Special Report: Intel shows Iran nuclear threat not imminent: What We're Reading Now
Mar 23, 2012
Iran
Special Report: Intel shows Iran nuclear threat not imminent Tabassum Zakaria and Mark Hosenball, Reuters - March 23, 2012 The United States, European allies and even Israel generally agree on three things about Iran's nuclear program: Tehran does not have a bomb, has not decided to build one, and is probably years away from having a deliverable nuclear warhead.Barak: Iran must be given deadline in nuke talks
Herb Keinon, Jerusalem Post - March 23, 2012
Defense Minister Ehud Barak acknowledged publicly on Thursday that Israel and the US have different clocks when looking at Iran, with Washington able – because of its greater military capabilities – to wait longer to strike the country than Israel.
'Iran may activate US Hezbollah cells after strike'
Hilary Leila Krieger, Jerusalem Post - March 23, 2012
A US congressional report finds that Hezbollah fundraising cells are rampant across the United States and that the Lebanese organization could activate these cells to carry out lethal terrorist attacks.
Nuclear watchdog chief accused of pro-western bias over Iran
Julian Borger, The Guardian - March 22, 2012
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the nuclear watchdog at the heart of the growing Iranian crisis, has been accused by several former senior officials of pro-western bias, over-reliance on unverified intelligence and of sidelining skeptics.
Allawi cites ‘dictatorship,’ Iranian control in Iraq
Ben Bimbaum, Washington Times - March 22, 2012
Iraq’s former prime minister says the United States is ignoring an “emerging dictatorship” in his country, telling The Washington Times that Iran is “swallowing” Iraq and dictating its strategic policies.
Gates: Proceed Warily on Iran: What We're Reading Now
Mar 22, 2012
Iran
Gates: Proceed Warily on Iran
Lisa Hostein, Jewish Exponent - March 21, 2012
Former Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has joined the chorus of past and current officials warning that a military strike against Iran could produce dire consequences. "If you think the war in Iraq was hard, an attack on Iran would, in my opinion, be a catastrophe," he said in a keynote speech to some 400 donors at the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia's campaign event last week.
Official: Israel, US disagree on Iran timetable
Associated Press - March 22, 2012
Israel's defense minister says Israel and the United States disagree on what would be a realistic timetable for stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Ehud Barak told Israel Radio on Thursday that the U.S. would have more time than Israel to consider a strike against Iran because of superior military capabilities.
Korean Peninsula
North Korea Warns It Will Not Tolerate Criticism at Nuclear Forum
Choe Sang-Hun, New York Times - March 21, 2012
As global leaders prepared to travel to Seoul for a nuclear security summit meeting, North Korea warned on Wednesday that any criticism of its nuclear weapons program would be considered a “declaration of war.”
Pentagon Suspends Efforts To Recover Remains Of Troops In North Korea
William Wan, Associated Press - March 22, 2012
The Pentagon has suspended efforts to recover the remains of U.S. troops in North Korea, officials said Wednesday, the latest indication that recently negotiated agreements between the two countries are at risk of falling apart.
Stop the Press on ‘Preemptive’: Media Adopt Pro-War Rhetoric on Iran: What We're Reading Now
Mar 20, 2012
Iran
Barak: Israel must take U.S. vote into account when mulling Iran strike
Jonathan Lis, Haaretz - March 19, 2012
Defense Minister Ehud Barak called on Israel yesterday to take into account the U.S. election campaign, hinting that it would be unwise to launch an attack on Iran without American support.
U.S. War Game Sees Perils of Israeli Strike Against Iran
Mark Mazzetti and Thom Shanker, New York Times - March 19, 2012
A classified war simulation held this month to assess the repercussions of an Israeli attack on Iran forecasts that the strike would lead to a wider regional war, which could draw in the United States and leave hundreds of Americans dead, according to American officials.
Stop the Press on ‘Preemptive’: Media Adopt Pro-War Rhetoric on Iran
Peter Beinart, Daily Beast - March 19, 2012
Unchastened by Iraq misinformation, the media are passing on pro-war statements as fact again. This time, it’s Iran. The Iraq War debate was not among American journalism’s finest hours. Despite, or perhaps because of, the media’s incessant coverage of the run-up to war, the public ended up wildly misinformed. An August 2003 Washington Post poll found that 69 percent of Americans thought it either “very likely” or “somewhat likely” that Saddam Hussein had been involved in the 9/11 attacks. Eighty percent of Fox News viewers believed either that Iraq and al Qaeda were closely linked, that the U.S. had found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, or that world public opinion favored the war.
How bad would Iran be with the bomb?
Walter Pincus, Washington Post - March 19, 2012
Which would be worse if sanctions and diplomacy fail: the aftermath of an Israeli or U.S. attack on Iran to set back its nuclear program, or the Tehran regime having the bomb? Of course, one hopes the sanctions/diplomacy route succeeds. But what if it doesn’t?
Israel shifts views on Iran: What We're Reading Now
Mar 19, 2012
Iran
Israel shifts views on Iran
Associated Press - March 18, 2012
Despite saber-rattling from Jerusalem, Israeli officials now agree with the U.S. assessment that Tehran has not yet decided on the actual construction of a nuclear bomb, according to senior Israeli government and defense figures.
U.S. Faces a Tricky Task in Assessment of Data on Iran
James Risen, New York Times - March 17, 2012
While American spy agencies have believed that the Iranians halted efforts to build a nuclear bomb back in 2003, the difficulty in assessing the government’s ambitions was evident two years ago, when what appeared to be alarming new intelligence emerged, according to current and former United States officials.
Hawks Steering Debate on How to Take On Iran
Eric Lichtblau and Mark Landler, New York Times - March 18, 2012
Even before President Obama declared this month that “I have Israel’s back” in its escalating confrontation with Iran, pro-Israel figures like the evangelical Christian leader Gary L. Bauer and the conservative commentator William Kristol were pushing for more.
Top ten media failures in the Iran war debate: What We're Reading Now
Mar 13, 2012
Iran
Top ten media failures in the Iran war debate
Stephen Walt, Foreign Policy - March 11, 2012
I'm sorry to say that most mainstream news organizations have let us down again. Although failures haven't been as egregious as the New York Times and Washington Post's wholesale swallowing of the Bush administration's sales pitch for war in 2002, on the whole the high-end media coverage has been disappointing.
Iran sure no attack will go through Azerbaijan
Associated Press - March 12, 2012
Iran is confident that neighboring Azerbaijan would not allow attacking forces to pass through its territory, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday, according to the official IRNA news agency. On February 29, Israel signed a $1.6 billion deal to sell drones, anti-aircraft and missile defense systems to Azerbaijan, bringing Israeli technology to the border of archenemy Iran.
Israeli Plans For Iran Go Back Years
Associated Press - March 12, 2012
For more than a decade, Israel has systematically built up its military specifically for a possible strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. It has sent its air force on long-distance training missions, procured American-made "bunker-busting" bombs and bolstered its missile defenses.
Iran's UN fact sheet - Weapons track not confirmed: What We're Reading Now
Mar 12, 2012
Iran
Skeptics doubt U.S. can be certain about Iran's nuclear progress
Ken Dilanian, Los Angeles Times - March 11, 2012
Despite President Obama's assurances that the United States will know if Tehran begins to secretly build a nuclear bomb, some senior officials familiar with U.S. intelligence and spying capabilities in Iran are doubtful.
Israel Unveils New Bunker Buster, Hones ‘Credible’ Military Option for Iran
Barbara Opall-Rome, Defense News - March 11, 2012
Israel last week unveiled an improved precision, bunker-burrowing weapon, the latest in a series of operational upgrades aimed at honing what one official here labeled “a very credible military option” against the Iranian nuclear threat.
U.N. Won’t Back Down on Iran Nuclear Inspections
Michael Adler, The Daily Beast - March 11, 2012
The U.N. nuclear agency will not back off its demand to visit the Parchin military site even if this escalates the confrontation with Iran over its alleged nuclear-weapons work, the agency’s head Yukiya Amano told Newsweek/The Daily Beast in an exclusive interview.
Iran's UN fact sheet: Weapons track not confirmed
George Jahn, Associated Press - March 11, 2012
Nine years ago, the United States invaded Iraq after telling the world that Saddam Hussein had covert weapons programs that could build nuclear arms. In the end, nothing was found. Today, acting on similar fears, Israel is threatening to attack Iran.
Canada, Israel, Iran
Mar 06, 2012
From Sat March 3rd, 'Globe and Mail’
Canada has enduring links of friendship with Israel and concern for its safety, so Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit is the time to make clear our opposition to an attempt to bomb Iran into nuclear disarmament (Harper Stops Short Of Backing Israeli Strike On Iran – online, March 3).
The reasons are simple. We would create an Iran still capable of making nuclear weapons, but unalterably determined to do so. The moral basis for such an action, taken by nuclear powers against a non-nuclear one, is so far from existing that the policy must fail. Finally, there does exist a path, and only one, that can ameliorate the situation, which is the neglected path of negotiation. Our nation has a history of depending on diplomacy and distrusting force. This is the moment to insist on that tradition.
John Polanyi, Toronto
U.S. to Meet North Koreans for New Talks: What We're Reading Now
Feb 14, 2012
IRAN
Israel Says Iran Is Behind Bombs
Ethan Bronner, New York Times - February 13, 2012
Tensions between Israel and Iran rose sharply on Monday when bombers struck at Israeli Embassy personnel in the capitals of India and Georgia. Israel accused the Tehran government of being behind the attacks, which Iran denied.
Israeli attack on Iran would be complex operation
Jim Michaels, USA Today - February 13, 2012
If Israel attacked Iran's nuclear facilities, the strike would probably take the form of a complex air assault involving scores of planes that would have to penetrate Iranian air defenses and attack up to a couple of dozen targets simultaneously, analysts say.
Backers of Iran Sanctions Make an Appeal to China
Rick Gladstone, New York Times - February 13, 2012
American advocacy groups that want to isolate Iran over its suspect nuclear program singled out China on Monday, using the visit to the United States by China’s next leader to criticize the vast Chinese purchases of Iranian petroleum, and to urge him and President Obama to forge a common position opposing Iran’s uranium enrichment.
KOREAN PENINSULA
U.S. to Meet North Koreans for New Talks
Steven Lee Myers, New York Times - February 13, 2012
The Obama administration announced on Monday that it would hold its first talks with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program since the death of the country’s leader, Kim Jong-il, in December.
Next U.S.-Russia arms talks to move in challenging direction: What We're Reading Now
Feb 13, 2012
IRAN
Iran to present nuclear projects 'in days'
Mohammad Davari, Agence France-Press - February 11, 2012
A defiant Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed Saturday to inaugurate "important nuclear projects" within days and lashed out at Israel, saying the "story" of the Holocaust underpinning its existence had been "smashed".
Obama’s Dangerous Game With Iran
Daniel Klaidman, Eli Lake, Dan Ephron, Newsweek - February 13, 2012
Can the president keep nukes out of the mullahs’ hands, prevent the global economy from imploding, manage the wild card that is Israel—and get reelected?
US admiral says forces prepared to confront Iran
Adam Schreck, Associated Press - February 12, 2012
The top U.S. Navy official in the Gulf said Sunday he takes Iran’s military capabilities seriously but insists his forces are prepared to confront any Iranian aggression in the region.
U.S. Would Block Iran From Mining Hormuz Strait, Commander Says
Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg Businessweek - February 13, 2012
The U.S. Navy would move to stop any Iranian attempt to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz or Persian Gulf as an “act of war” the international community wouldn’t tolerate, the U.S. Navy’s top Gulf commander said.
Nearly half of Americans say 'yes' to halt nuclear program: What We're Reading Now
Feb 10, 2012
IRAN
Israel teams with terror group to kill Iran's nuclear scientists: U.S. officials
Richard Engel and Robert Windrem, NBC News - February 10, 2012
Deadly attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists are being carried out by an Iranian dissident group that is financed, trained and armed by Israel’s secret service, U.S. officials tell NBC News, confirming charges leveled by Iran’s leaders.
Hill resolution could harm diplomatic efforts, critics say
Byron Tau and Josh Gerstein, Politico - February 9, 2012
A bipartisan resolution being circulated on Capitol Hill is raising concerns that it's designed to ratchet up the pressure on the Obama administration for a military response against Iran's nuclear weapons program.
Bomb Iran? Nearly half of Americans say 'yes' to halt nuclear program
Howard LaFranchi, Christian Science Monitor - February 9, 2012
Nearly half of Americans now say they would bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities to stop its uranium enrichment in order to halt its advances toward an ability to build a nuclear weapon – even as President Obama touts diplomacy as still the best means of addressing the Iranian nuclear issue.
KOREAN PENINSULA
Pyongyang's leadership change poses "even greater" security challenges: U.S. commander
Lee Chi-dong, Yonhap News Agency - February 9, 2012
The nominee to head U.S. troops in the Asia-Pacific area said Thursday that North Korea's leadership change adds to regional security concerns on top of the possibility of the communist regime using weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).
