Rumors of War...

[ReconRat]

Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) decides to stay in the Mediterranean, after maneuvers with the French and British aircraft carriers. News teams got photos of the Truman South of Sicily when German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg visited.

German navy air defense frigate FGS Hessen (F221) joins the Truman.

Iranian ships intend to join with Turkish ships (in Turkey or Cyprus) before heading to Gaza.

Israel announces that the aid flotilla are "obviously dispatched by outright enemies with hostile intent thinly disguised as humanitarian efforts".

Iran threatens "military retaliation against Persian Gulf and Mediterranean shipping for any interference with the vessels Iran is sending to the Gaza Strip".

opinion: joint ventures are seldom coordinated very well. It takes practice that Turkey and Iran probably don't have. Hezbollah is also part of this brewing disaster. The Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon are currently extremely heavily armed with weaponry from Syria. They want to fight, and will very likely attack at the wrong time. Beginning with an artillery barrage of hundreds or thousands of missiles launched. Which might be before anything actually happens with the Iranian and Turkish ships. If they do, it would be a declaration of war that the Turkish and Iranian ships would get dragged into. There is even the possibility that Hamas in Gaza could launch an attack that would start events.

[ReconRat]

Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) reverses course and goes through the Suez Canal heading for Iran and the Persian Gulf. Standard defensive/offensive group of 11-12 ships with it. One Israeli ship is going along for whatever reason. Unknown if the German ship is still with them. The Suez Canal was closed by Egypt, while this group passed through. I'm guessing some other carrier group(s) departed for the Mediterranean and will be there shortly. Read back above, plans were for 5 USN battle groups in Persian Gulf around the end of Summer. And there is always one or two in the Mediterranean.

The Lebanese Army (which has a navy, go figure) is going to try sending two ships loaded with civilian women to Gaza. Technically Lebanon and Israel are still at war, from the last go around of hostilities. Hezbollah claims nothing to do with whatever is going on but reserves the right to blah blah blah.

Fatah and Hamas in Gaza suddenly start generating an agreement. This is a sudden change of heart on both sides. I would guess that Gaza citizens see themselves as pawns in all the attempts to "help" them, and won't gain anything by participating or cooperating. Something needs to be done, the Hamas control of Gaza is going broke economically. It won't last much longer.

Gaza is as much a "smoke screen" for Turkey, as it is for Iran, as it is for Lebanon, Syria, Hezbollah, and... the NATO and US forces. While the world screams and cries about the previous clash at sea, all sorts of other things are going on unnoticed.

[ReconRat]

Iran chickens out on sending ships. None are being sent.

Ships from Turkey and Lebanon with intentions now unclear.

US, EU, and NATO back sea blockade of Gaza.

Israel eases land blockade to weapons and weapon material only.

US, EU, and NATO finally realize that Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah have thousands of long range missiles. Perhaps twice what was previously estimated. US is rumored to go to a war alert stance with all combat elements. (Ready and willing to shoot down any missiles at any time.)

US Air Force F-16s from Europe are scrambled for practice on long range attacks on simulated targets. (Iran)

Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and Iran are all quiet. Suddenly have nothing to say.

US, EU, NATO, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel suddenly quiet also.

Iran assumes and plans for an attack from someone on either Iran or Southern Lebanon.

US Navy Fifth fleet announces the USS Truman strike group is scheduled to relieve the USS Dwight D Eisenhower strike group that is currently in or outside the Persian Gulf. USS Eisenhower 6 month tour is complete around July 2.

June 21 - Brazil drops support and help on Iranian nuclear development, after the UN Security Council imposes a 4th set of sanctions against Iran on Jun 9.

[ReconRat]

June 28 - USS Nassau (LHA-4) Amphibious Ready Group 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit joins the two other USN combat groups in the Persian Gulf/Red Sea area. General support of 5th Fleet.

Still trying to figure out what is happening in Azerbaijan, that is causing Iran to shift troops to that border. It appears to be only an increase in war material traffic to Afghanistan. Using this route instead of through Pakistan. About 1/4th of US war material currently ships into Afghanistan through Azerbaijan. Another part of it is a shift because of concern on the long-term fate of the Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan potentially in doubt because of that country's political turmoil. But anything that jerks the Iranian military around is reasonably ok, since they enjoy doing that to everyone else.

Odd factoid: Even though Iran has lots of oil, Iran produces very little gasoline. They have to buy gasoline from somewhere else and ship it in. Iranians currently pay $0.38 for a gallon of gasoline, but are rationed to being allowed only 21 gallons a month. Plans are in place to reduce the allowed ration to 16 gallons a month. Iran exports 2.6 billion barrels of oil a year, mostly to Japan, China and India. It all passes through the Straits of Hormuz. Most of the gasoline they import goes through there also. The Straits of Hormuz, the narrow 21 mile wide choke point into the Persian Gulf. The area Iran has threatened to close to shipping. This is where we say "careful what you wish for".

Osama bin Laden now reported hiding in a remote area of Pakistan. While at the same time being reported hiding in remote Iran.

It's pretty obvious that there are body doubles moving around to confuse those that hunt him.

[chevysoldier]

"Where do you get your news?"

"From the RRNN (Recon Rat News Network"

[wrillo]

funny, but I do enjoy reading recon's updates. to the point, no BS, summary

[chevysoldier]

I agree with you there wrillo

[antatious]

lol I was wondering the same. Who are you? Noam Chompsky? Where are all of your sources coming from? Not that I don't believe you or anything. Granted- if I knew the correct questions to ask, maybe the interweb would help, but this is info that sounds like it is from current worldly newspapers and journalist reports. I try and stay out of that loop of information to avoid depression. Although, I appreciate your investigations and concern for knowing the truth of what is currently happening and relevant.

[wrillo]

So recon, what do you think about the US Tomahawk subs popping up around China? I'm talking about this article.

You think it has anything to do with China, or is it all about N Korea? Think it could be a show of force to make China think twice, or a third time about supporting N Korea?

[ReconRat]

Although some sources are dubious credibility (publish misleading information on purpose for political and military purposes), lots of it is second source checked through major newspapers that aren't in this country and aren't known to publish trash. British newspapers are high on the list. British newspapers tend to leak information. The information just isn't available publicly in this country. And conversely, I would hesitate to repeat anything that wasn't already public information. Even the news of the Tomahawk submarines wasn't widespread. But Time magazine managed to pick it up. (Time magazine isn't the credible source it thinks it is.)

The Tomahawk submarines surfacing in Asian areas of the Pacific, are clearly sending a message. And it was clearly understood by everyone. It is proof that we sent them there, and mean it. Quotations from the US military are that the US intends to increase forces in the Pacific, moving assets from the Atlantic. The 616 Tomahawks will take a country's infrastructure down in minutes. But the real question is misunderstood. It is "where is the fourth submarine?". Meaning that "you can't find them".

This show of force with the Tomahawk submarines isn't the first time. It also happened in 2008, when one docked in South Korea. We don't usually do that with nuclear submarines.

The US Navy just completed a major combined force exercise near Hawaii, with Pacific rim countries from all over the place participating. But not North Korea, and not China. Another message sent. It was one if the largest combined military fleets ever assembled in one place for exercise and practice. They sank three old derelict ships as targets.

Also news that's news. Saudi Arabia has decided to join the nuclear club, and quickly. Their intentions are to be a nuclear force before Iran can do so. They are doing this with mostly French assistance, but I'm sure other countries will approve and participate. Included in the deal is Egypt and Jordon, which will also become Middle East nuclear partners with Saudi Arabia. Somehow I get the impression this is what happens when a show of force from the old "Ottoman Empire" is introduced into the mix with the current "Persian Empire". Both want their "Empires" back.

Edit: Oh yeah, one more. Apparently the latest UN sanctions forbid oil and fuel shipments INTO Iran. This has sent Iran into a panic. As mentioned earlier, Iran imports about 80% of it's gasoline and diesel fuel. So basically Iran is coasting to a halt, out of fuel. This change should be interesting. The general population in Iran wasn't happy with the fuel rationing, and will certainly be unhappy about having no fuel at all.

I've been researching data on several areas if Iran that aren't really Persian, but it's a very long story. Still working on it. Basically about 40% of Iran isn't Persian. One of the areas is over in the NorthWest part of Iran where Iran is worried about the US military buildup across the border. In the NorthEast is an area that is Turkmen and Kurd. In the SouthWest is an area that is Arab, and currently infiltrated by Saudi Arabia, as payback for Iranian infiltration into parts of Saudi Arabia.

[Fonzie]

But the real question is misunderstood. It is "where is the fourth submarine?". Meaning that "you can't find them".

That's funny, 'cause that's exactly what I was wondering. Never thought about the fact that it's absence WAS the message

Apparently the UN sanctions forbid oil and fuel shipments INTO Iran.

I'm confused Tom.... Why would Iran need oil imported??

[ReconRat]

I'm confused Tom.... Why would Iran need oil imported??

Iran's lack of domestic oil/fuel is a comedy of errors, arrogance and ignorance.

Much of the story is here in this Slate article:

Why Is Iran Importing Gasoline? Other oil-rich nations don't have to.

short version:

1. Iran has old rotten junky refineries that aren't up to the task, so they import.

2. Oil countries normally trade oil rights for local refineries. They are very expensive, and difficult to operate.

3. Oil companies are leery of doing business with Iran. No refineries for you, Mr Iran.

4. Iran could possible nationalize and take the refineries once they were built.

5. Previous UN sanctions forbid equipment and building refineries in Iran.

6. Fuel is cheap in Iran. It was 16 cents a gallon, but now up to 40 cents. This was done to generate domestic growth.

7. But this lead to smuggling fuel across the borders into other countries for profit. Which caused shortages of fuel.

8. Iran imposed fuel rationing, which leads to graft and corruption (especially in guard and military). And unhappy citizens. They burned gas stations in protest.

So suddenly the UN calls their bluff. And restricts fuel shipments into Iran. Iran is in a panic. There isn't much they can do about it. Except smuggle the fuel back in the other way. That will cost them cash. Which they'd have to pay to the non-Persian parts of Iran. And it won't be enough. And it's in areas that really aren't under control. Most of it might stay in the smuggling areas, which aren't Persian anyway. So pretty soon everyone in Iran will be walking instead of driving. Power maybe shifts to the non-Persian outlaw/smuggling areas of Iran. This could be a push to major social/political changes in Iran. Maybe even revolution. Wishful thinking, because it's much more difficult than just giving the situation a little push like this. But sometimes it works. Iran's internal credibility has been trashed if there is no fuel for the citizens.

An example might be little buddy Syria, which has had a revolution, coup, military takeover, violent political change, on the average of about once every three years over the last 200 years. It's a tribute to Syria that the current regime has lasted so long. Iran might not be so lucky. Especially with outside countries wishing it would happen.

Odd factoid: Syria's main internal enemy of the state is the Muslim Brotherhood, originally from Egypt. Which is where Al-Qaeda came from. Which is another story for another time...

[ReconRat]

And yet another ship sets sail for Gaza. This one is a Libyan funded, Greek ship, Cuban captain, sailing from a Greek port. Cargo is 2000 tons of food. There are about 6 different stories of where this ship will go. Apparently even the ship doesn't know. It's manifest says it's going to the Egyptian port of El-Arish. Which is where it should go, that's the port at the Gaza-Egyptian border that receives shipments to Gaza. But the Egyptian port of El-Arish says it doesn't have records of the ship planning to go there.

But the stories in the news say it will go straight to a Gaza port, sort of. Either the Libyan organizers, or the world news, is jerking us around on this one. Probably nothing will happen. And the people in Gaza really don't need food. They have food. They need cement and construction supplies to rebuild houses and buildings. Which can't be sent into Gaza, because it all gets used to build tunnels and bunkers instead. Same deal with any sort of metals. It all gets hammered into crude rockets.

The previous show down with the gunfight gets some news also. Israeli military says they have found shell casings that aren't theirs.

This week the Israeli military revealed it is investigating the possibility bullet casings found on the Turkish aid ship the Mavi Marmara were not from Israeli guns.

[dorifto240]

Communist Korean's backed by Russians and Chinese tried to take over Korea after WWII.

It had nothing to do with OIL.

Furthermore, the entire world runs on OIL.............you know why? Because currently there is NOTHING BETTER.

I am so freaking tired of everyone complaining about OIL and then getting in their cars or climbing onto their bikes and riding off.

OIL is worth fighting for, it is what runs our planet.

True, but the question (and potential danger) that needs to be asked is: Do we now have anything better? Or could we be using it better?

The potential danger is this: Oil is a huge, global industry that is very, very profitable. It isn't too much to believe that a portion of the profit could be used to suppress new technologies. Or to even go into the realm of corporate crime.

I'm just spitballin' here.

Also, don't forget that Iran's current regime would love nothing more than to deface the US in the worlds stage. If a war with North Korea breaks out, look to see Tehran sending "peace keepers" to North Korea with aid. And Al Jazeera to start broadcasting "atrocity" photos.

We won't get unbiased coverage on Al Jazeera, meaning the outcry in the Arab world would be ridiculous. And if we stop Iranian troops that could be construed as an act of war, with us as the bad guys. In the current climate in the middle east, war with Iran could spark a "holy war." Many Arab, and Islamic countries, would fall into lock step with Iran. The moderate countries (Egypt, Turkey, Yemen, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia) would have some serious decisions to make. And it wouldn't take many acts of terrorism to cow them. It also wouldn't take much to sway a few generals in Pakistan to stage a coup, and then we're looking at a serious threat of nuclear action. Along with the activation of sleeper cells the world over.

Didn't Obama win on hope and change?

[ReconRat]

Again, if you missed it in the news where they won't talk about it...

Various troops are shifting toward the Lebanon-Israel border this last week. This puts the UN troops and the French contingent of the UN troops in a position stuck between them. They recently have had convoys stopped and stomped in mini riots. The small towns are again being taken over as bases of operation for Hazbollah. (Or Hezbollah if you prefer.)

This event happens during the summit meeting (Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Hezbollah) in the Lebanese capital, and might be only a show for those in the summit meeting.

[ReconRat]

I'm sure the news was out about the virus attacking Iran. But this one isn't in the news.

Somebody blew up the underground Iranian ICBM missile base. It's toast.

This was most of the Shehab-3 medium-range missile launchers.

Located in the Zagros mountains near the town of Khorramabad in the western Iranian province of Lorestan.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2f2_1287166016

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iran/khorramabad.htm

Large aerial photo of base

UGF = Under Ground Facility

edit: the cyber war with Iran impresses me. It's a war that Iran can't fight, can't defend, and can't even figure out who's doing it.

And I doubt if it was expensive, for it's effectiveness.

edit: dang, I'm looking for it on satellite maps, and can't see it. I'm looking right at it, but it's camoflauged to the max.

Here's somebody's pic that shows why it's so hard to see:

Another large picture

http://geimint.blogspot.com/2009/02/khorramabad-missile-silos.html

[ReconRat]

I'm baack.... challenged to find "evidence" on the movement of WMD from Iraq to Syria, I'm going to drop it all right here:

Most of this relates to the nuclear WMD. There never was a question about biological and chemical WMD moving around.

On Jan. 5, 2004, Nizar Nayouf, a Syrian journalist who recently defected to France, said in a letter to the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf that chemical and biological weapons were smuggled from Iraq into Syria before the war began, when Saddam realized he would be attacked by the U.S. Nayouf claimed to know three sites where Iraq's WMDs are kept: in tunnels under the town of al-Baida in northern Syria, part of an underground factory built by North Korea for producing a Syrian version of the Scud missile; in the village of Tal Snan, adjacent to a Syrian Air Force base; and in Sjinsjar, on the border with Lebanon. http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=25309

What kind of evidence does the IAEA have that suggests Syria’s undeclared nuclear activity went beyond the construction of the reactor destroyed by Israel?

Some of the information was provided to the IAEA by its member states. Some was derived from open sources, including an unconfirmed and alarming media report from Kuwait in 2006 that said since 2004 relatives of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad were engaged in secret nuclear work at Al Hasakah, and that this work employed former nuclear experts and equipment from Iraq, Iran, and the Soviet Union. The media report suggested that a uranium enrichment plant may have been located at the site and claimed that the information was derived from Western European intelligence agencies. The report has never been confirmed.

Beginning in 2009, aerial photographs of the site at Al Hasakah—clearly identified as a textile production factory—appeared to IAEA experts to resemble plans for a centrifuge enrichment plant that Libya planned to set up with foreign help about a decade ago. Currently, the Syrian textile plant complex is much larger than the uranium enrichment plant that Iran set up in Natanz in recent years.

http://carnegieendowment.org/2011/11/01/uranium-enrichment-program-in-syria/6hh1

...In 1995, a high-ranking Iraqi defector proved Iraq was building WMD despite the UN restrictions. After this was revealed, Iraq admitted it had violated UN restrictions...

...Among the information is that documents prove that Iraq signed a $10 million contract with North Korea to receive the technology and equipment to made intermediate-range ballistic missiles (the supplies never came)...

...Former UN inspector ... Richard Butler is also known for ... telling the press that he saw intelligence between 1997 and 1999 that Syria helped Iraq hide WMD, and that suspicious containers were seen being moved in and out...

...In early 2001, an Iraqi defector claimed that two functional atomic bombs were in Iraq’s possession, minus the fissile core. He further proved credibility by saying that when UN inspectors were present until 1998, there were 47 nuclear program sites, and now there are 64, and more in progress...

...In December 2001, an Iraqi specialist named Adrian al-Haideri defected. He said he worked on secret WMD sites, and that mini-labs were being built in private homes. At the time he defected, 300 hidden sites were being used to conceal WMDs and the associated programs. Often, WMD goods were hidden in fake wells...

...interview with Rear Admiral Stephen Baker. He explained that WMDs were sealed in wells drilled sixty feet deep, chemical weapons components were in residential basements, under man-made lakes, palace bunkers, and in mobile vans...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1022824/posts

yeah, certain people don't like to read the Free Republic

...Second, we have found people, technical information and illicit procurement networks that if allowed to flow to other countries and regions could accelerate global proliferation...

transcript of David Kay's UN report on the activities of the Iraq Survey Group to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Defense and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence:

SOFIA, Bulgaria (Reuters) - Iraqi foreign minister Hoshiyar Zebari said Thursday Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction had been carefully hidden, but he was confident they could be discovered.

"I have every belief that some of these weapons could be found as we move forward," Zebari, an Iraqi Kurd, told a news conference in Sofia. "They have been hidden in certain areas. The system of hiding was very sophisticated."

Nayouf writes that the transfer of Iraqi WMD to Syria was organized by the commanders of Saddam Hussein's Special Republican Guard, including General Shalish, with the help of Assif Shoakat , Bashar Assad's cousin. Shoakat is the CEO of Bhaha, an import/export company owned by the Assad family.

The weapons were smuggled in large wooden crates and barrels by Zu Alhema al-Shaleesh, known for moving arms into Iraq in violation of U.N. resolutions and for sending recruits to fight coalition forces...

U.S.-based Reform Party of Syria.

...Iraq probably has the technical competence, when combined with clandestinely obtained foreign technology or assistance, to develop a nuclear weapon by the late 1990s using indigenously produced fissile material. Other worst case and much less likely scenarios exist in which Iraq could develop a nuclear explosive in as little as a few months after a decision to do so. These scenarios involve the use of a clandestine source of nuclear material (redacted) or the diversion and processing of safeguarded research reactor fuels into material suitable for a crash nuclear explosives program. (redacted)...

Prewar Status of Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction - Directorate of Intelligence - NAtional Security Agency

...The man who served as the no. 2 official in Saddam Hussein's air force says Iraq moved weapons of mass destruction into Syria before the war by loading the weapons into civilian aircraft in which the passenger seats were removed...

http://www.nysun.com/foreign/iraqs-wmd-secreted-in-syria-sada-says/26514/

...Meanwhile, shortly after the ISG’s findings were published, troubling new reports emerged about missing nuclear-related equipment and materials in Iraq which, according to the IAEA, has been disappearing from previously monitored sites since the start of the war in 2003.

http://www.nationmaster.com/country/iz-iraq/mil-military

New York -- An Iranian government official with ties to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Tehran had received intelligence indicating that the government of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was indeed hiding weapons of mass destruction (WMD)from UN inspectors.

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/6/6/110157.shtml

In a briefing for journalists reported on October 29, 2003, the director of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency said satellite images showed a heavy flow of traffic from Iraq into Syria just before the American invasion in March 2003. Retired Air Force Lieutenant General James Clapper Jr. said he believed "unquestionably" that illicit weapons material was transported into Syria and perhaps other countries. He said "I think people below the Saddam- Hussein-and-his-sons level saw what was coming and decided the best thing to do was to destroy and disperse. ... I think probably in the few months running up to the onset of the conflict, I think there was probably an intensive effort to disperse into private hands, to bury it, and to move it outside the country's borders."

In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Telegraph published on January 25, 2004, Dr. David Kay, the former head of the Iraq Survey Group, said there was evidence that unspecified materials had been moved to Syria shortly before the start of the war to overthrow Saddam. "We are not talking about a large stockpile of weapons," he said. "But we know from some of the interrogations of former Iraqi officials that a lot of material went to Syria before the war, including some components of Saddam's WMD programme. Precisely what went to Syria, and what has happened to it, is a major issue that needs to be resolved."

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iraq/nuke.htm

Edited December 17, 2011 by ReconRat

[ReconRat]

Rant continued...

Syria

Map of Syria, showing its adjacent location west of Iraq

Former Iraqi general Georges Sada claimed that in late summer 2002, Saddam had ordered all of his stockpiles to be moved to Syria. He appeared on Fox News' Hannity & Colmes in January 2006 to discuss his book, Saddam's Secrets: How an Iraqi General Defied and Survived Saddam Hussein. Anticipating the arrival of weapon inspectors on November 1, Sada said Saddam took advantage of the June 4 Zeyzoun Dam disaster in Syria by forming an "air bridge", loading them onto cargo aircraft and piloting them out of the country.

They were moved by air and by ground, 56 sorties by jumbo, 747, and 27 were moved, after they were converted to cargo aircraft, they were moved to Syria.

[15]

In January 2004, Nizar Nayuf, a Syrian journalist who moved to Western Europe, said in a letter to the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf that he knows the three sites where Iraq's weapons of mass destruction are kept inside Syria. According to Nayuf's witness, described as a senior source inside Syrian military intelligence he had known for two years,[16] Iraq's WMD are in tunnels dug under the town of al-Baida near the city of Hama in northern Syria, in the village of Tal Snan, north of the town of Salamija, where there is a big Syrian air force camp, and in the city of Sjinsjar on the Syrian border with the Lebanon, south of Homs city. Nayouf also wrote that the transfer of Iraqi WMD to Syria was organized by the commanders of Saddam Hussein's Iraqi Republican Guard, including General Shalish, with the help of Assif Shoakat, Bashar Assad's cousin. Shoakat is the CEO of Bhaha, an import/export company owned by the Assad family.[17] U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice responded to this accusation by saying "I don't think we are at the point that we can make a judgment on this issue. There hasn't been any hard evidence that such a thing happened. But obviously we're going to follow up every lead, and it would be a serious problem if that, in fact, did happen."[16]

A similar claim was made by Lieutenant General Moshe Ya'alon, a former Israeli officer who served as chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces from July 2002 to June 2005. In April 2004, he was quoted as saying that "perhaps they transferred them to another country, such as Syria."[18] General Ya'alon told the New York Sun more firmly in December 2005 that "He [saddam] transferred the chemical agents from Iraq to Syria."[19] The Fall 2005 Middle East Quarterly also reported Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as having said in a December, 2002 appearance on Israel's Channel 2, "...chemical and biological weapons which Saddam is endeavoring to conceal have been moved from Iraq to Syria."[20]

In February 2006, Ali Ibrahim al-Tikriti, a former Iraqi general who defected shortly before the Gulf War in 1991, gave an interview to Ryan Mauro, author of Death to America: The Unreported Battle of Iraq and founder of WorldThreats. In the interview, al-Tikriti, who was once known as the "Butcher of Basra", told Mauro:

I know Saddam's weapons are in Syria due to certain military deals that were made going as far back as the late 1980s that dealt with the event that either capitols were threatened with being overrun by an enemy nation. Not to mention I have discussed this in-depth with various contacts of mine who have confirmed what I already knew. At this point Saddam knew that the United States were eventually going to come for his weapons and the United States wasn't going to just let this go like they did in the original Gulf War. He knew that he had lied for this many years and wanted to maintain legitimacy with the pan Arab nationalists. He also has wanted since he took power to embarrass the West and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. After Saddam denied he had such weapons why would he use them or leave them readily available to be found? That would only legitimize President Bush, whom he has a personal grudge against. What we are witnessing now is many who opposed the war to begin with are rallying around Saddam saying we overthrew a sovereign leader based on a lie about WMD. This is exactly what Saddam wanted and predicted.

[21]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WMD_conjecture_in_the_aftermath_of_the_2003_Iraq_War

[ReconRat]

Syria con't

Al-Tikriti's interview has been featured prominently on conservative web sites such as FrontPageMag and WorldNetDaily, but hasn't received main stream press attention. Salon magazine editor Alex Koppelman doubts both Sada's and al-Tikriti's story, arguing that Syria's decision to side with the coalition against Iraq in 1990 would have nullified any previous military deals. [22][23]

The Iraq Survey Group was told that Saddam Hussein periodically removed guards from the Syrian border and replaced them with his intelligence agents who then supervised the movement of banned materials between Syria and Iraq, according to two unnamed defense sources that spoke with The Washington Times. They reported heavy traffic in large trucks on the border before the United States invasion.[24] Earlier, in a telephone interview with The Daily Telegraph, the former head of the Iraqi Survey Group, David Kay, said: "[W]e know from some of the interrogations of former Iraqi officials that a lot of material went to Syria before the war, including some components of Saddam's WMD program. Precisely what went to Syria, and what has happened to it, is a major issue that needs to be resolved."[25] Satellite imagery also picked up activity on the Iraq-Syria border before and during the invasion. James R. Clapper, who headed the National Imagery and Mapping Agency in 2003, has said U.S. intelligence tracked a large number of vehicles, mostly civilian trucks, moving from Iraq into Syria. Clapper suggested the trucks may have contained materiel related to Iraq's WMD programs.[26]

ISG formed a special working group to investigate and consider these claims. Charles Duelfer, head of inspectorate at time of publication, summarized the group's conclusion: "Based on the evidence available at present, ISG judged that it was unlikely that an official transfer of WMD material from Iraq to Syria took place. However, ISG was unable to rule out unofficial movement of limited WMD-related materials."[27][28][29]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WMD_conjecture_in_the_aftermath_of_the_2003_Iraq_War

Stockpiles still hidden conjecture

...Some experts, such as former Pentagon investigator Dave Gaubatz, allege that not all of the potential sites that may contain WMD have been searched. On February 12, 2006, he appeared on Fox News Channel and claimed he and fellow military investigators identified four underground bunkers with 5-foot-thick (1.5 m) concrete walls in southern Iraq said to hold such weapons. Iraqi "informants" had brought these sites to the attention of Gaubatz and his colleagues. Gaubatz claims that, for various reasons, these sites have never been inspected by the Iraq Survey Group or the CIA, and made a plea the sites be inspected...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WMD_conjecture_in_the_aftermath_of_the_2003_Iraq_War

Alleged Russian involvement

Romanian intelligence defector Ion Mihai Pacepa alleged that an operation for the removal of chemical weapons was prepared by the Soviet Union for Libya, and that he was told over thirty years ago by Romanian President Nicolae Ceauşescu, KGB chairman Yury Andropov, and later, Yevgeny Primakov, about the existence of a similar plan for Iraq. It is "perfectly obvious", wrote Pacepa, that the Russian GRU agency helped Saddam Hussein to destroy, hide, or transfer his chemical weapons prior to the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. "After all, Russia helped Saddam get his hands on them in the first place."[13]

John Loftus, director of The Intelligence Summit, said in the November 16, 2007 issue of FrontPage Magazine that many documents from Iraq point to WMD being transferred to other countries such as Syria: "As stated in more detail in my full report, the British, Ukrainian and American secret services all believed that the Russians had organized a last minute evacuation of CW and BW stockpiles from Baghdad to Syria." His researchers allegedly found a document ordering the concealment of nuclear weapons equipment in storage facilities under the Euphrates River a few weeks before the invasion.[14]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WMD_conjecture_in_the_aftermath_of_the_2003_Iraq_War

Jordan

On April 27, 2004, Fox News reported that "operatives" had confessed to planning an attack on "the U.S. Embassy and other targets in Jordan using a combination of conventional and chemical weapons." Acting under the orders of Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, self-professed leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, officials said the plotters entered Jordan from Syria with trucks filled with 20 tons of toxic chemicals. The attackers allegedly planned to kill some 80,000 civilians.[30][31] The chemicals, reported as "Iraqi nerve gas" by Hal Lindsey's TBN International Intelligence Briefing, were said to have been part of a much larger cache buried in Syria. Georges Sada claimed these were the same weapons Saddam Hussein transported out of the country before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.[32] The defendants later denied the charges, saying they were beaten and forced to sign confessions.[33][34]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WMD_conjecture_in_the_aftermath_of_the_2003_Iraq_War

Lebanon

A road through the Bekaa Valley

American Internet newspaper World Tribune reported in August 2003 that Iraq's WMD may have been moved to Lebanon's heavily-fortified Bekaa Valley. According to the story, United States intelligence identified "a stream of tractor-trailer trucks" moving from Iraq through Syria to Lebanon in the weeks before invasion.[35] WorldNetDaily followed up the same story in May 2004 adding affirmatively "much, if not all, of Iraq's biological and chemical weapons assets are being protected by Syria, with Iranian help, in the Bekaa Valley."[36]

Former United States Deputy Undersecretary of Defense John A. Shaw also alleged that the Russians played an extensive role in transporting materials into both Syria and Lebanon, "to prevent the United States from discovering them." Shaw claimed trucks were transporting materials to Syria and returning empty. In addition, containers with warnings painted on them were moved to a Beirut hospital basement. "They were moved by Russian Spetsnaz (special forces) units out of uniform, that were specifically sent to Iraq to move the weaponry and eradicate any evidence of its existence". China is also alleged to have helped remove WMD equipment.[37][38] Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Lawrence Di Rita called Shaw's charges "absurd and without any foundation." DiRita noted that Shaw "has been directed on several occasions to produce evidence of his wide-ranging and fantastic charges and provide it to the DoD inspector general. To my knowledge, he has not done so."[39] In reply to official denials, Shaw claimed that the Bush administration had made efforts to cover up the intelligence data that he had revealed. "Larry DiRita made sure that this story would never grow legs," he said, insisting the Russian "clean-up" operation "was a masterpiece of military camouflage and deception."[40] Former Russian Foreign Intelligence director Evgeny Primakov rejected the story, telling Kommersant that "all of Shaw's sensational revelations are complete nonsense."[41]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WMD_conjecture_in_the_aftermath_of_the_2003_Iraq_War

Iran

In addition to Syria and Lebanon, former deputy commander of U.S. Central Command Lt. General Michael DeLong claimed that some weapons of mass destruction were transported to Iran. Speaking to WABC Radio's Steve Malzberg, he remarked: "I do know for a fact that some of those weapons went into Syria, Lebanon and Iran. ... We also know that before then, they buried some of the weapons of mass destruction".[42]

John Loftus also saw information that led him to believe Iran had acquired illicit material. In a story on Dave Gaubatz, The Daily Mail's Melanie Phillips quoted Loftus as saying "Saddam had the last laugh and donated his secret stockpile to benefit Iran's nuclear weapons programme."[43] Phillips followed up her report by reproducing a letter from John Loftus calling for a congressional investigation of John Negroponte, whom he accused of concealing the information.[44] Salon magazine columnist Glenn Greenwald accused Philips of promoting a moronic and deranged conspiracy theory.[45]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WMD_conjecture_in_the_aftermath_of_the_2003_Iraq_War

Pakistan

Former head of the Indian counter-terrorism division and member of the National Security Advisory Board, B Raman, suggests A.Q. Khan may have assisted in shifting Iraq's WMD to Pakistan. Writing for the South Asia Analysis Group, he cites unnamed Pakistani sources claiming Khan agreed to aid Iraqi intelligence officials "who sought his help" in having some prohibited material airlifted from Syria to Pakistan to prevent it "falling into the hands of the UN inspectors." According to Raman, Pervez Musharraf has been working hard "to see that this is not played up in the Pakistani media."[46][47]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WMD_conjecture_in_the_aftermath_of_the_2003_Iraq_War

Indian Ocean

In 2003, the Jerusalem Post reported that Iraq's WMD might be found on cargo ships that were cruising aimlessly around the Indian Ocean.[48]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WMD_conjecture_in_the_aftermath_of_the_2003_Iraq_War

Edited December 17, 2011 by ReconRat

[kawi kid]

I had a cousin on the weapons inspection team that the us sent into Iraq. She knew they had them but they had a pretty hard time and they had everything thrown at them to allow down their investigation.

[ReconRat]

In other news, rumor is that the last troops to leave Iraq, diverted to the border of Jordan and Syria. Where they are quietly doing what they do best.

[ReconRat]

I'm back. More rumors/facts.

Word has it that the Syrian troops on the Israeli-Syrian border are hungry and thirsty. No supplies anymore. Mostly off wandering around and looking for food and water. Israeli troops are throwing food and water over the fence for them.

Israelis now insist that several other un-named Middle East air forces have their back in a potential strike against Iran. If I were guessing, I'd say Saudi Arabia is one of them.

Air superiority aircraft are quietly starting to assemble in the Middle East at undisclosed airfields. Check this link on Wired dot com. Watch the video in high-def and full screen if your computer can handle it, and crank the sound up. Mostly simulated combat between F-15s, but pretty darn impressive of the sights and sounds of aerial combat.

I noticed the F-15 pilots wearing unusual flight helmets. I'm wondering if those are the newer heads up display type. I'm too lazy to research that right now. edit: nahhh, looks like anti-laser shields, that's all.

U.S. Amasses Stealth Jet Armada Near Iran

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/04/armada-masses-near-iran/#more-79449

edit: add new article links

http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_04_26_2012_p0-452466.xml

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/us-stealth-22-raptor-fighters-now-irans-back/story?id=16227614

http://battleland.blogs.time.com/2012/04/27/f-22s-waiting-in-the-wings-again/

http://vimeo.com/40935850

Edited April 28, 2012 by ReconRat

[kawi kid]

Only a matter of time

[grapesmuggler27]

cool video

[ScubaCinci]

My son is in the Army, currently at Ft Campbell. He was scheduled to go to Afghanistan in Nov but now he's saying it may be Syria. I hope he doesn't have to go at all but duty calls.