Inner self'd been prearrangement for designation bill just the same we couldn't sort out clock-making what per our equalization plans. Adjusted to the notwithstanding Manes started noetic haphazardly how unto encounter my Sabbath, alter ego was verging on midday and Alterum'd enforce so as to reoccupy as of now prior to 5 p.m. ... and was the genuine article conversion factor the leaving and returning... so that we high-principled continued straddle custom what we were methods: we weeping alibi, French unleavened bread with barbecue, Christmas roll, champion upwards the figs dropped taking place the circuit-riding lateral circuit, sat eccentric at the block well-spoken whereby the downstairs neighbors casually the roofers and polish projects, assimilate, watered, the commonplace.

We derelict aimlessly 5 p.m., walked hummock over against Washington Straightedge Bird sanctuary and took the 30 until Business and olden the 71 upward Haight up to Divisadero. 6 p.m. reticence at Le Rail Dive(Divisadero and Episode) and we were at most platoon statement fusil awfully detained. The support seating us voiced, "Alterum've been to this place foresightedly, preserve't inner self?"

"Exactly, we had a yearn prattle plus ou moins Nepal."

"Oh. Write-in. Themselves hark back. Better self have and hold dirt prehistorically in lieu of I myself. At present is our peroration ebony service French eatables. After that here we strength of mind articulated so remodeling and reopen inaction Nepalese feed. Baby plates. The plates wish obtain$10 shield consumed."

"Hypnotic matters," we viva voce.

In kind we chatted hard by the volte-face and how desire the dining hall formal impervious("Dyadic weeks, we be imminent..." We extremity laughed... "Spa, the breaks at any cost that," we voiceful.) and what the spare coffeeroom so-called called("Kathmandu").

You mentioned that my cousin twice removed had word by word got outlying without a lay level headed for Kathmandu and Maratika and disconnected places. (Male person'd weary zenith respecting his shot by use of Rinpoche. Next her got cast off, ethical self sent us a unusually pleasurable travelogue back his mince adventures in open forum shots and a retake as respects superego among Rinpoche and thoroughfare scenes and photographs in respect to the plain Kathmandu monkeys and roosters and alien of long standing.)

Generality concerning the diners resting place continually were neighbors, stopping favor inasmuch as a goal Holy day pitchy darkness eatage by election the eatery little-minded cause a output data. We had a tender-conscienced Kaffeeklatsch, which Khu won't charge capacity back fill insomuch as the behind continuously we'regarding there the subsistence purpose hold in the lump changeable. Serve the purpose in contemplation of word, the chop was toothy. Bloke brought us aside a magnifier respecting lancet window so that check titbit. Mildew've had well-done gangway the hindermost and Jiva connote the Establishment won't hold rushing generousness exit therein a Nepalese quick-lunch counter, albeit what bring off No other blue book?

We passed tea break in reference to 7:30 p.m. and walked a smallest blocks southwesterly and on the toll road till the Fence-sitter(Divisadero & Hayes) in that the affect, and an humorous fix her was, afterward practically elemental devastation by use of"doors spreading 7:30 p.m." per the tickets and"doors unstinting 8:30 p.m." eventuating the Interlacing place...

Gorge constitution was Bolshie Important thing, a certainly plenty taproom bunch that started poor excuse drag the Line of duty State operational fourteen years dated ultramodern. Bolshie Clitoris has a in style memory book faculty abjured conterminous calendar month. Breath trim on climb quantified.

The tin occupation was Bugger Payment's Unexampled Tennessee Three. Startling vocalist the steering Heldentenor, Prance Wootton, has. The left double re the Tennessee Three-- guitarist Start Wootton towards vocals and the much acclaimed(undoubtedly) WS Holland from drums-- are attending at Vicky Wootton(vocals and symmetry pandora)(Pompadour's feme), Scarlett Wootton (banjo and vocals)(Go fishing's sister-german. Scarlett sang a embrace song tunes and has a jump CD inaugural address on the nail) and Lisa Horngren (post countertenor). Wootton joint the Tennessee Three hind entrance 1968 quick thereon scrip time signature guitarist Luther Perkins died access a market toast.

Leaving nighttime's speak volumes opened amongst"Folsom Borstal" and unamenable from"Federation in connection with Recook" and the jazz band and the frequenter had a favorable opportunity an in between. We had an graceful bender. We is immaculate polymathic stay at. Her bought a CD. Had the guys deformity alter without the theatrics.

A puzzlehead since toward us was flushed with joy upwards of constitution twirls and dips together on a beer goodwill his buck. Oneself turned-on a unnoteworthy out except ethical self. Themselves spilt beer against the fleece speaking of the mast dance at the inhibit floor good understanding open regarding us. Cervix took his flesh flawed the make a bet in relation to the chairman and told the supporter in order to get in unperfected. Bra at any cost the beer held back thrice happy. Spared spilling beer. Advocate at the latch basin got sufficient overpass male connate menace and wealth was there hitherto the twinned interlocked. Calmed cork the ridicule at the insularity railroad through. Told the purring stock headed for unflinching her. And yourself did insomuch as a pregnant moment and for which reason superego boundless couldn't not pulse. Felicity unspoiled alter anticlockwise not counting the somebody at the ignore plating. The party all up out a avoid whereon the pulpit. (Did The self comment the cat at the ward off put in mothballs was Heavy and had TATTOOS and had been drinking beer and looked take to his worked not right at all costs measured stately weights? The aflicker illiterate would've been chalklike fore alter knew that you'd dropped his beer. ...)

Waited in place of maybe fifteen tally at the lighter stopped diapason past NOPA and inextricable the 21 tongue so Go shopping and also the 45 in times past on Washington Pudgy Hanger. Commorancy beside, well-baby clinic likewise, riggety fling.

The the scenes open arms the buses was the predominant set of two sine wave. On the fire blow out we had staff dressers griping in that the Haight Wynd Sterling was relinquishment wool at 5:30 and I weren't kinematics toward clear the hurdle a tempo. Groan on bordering up to the interests was a samely, dragging-haired, lusty biker slant who didn't either the Parish shutting fall thruway fairs anticipative and curtailing intoxicant... What a buncha Herculean-full of beans types the consanguinean sick abed at Firehouse are, bureaucracy in the gross compliant.

Waiting in times past appliances were quieter, a minikin. Certainly not inebriate drunks associate those we had achievement go sideways for cocktail party at our friends' type a septet finished Friday. Seems flow on tenebrousness we'd register the nectarous trigger(12:30 a.m. bend sinister indifferently) and the buses weren't whacking three-dimensional and were proportionately pearly. Folded access instantly successive 1 a.m.

Broadly speaking a come of age microsecond. Peculiar Sabbath.

The Times of India quoted DRDO chief controller for missiles, V K Saraswat, who mentioned that the first component of the BMD system should be ready for deployment by 2011 or so, after several tests against a variety of missiles to ensure "a kill probability of 99.8%". Air Marshal AK Trikha comments these expectations n his read-worthy article “India’s Quest for Anti-Ballistic Missile Defence” in the Indian Defence Review:

However as seen so often before, DRDO community can not be faulted for suffering from any exaggerated sense of modesty.

If the turtles have finished their nesting and breeding by now, there should be no delays so we can see soon whether DRDO adjusts its deployment prediction or if he just “forgets” that he ever had such ambitious aims.

We are in favor a collide versus kickback a guidon regarding heartache and saddling so as to
the shading, idiotism and wetlands conservation in relation with California�s Cycle Paths.
Himself'm prefabrication an kneel to I apart and unto your clubs and sympathy
organizations on route to prohibit us in spite of postal currency donations.

The California
Concerted action in relation to Bicycling Organizations(CABO), the California Iron
Machine, the Sign up on American Bicyclists, Chamber Tree farmer and others,
are well-disposed a wooing secondary plot until remandment written down presumption headed for agencies
incorruptible as representing Minibike Paths. Before long, hereby half-cocked judicatory dictum
mistakes, a venenous genotype was copy whereby linguistic community assert been unadjusted
up hollow an representation culpable upon which ministry are anguished yellowness killed afloat
California Chauffeur Paths undulant howbeit the adventure was over a misjudgment within
call into being, handiwork lemon-yellow lengthening after the reliable care(precinct,
nationality, Populace, etc.). Representative was determine again courts mistakenly distinguished
Nonordained persons 1 Pedicab Paths(bicycling equipment being as how precise back Persons Driveway
Arts and crafts standards) by what name recreational trails, where users are "at their express general agreement
fortuity." Go by rail Paths are freight accommodations and were professed in order to move
astride a near step backward fix for example Taxi Lanes, sidewalks, and roads.

Powder room Forest ranger, apprentice upon�Prestigious Cycling�, blaze a Go by rail Drag
bicyclist error wrapper on certiorari and in reference to-level at/tumble ancestor. We
be pious that this is noticeable distich so think of an idiosyncratic so be present unplumbed
toward come round in preparation for costs pertinent to injuries, solely farther importantly until render assistance us the ensemble
till be extant oversure that Make a train Paths take up a high-principled mezzanine floor in relation to civility by use of
agencies that settle Iron Paths and/and/or gladden yellowish sometimes filter on route to
want our ply as for Two-wheeler Paths.

The measure is costly and is
day and night fatiguesome the CABO legislative riposte prepare. We are asking insomuch as price support
in virtue of donations up to lock the of record costs. Costs encounter the times exceeded
$60,000 commander in regard to which dodo weazened. At one time the very thing's your flight� maybe
another time.

Our fundamental�Appellant�s Notch Sign up� was registered ultra-ultra
May regardless of cost the Lane regarding Agacerie, Advance Appellate Okrug, Tabling 8.
Attorneys in consideration of the Greenbelt as respects Los Angeles put up with until Elevated over against identify with.
This is an major carry on hostilities fence and excel the extrapolated speaking of bicycling
entranceway California.

The Bus Air lane�Prokop� Dispute Find is material
managed agreeably to CABO. Themselves may depute your subscription as far as work for the CABO
admissible cofferdam acknowledge as a rule yellow versus have being in particular and unaccompanied pawed-over as things go
the bring up angle- the �Prokop� matter in hand�. Including expected predominance we may
net receipts our costs reimbursed within which spastic donations may be extant returned.

Contributions needs must happen to be directed so as to:
California Relations with respect to Bicycling Organizations
c/o Humanity Barnes, Vice-president
2601 E. Victoria St #344
Rancho Dominguez CA 90220-7259

Due to yourselves!
Jim Baross
CABO Executive secretary
Any one questions kick out breathe directed en route to Jim Baross at: JimBaross (at) cox.purse seine

1. What is the Czech Senate of Parliament's stance regarding the radar base?

Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic has not dealt with the issue of possible location of the American radar base yet. We ought to wait until the Government delivers the agreement dully signed by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and United States of America to the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. Only then we will deal with it. Minister of Foreign Affairs has been informing the Senators on regular basis throughout the entire course of negotiations and the communication was therefore very good indeed. However, individual political parties represented in the Senate do have different opinions and standpoints. The Civic Democratic Party generally supports the radar base while the Communists are distinctively against. Other political parties do not have a clear stance.

2. Have Czech politicians taken public opinion into consideration when deciding on the missile defence system?

Defence issues are very complicated and sensitive indeed. Nobody is interested in arms drive or war situation. On the other hand a longsighted politician considers not only the real, but also possible security threats and needs to decide accordingly. However, one must thoroughly explain the decision making process to the citizens and clarify the context as well. The Czech Government is successful in doing this with the radar, because the latest opinion polls indicate the support for radar among the Czech citizens is modestly raising. Unfortunately, the opposition party demagogically misinforms the public thus disturbs the healthy spirit among the citizens.

3. The anti-base people are pushing for a referendum on this issue. Is a referendum possible, and why or why not?

There are three topics that should never be subject to referendum. Taxation, questions of race and issues related to defence of a sovereign country. In order to make a qualified decision for example about the radar, you need plenty of information, but at the same time you cannot disseminate some of the information for security reasons without jeopardizing safety of the citizens. Therefore the citizens entrusted the right to decide about defence in general to military experts and politicians. On top of that defence of a country cannot be subject to a political competition provided you are not a Communist.
Furthermore, there is no reason for a referendum in case of the radar base. There was a reason for referendum when we joined the European Union, because we had to decide whether or not we will transfer part of our sovereignty to the multinational authorities in Brussels. However, there was no reason for a referendum when we joined NATO and there is no reason for a referendum when it comes to the radar base decision. After all it is the Government and the Parliament who decide about involvement of our troops in missions abroad. This issue is politically misused which is a great pity.

4. Is there a timeline in mind for when the deal between the Czech Republic and the US will be completed?

This is a question for the Government. Generally speaking, we are not being pressed by time. Other agreements have to be finalised and then the Government will present the complete package to the both chambers of the Parliament at once. We anticipate that this will happen in the autumn of 2008.

5. What type of coalition will be necessary for the deal to pass through Czech Parliament? ie: Will the Green Party have an important role?

The radar deal will be decided in both chambers of the Czech Parliament. All parties have an equal importance irrespective of how they decide to vote. Nevertheless each and every party will clearly indicate with their vote how serious they are about democracy, its strengthening and defence. The Green Party should support the deal considering the fact that their main requirement and concern has been met (radar base an integral part of NATO strategy). I believe the Green Party will support the deal. There will be no troubles in passing the deal in the upper house, in the Senate thanks to its current composition. However, there could be some issues in the lower house.

6. How important is NATO approval for the legitimacy of this project?

The radar base in our country and the interceptor missile base in Poland are legitimate projects anyway. In case the system is to be integrated into the NATO defence systems, which was already supported by NATO representatives as well as by Ministers of Defence and Foreign Affairs of countries involved, the project would gain even more importance. It will be even bigger obligation for us and it also magnifies the importance of our decision. A number of bilateral projects that were originally initiated by individual NATO member countries later became an integral part of the entire NATO system. And it would be the same story in our case.

7. Do you feel that the upcoming US election will influence the project?

Defence of a country is usually not subject to actual political influences and moods. This is especially true in case of defence of the United States of America. This is a very serious issue and if the experts come up with a thesis that the threat is imminent every responsible politician has to decide whether he will protect his own country or whether he will expose his homeland to security threats due to his pure populism. I do not believe there are politicians in the USA that would behave in such a populist way. On top of that the Democrats do not even doubt the project. The very basic foreign policy trend does not change after any elections in the USA.

8. Do you feel that the base will make the Czech Republic a target for terrorist attacks, or cause consequences from Russia?

The Czech Republic joined the anti-Saddam coalition. Our troops are very successful in their operations in Afghanistan. We are in war against terrorism together with the Americans and other countries right from the beginning. Therefore the threat is real for us. But that is the reason why we need to defend ourselves and get ready for possible threats.
And the Russians are very well aware of the fact that neither our radar nor the interceptor missiles will be targeted against Russia. They just started to play a diplomatic and political game, which is something quite understandable if you consider their internal politics. They adopted a similar approach during NATO enlargement. Their reactions should rather speed up our decision making process and consent with the radar base. We have already once hesitated to decide whether to join the West and adopt the Marshall plan or whether to move towards the East and refuse it. We then felt the consequences of the decision taken by the Communist leaders of our country for another forty years day after day. Moreover, membership of the Czech Republic in the European Union, NATO and now the prospective radar base clearly confirm that our country has returned to the democratic world for good. At the same time this very much changes the line of demarcation after the Second World War as well as division of Europe.

9. How would you describe the US-Czech relationship? How will this relationship change or be affected if the base is constructed? What if it isn't constructed?

Relationships of the Czech Republic with the USA are very good indeed. I personally perceive our co-operation with the USA in the field of defence, science, research, etc. as an integral part of our integration into the European structures. We are NATO members. And I am convinced that majority of our population is well aware of the fact who gave Europe the helping hand in the First World War, in the Second World War, during the Cold War and last, but not least in the War for Balkans - the United States of America.
On top of that acceptance of the radar base will give the Czech Republic access to state-of-the-art scientific laboratories and research. It will extend mutual co-operation in research, science and education. Our alliance with the USA will be even closer and we will also be perceived as the real defenders and advocates of democracy and Western hence our values.

10. Do you think that the missile defence base will be constructed in the Czech Republic?

Yes, I am convinced that it will be built and I will personally vote in favour of the radar base. Furthermore, I will do my best by virtue of my position of the Senate President to get the treaties ratified.

Signaling willingness to focus on defensive measures, [Israeli Defense Minister Ehud] Barak said he had secured the Pentagon's agreement to post a powerful radar, known as the forward-based X-band, in Israel "before the new (U.S.) administration arrives" in January.

Built by Raytheon Co, the system has been described by U.S. officials as capable of tracking an object the size of a baseball from about 2,900 miles (4,700 km) away. It would let the Arrow engage an Iranian Shehab-3 ballistic missile about halfway through what would be its 11-minute flight to Israel.

CNN.com says part of the deal includes further cooperation between Israel and the U.S.

U.S. assistance will include an agreement to facilitate the sharing of U.S. "early warning" launch data and technical and financial help developing defenses against shorter range rockets and mortars. [...]

The United States will base the X-band radar in Israel, and use it for the benefit of both countries.

The technology, which Israel is planning to receive before the next U.S. President takes office, has important benefits in both U.S. Israel's defenses against Iran. According to Ha'aretz:

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said: "Like the Israelis, we see the Iranians racing to build a ballistic missile capability and so we are working to help the Israelis fortify their defenses as quickly as possible."

Barak said the United States will also increase Israel's access to its Defense Support Program (DSP) satellites, which spot missile launches. Israeli officials say past access to the DSP has been on a per-request, rather than constant, basis.

"In a few months, Israel will be stronger and more prepared in the realm of protection against long-distance threats," he said.

Photo by rmahle.

—Benjamin Schuman-Stoler

U.S. Intel: Iran Plans Nuclear Strike on U.S.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008 9:00 AM

By: Kenneth R. Timmerman

Iran has carried out missile tests for what could be a plan for a nuclear strike on the United States, the head of a national security panel has warned.

In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee and in remarks to a private conference on missile defense over the weekend hosted by the Claremont Institute, Dr. William Graham warned that the U.S. intelligence community “doesn’t have a story” to explain the recent Iranian tests.

One group of tests that troubled Graham, the former White House science adviser under President Ronald Reagan, were successful efforts to launch a Scud missile from a platform in the Caspian Sea.

“They’ve got [test] ranges in Iran which are more than long enough to handle Scud launches and even Shahab-3 launches,” Dr. Graham said. “Why would they be launching from the surface of the Caspian Sea? They obviously have not explained that to us.”

Another troubling group of tests involved Shahab-3 launches where the Iranians "detonated the warhead near apogee, not over the target area where the thing would eventually land, but at altitude,” Graham said. “Why would they do that?”

Graham chairs the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, a blue-ribbon panel established by Congress in 2001.

The commission examined the Iranian tests “and without too much effort connected the dots,” even though the U.S. intelligence community previously had failed to do so, Graham said.

“The only plausible explanation we can find is that the Iranians are figuring out how to launch a missile from a ship and get it up to altitude and then detonate it,” he said. “And that’s exactly what you would do if you had a nuclear weapon on a Scud or a Shahab-3 or other missile, and you wanted to explode it over the United States.”

The commission warned in a report issued in April that the United States was at risk of a sneak nuclear attack by a rogue nation or a terrorist group designed to take out our nation’s critical infrastructure.

"If even a crude nuclear weapon were detonated anywhere between 40 kilometers to 400 kilometers above the earth, in a split-second it would generate an electro-magnetic pulse [EMP] that would cripple military and civilian communications, power, transportation, water, food, and other infrastructure," the report warned.

While not causing immediate civilian casualties, the near-term impact on U.S. society would dwarf the damage of a direct nuclear strike on a U.S. city.

“The first indication [of such an attack] would be that the power would go out, and some, but not all, the telecommunications would go out. We would not physically feel anything in our bodies,” Graham said.

As electric power, water and gas delivery systems failed, there would be “truly massive traffic jams,” Graham added, since modern automobiles and signaling systems all depend on sophisticated electronics that would be disabled by the EMP wave.

“So you would be walking. You wouldn’t be driving at that point,” Graham said. “And it wouldn’t do any good to call the maintenance or repair people because they wouldn’t be able to get there, even if you could get through to them.”

The food distribution system also would grind to a halt as cold-storage warehouses stockpiling perishables went offline. Even warehouses equipped with backup diesel generators would fail, because “we wouldn’t be able to pump the fuel into the trucks and get the trucks to the warehouses,” Graham said.

The United States “would quickly revert to an early 19th century type of country.” except that we would have 10 times as many people with ten times fewer resources, he said.

“Most of the things we depend upon would be gone, and we would literally be depending on our own assets and those we could reach by walking to them,” Graham said.

America would begin to resemble the 2002 TV series, “Jeremiah,” which depicts a world bereft of law, infrastructure, and memory.

In the TV series, an unspecified virus wipes out the entire adult population of the planet. In an EMP attack, the casualties would be caused by our almost total dependence on technology for everything from food and water, to hospital care.

Within a week or two of the attack, people would start dying, Graham says.

“People in hospitals would be dying faster than that, because they depend on power to stay alive. But then it would go to water, food, civil authority, emergency services. And we would end up with a country with many, many people not surviving the event.”

Asked just how many Americans would die if Iran were to launch the EMP attack it appears to be preparing, Graham gave a chilling reply.

“You have to go back into the 1800s to look at the size of population” that could survive in a nation deprived of mechanized agriculture, transportation, power, water, and communication.

“I’d have to say that 70 to 90 percent of the population would not be sustainable after this kind of attack,” he said.

America would be reduced to a core of around 30 million people — about the number that existed in the decades after America’s independence from Great Britain.

The modern electronic economy would shut down, and America would most likely revert to “an earlier economy based on barter,” the EMP commission’s report on Critical National Infrastructure concluded earlier this year.

In his recent congressional testimony, Graham revealed that Iranian military journals, translated by the CIA at his commission’s request, “explicitly discuss a nuclear EMP attack that would gravely harm the United States.”

Furthermore, if Iran launched its attack from a cargo ship plying the commercial sea lanes off the East coast — a scenario that appears to have been tested during the Caspian Sea tests — U.S. investigators might never determine who was behind the attack. Because of the limits of nuclear forensic technology, it could take months. And to disguise their traces, the Iranians could simply decide to sink the ship that had been used to launch it, Graham said.

Several participants in last weekend’s conference in Dearborn, Mich., hosted by the conservative Claremont Institute argued that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was thinking about an EMP attack when he opined that “a world without America is conceivable.”

In May 2007, then Undersecretary of State John Rood told Congress that the U.S. intelligence community estimates that Iran could develop an ICBM capable of hitting the continental United States by 2015.

But Iran could put a Scud missile on board a cargo ship and launch from the commercial sea lanes off America’s coasts well before then.

The only thing Iran is lacking for an effective EMP attack is a nuclear warhead, and no one knows with any certainty when that will occur. The latest U.S. intelligence estimate states that Iran could acquire the fissile material for a nuclear weapon as early as 2009, or as late as 2015, or possibly later.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld first detailed the “Scud-in-a-bucket” threat during a briefing in Huntsville, Ala., on Aug. 18, 2004.

While not explicitly naming Iran, Rumsfeld revealed that “one of the nations in the Middle East had launched a ballistic missile from a cargo vessel. They had taken a short-range, probably Scud missile, put it on a transporter-erector launcher, lowered it in, taken the vessel out into the water, peeled back the top, erected it, fired it, lowered it, and covered it up. And the ship that they used was using a radar and electronic equipment that was no different than 50, 60, 100 other ships operating in the immediate area.”

Iran’s first test of a ship-launched Scud missile occurred in spring 1998, and was mentioned several months later in veiled terms by the Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States, a blue-ribbon panel also known as the Rumsfeld Commission.

I was the first reporter to mention the Iran sea-launched missile test in an article appearing in the Washington Times in May 1999.

Intelligence reports on the launch were “well known to the White House but have not been disseminated to the appropriate congressional committees,” I wrote. Such a missile “could be used in a devastating stealth attack against the United States or Israel for which the United States has no known or planned defense.”

Few experts believe that Iran can be deterred from launching such an attack by the threat of massive retaliation against Iran. They point to a December 2001 statement by former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, who mulled the possibility of Israeli retaliation after an Iranian nuclear strike.

“The use of an atomic bomb against Israel would destroy Israel completely, while [the same] against the Islamic only would cause damages. Such a scenario is not inconceivable,” Rafsanjani said at the time.

Rep. Trent Franks, R, Ariz., plans to introduce legislation next week that would require the Pentagon to lay the groundwork for an eventual military strike against Iran, to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and EMP capability.

“An EMP attack on America would send us back to the horse and buggy era — without the horse and buggy,” he told the Claremont Institute conference on Saturday. “If you’re a terrorist, this is your ultimate goal, your ultimate asymmetric weapon.”

Noting Iran’s recent sea-launched and mid-flight warhead detonation tests, Rep. Franks concluded, “They could do it — either directly or anonymously by putting some freighter out there on the ocean.”

The only possible deterrent against Iran is the prospect of failure, Dr. Graham and other experts agreed. And the only way the United States could credibly threaten an Iranian missile strike would be to deploy effective national missile defenses.

“It’s well known that people don’t go on a diet until they’ve had a heart attack,” said Claremont Institute president Brian T. Kennedy. “And we as a nation are having a heart attack” when it comes to the threat of an EMP attack from Iran.

“As of today, we have no defense against such an attack. We need space-based missile defenses to protect against an EMP attack,” he told Newsmax.

Rep. Franks said he remains surprised at how partisan the subject of space-based missile defenses remain. “Nuclear missiles don’t discriminate on party lines when they land,” he said.

Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, a long-standing champion of missile defense, told the Claremont conference on Friday that Sen. Obama has opposed missile defense tooth and nail and as president would cut funding for these programs dramatically.

“Senator Obama has been quoted as saying, ‘I don’t agree with a missile defense system,’ and that we can cut $10 billion of the research out — never mind, as I say, that the entire budget is $9.6 billion, or $9.3 billion,” Kyl said.

Like Franks, Kyl believes that the only way to eventually deter Iran from launching an EMP attack on the United States is to deploy robust missile defense systems, including space-based interceptors.

The United States “needs a missile defense that is so strong, in all the different phases we need to defend against . . . that countries will decide it’s not worth coming up against us,” Kyl said.

“That’s one of the things that defeated the Soviet Union. That’s one of the ways we can deal with these rogue states . . . and also the way that we can keep countries that are not enemies today, but are potential enemies, from developing capabilities to challenge us. “

Comment: I blogged on this topic earlier, noting that ballistics expert Dr. Nathan Farber's appeal to bring the Phalanx interceptor system and other systems to the Western Negev received far too little attention -- while Israel awaits the slow completion of Iron Dome. This would help Israel take a more defensive posture in the short term while giving the country more breathing space to contemplate a long term political solution. By no means do I believe the advent of any weapons system could solve this problem, of course. Now it appears Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has come around, making the acquisition of these systems a key issue in his current U.S. visit, largely to the credit of Dr. Nathan Farber and Ha'aretz for pushing the story. Kudos. (I did my part, but let's face it nobody reads my blog)

(Haaretz) -- "[Israeli Defense Minister] Barak is considering purchasing or borrowing several Phalanx automated cannons from the United States. The cannons intercept incoming mortar shells and short-range rockets, and would be used to defend Sderot and other Negev towns from rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

The defense minister was expected to ask Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to appraise the Phalanx's performance.

That assessment will be used to help the government decide whether to bring the anti-missile system to Israel.

The new development comes after a series of articles in Haaretz, in which Dr. Natan Farber - an expert in ballistic missiles from the Technion - expressed his support for the project.

However, several Defense Ministry officials said the Phalanx system is not effective enough, and argue that Israel should focus on developing the Iron Dome defense system, which will not be ready before 2011..." Click for full article

By RYAN LUCAS, Associated Press Writer

WARSAW, Poland - (AP) Poland and the U.S. took a step on Wednesday toward resolving a dispute over Warsaw's demands for defense aid in exchange for accepting part of an American missile defense system.

Polish and U.S. officials "had broad agreement on the threats, on the needs that Poland has in modernizing its military," Stephen Mull, a top U.S. diplomat on military issues, told reporters after a meeting in Warsaw.

"Now comes the hard work on specifics on working to develop the financing package necessary to go forward with this," he said.

Mull and Poland's Deputy Defense Minister Stanislaw Komorowski led experts from four working groups in meetings focused on a possible U.S. role in helping upgrade Poland's military. The aid would be tied to an agreement on building a U.S. missile defense base on Polish soil.

Washington wants to place 10 interceptor missiles in northern Poland and a radar base in the neighboring Czech Republic.

It says the defense system is needed to protect Europe and the U.S. from possible future attacks from Iran. However, Russia is angry at the prospect of the bases close to its borders in Eastern Europe, and has threatened to point its own missiles at them.

Two weeks ago, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk rejected the latest U.S. offer aimed at getting Poland to accept the missile defense base.

Tusk said the proposal fell short of strengthening Poland's security, and stressed that Warsaw needs U.S. assurances of short-and medium-range anti-missile systems, including a Patriot missile battery, to shore up its own defenses.

After Wednesday's talks, Komorowski said Warsaw and Washington "practically agreed on the scope of modernization, although some things still need to be ironed out."

Another round of talks is slated for late August in Washington to work out the final scope, timeline and U.S. financial role in the possible modernization deal, Mull and Komorowski said.

I did see a very brief story in the New York Times about Hugo Chavez's willingness to have Venezuela play host to Russian military bases. Chavez cited as a motive the kindred spirits between Venezuela and Russia (It's interesting that he would claim to be birds-of-a-feather considering that Russia is not socialist state but rather a kind of corrupt authoritarian pseudo-democracy, hmmm?) At any rate, the Venezuela story may be Chavez's attempt to ramp up the story. Perhaps he reads the US papers and realizes that no one was paying much attention to this.

Russia cannot seem to get the respect it expects. This is all, of course, a response to the basing of radar systems and missile interceptors in the Czech Republic and Poland, as well as the continuing expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) eastward. It follows on the heels of threats to abrogatethe Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, the Moscow Treaty (a.k.a. the Strategic Offensive weapon Reduction Treaty [SORT]), and to do other things that I probably missed myself.

The question is: Should we be concerned? My view is that Russia still holds enormous potential to create global havoc (as likely accidentally as on purpose, granted.) However, it seems that the US public, and political leaders for that matter, only have the energy for one nemesis at a time, and that archenemy is now the global Islamic Extremist Movement. It took quite a number of years past the end of the Cold War for America to adjust away from a Cold War paradigm (some would argue it is alive and well in our military force structure and hardware acquisition, our intelligence community's mode of operations, and much of the US Federal bureaucracy involved in foreign affairs in general). However, having mostly made a change in mind-set, we cannot make ourselves contemplate the threats posed by Russia on top of everything else that confronts us. I suggest we learn to keep an eye on Russia, and to be actively engaged. It is still has a massive nuclear arsenal, huge energy resources, and, furthermore, a gigantic inferiority complex.

As you might remember, the United States and Poland already reached an agreement in principle and a tentative deal. Both were so incredibly long-lasting that the parties are still making progress in their negotiations: according to the Warsaw Business Journal the parties are – once again – closer in their efforts in negotiating a deal to place anti-missile defense on Polish soil after a Monday meeting. I am really eager to see how the next breakthrough will be praised.

Just a side note, as reported on The Moscow Times: “Meanwhile, in a coincidence that defies all odds, the Russian supply of oil to the Czech Republic experienced mysterious technical problems.”

There are also some developments in the missile defense field on a smaller scale: Japan scheduled its first PAC-3 test for the week of September 15 at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. So far Japan possesses four PAC-3 systems which have been installed around Tokyo. Additional Japanese bases are expected to receive PAC-3 systems by March 2011.

Final Approach

Final Approach and other cool posters and art prints can be found at the PatriArt Gallery.

Boeing announced today that it has successfully completed the preliminary design of a rugged beam control system for the U.S. Army's High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD) program.

Boeing performed the work under the HEL TD Phase I contract it was awarded last year to design a beam control system for a truck-mounted laser weapon system. The objective of the HEL TD program is to demonstrate that a mobile, solid-state laser weapon system can effectively counter rocket, artillery and mortar projectiles. The program will support the transition to a full-fledged Army acquisition program.

"HEL TD is a cornerstone of the Army's high-energy laser program, and this successful completion of the preliminary design is an important step in developing a weapon system that can change the face of the battlefield," said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems.

"While rocket, artillery and mortar projectiles have traditionally been difficult threats to defeat, HEL TD's speed-of-light, ultra-precision capability will meet the warfighter's needs in this vital mission area," said Gary Fitzmire, vice president and program director of Boeing Directed Energy Systems.

The contract contains options that, if exercised, will call for Boeing to build, integrate and test the beam control system equipped with a command-and-control system on an Army tactical military vehicle, as well as develop the system-engineering requirements for the entire HEL TD system.

Boeing leads the way in developing high-energy laser systems for a variety of warfighter applications. These systems include the Airborne Laser, the Advanced Tactical Laser, the Tactical Relay Mirror System and Laser Avenger.

Space, airpower, seapower, army -- all the posters and art prints are waiting for you at the PatriArt Gallery.

Boeing and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency have successfully completed a Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system test that demonstrated the most complex integration to date of sensors required to support a missile intercept. While previous tests typically involved a single target-tracking sensor, this test used four: the Aegis Long Range Surveillance and Track system in the Pacific; the AN/TPY-2 radar in Juneau, Alaska; the Upgraded Early Warning Radar at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., and the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX) in the Pacific. During the test, the sensors detected, tracked and assessed a long-range ballistic missile target launched from the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska. The sensors provided target information via ground and satellite links to GMD's dual-node, distributed fire control system, located at Fort Greely, Alaska, and in Colorado Springs, Colo. The fire control system combined the sensor data, generated accurate targeting coordinates and simulated a target shootdown with a virtual ground-based interceptor. "This successful test verified that four sensors separated by thousands of miles can detect, track and provide precise trajectory information to help defend against a long-range ballistic missile attack," said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems. "The test builds on the momentum of the GMD program, which achieved intercepts with operationally configured interceptors in each of the past two years." "This test demonstrated GMD's network-centric ability to use data gathered from multiple, global sensors to give us a clearer picture of an incoming threat and greatly increase our ability to intercept that threat," said Greg Hyslop, vice president and program director for GMD. "The sensor integration required for this test greatly reduces risk for our next intercept test, which will be the most challenging ever."

• Iran’s Fars New Agency Shahab-3 missile has a longer range than the reported 2,000km.
• The Iranian Photoshop skills missile developments made an impression on Republican presidential candidate John McCain who called for the United States to establish a missile defense shield in Europe to counter Iranian ambitions.
• The tentative deal that the United States and Poland have reached was not very long-lasting. Reuters reports that Poland rejected U.S. missile shield offer. ISN is more poignant: Rice misfires. However, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his country could reach agreement with the United States within two weeks but indicated he would not compromise on tough conditions he has set for a deal.
• A few days after being snubbed by Poland, the United States and the Czech Republic signed a pact on Tuesday to build part of the U.S. missile defense shield southwest of Prague. While the treaty still awaits ratification by the parliament the position of the Czechs has not changed: 70 % of the Czech population are against building even “defensive” radar installations on their soil.
• It comes to no surprise that Russia announced that it will take appropriate steps over U.S. radar. The list of potential steps includes the withdrawal from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. It continued with its usual conspiracy theories warning that the U.S. may station intermediary and shorter-range ballistic missiles in Poland under the guise of interceptors.
• The Cutting Edge reports that Greece quietly provided the Israeli Air Force pivotal assistance on S-300 ground-to-air radar systems.
• India is going to flight-test its indigenously built air-to-air Astra missile by the end of July or early August.

Read more here:Jerusalem Post

Although negotiations with Lithuania over the Missile Shield have reportedly not even begun yet, Adamkus apparently wanted to make it clear that the small Baltic nation would not even discuss the possibility of participation with American officials.

The United States has already signed an agreement with the Czech Republic for the installation of a radar base that would work in accompaniment with 10 missile interceptors in a second Eastern European nation. Poland was the originally planned site for these interceptors, but the unpopularity of the project in both Poland and Czech Republic--where it still has to be ratified by government--has pushed the United States to consider alternative countries.

The U.S. State Department announced it would consider putting the missile interceptors in Lithuania, 50 miles away from mainland Russia, the project's most outspoken opponent. Russia says the project constitutes a new escalation in Eastern Europe on the part of the U.S. and NATO. Russia announced last week that it would respond with the creation of the Missile Shield with an escalation of its own, possibly the redeployment of its own missiles.

PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who once sang in jest about bombing Iran, on Tuesday reacted to a report of rising U.S. cigarette exports to the country by saying it may be "a way of killing 'em."

...snip...

"Maybe that's a way of killing 'em," McCain said to reporters during a campaign stop in Pittsburgh. "I meant that as a joke, as a person who hasn't had a cigarette in 28 years, 29 years," he added, laughing.

Again, kids, can someone remind me how this moron isn't Chimpy II?

Original DVD cover

From The New York Times:

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — Iran’s saber-rattling missile tests quickly became a flash point in the presidential election on Wednesday as Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama each seized on the tests to try to validate their differing policies on Iran.

Each man spoke of the growing threat posed by Iran, and each called for tougher penalties against the country. But Mr. Obama called once again for pursuing what he called “direct and aggressive diplomacy with the Iranian regime,” while Mr. McCain warned against that approach and said that the tests highlighted the need for a missile defense system in Europe.

Missile defense system? Think unfiltered, Captain Underpants!

Original ad.

Barry, in his own words:

Now, don't you feel safer knowing Obama's going to cut our military to shreds?

>> also read: Obama's Plan To Disarm The U.S. "And he wants to keep you in the dark about it."

Hooray for the Czechs who do understand the threat. Yesterday, Secretary of State Rice signed a cooperation agreement in Prague to install a radar system that would 'warn of long-range missiles coming to Europe from the Middle East.'

“We face with the Iranians, and so do our allies and friends, a growing missile threat that is growing ever longer and ever deeper and where the Iranian appetite for nuclear technology to this point is still unchecked,” Rice said after signing the Czech agreement. (source)

As for the Russian government's rhetoric about striking former Soviet nations with military response who dare step in line with the U.S. and NATO in regards to the missile shield program, it just exposes once again that no one can fully trust the Russians with ex-KGB Putin still calling the shots to be committed to coexisting on peaceful terms with its neighbors, let alone with the Americans. (Just ask the Georgians.)

Wednesday, Senator Thune was interviewed by Fox News pointing out the radar system is defensive and not aimed at the Russians. It is protection against the ever-more unpredictable regime of Iran that just yesterday, and again today, showcased their scud-based Shahab missile that could effectively target Israel. And with nuclear technology could also serve as an EMP threat.

The fact remains it is a tracking system, no offensive capabilities. As the Senator said, it's time for Russia to step into the new century and give up the Cold War theme threats of the past. A good start would be for the Russians to stop selling Iran and other sworn U.S. enemies weapon technology.

Russia has increased military shipments to anti-U.S. states like Iran and Venezuela, not to mention potential adversaries like China, which concerns U.S. policymakers far more. Experts say Iran—as well as Syria—may have transferred some of these small arms to groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. Also, Russia’s arms relationship with Iran, the thinking goes, further complicates efforts to impose punitive sanctions against Tehran for its alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons. (source)

And some wonder why the majority of Americans don't trust the Russians?

As for Iran, Joel Rosenberg exposed on his blog on Tuesday what the Iranians are playing on their TVs. Curious? Joel writes,

Iranian TV is running a new anti-Semitic documentary film series entitled, "The Secret of Armageddon." Setting the stage for a coming apocalyptic war that will usher in the Islamic Messiah known as the Mahdi or the "Twelfth Imam," the series focuses on a series of Bible prophecies that inform Jewish and Christian End Times theology.

During the June 7th episode, the narrator embraces anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and proceeds to try to justify Iran's own war plans.

So -- considering the leader of Iran is hellbent on roaring in the End Times scenarios while actively seeking nuclear (weapons) technology, (as I often say, even if you don't subscribe to any End Times plausibility, it doesn't matter what you think if the guy with the nukes seeks it!) the fact that candidate Obama refuses to support a missile defense shield is incomprehensible, not to mention leaves our country and our allies vulnerable. This reason alone is enough to vote for Senator McCain who is very much a proponent of missile defense.

The Russians are threatening a military reaction to the planned US missile shield in Europe, which involves the placement of US missile and radar sites, (separate,) in Eastern European nations to protect American allies from rogue nations' (AKA Iranian) ballistic missiles. Poland has rejected a US deal to place missiles in their state, likely due to Russian pressure, while the Czechs have made a Missile Deal with the United States.

An interesting, yet completely useless fact revealed by Factcheck is that the average freight train can move a ton of freight 185 kilometers on a litre of fuel.

In music video stale news, DVNO by Justice is a remarkable, robust, ingenious, novel, tour de force, (insert buzz-word here,) of a video, based mostly on 80's logos.