Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey: Hillary Clinton is Despicable!

Hillary Clinton is an interesting case study. She started for years ago as a charming Secretary of State, the smile on the snout to wipe out the snarl of her predecessor, Condoleezza Rice, and four years on, she appears on camera butch, a trucker-type probably complete with tattoos, insolent, inconsequential and incompetent. We now understand Bill. What happened to Hillary Clinton? Her credentials for the position of Secretary of State were never that great. Let us be honest, someone who lied on camera for all to see about getting off an aircraft in the middle of a war zone in Bosnia in the 1990s when in fact she arrived to a red-carpet welcome, complete with bands playing. Since when is a red carpet and a band a war zone? And now, the Chief of Diplomacy of the United States of America imitates her representative at the UNO, Susan Rice, in insolence, calling Russia and China "despicable" for spoiling her war plans in Syria. Insolence is indeed the mainstay ad the keyword behind US diplomacy, intrusion ditto and hypocrisy has to be the toothpick in the throat of those who try to expound Washington's virtue on the world stage, and let us be perfectly frank. Hillary Rodham Clinton had a very easy passage before her as the outwardly visible sidekick of Barack Obama, elected after eight years of a Bush regime which confirmed all the worst nightmares of the conspiracy theorists. Did she pull it off? No, she didn't. For someone in her position, to label the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China as "despicable" because they exercised their right to block NATO's evil desire to make another Libya out of Syria, is a clear sign of how low US diplomacy has sunk.

poorrichard's blog: Will President Obama Give American Blood For Bibi's War in Iran?

Israel is a vampire state. It feeds on American blood and money. Without them, it cannot survive. Pat Buchanan writes: "SR 380 points directly toward a US war on Iran. Who wants that war? Netanyahu, his government, and his allies in US politics and the press, and in a Congress that gave him 29 standing ovations the last time he spoke there. Who does not want a war? The White House, the Pentagon, the Joint Chiefs, the intelligence community, the antiwar left and the Old Right, and millions of Americans who believe a US war on Iran could ignite a sectarian and regional war that could prove catastrophic for the Middle East, the world economy, and the United States of America." Justin Raimondo writes: "How dare our generals, our soldiers, sailors and airmen, you know, the people who will actually have to fight in Netanyahu's war, speak their minds on the matter! Why, it's an outrage! On the other hand, it's perfectly all right that billionaire gambling casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who funds Netanyahu's far-right Likud party, is also pumping millions into the campaign of Newt Gingrich, and, he says, the eventual Republican, whoever it is, minus Ron Paul, while loudly proclaiming his goal of advancing Israeli interests and promoting war with Iran. Is this a war aim Americans need to die for? Netanyahu's war will be a war fought for Israel, started by Israel, and benefiting only Israel. As for us, we will suffer a series of economic shocks, not just oil shock, but the shock of a much-accelerated financial crisis hastened by the conflict, to say nothing of the shock of discovering that our fighting men and women have been turned into the instrument of a foreign power!

Pat Buchanan: On American Jews and the Pro-Israel Lobby

As an author, media figure, and political commentator, Patrick Buchanan publicly espouses racist, anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and anti-immigrant views. At one time an influential staff member in the Nixon and Reagan Administrations, Buchanan has gone on to write a number of books and articles that focus on the decline of Western civilization due to what he refers to as the 'invasion' of non-European immigrants in the United States and Europe. His books, along with his weekly appearances on NBC's The McLaughlin Group, have given him substantial mainstream exposure. Buchanan has affiliated himself with extremists in the United States and abroad, including deceased racist Sam Francis and the leaders of the Vlaams Belang, a xenophobic, racist political party in Belgium. On American Jews and the Pro-Israel Lobby, he writes "If Kagan is confirmed, Jews, who represent less than 2 percent of the US population, will have 33 percent of the Supreme Court seats. Is this Democrats' idea of diversity?" "Israel and its Fifth Column in this city seeks to stampede us into war with Iran. Bush should rebuff them, and the American people should tell their congressmen: You vote for 362, we don't vote for you." "If you want to know ethnicity and power in the United States Senate, 13 members of the Senate are Jewish folks who are from 2 percent of the population. That is where the real power is at". "Neocons say we attack them because they are Jewish. We do not. We attack them because their warmongering threatens our country, even as it finds a reliable echo in Ariel Sharon."    

DEBKAfile: Russia Upgrades Syria-Based Electronic Station

The Russians have upgraded their Jabal Al Harrah electronic and surveillance station south of Damascus opposite Israel's Sea of Galilee, adding resources especially tailored to give Tehran early warning of an oncoming US or Israeli attack, DEBKAfile's US military sources report. Before it was boosted by extra advanced technology and manpower, the station covered civilian and military movements in northern Israel up to Tel Aviv, northern Jordan and western Iraq. Today, its range extends to all parts of Israel and Jordan, the Gulf of Aqaba and northern Saudi Arabia. Part two of Moscow's project for extending the range of its Middle East ears and eyes consist of upgrading the Russian-equipped Syrian radar stationed on Lebanon's Mount Sannine and connecting it to the Jabal Al Harrah facility in Syria. Russian technicians have completed this project also. Russia is now able to additionally track US and Israeli naval and aerial movements in the Eastern Mediterranean up to and including Cyprus and Greece. According to our sources, the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kutznetsov's stay at the Syrian port of Tartus through most of January and up to mid-February had the special mission of keeping an eye out for any Israeli preparations for attacking Iran, Syria or Hizballah. It filled the gap left by the Russian station south of Damascus, which was fully occupied with feeding data of Syrian opposition movements to Bashar Assad and watching out for signs of foreign intervention, military or covert, against his regime.

RT: Pumping Arms - Pentagon's Bigger Stick to Beat Iran

Our Pentagon wants $100 million extra to be prepared for a war with Iran. The money, requested from Congress, is to beef up US military presence in the Persian Gulf and rapidly upgrade weapons to more effectively combat Iranian armed forces. US Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Gulf region, wants them prepared to defeat the Iranian fleet and shore artillery. They also want additional drone capabilities and mine sweeping equipment to clear the Strait of Hormuz, should Iran act to clear the Strait of Hormuz, should Iran act to set mines there as it has threatened to, reports the Wall Street Journal. As part of the push, US spec-op team stationed in the United Arab Emirates has also been ordered to prepare for take part in military action in the region. The unit is currently training elite forces of the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and other US allies in the region. The Pentagon submitted the request for extra funding on February 7, saying it is needed to "bridge near-term capability gaps" in the Persian Gulf. The request is yet to be made officially public after lawmakers review it. It comes on top of changes made last summer that provided Central Command with about $200 million for additional upgrades, some of which could be used in areas outside the Gulf region. The earlier request asked money for a torpedo defense system, airborne anti-mine weapons and new cyber weapons. It was duly approved by Congress.  

Rev Ted Pike: Jewish ABC Airs "Good Christian Bitches".

There should exist a very powerful watchdog group honestly and fearlessly blowing the whistle when Christianity is defamed by Jewish big media, unafraid to identify its perpetrators as Jewish. The Anti-Defamation League does this for the benefit of Jews. Whenever a politician or Christian leader comments unfavorably concerning Jews or Israel, ADL demands an apology and virtually always gets it. The alternative is political or professional ruin, but ADL is silent regarding the defamation of Christianity. Good Christian Bitches is a television sitcom to air on Jewish Disney/ABC March 4, based on a book of the same title. Due to protest, its title has been shortened to "GBC" in American markets. No one is fooled. The show portrays Christian women as petty, gossipy and vindictive. Can you imagine ADL's response if a sitcom were called "Good Jewish Bitches?" But it is predictably silent in this case, too busy decrying campus criticism of Israel, unauthorized use of terms like "holocaust" and "Hitler," and getting the mildest critic of Israel, Pat Buchanan, sacked from MSNBC. How can Christians defend themselves from propaganda attacks like GBC? I suggest not wasting your time contacting ABC. It is owned by Robert Iger, who is Jewish. GBC is produced by Jewish homosexual Darren Star, who also brought us "Sex and the City", another work notable for its degradation of women and utter contempt for traditional religious beliefs. These men no doubt expect your protest, laugh at it, and have probably programmed incoming email criticism for mass deletion. Instead, inform as many people as you can about Jewish media's agenda to trash Christianity and corrupt America. 

Tony Muga: Deception Over Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

According to several stunning editorials by authors Lucas W. Hixon and Joy Thompson, evidence obtained through an FOIA request reveals a 'cover-up' by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in an effort to conceal the severity of the meltdowns in Fukushima, Japan. The FOIA request was initiated by the Friends of the Earth (FOE), the Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), and the Nuclear Information and Resource Center (NIRS) in March of 2011. Physicians for Social Responsibility explain the purpose of the request on YubaNet.com: "On March 16, 2011, NRC Commissioner Gregory B Jaczko told Congress that he was recommending a 50-mile evacuation radius. The scope of the recommended evacuation is highly unusual and suggestive of extraordinarily high radiation levels in excess of those reported to the public in Japan and the US. In the US, nuclear reactor licensees and local governments are only asked to provide for evacuation out to 10 miles. As concerns grow about food and water contamination in Japan, the three groups are seeking to determine the answer to this key question: What made Jaczko exceed the limits of his own agency's regulations by five times? Surely by coincidence, the Qur'an burnings in Afghanistan have taken place just as the analysis of these documents, and the documents themselves, are being made public. It should be no surprise that the corporate controlled mainstream media is ignoring this blockbuster revelation instead of exposing it and demanding an investigation.   

Ching Yinggi: Dinosaur Eggs Found in China

It was normally the busiest time of the day in Wang Lixia's office on the sixth floor of the Geological Museum of China, but at 10:30 am on Tuesday, everyone stopped talking, waiting for a VIP guest to arrive. A nest of fossilized dinosaur eggs is displayed in Beijing on Tuesday. The nest, estimated to be at least 65 million years old, was returned to China after being smuggled to the United States. Finally, Wang broke the silence. Everyone swarmed to be the first ones to see the famous visitor they had been waiting for five years: The egg fossils were unearthed in Guangdong province in 1984, but smuggled out of China. In 2003, a collector in the United States purchased the nest from a source in Taiwan, but it was not until 2006, that dinosaur experts in China became aware of the eggs, when they were auctioned in Los Angeles for $419,750. The experts appealed to the Chinese government, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs began efforts to bring the dinosaur nest home. China's claims persuaded the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Los Angeles police to investigate the smuggling case, and within two months the fossilized eggs had been confiscated, but the buyer of the nest contested ownership, and it was only recently that judicial authorities ruled that the fossils belonged to China. Tao Qingfa, an official from the Ministries of Land and Resources, who took part in the nest's repatriation, said that the case set an example for China and US cooperation on law enforcement, and will be a basis for further action against fossil smugglers.    

Nathanael Kapner: The Struggle to Save Inner Europe

The Struggle for Europe is personified in the persons of Marine Le Pen of France, Thilo Sarrazin of Germany, and Hilaire Belloc of England. Marine Le Pen is the National Front candidate for the French presidential election to be decided on May 6 2012. Le Pen is known for her anti-immigration and anti-EU positions. French Jewry has been intensely promoting pro-immigration policies throughout Europe with special emphasis currently focused on Sweden. Le Pen's stand can best be seen by viewing her co-ordinate activities with the Lega Nord, an anti-immigrant Italian political party, which campaigns for the autonomy of northern Italy. In 2011, Le Pen visited the Italian island of Lampedusa, which was the focal point of uncontrolled immigration from North Africa, with Lega's leader Mario Borghezio. Borghesio has said that Europe must remain white and Christian. In response to Switzerland's defiance against joining the EU and its recent referendum banning the building of minarets, Borghezio remarked "The flag of a courageous Switzerland which wants to remain Christian is flying over a near-Islamized Europe. By all appearances, Marine Le Pen concurs with Borghezio's position. In December of 2010, she compared Muslims praying in the streets of Paris to the Nazi occupation of France. For those who want to talk about World War II being an occupation, then we could also talk about Muslim prayers in the streets, because that's an occupation of territory.

Putin: "The West Wants Regime Change in Iran"

Vladimir Putin believes that the US is using the issue of Iran's nuclear program as a pretext for regime change. Meanwhile, its AMO plans for Europe is an attempt to have a monopoly on security. "Under the guise of of trying to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons of mass destruction the US is attempting something else entirely, and setting different goals -regime change. news agencies quote Putin as saying. The Russian PM pointed out that US foreign policy, including that in the Middle East, was  expensive, inefficient and largely unpredictable. Putin also added that,among other things, it may eventually dis-serve Israel. "They changed regimes in North Africa. What else will they do next? In the end, Israel may find itself between the devil and the deep blue sea, "he said. The Russian PM pointed out that that US foreign policy, including that, among other things, it may eventually dis-serve Israel. "They changed regimes in North Africa. What will they do next? In the end, Israel may find itself between the devil and the deep-blue sea." he said. The Russian PM raised a number of issues during defense talks that gathered dozens of high-ranking military experts. The meeting took place in Central Russia's city of Sarov, a closed town known as a center of nuclear research, and focused on domestic security issues as well as on global threats. To begin with, Putin addressed the long-standing issue of NATO's AMD plans for Europe and Russia's involvement in the project. When it comes to developing our relationship towards joint AMD in Europe, they do not want to talk seriously with us!

Adam Blitzerian: Why Do So Many Jews Hate Black People?

Dov Lior, a popular chief rabbi in Israel, recently called Obama a Kushi, which is Israel's equivalent to nig*er. Most Americans are completely unaware of the general contempt that many Jewish people have towards blacks, as Max Blumenthal found out when he interviewed dozens of young people in Israel who reiterated the Rabbi's sentiments about Obama. Blumenthal's video titled "Feeling the Hate in Israel was removed from YouTube, Vimeo, and the Huffington Post shortly after going viral. In order to understand the nature of this hatred, we need to understand the historical context, which dates back hundreds of years. Although Jews were just a tiny percentage of the European population, they dominated the African slave trade. Jewish historians were so proud of this accomplishment that they bragged endlessly about their involvement and dominance of the industry in their historical texts. In Jews and Judaism in the United States: A documentary History, prominent Jewish Historian Marc Raphael wrote: "Jewish merchants played a major role in the slave trade. In fact, in all the American colonies, whether French, British, or Dutch, Jewish merchants frequently dominated. This was no less true on the North American mainland, where during the eighteenth century Jews participated in the triangular slave trade that brought slaves from Africa to the West Indies, and there exchanged them for molasses". Jewish historical records show that Jewish involvement in the North American slave trade was so dominant that slave posts were frequently closed on Jewish holidays. Arnold Wiznitzer, a Jewish historian, wrote,"the buyers who appeared at the auctions were almost all Jews, and because of their lack of competitors they could buy slaves at low prices."    

Stratforgate: WikiLeaks Releases Shadow CIA Mail

Whistleblower website WikiLeaks has exposed more than 5 million emails apparently obtained by the hacking of Stratfor, the private intelligence company dubbed the "shadow CIA". The leak may be as high-profile as that of the State Department cables. The emails, dated between July 2004 and late December 2011, give glimpses on the inner working of the company. They show how Stratfor gathers confidential information from paid insiders, including senior state officials, and provides it to large corporations and US governmental agencies. The private correspondence confirms that Stratfor's area of interests goes far beyond those of a merely civilian firm. In one report an insider in Russian defense revealed sensitive information on the tactical ballistic missile Iskander, including its development progress and the use during the August 2008 armed conflict with Georgia. The think-tank is operating as an outsourced spy agency, recruiting sources and pumping them for insider information, and, as skeptics say, disinformation. It lacks capabilities that true special services have, like using spy drones or secretly raiding governmental archives James Bond-style. But otherwise Stratfor operates successfully, turning secrets into cash outside of the usual restrictions and need for accountability that their state counterparts face. The company's spy network scoured for info on things ranging from health condition of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez to the laundering of drug profits by Mexican cartels, to the loss of of faith in the Obama administration by US business elites. WikiLeaks itself was also an important topic of research for Stratfor, with more than 4,000 of the emails mentioning the website of its founder Julian Assange.   

Tom Parfitt: Russia Foils 'Chechen Plot' to Assassinate Putin

Russian and Ukrainian security services have foiled a plot to blow up Vladimir Putin shortly after this Sunday's presidential election in Russia, it emerged on Monday. State television in Russia said that special forces had seized two conspirators in Odessa, southern Ukraine, after an explosion in an apartment in January. The Chechen alleged ringleader, Adam Osmayev, 31, has reportedly confessed to planning the assassination on the orders of Doku Umarov, the emir of the Islamist insurgency against Moscow's rule in the North Caucasus region. Channel One showed Osmayev in detention, saying: "The ultimate aim was to travel to Moscow and try to assassinate Premier Putin." The plan was exposed after the explosion in Odessa on January 4, which was initially thought to be a domestic gas explosion. However, it transpired to be an accident during the preparation of an explosive device. One of the men, Ruslan Madayev, 26, died in the blast, but Ukrainian special forces seized a second, Ilya Pyanzin, 28, two days later. Osmayev, who was shown with blotches of green antiseptic covering wounds on his face, was captured separately later. The men had a laptop with several videos of Mr Putin's cortege traveling through Moscow on it. Osmayev, who had reportedly been on a federal arrest warrant since 2007, said they planned to use a tank mine to kill Mr Putin rather than a suicide bomber, although Madayev had been prepared to become a martyr. Mr Putin did not comment on Monday morning, but his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed the murder plot was real.    

Reuters: Iranian Film beats Israel's 'Footnote' at Academy Awards!

"A Separation" won the Oscar for best foreign language film on Sunday, beating the Israeli film 'Footnote', and becoming the first Iranian movie to clinch the honor. Directed by Asghar Farhadi, the film focuses on a couple going through a divorce and touches on traditions, justice and male-female relationships in modern Iran. "A Separation" was regarded as the front-runner for the foreign language Oscar, after sweeping the awards circuit in Europe and the United States. It was the second Iranian film to be nominated for an Oscar and the first to win. Writer-director Farhadi alluded to the tensions over his home country. Amid talks of "war, intimidation and aggression" among politicians,he said, Iran is "spoken here through her glorious culture, a rich and ancient culture that has been hidden under the heavy dust of politics." With his daughter, Sarina Farhadi, who co-stars in the film, looking on from the audience, Farhadi added: "I proudly offer this award to the people of my country, the people who respect all cultures and civilizations and despise hostility and resentment." "Footnote" deals with the rivalry between a father and son, both Talmud scholars at Hebrew University. The movie stars Shlomo Bar'aba, Lior Ashkenazi and Alma Zack. Other films nominated in the category were: "Bullhead"(Belgium), "Monsieur Lazhar" (Canada), and "In Darkness" (Poland). Elsewhere in the ceremony, "The Artist" won five Academy Awards, including best picture, becoming the first silent film to triumph at Hollywood's highest honors since the original Oscar ceremony 83 years ago.     

Save The Gulf Advocacy: BP Misrepresented Gulf Oil Spill

Gulf Rescue Alliance (GRA) has just sent a briefing package to the Attorney Generals of Alabama and Louisiana, which presents evidence they believe has never seen the light of day concerning how and why of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster and subsequent release of toxic oil into the Gulf, oil that is still gushing from various seabed fractures and fissures. The evidence provided therein clearly indicates: The unmentioned existence of a 3rd Macondo well (the real source of the explosion, DWH sinking and ensuing oil spill.) The current condition of this well being such that it can never be properly capped. The compromised condition of the seabed floor, being such that there are multiple unnatural sources of gushers continuing to pour into the Gulf, with Corexit dispersant still suppressing its visibility. That the highly publicized capped well (Well A) never occurred as reported, and in fact was an abandoned well, hence it was never the source of the millions of gallons released into the Gulf. GRA's special report (a comprehensive compilation of research released by insiders and experts through confidential internet sources) has been forwarded to Congress in advance of BP's upcoming trial on Monday, February 27th in New Orleans, LA. Entitled An Expert's Analysis of ROV Film Footage Taken at the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Disaster Site, it has also been submitted to the appropriate federal, state and county authorities, plaintiff attorneys, and environmental and health advocacy groups, who have a stake in the outcome of the trial.   

Veterans Today: Physicist Dr Paolo Scampa and Fukushima

Widely known Physicist Dr Paolo Scampa, the publisher of the EU AIPRI Blog and an eminent chemical physicist, announced his latest calculations of deadly radioactivity in Tokyo itself. Both the nuclear regulatory and media responses have been missing in action. However, the outrageous statement of a Japanese politician pretty well sum up the level of understanding of the parasitic political class "Smile, and the radiation won't hurt you." The Tokyo suburbs are about 100 miles or 160 km South of the six destroyed, deteriorating and badly leaking nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Station for Nuclear Reactors. Dr Scampa stated: An absorbed dose of 2,94 microSievert/hour at 1 meter of soil means an average deposit of 9,065E5 Bq/m2 of Cs137-0,661MeV-. This amount for 1 meter is in fact situated between a maximum deposit of 5,439E6 Bq/m2 for low level gamma rays from radioactive elements such as U238 (0,0495 MeV) and a minimum deposit of 2,176E5 Bq/m2 of very energetic gamma rays from radioactive elements such as Co60 (2,55 MeV). This dose corresponds to 25 times the maximum permissible "artificial" hour dose (0,114 microSievert/h-1) and five times the maximum permissible total, natural and artificial hour dose (0,571 microSievert/h-1). This is a tragedy of huge proportions. There are 30 Plus Million People in Greater Tokyo. It is brought home personally to each person who sees the work of Fukushima Dairy by Mochizuki. There are thousands of US troops stationed with their families in Japan. American politicians must remove all US troops stationed with their families in Japan!     

Cain Burdeau: BP Faces Billions in Fines as Spill Trial Nears

On the cusp of trial over the catastrophic 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, phalanxes of lawyers, executives and public officials have spent the waning days in settlement talks. Holed up in small groups inside law offices, war rooms and hotel suites in New Orleans and Washington, they are trying to put a number on what BP and its partners in the doomed Macondo well project should pay to make up for the worst offshore spill in US history. It is a complex equation, and the answer is proving elusive. The federal government, Gulf states, plaintiffs' attorneys, BP PLC rig owner Transocean Ltd. and cementer Halliburton Energy Services Inc. have been in simultaneous and separate negotiations in New Orleans, according to a person with direct knowledge of the talks, and others who had been briefed on them. Trial is set for Monday, and by Friday, no deal had been reached, several people familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The biggest stumbling block appeared to be the sheer size and sprawling uncertainty over the unprecedented dollar amounts at stake. Financial analysts estimate BP's potential settlement payout at $15 billion in the weeks after the explosion to account for all its costs, including cleanup, compensating businesses, and paying fines and ecological damage. "This one is off the charts in terms of size and significance," said Eric Schaeffer, the director of the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Regulatory Enforcement. BP has to weigh its chances of getting off cheaper by piecing together a sweeping settlement or put its fate in the handsof one man, a federal judge who will hear testimony in lieu of a jury. 

Allison Weir: Israeli Assassinations and American Presidents

On January 13, the Atlanta Jewish Times featured a column by its owner-publisher suggesting that Israel might someday need to "order a hit" on the president of the United States. In the column, publisher Andrew Adler describes a scenario in which Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu would need to "give the go-ahead for US based Mossad agents to take out a president deemed unfriendly to Israel." The purpose? So that the vice president could then take office and dictate US policies that would help the Jewish state "obliterate its enemies." Adler wrote that it is highly likely that the idea "has been discussed in Israel's most inner circles." Numerous Jewish leaders quickly condemned Adler, who has now apologized for the column, resigned, and put the newspaper up for sale. An Israeli columnist noted that the hatred being stirred up against Obama is similar to conditions in Israel that led to the murder of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a Jewish extremist. Many of those criticizing Adler claim that he defamed Israel by suggesting that it would never do such a thing. Abe Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), proclaimed: "There is absolutely no excuse, no justification, no rationalization for this kind of rhetoric. It doesn't even belong in fiction." In reality, however, Adler's expectation that Israel's inner circles explored such a course of action, and would be willing to undertake it, may be entirely accurate. The fact is that Israel has killed and plotted to assassinate people throughout the world, a number have been Americans. One alleged was chillingly similar to Adler's suggestion.     

Ken Dilanian: Iran is Pursuing Research, But has not sought to build a nuclear weapon.

As US and Israeli officials talk publicly about the prospect of a military strike against Iran's nuclear program, one fact is often overlooked: US intelligence agencies don't believe Iran is actively trying to build a nuclear bomb. A highly classified US intelligence assessment circulated to policymakers early last year largely affirms that view, originally made in 2007. Both reports, or national intelligence estimates, conclude that Teheran halted efforts to develop and build a nuclear warhead in 2003. The most recent report, which represents the consensus of 16 US intelligence agencies, indicates that Iran is pursuing research that could put it in a position to build a weapon, but that it has not sought to do so. Although Iran continues to enrich uranium at low levels, US officials say they have not seen evidence that has caused them to significantly revise that judgment. Senior US officials say Israel does not dispute the basic intelligence or analysis, but Israel appears to have a lower threshold for action than Washington. It regards Iran as a threat to its existence, and says it will not allow Iran to become capable of building and delivering a nuclear weapon. Some Israeli officials have raised the prospect of a military strike to stop Iran before it's too late. It's unclear how much access US intelligence has in Iran, a problem that bedeviled efforts to determine whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction before the US led invasion in 2003.   

LA Times: Iran and Israel: Who's the Bigger Threat?

Several readers responding to Israeli historian Benny Morris' Feb 14 Op-Ed article calling for a military attack to stop Iran's nuclear program noted that Morris did not acknowledge the Middle East's lone nuclear power: Israel. Some said the doctrine of mutually assured destruction worked for the United States and the Soviet Union, so the likelihood of two nuclear-armed states in the Mideast wiping each other out is minimal. But others who discussed Israel's status as a nuclear power said it, and not Iran, presented the greater threat to peace. Reader Jon Williams of Goleta, California wrote: "Benny Morris' logic goes: Because Tehran is intent on building a nuclear weapon it will undoubtedly use against Israel, the United States, or possibly Russia, must launch a massive preemptive strike against Iran, or else Israel will itself attack Iran with a nuclear weapon. "Talk about holding a gun to the world's head." "Iran does not have a nuclear device, claims not to be building one, and hasn't even talked about striking Israel militarily. Israel, on the other hand, has the bomb now. Who's the greater danger to both Israel and world peace? Israel is dragging the rest of us along into a world of hurt." My logic is simple: Diplomacy and sanctions have not stopped Iran's nuclear program. If it isn't stopped militarily, Iran will have nuclear weapons in the near future. There is a vital difference between a nuclear-armed Israel and a nuclear-armed Iran: The Iranian regime is bad. It assaulted and murdered its own people following President Mahmoud Amadinejad's fraudulent reelection in 2009. It supports terrorists beyond its own borders, including against Israel, and has threatened Israel's destruction.

Ron Paul: The Goernment Intervention in our Economy Will Go Badly

Any number of pundits claim that we have now passed the worst of the recession. Green shoots of recovery are supposedly popping up all around the country, and the economy is expected to resume growing at an annual rate of 3% to 4%. Many of these are the same people who insisted that the economy would continue growing last year, even while it was clear that we were already in the beginning stages of a recession. A false recovery is under way. I am reminded of the outlook in 1930, when the experts were certain that the worst of the depression was over and that recovery was just around the corner. The economy and stock market seemed to be recovering, and there was optimism that the recession, like many of those before it, would be over in a year or less. Instead, the interventionist policies of Hoover and Roosevelt caused the Depression to worsen, and the Dow Jones Industrial average did not recover to 1929 levels until 1954. I fear that our stimulus and bailout programs have already done too much to prevent the economy from recovering in a natural manner, and will result in yet another asset bubble. The only remaining option is to have the Fed create new money out of thin air. This is inflation. Higher prices lead to a devalued dollar and a lower standard of living for Americans. The Fed has already overseen a 95% loss in the dollar's purchasing power since 1913. If we do not stop this profligate spending soon, we risk hyperinflation and seeing a 95% devaluation every year.