head with BS as we saw from anti Saddam groups.

[hang a left]

1. The Foundation for Democracy and

UPI....

these are clues

[Doctor_J]

2. Per Scott Ritter,

If Smirky attacks Iran, or even if Iran is convinced that an attack is imminent, then Al Qaeda will unleash hell around the world before you can say "Shock and Awe". Iraq when we attacked her was defenseless, and the Iraqis mostly harmless. If the Chimp thinks he can giggle his way through another episode of "I got a war to fight", then he's being fed bullshit by people who really do want WWIII to start.

[still_one]

4. Iran DOES NOT have nuclear weapons

even the best estimates say they won't have them for another 10 years. This is pure B.S.

Even if they had something there is no way they would test it at this time. In addition, they don't have an efficient delivery system, and it would serve them no purpose

However, if we are stupid enough and attack Iran, it will immediately put our troops in more peril with the new Iraqii government which is now Shia, plus a very good chance that the entire Arab world would be united against us

They better start to establish a dialog with Iran, either directly or indirectly through a third party, and they better do it fast

[Doctor_J]

15. Maybe not, but they can wreak havoc in all "corners of the globe"

in a very short amount of time. Lots of 9/11's, if you will. I think that's what Ritter is predicting.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Peace Patriot]

13. All old equipment. 12 years of devastating economic sanctions, after

a devastating defeat in Persian Gulf War I, and that following the disastrous Iraq-Iran war. NO AIR FORCE. None! A worn out army, with many very young recruits--just boys. And the key to this "great war machine" (irony intended) was that it utterly collapsed, a) from US "shock and awe" bombing, against which Iraq had virtually no defense, and b) before the U.S. ground assault, which itself was not very well prepared or equipped, but which nevertheless saw the Iraqi army basically dissolve.

Iraq was in effect defenseless. And now Iran--whose people still hold the bitter memory of the U.S. destruction of its democracy in 1953, and U.S. installation of the horrible Shah for TWENTY-FIVE YEARS of torture and oppression, backed by us--sees the entire U.S. army poised in a bordering country, and the U.S. government constantly saber-rattling against it. Wouldn't you be paranoid and fearful? And what reason do the Irainians have to trust us? We totally fucked them over once--and now seem ready to slaughter tens of thousands of innocent Iranians, just like we did in Iraq, because we don't like its government.

There is no evidence that Iran has nuclear weapons, or will get them any time soon. This report is disenformation. And deja vu all over again. How can you fall for this crap again? Haven't you read PNAC?

[Zynx]

16. Iraq's army was completely worthless.

They were a full two generations of equipment behind the US at best, and that equipment wasn't even properly maintained.

Their performance in Gulf War I and II bears that out - simply grossly overmatched.

[Doctor_J]

17. Iraq couldn't do a damn thing about the air strikes

yes, they were defenseless against what we threw at them.

[neweurope]

26. Please begin by not looking down on the "native's" names.

The man calls himself Mahmoud Amadinejad. That's not too hard to remember. Or pronounce. Just give it a try.

The fool in Iran, even if he had nuclear weapons, which he hasn't, wouldn't nuke Israel. He knows damn well that that would be the end of his own country. Wake up. There's only one country in the world which has used nuclear weapons so far. Yours.

------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[cherokeeprogressive]

30. I don't need to know how to pronounce his name.

I don't give a tinker's damn what the man calls himself.

"The fool in Iran... wouldn't nuke Israel... that would be the end of his own country."

So, metaphorically, you're saying that a fool with dynamite wouldn't blow up a bus station because it would be the end of him?

His only care is what allah thinks of him and his willingness to martyr his own countrymen/women. It's you who should wake up.

He'll work to develop nukes; and when he has them, he'll use them.

As for your statement about my country being the only country in the world to use nuclear weapons, you're right. But only because we stopped the Germans from developing one first... Hitler, in his country's death throes would have used every nuke he had at his disposal. Deny that.

[neweurope]

33. That cannot be denied, nor would I want to deny it. I'm not

here in order to win an argument. But fact IS that you used them.

You are one of those Americans who are absolutely disrespectful to anything and anybody that's not American if you can't even bother to remember the names of the people you rant about.

Dynamite is a hell of a lot different from nukes. No, he wouldn't use nukes. That he would like to have them, that I do believe. "His only care is what Allah thinks of him": What a typical naive American thought. Hey, you know how they are, those Ay-rabs...

------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

34. Get a grip. Iran may be run by extremists but they're not idiots....

...they'll do what every other nation does when it acquires nukes...they'll make it clear they have them, and fascist governments like the U. S. will leave them the hell alone.

[LunaC]

39. Let's get some facts straight, here and now!

Iran has signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The NPT gives every state the inalienable right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes…No state has successfully constructed a nuclear weapon in secret while subjected to an NPT inspection regime.

Furthermore, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa forbidding the production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons on August 9, 2005. The full text of the fatwa was released in an official statement at the meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.

http://www.answers.com/topic/nuclear-non-proliferation-treaty

Saying "He'll work to develop nukes; and when he has them, he'll use them." is an assumptive and hysterical right-wing Talking Point that has no basis in reality.

[madokie]

44. as soon as we developed them, we used them

America is in it's death throes. The 'fool' in 'washington' has them and iching to use them, pardon me.

[madokie]

43. thank you

[mikelewis]

27. You hate white people? Sorry, you must be on the wrong site.

Bigotry is not acceptable here.

[Marie26]

11. Since when has Al-Queda been allied w/Iran?

Not all Muslims are on the same side. You usually hear Iran connected w/Hezbollah, not Al-Queda. Plus, for them to "unleash hell" here they'd need established terror cells within the US, that it doesn't seem like they have. How does Scott Ritter know this? I thought he was a weapons inspector, not an intelligence agent?

[Zynx]

22. Scott Ritter doesn't know much of anything.

He has no intelligence or strategic planning access whatsoever. He never really did, either.

If he did have access to classified material and was stating *that* publically, he'd be in jail for the rest of his life given how much he shoots his mouth off.

I really wish people on DU would stop quoting this guy.

[Zynx]

19. Scott Ritter is an idiot.

I thought we were supposed to attack Iran last year. *rolls eyes*

He's no insider. He has no access to classified information and would be arrested if he tried to get some. He's a nobody as far as who the US invades or doesn't is concerned.

[LunaC]

40. "I thought we were supposed to attack Iran last year."

Bolton's confirmation got delayed, remember? And so did the confrontation with Iran.

But, hey, guess what? Bolton becomes President of the U.N. Security Council in February. Interesting timing, isn't it?

[WilliamPitt]

46. Yup, a total moron

...and this book is totally wrong.

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. I would like to see rumsfeld & jr take on Iran.

What are they going to do, send the 60+ year old national guard?

Iraq would shoot the stealth bombers out of the sky like ducks.

The US military only takes on places without a defense, like Iraq, Panama, Kosovo. Otherwise it's "diplomacy"

[still_one]

6. The only way we could fight Iran is with nuclear weapons

and if we were stupid enough to do that, the entire Arab world would revolt against us.

If you think gas prices are high now, just wait

Incidently, I do NOT think we will

[Marie26]

5. That can't be true

According to even the US, Iran is at least 5 years away from developing a nuclear weapon.

ETA: The "Foundation for Democracy" this article quotes seems to be nothing more than a front for a group advocating regime change in Iran. They run a "Regime Change Iran" blog - w/this very article now featured on the front page. Sounds a lot like the Iraqi National Congress to me. How does such a shoddy front-group end up being cited as a reputable source on Iran's nuclear plans? Why do we have to investigate these BS claims ourselves, instead of the media doing it?

Foundation for Democracy in Iran: http://www.iran.org/

[Flabbergasted]

10. They could purchase one from Russia or China?

[Flabbergasted]

14. Strong link between Russia and Iran

Russian TV Shows Plant Producing Fuel for Iran's Bushehr

Russia is ready to ship to Iran the first consignment of nuclear fuel destined for Bushehr nuclear power plant under the terms of a contract signed in late January. It will take about 80 tonnes of the nuclear fuel to start off the reactor of this new power plant. Dmitriy Ivanov reports from Novosibirsk.

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/iran/nuke/bushehr-fuel.html

[Marie26]

24. Why would they do that?

Russia & China might help out w/nuclear power, but if they sold a nuclear bomb to Iran, it would create huge sanctions against them, & probable war against their ally Iran. I don't think they'd do that. And the larger problem is that there's absolutely no proof of this report at all.

Here's the complete & total information from FDI's website: "Separate sources in the U.S. and Iran have told FDI recently that the Iranian regime is planning a nuclear weapons test before the Iranian New Year on March 20, 2006." That's it. No info about where this nuclear weapon came from, no listing of a source, nothing. For all we know, they could've just made up that sentence & put it on their web-site. It's disturbing that a reputable news agency like UPI would use this as a "source" for a story.

[High Plains]

37. Sanctions against China?

Walmart might have a problem with that.

[Marie26]

38. It's all moot anyway since this story isn't true. nt

[Ouabache]

12. Notice how this group uses March 20 as the date.

That was the original date of the start of the Iranian Oil Bourse.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

28. We attacked Iraq on March 20th too....

well, it was March 20 in Iraq. My birthday. :(

[LunaC]

42. See post # 41 nt

[philarq]

7. January to March

Yup Yessiree sounds about like the five years like you told us it would be---thanks GOP talking heads

[wookie294]

9. "says a group opposed to the regime in Tehran"

The Iraqi National Congress was a "group opposed" to Saddam, too.

Don't trust the intelligence of opposition groups. They will lie to get American troops to die for nothing.

[daleo]

18. A missile is not a nuclear weapon. n/t

[Zhade]

20. Please remember...

'Reverend' Moon - the same guy who owns the Washington Times - bought UPI.

This is a bullshit report.

[Zynx]

21. Impossible, unless we have missed a LOT of their nuke program.

What we know exists hasn't been operating for a while - they just broke the seals last week.

They have no reactor, so they are building a uranium gun-bomb ala the Manhattan Project. This takes a lot of stuff to do. I really doubt they hid a second Oak Ridge sized facility on top of the couple that were under international monitoring.

[Swamp Rat]

23. Propaganda. UPI is owned by News World Communications who is owned by

the Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPI

[ConsAreLiars]

25. You cite a PNAC PR operation as a credible source?

Oh yeah. The "Foundation for the Defense of Democracies." No Link, look it up if you need to. This is a Con operation. That's how the Big Lie is spread. Thank you for your service.

[Marie26]

29. "Foundation for Democracy in Iran"

Check out their web-site, it's pathetic. It's also interesting how the article cites them as "Foundation for Democracy" & FDI instead of putting their full name. Very misleading.

And it just gets better. The head of the "FDI" is named... Kenneth Timmerman. Not quite a native Iranian. He ran for Congress on the GOP ticket in Bethesda, MD (where FDI is located) & spends his time writing in neoconservative magazines like Insight, American Spectator & the Washington Times. He also has a new book on "The Coming Crisis: The Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran" which is also prominently plugged on the FDI website. The website's "News Room" consists almost entirely of Timmerman articles. The whole FDI operation seems to be nothing more than the alter ego of one conservative in Maryland named Ken Timmerman.

http://www.iran.org/news/

[ECH1969]

31. You cite a PNAC PR operation as a credible source?

Did you even read what I said about the article? It seems a few people on this thread didn't.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

32. UPI, Washington Times, and the Moonies. Credible? NOT.

[dusmcj]

36. hope FDI is as reliable as Jalebi (Chalabi). nt

[LunaC]

41. ***NEOCON PROPAGANDA ALERT***

The Coalition for Democracy in Iran was founded by Michael Ledeen who holds the Freedom Chair at AEI and is a Rovian lackey. This is pure PNAC propaganda!

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1457

Google is your friend!

[WilliamPitt]

45. US, Germany, Israel: Iran 3-5 years away from having nukes

Per CNN.