After 4 years of constant scare-mongering by the world’s leading nuclear powers over “Iran’s nuclear threat”, US President Obama reverts to Clinton administration’s “Iran’s ballistic threat” propaganda of the late 1990s.
In early October, these nuclear powers will hold the “much-anticipated” talks with Iran in Turkey; the neighbouring country that hosts the largest US nuclear arsenal outside the USA.
In early October, these nuclear powers will hold the “much-anticipated” talks with Iran in Turkey; the neighbouring country that hosts the largest US nuclear arsenal outside the USA.
The Times, 18 September 2009
Obama: President Bush was right that Iran’s ballistic missile program poses a significant threat
[Propaganda Alert]
1) Obama: President Bush was right that Iran’s ballistic missile program poses a significant threat (17 September 2009)
2) Change of focus reflects changed thinking on threat from Iran (18 September 2009)
3) Pentagon offers Patriot missiles to Turkey (9 September 2009)
4) Obama: Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile activity poses a real threat to its neighbors (5 April 2009)
from the archives:
1) US Ambassador to NATO: Turkey is under the threat of Iran’s short and medium range missiles (March 2007)
2) Rumsfeld: Turkey is very interested in building a missile defense system to protect itself from Iraq (June 2001)
3) US State Department: Longer range Iranian ballistic missile could hit Central Europe (July 1998)
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http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-on-Strengthening-Missile-Defense-in-Europe/ excerpt from: Remarks by the President on strengthening missile defense in Europe
The White House website, 17 September 2009
“As Commander-in-Chief, I’m committed to doing everything in my power to advance our national security. And that includes strengthening our defenses against any and all threats to our people, our troops, and our friends and allies around the world.
One of those threats is the danger posed by ballistic missiles. As I said during the campaign, President Bush was right that Iran’s ballistic missile program poses a significant threat.
And that’s why I’m committed to deploying strong missile defense systems which are adaptable to the threats of the 21st century. […] [O]ur new missile defense architecture in Europe will provide stronger, smarter, and swifter defenses of American forces and America’s allies.”
[US President Barack Obama's speech, 17 September 2009]
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excerpts from: Change of focus reflects changed thinking on threat from Iran
by Catherine Philp, The Times, 18 September 2009
Two years ago the US State Department warned that Iran could have a missile capable of reaching American shores by 2015. It now seems that the threat was overplayed.
Instead, Tehran’s priorities have been to develop its medium and short-range arsenal […] [with a] capability to hit Istanbul, Riyadh and Tel Aviv but not the targets in Western Europe and the US that the Bush-era missile shield was designed to protect against.
The previous system did not deal with the more immediate threat that Iran poses to its neighbours and left Europe’s southern flank, including Turkey, a Nato member, unprotected.
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http://www.dsca.mil/PressReleases/36-b/2009/Turkey_09-44.pdf excerpt from: Turkey – PATRIOT Advanced Capability-3 Guided Missiles
US Defense Security Cooperation Agency, 9 September 2009
Today the [US] Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Turkey of 13 PATRIOT Fire Units, 72 PATRIOT Advanced Capability (PAC-3) missiles, four PAC-3 Lot Validation Missiles, 197 MIM-104E PATRIOT Guidance Enhanced Missiles-T (GEM-T), four MIM-104E GEM-T Lot Validation Missiles, five PATRIOT Digital Missiles, five Anti-Tactical Missiles and other related support and equipment. The estimated cost is $7.8 billion.
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http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Barack-Obama-In-Prague-As-Delivered excerpt from: Remarks by President Barack Obama in Prague as Delivered
The White House website, 5 April 2009
“So let me be clear: Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile activity poses a real threat, not just to the United States, but to Iran’s neighbors and our allies.”
[US President Barack Obama’s speech in Prague, 5 April 2009]
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from the archives:
http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/1550 excerpt from: ‘Turkey is under the threat of Iran’s short and medium range missiles’ claims US Ambassador to NATO
by Utku Cakirozer, Milliyet, 6 March 2007
If a long-range missile were to be launched from Iran, then areas in Turkey threatened by this missile will be under protection. As for the short- and medium-range missiles, cooperation with vulnerable countries like Turkey will be undertaken either bilaterally or within the NATO framework.
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excerpt from: Rumsfeld Says Air Patrols Over Iraq Are in Ever Greater Peril
by James Dao, New York Times, 5 June 2001
The secretary also said Turkey, in contrast to some of its NATO allies, is very interested in building a missile defense system to protect itself from Iraq. “Anybody who lives in this neighborhood knows what’s going on,” Mr. Rumsfeld said. “The threat is real and serious and growing.”
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excerpts from: Longer range on Iranian missile Shahab-4 could hit Central Europe
by Bill Gertz, Washington Times, 29 July 1998
Iran is working on a longer-range version of the Shahab-3 [ballistic] missile […] U.S. intelligence agencies estimate that the Shahab-4 will have a range of up to 1,240 miles – enough to hit targets as far away as Central Europe.
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related links:
U.S. Missile Shield Plans: Retreat Or Advance (18 September 2009)
http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/u-s-missile-shield-plans-retreat-or-advance-by-rick-rozoff/ UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency expresses concern over Israeli nukes (18 September 2009)
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=106531 NATO official: Iran could fire conventional or nuclear missiles into Europe (31 August 2009)
http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/nato-official-iran-could-fire-conventional-or-nuclear-missiles-into-europe-in-the-foreseeable-future/ Ahmadinejad: Some neighbouring countries are serving Zionism in the name of Islam (16 August 2009)
http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2009/08/17/ahmadinejad-some-neighbouring-countries-are-at-the-service-of-zionism-in-the-name-of-islam/ Israeli ambassador to US: Iranian nuke could wipe off Israel in seconds (4 July 2009)
http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2009/07/04/israeli-ambassador-to-us-iranian-nuke-could-wipe-off-israel-in-seconds/ Phony Nuclear Disarmament (8 April 2009)
http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/freedom-rider-phony-nuclear-disarmament CSIS report: Turkey would be the optimum route for a possible Israeli attack on Iran (16 March 2009)
http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2009/03/21/csis-report-turkey-would-be-the-optimum-route-for-a-possible-israeli-attack-on-iran/ ____________________
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