WarSclerotic

U.S. House majority leader links Holocaust, Iran sanctions – Haaretz.

Representative Eric Cantor says U.S. must counter Iran’s ‘determined march’ to produce nuclear weapons.

By JTA |Feb. 18, 2014 | 2:10 PM

Representative Eric Cantor, the Republican House majority leader, cited the lateness of American actions against the Nazis in critiquing President Obama’s foreign policy.

In a speech Monday to the Virginia Military Institute, Cantor (R-Va.), who is Jewish, described leading a congressional delegation recently to Auschwitz to mark the 69th anniversary of the Nazi death camp’s liberation.

“Standing there as the frigid wind swept through the eerily quiet ruins of the camp, I could not help but regret that American action in World War II came too late to save countless millions of innocent lives,” he said.

“Hitler’s rise and conquest of Europe did not come as a surprise. We must not repeat the same mistake by reducing our preparedness, accepting the notion that we are one of many or ceding global leadership to others.”

Cantor said that “evil and hateful ideologies still exist in the world,” citing as perhaps the most evident Iran’s “determined march” to produce nuclear weapons.
“I can imagine few more destabilizing moments in world history than Iran on the threshold of being a nuclear power,” he said.

Cantor called on the United States to prepare for additional sanctions to counter what he said was the erosion of Iran’s isolation through its participation in international talks aimed at keeping it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“An America that leads is an America that must work to restore the badly eroded international pressure on Tehran,” he said. “We should lay the groundwork now for additional sanctions in the event Iran violates the terms of the interim agreement.”

The Obama administration has said that the removal of a number of sanctions ahead of the talks has not diminished a tough sanctions regime. It has opposed new sanctions while talks are underway, saying that unilateral U.S. sanctions could fracture the international alliance that has nudged Iran to the talks.

Iranian hacking of Navy computers reportedly more extensive than first thought – FoxNews.

Published February 18, 2014
FoxNews.com

An Iranian hack of the Navy’s largest unclassified computer network reportedly took more than four months to resolve, raising concern among some lawmakers about security gaps exposed by the attack. 

The Wall Street Journal, citing current and former U.S. officials, reported late Monday that the cyberattack targeted the Navy Marine Corps Internet, which is used by the Navy Department to host websites, store nonsensitive information, and handle voice, video, and data communications. 

The paper reported that the hackers were able to remain in the network until this past November. That contradicts what officials told the Journal when the attack was first publicly reported this past September. At the time, officials told the paper that the intruders had been removed.

“It was a real big deal,” a senior U.S. official told the Journal. “It was a significant penetration that showed a weakness in the system.”

The quoted official said that the Iranians were able to conduct surveillance and compromise communications over the unclassified computer networks of the Navy and Marine Corps. However, another senior official told the Journal that no e-mail accounts were hacked and no data was stolen. There is also no evidence that Iran was able to penetrate classified U.S. computer networks. 

The cyberattack is one of the one of the most serious infiltrations of government computer systems by the Iranians. The Journal reported that U.S. defense officials were surprised at the skill of the hackers, who were able to enter the network through a security gap in a public-facing website. 

The military response to the hack was over seen by Vice Adm. Mike Rogers, President Obama’s pick to be the next head the National Security Agency. Congressional aides told the Journal that Rogers would likely face questions on plans to fix security issues that have surfaced as a result of the attack. A confirmation hearing for Rogers has not yet been scheduled. 

Despite the length of the operation to remove the hackers, officials who spoke to the Journal praised Rogers for his leadership of the cybersecurity response. The issue is not expected to prevent Rogers from being confirmed as NSA director.

Iran tells talks it won’t scrap any nuclear facilities, rejecting a central demand by six world powers – National Post.

George Jahn, Associated Press | February 18, 2014 9:43 AM ET

Iran said Tuesday it would not scrap any of its nuclear facilities, drawing a red line in negotiations with six world powers seeking deep cutbacks in Tehran’s atomic program in exchange for an end to crippling economic sanctions.

The statement by Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi suggested tough talks ahead, constituting a rejection of a central demand by the six countries.

The talks are designed to build on a first-step deal that came into effect last month and commits Iran to initial curbs on its nuclear program in return for some easing of sanctions.

Iran insists it is not interested in producing nuclear weapons but the six powers want Tehran to back its words with concessions. They seek an agreement that will leave Iran with little capacity to quickly ramp up its nuclear program into weapons-making mode with enriched uranium or plutonium, which can used for the fissile core of a missile.

For that, they say Iran needs to dismantle or store most of its 20,000 uranium enriching centrifuges, including some of those not yet working. They also demand that an Iranian reactor now being built be either scrapped or converted from a heavy-water setup to a light-water facility that makes less plutonium.

Iran is desperate to shed nearly a decade of increasingly strict sanctions on its oil industry and its financial sector but is fiercely opposed to any major scaling back of its nuclear infrastructure.

“Dismantling (the) nuclear program is not on the agenda,” Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Vienna.

The talks are formally led by Catherine Ashton, the EU’s top foreign policy official, and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany are also at the table.

Ashton spokesman Michael Mann warned of the “intensive and difficult work lying ahead of us.”

Despite his colleague’s comments, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the talks got off to a “very good beginning.” He said even if they end later this week with nothing more than a future agenda “we’ve accomplished a lot.”

Iran’s the Problem – The Weekly Standard.

Feb 24, 2014, Vol. 19, No. 23 • By LEE SMITH

Two weeks ago the Treasury Department sanctioned a senior al Qaeda official, Olimzhon Adkhamovich Sadikov, also known as Jafar al-Uzbeki, for facilitating the flow of foreign fighters into Syria. The Levant appears to be ground zero in a struggle between al Qaeda and an Iranian-led axis of terror in a conflict now spreading from the Iraqi desert to the Lebanese coast. The Obama administration believes that in this contest for regional dominance, there are two clear sides and that it is al Qaeda, and not Iran, that constitutes the greatest threat to U.S. national security. Thus the Obama administration’s  reluctance to act against Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Damascus, lest this give al Qaeda sway in Syria. However, here’s a fact that should give the administration cause to rethink its assessment: Al Qaeda’s Uzbeki is operating out of Iran, with the approval of Iranian authorities.

From Iran’s perspective, backing Uzbeki and his al Qaeda fighters against Assad and Hezbollah and even against its own Revolutionary Guard puts another piece into play on the chessboard. It’s an additional weapon in Tehran’s arsenal. As the 9/11 Commission Report made clear, the Islamic Republic has frequently worked with al Qaeda when it suits Iranian interests. Similarly, Assad, whose forces now battle a resistance that includes al Qaeda fighters, turned Damascus international airport into a transit hub for al Qaeda fighters entering Iraq in the mid-2000s to kill American troops. He also has a long history of using and manipulating Sunni jihadists. 

Iranian Multi-Warhead Missile Seen as ‘Extremely Unlikely’- Global Security Newswire.

(More hot air coming from Tehran … – Artaxes)

A newly described Iranian weapon is likely designed to hold cluster munitions, not multiple warheads, as initially reported, says IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly.

Iran would face substantial difficulties in equipping the “Barani” ballistic missile to protect dozens of reentry vehicles during their return into the atmosphere, the defense publication said in a Thursday analysis. The Persian Gulf power earlier this week said the missile performed as intended in a recent trial flight, and state television paired the announcement with a mock-up image of two ballistic missiles each firing roughly 30 reentry vehicles outside the earth’s atmosphere.

Iranian media described the Barani as a “new generation of long-range ballistic missiles carrying multiple reentry vehicle payloads.”

Jane’s, though, said it is “extremely unlikely” that the missile can accommodate multiple warheads, a capacity commonly tied to nuclear arms. Rather, Iran probably built the Barani payload to drop numerous smaller bomblets after returning into the atmosphere, the analysis says.

U.S. intelligence analysts referenced Iranian work on cluster munitions in a 2012 assessment for lawmakers, the defense publication noted.

“Iran has boosted the lethality and effectiveness of existing systems with accuracy improvements and new submunition payloads,” the 2012 U.S. findings state.

Still, the Middle Eastern nation may be developing a capacity to release bomblets higher than Patriot antimissile systems — fielded in neighboring Arab countries — could intercept them, according to the analysis. Earlier this week, Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan was reported to assert that the Barani missile is capable of “evading [the] enemy’s antimissile defense systems.”

Jane’s noted, though, that possible cluster-munition payloads could be intercepted by Aegis-equipped U.S. antimissile warships, as well as the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system.

Iran: We’ve Developed a Missile ‘Better than S-300’ – Israel National News.

(Hey, that’s great. So you don’t need the S-300 anymore. Right? – Artaxes)

Advanced missile would be used against aircraft and cruise missiles, says Tehran.

By Dalit Halevy

‘Time is of the Essence’ to Halt Iran Proliferation – Israel National News.

Founder of EMPact America tells Arutz Sheva why he believes the threat to American security from Iran could be closer than you think.

By Uzi Baruch, Washington
First Publish: 2/15/2014, 11:19 PM

A group of academics and American politicians came together at week’s end in Washington D.C., to discuss what they say is the greatest threat to US security: a nuclear Iran capable of obtaining an EMP, or Electromagnetic Pulse weapon.

Henry Schwartz, a prominent New York-based entrepreneur and founder of EMPact America, which organized the conference, spoke exclusively to Arutz Sheva and shared his thoughts on his group’s effort to lobby for greater awareness of the threat of an EMP attack against the US.

Schwartz said that the despite having served in the military, the event – which was the culmination of five years of hard work and drew in such influential figures as the former Director of the CIA James Woolsey and Republican Senator and rising GOP star Ted Cruz – had made him feel that “for the first time in 80 years …I am serving my country.”

He explained that his efforts had required patience, and would need further resolve in order to build a “critical mass” of awareness – and he warned that time was of the essence.

Expert: Iran ships a dry run for later nuclear/EMP attack; humiliate Obama – Washington Examiner.

(Thanks, Steve. – Artaxes)

By Paul Bedard | FEBRUARY 14, 2014 AT 11:21 AM

Iran’s surprising decision to move warships off the Atlantic coast poses a potential catastrophic threat to America from a nuclear or electromagnetic pulse attack, according to an expert who foresaw Iran’s move.

Peter Pry, an expert on EMP attacks, said the ships are likely a dry run for a future attack, a maneuver meant to lull Washington into complacency while also embarrassing President Obama and his effort to convince Tehran to give up production of a nuclear bomb in return for a lifting of some economic sanctions.

“Yes, patrols by the Iranian Navy off our coasts could pose threat of a surprise EMP attack,” said Pry, who with others such as former CIA Director R. James Woolsey, has convinced several state legislatures to take moves to harden their electric and energy grids from EMP attack because Washington won’t.

Pry said the ships are probably conducting a test for a future visit from an Iranian freighter that would launch the attack.

“I think the Iranian Navy patrols off our coasts may be intended to lull us into complacency, to get the U.S. Navy accustomed to an Iranian naval presence in our hemisphere, so eventually they could contribute to ‘Zero Hour’ and the great day when the Mullahs decide to drop the nuclear hammer on America,” said Pry, who staffed a former congressional EMP commission.

“I think the Iranian Navy patrols are also intended to humiliate Obama and the United States for the Geneva [nuclear] interim agreement that Tehran interprets, correctly I think, as U.S. surrendering to the inevitability of a nuclear-armed Iran,” he added.

Pry, president of EMPACT America, one of the nation’s leading authorities on EMP, revealed that Iran recently purchased Russia’s Club-K missile launcher, which can be hidden in tractor-trailer-sized cargo boxes.

“I and my colleagues, including Reza Kahlili, who warned six months ago that these Iranian patrols were coming, think it more likely Iran would make an EMP attack by launching a missile off a freighter, so they could do the deed anonymously, and escape retaliation,” Pry explained.

“Iran has demonstrated the capability to launch a missile off a freighter. Iran has also purchased Russia’s Club-K missile system. The Club-K is a complete missile launch system, disguised to look like a shipping container, that could convert any freighter into a missile launch platform. The Club-K, if armed with a nuclear warhead, could be used to execute an EMP attack.”

Woolsey recently told Secrets that Iran was just months away from finishing production of their first nuclear bomb.

He also has joined with Pry and others, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, in warning about a nuclear blast in the atmosphere that would knock out electric transformers and facilities in the mid-Atlantic.

The maker of the Club-K has posted a promotional video, above, showing how a nation could use it.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com.

Complex double game: Iran supporting Assad AND al-Qaeda? – Al Arabiya.

Ayatollah Strangelove and drone porn – The Times of Israel Ops&Blogs.

February 13, 2014, 7:01 pm

By Noah Efron