मध्यावधि चुनाव शगूफा के साथ सुधारों के लिए दबाव बढ़ा। सबसे ज्यादा जोर राजकोषीय घाटा और सब्सिडी खत्म करने पर।
मुंबई से एक्सकैलिबर स्टीवेंस विश्वास
बजट में आर्थिक सुधारों के मोर्चे पर खास कदम नहीं उठाए जाएंगे। उद्योग जगत के सामने यह साफ जाहिर हो चुका है और इसीके मद्देनजर कारपोरेट रणनीतियां तय हो रही है। नये राजनीतिक विकल्प की तलाश भी शुरू हो गयी है। बाजार को अब मनमोहन सिंह सरकार से खास उम्मीद नहीं है। यह कांग्रेस के लिए चुनावी शिकस्त से ज्यादा परेशानी का सबब है।
देशभर में होली का पर्व धूमधाम से मनाया गया।लगता है कि होली के रंगों ने बाजार का मूड भी बदल दिया है। अब कारपोरेट हितों को साधने के लिए बदली हुई परिस्थितियों में लाबिइंग के बजाय राजनीतिक दबाव पैदा करने की नीति पर अमल की जाने लगी है। छुनाव नतीजों से पिटने के बाद शुरुआती बाजार में तेजड़ियों की वापसी भी होने लगी है। मध्यावधि चुनाव शगूफा के साथ सुधारों के लिए दबाव बढ़ा। सबसे ज्यादा जोर राजकोषीय घाटा और सब्सिडी खत्म करने पर है। इस बीच सरकार की तरफ से नीतिगत घोषणाओं के इंतजार के मध्य वैश्विक बाजारों में तेजी के रुख के बीच शुक्रवार को निचले स्तर पर फंडों और छोटे निवेशकों की लिवाली से बंबई शेयर बाजार का सेंसेक्स 311 अंक की बढ़त के साथ खुला। पिछले तीन सत्रों में 492 अंक गंवाने वाला सेंसेक्स आज 310.70 अंक मजबूत होकर 17456.22 अंक पर खुला। इसी तरह, नेशनल स्टाक एक्सचेंज का निफ्टी भी 78.65 अंक की बढ़त लेकर 5299.10 अंक पर खुला। रेल मंत्री दिनेश त्रिवेदी के मध्यावधि चुनाव के बयान के बाद यूपीए सरकार में शामिल राजनीतिक दलों में हड़कंप मचा हुआ है। उधर सपा नेता मुलायम सिंह ने भी पीएम पद को लेकर टिप्पणी की है। इन टिप्पणियों के बाद माना जा रहा है कि मनमोहन सरकार की उल्टी गिनती शुरु हो गई है त्रिवेदी ने कहा है कि उत्तर प्रदेश समेत पांच राज्यों में हुये चुनाव से पता चलता है कि देश में कांग्रेस के खिलाफ माहौल है और भाजपा-सपा जल्द से जल्द चुनाव चाहती हैं. उन्होंने देश में मध्यावधि चुनाव की बात करते हुये कहा कि तृणमूल कांग्रेस भी दो साल पहले चुनाव होने पर खुश होगी।अपने गृहग्राम में आयोजित कार्यक्रम में मुलायम सिंह ने भी टिप्पणी कर दी कि अघर सपा के कार्यकर्ता अनुशासन बनाए रखेंगे तभी वे प्रधानमंत्री बन सकेंगे।
वित्तमंत्री प्रणब मुखर्जी ने बार बार कहा है कि वो लगातार बढ़ती सब्सिडी से काफी परेशान हैं। उन्होंने यहां तक कह दिया कि सब्सिडी की वजह से उनकी नींद तक उड़ी हुई है।माना जा रहा है कि वित्त मंत्री प्रणब मुखर्जी राजस्व बढ़ाने के लिए सेवा कर में बढ़ोतरी पर विचार कर रहे हैं। इसका असर निश्चित रूप से उद्योगों पर दिखाई देगा। इसे देखते हुए उद्योगों का कहना है कि प्रोत्साहन पैकेज यदि अगले वित्त वर्ष में जारी रहता है तो उन्हें इससे काफी राहत मिलेगी।अगला हफ्ता बाजार के लिए बहुत ही अहम रहने वाला है। अगले हफ्ते आरबीआई की क्रेडिट पॉलिसी और बजट का ऐलान होने वाला है। चुनाव नतीजों के बाद बाजार में गिरावट देखने को मिली है। सीएनबीसी-टीवी18 के मैनेजिंग एडिटर उदयन मुखर्जी का कहना है कि बाजार में पूरी तरह सुस्ती का माहौल नजर आ रहा है। क्रेडिट पॉलिसी और बजट से पहले बाजार में ज्यादा उछाल की उम्मीद नहीं है।चीन की बढ़ती सामरिक ताकत का जवाब तैयार करने की जरूरतों का खाका खींचकर रक्षा मंत्री एके एंटनी ने वित्त मंत्री प्रणब मुखर्जी से दो दौर की बातचीत की है। सूत्रों के अनुसार चीन से चौकन्ना रहने के लिए पूर्वी सेक्टर पर रक्षा परियोजनाओं को पूरा करने और 89000 जवानों की खेप तैयार करने समेत तमाम लंबित मसलों को एंटनी ने प्रणब को सौंपा है। रक्षा मंत्रालय डिफेंस इन्फ्रास्ट्रक्चर के लिए 90,000 करोड़ रुपये अतिरिक्त चाहता है।ऱक्षा बजट बढ़ाने के दबाव से बाजार को राहत की उम्मीदें कम हो गयी हैं, जाहिर है।सरकार की हालत कितनी पतली है ,यह इसीसे पता चलता है कि देशभर में लोगों को एक नई पहचान देने के लिए काम कर रही संस्था यूनीक आईडेंडिफिकेशन अथॉरिटी ऑफ इंडिया (यूआईडीएआई) को संसद के बजट सत्र में विधायी शक्तियां नहीं दी जा सकेंगी। योजना आयोग के उपाध्यक्ष मोंटेक सिंह अहलूवालिया ने कहा है कि यूआईडीएआई बिल 12 मार्च से शुरू हो रहे बजट सत्र की बजाय मानसून सत्र में पेश किया जाएगा। फिलहाल योजना आयोग ही यूआईडीएआई को प्रशासनिक सहयोग दे रहा है। मोंटेक ने कहा है कि बजट सत्र में कई अन्य चीजों पर बात होनी है, यह कोई बड़ा फैसला नहीं है।
गौरतलब है कि सरकार बदलने की मुहिम में मुलायम सिंह और ममता बनर्जी के नामों का जमकर इस्तेमाल हो रहा है। मजे की बात है कि अभी कल तक बाजार की रणनीति सुधार विरोधी ममता से निजात पाने की थी, पर अब मध्यावधि चुनाव की चाहत में ममता को सबसे ज्यादा तवज्जो दी जा रही है। वहीं यूपी में त्रिशंकू विधानसभा की हालत में जिस मुलायम के जरिये कांग्रेस को मजबूत करके सुधारों के तेज करने की बात की जा रही थी, अब उन्हीं मुलायम की प्रधानमंत्रित्व की महात्वाकांक्षा को सबसे दारदार हथियार बनाने की रणनीति है। शुक्रवार को तृणमूल कांग्रेस ने संसदीय दल की बैठक बुलाकर मनमोहन सरकार को सकते में डाल दिया है। इससे पहले तृणमूल कांग्रेस के सीनियर नेता और केंद्रीय रेलवे मंत्री दिनेश त्रिवेदी ने एक अखबार को दिए इंटरव्यू में कहा था कि देश में कांग्रेस विरोधी लहर चल रही है और सारी पार्टियां चुनाव चाह रही हैं। संभव है देश में मध्यावधि चुनाव हो। हालांकि, बाद उन्होंने कहा कि यह उनका निजी विचार है।मालूम हो कि उद्योग जगत से त्रिवेदी के मधुर संबंध है। पर बाजार पर इसका कोई असर न होना य़ूपीए सरकार के लिए खतरे की घंटी है। समझा जा रहा है कि सुधारों के भविष्य को लेकर चिंतित बाजार अब जल्द से जल्द केंद्र में सरकार बदलने के इंतजार में है और उसके धीरज का बांध टूट चुका है। बाजार सरकार के समर्थन में होता तो आज शुरुआती कारोबार में मध्यावधि चुनावों की गरमागर्म चर्चा का असर जरुर हुआ होता।
यह समझनेवाली बात है कि मुलायम तीसरे विकल्प के तौर पर ही प्रधानमंत्री पद के कहीं नजदीक पहुंच सकते हैं जबकि तीसरी ताकत के वजूद ही खत्म है। वाम ताकतें हाशिए पर हैं। ममता जरूर अरुणाचल और मणिपुर की विधानसभाओं में अच्छी हालत में पहुंच गयी हैं और उत्तर प्रदेश व उत्तराखंड में विधानसभा चुनावों के जरिए राष्ट्रीय राजनीति में उनकी महत्वाकांक्षा उजागर हुई है। लेकिन तीसरी ताकत बतौर नहीं, बाजार और कारपोरेट जगत क्षेत्रीय दलों के नए उभार का इस्तेमाल यूपीए सरकार पर दबाव बनाने के मकसद से करने लगा है और कहा जा रहा है कि यूपी विधानसभा चुनाव नतीजों के बाद साइकल की रफ्तार में आई तेजी से दिल्ली की सियासत हिल उठी है। मुलायम सिंह यादव जहां पीएम पद का सपना देखने लगे हैं। संभावना यह जताई जा रही है कि मुलायम सिंह, शरद यादव, चंद्रबाबू नायडू, जयललिता, नवीन पटनायक के साथ मिलकर ममता बनर्जी चौथा मोर्चा बनाने की दिशा में कदम बढ़ाएं। अगर ऐसा कुछ होता है तो हालात देश को तेजी से मध्यावधि चुनाव की ओर ले जा सकते हैं।
दूसरी तरफ कांग्रेस हालांकि मध्यावधि चुनाव की संभावना को सिरे से खारिज कर रही है पर खबर है कि अंदरखाने प्रशासनिक तौर पर इसकी तैयारियां शुरु हो गयी है। आर्थिक सुधारों को लागू करने के लिए पीएमओ की चुनाव पूर्व औचक सक्रियता से भी इसीका संकेत मिलता हुआ नजर आता है। समझा जाता है कि पुलक चटर्जी को खास जिम्मेवारी सौंपी गयी है। पुलक चटर्जी ने सभी मंत्रालयों पर मश्कें कसना आरंभ कर दिया है। पुलक चटर्जी इस समय आधारभूत अधोसंरचना वाले मंत्रालय विशेषकर उर्जा, कोयला, भूतल, शिपिंग, खनन, सामाजिक न्याय, पर्यावरण, वाणिज्य आदि पर विशेष ध्यान दे रहे हैं। चटर्जी ने साफ तौर पर कहा दिया है कि सभी मंत्रालय अपना अपना लक्ष्य निर्धारित समय सीमा में पूरा कर लें।मूलतः उत्तर प्रदेश काडर के आईएएस पुलक चटर्जी ने साफ तौर पर अधिकारियों को हिदायत दे दी है कि अगर वे निर्धारित समय सीमा में काम पूरा नहीं कर सकते हैं तो बेहतर होगा वे त्यागपत्र दे दें। राज्यों में हुए ताजा विधानसभा चुनाव परिणाम का राजनीतिक असर अब दिखाई देने लगा है। विशेषकर यूपी की हार का असर का असर ज्यादा ही दिख रहा है। यूपी में कांग्रेस की चुनावी कमान राहुल के हाथ में थी।
दिनेश त्रिवेदी ने कहा कि देश में मध्यावधि चुनाव का राजनीतिक माहौल पैदा हो गया है और आम चुनाव जल्दी हो सकते हैं। मगर, उनके इस बयान पर तृणमूल नेतृत्व ने कोई सफाई नहीं दी है। शुक्रवार को कोलकाता में तृणमूल संसदीय बोर्ड की बैठक बुलाई गई है। सूत्रों के मुताबिक बैठक में पार्टी की अगली रणनीति पर विचार किया जाएगा। शरद यादव ने भी कहा कि अब केंद्र के चुनाव जब भी होंगे कांग्रेस का सफाया हो जाएगा। उन्होंने भी मध्यावधि चुनाव से इनकार नहीं किया।
लेखा महानियंत्रक द्वारा जारी आंकड़ों ने राजकोषीय घाटा बजटीय अनुमान से 5.5 फीसदी ज्यादा होने की पुष्टि कर दी है। सरकार ने बजट में चालू वित्त वर्ष में 4.13 लाख करोड़ रुपये का राजकोषीय घाटा रहने का अनुमान लगाया था। लेकिन जनवरी 2012 तक ही यह 4.35 लाख करोड़ रुपये पर पहुंच गया है। राजकोषीय घाटा जीडीपी के फीसदी में मापा जाता है। सरकार ने चालू वित्त वर्ष के लिए इसके जीडीपी का 4.6 फीसदी रहने का अनुमान जताया था। दिसंबर तक राजकोषीय घाटा जीडीपी का 5.99 फीसदी था। सांख्यिकी गणना पर वास्तविक जीडीपी की कम वृद्घि दर का कोई खास असर नहीं पड़ सकता है लेकिन इसकी सुस्त वृद्घि दर की मार राजकोषीय घाटे पर पड़ी है क्योंकि इससे प्रत्यक्ष कर संग्रह में गिरावट आई है। प्रत्यक्ष कर केंद्रीय बोर्ड के अधिकारियों ने कहा कि प्रत्यक्ष कर संग्रह बजटीय अनुमान से 15,000-20,000 करोड़ रुपये कम रह सकता है। लेकिन अप्रत्यक्ष कर संग्रह बजटीय अनुमान के मुताबिक ही हैं। चालू वित्त वर्ष में जनवरी तक सरकार की कुल कर राजस्व प्राप्ति 4.58 लाख करोड़ रुपये थी जबकि बजटीय अनुमान 6.64 लाख करोड़ रुपये है। राजकोषीय घाटे पर ज्यादा मार गैर-कर राजस्व प्राप्तियां नहीं होने से पड़ी है। सरकार व्यय पर काबू पाने में सफल रही है।उद्योग संगठन एसोचैम ने हाल ही में 1,000 सीईओ के बीच एक बजट पूर्व सर्वे कराया। इसमें अधिकांश सीईओ का कहना था कि राजस्व बढ़ाने के लिए इनपुट मैटेरियल और कैपिटल गुड्स की बजाय आयातित वस्तुओं पर सीमा शुल्क में निश्चित बढ़ोतरी के बारे में सरकार को विचार करना चाहिए। इसके साथ ही सार्वजनिक इकाइयों में विनिवेश के जरिए भी सरकार को अपना राजकोषीय घाटा कम करने और राजस्व बढ़ाने के विकल्प पर सोचना चाहिए।सर्वे में शामिल करीब 460 सीईओ का कहना था कि वस्तु एवं सेवा कर (जीएसटी) को लागू कराने के लिए सरकार को केंद्रीय बिक्री कर (सीएसटी) को दो फीसदी से घटाकर एक फीसदी करना चाहिए। जीएसटी के लागू होने से देश की आर्थिक विकास दर में 1.4 फीसदी से 1.6 फीसदी की वृद्धि आ सकती है। साथ ही इससे सरकार को 1.50 लाख करोड़ रुपये की सालाना कमाई होगी। उद्योग संगठन एसोचैम का मानना है कि कर सुधार के बढ़ रहे दबावों के बीच यह एक बेहतर विकल्प साबित होंगे।
सरकारी कंपनी 'हिंदुस्तान पेट्रोलियम कॉरपोरेशन लिमिटेड' (एचपीसीएल) ने किंगफिशर एयरलाइंस को तेल की आपूर्ति बहाल कर दी है। संकट के दौर से गुजर रही किंगफिशर की ओर से ईंधन की कीमत का भुगतान रोज का रोज करने पर सहमति जताए जाने के बाद एचपीसीएल ने यह फैसला किया है। एचपीसीएल किंगफिशर को सबसे ज्यादा ईंधन की आपूर्ति करती है। कंपनी ने विजय माल्या की किंगफिशर एयरलाइंस को ईंधन देना बंद कर दिया था।
Friday, March 9, 2012
Fwd: Tom Burghardt: Secret State Agencies - 'No Hard Evidence' Iran Building Nukes, March to War Continues
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Date: Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 5:36 PM
Subject: Tom Burghardt: Secret State Agencies - 'No Hard Evidence' Iran Building Nukes, March to War Continues
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Secret State Agencies: 'No Hard Evidence' Iran Building Nukes, March to War Continues
By Tom Burghardt
Global Research, March 5, 2012
Antifascist Calling... - 2012-03-04
URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29610
Although all 16 U.S. secret state intelligence agencies confirmed, again, that "Iran had abandoned its nuclear weapons program years earlier," reaffirming the "consensus view" of not one, but two National Intelligence Estimates The New York Times reported last week, the march towards war continues.
Last Saturday The Daily Telegraph, citing The Wall Street Journal, reported that "military planners have asked for emergency funding from Congress to address a perceived shortfall in defence capabilities that could undermine the ability of US forces to respond to an Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz."
Plans are underway "to modify weapons systems on ships that are at present vulnerable to Iranian fast-attack boats, many of which carry anti-ship missiles," the Telegraph averred.
Feeling the heat from pro-Israeli lobby shops and congressional grifters, President Obama told The Atlantic on Friday: "When I say we're not taking any option off the table, we mean it. I think that the Israeli government recognizes that, as president of the United States, I don't bluff. I also don't, as a matter of sound policy, go around advertising exactly what our intentions are. But I think both the Iranian and the Israeli governments recognize that when the United States says it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say."
In other words, despite repeated assertions by Iran that its nuclear program is strictly for civilian, not military purposes, facts borne out by multiple on-the-ground inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency and assessments by American spy agencies, the bar for Iranian "compliance" is continually set higher, moved from an "active program" to a mere "capability," it is now clear that war is the first, last, indeed only "option."
With this mind, Times' journalists James Risen and Mark Mazzetti informed us that lying "at the center of the debate is the murky question of the ultimate ambitions of the leaders in Tehran."
While there is "no dispute among among American, Israeli and European intelligence officials that Iran has been enriching nuclear fuel and developing some necessary infrastructure to become a nuclear power," the Times disclosed that secret state agencies also "believe that Iran has yet to decide whether to resume a parallel program to design a nuclear warhead--a program they believe was essentially halted in 2003 and which would be necessary for Iran to build a nuclear bomb."
In his January 31 Senate testimony, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper "stated explicitly that American officials believe that Iran is preserving its options for a nuclear weapon, but said there was no evidence that it had made a decision on making a concerted push to build a weapon."
Clapper's assessment is shared by other top Obama administration officials including CIA Director David Petraeus, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey.
According to the Times, "intelligence officials and outside analysts believe there is another possible explanation for Iran's enrichment activity, besides a headlong race to build a bomb as quickly as possible. They say that Iran could be seeking to enhance its influence in the region by creating what some analysts call 'strategic ambiguity'."
Given the belligerent rhetoric and hostile military maneuvers by the United States, Israel and NATO, why wouldn't the Iranians aim for "strategic ambiguity" in their dealings with the West?
Ringed by U.S. military bases, targets of a CIA/Mossad "active program" to assassinate scientists, bomb military installations, wage cyberwar against nuclear facilities and impose crippling sanctions intended to crater their economy, it's surprising the Iranians haven't sought the illusory "security" afforded by possessing nuclear weapons!
Disappeared History
While disinformation specialists such as The Washington Post's Joby Warrick shamefully assert that "Iran already has enough enriched uranium to build four nuclear weapons," he trumpets this specious charge--and gets away with it--by hiding behind the skirts of anonymous "U.S. officials and nuclear experts."
In fact Iran's "Supreme Leader," Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated the obvious not only for Iranians but for the entire planet: "We believe that using nuclear weapons is haram and prohibited, and that it is everybody's duty to make efforts to protect humanity against this great disaster."
Khamenei, the head of Tehran's repressive mullahocracy, whose hand was strengthened in recent parliamentary elections, also reiterated that "besides nuclear weapons, other types of weapons of mass destruction such as chemical and biological weapons also pose a serious threat to humanity."
"The Iranian nation which is itself a victim of chemical weapons feels more than any other nation the danger that is caused by the production and stockpiling of such weapons and is prepared to make use of all its facilities to counter such threats," Khamenei declared.
The Grand Ayatollah pointedly alluded to chemical attacks on Iran during the 1980-1988 war with Iraq.
Though studiously ignored by corporate media today's rush to war, we would do well to recall that Iraq had been given a green light to invade the Islamic Republic by the Carter administration.
During that period, Western-supplied technology and logistical support, including geospatial intelligence provided by America's fleet of spy satellites, along with billions of dollars in arms provided by Britain, France, Germany and the United States were lavished on Iraq when Saddam was America's "best friend forever." American and European firms literally handing over the know-how that allowed Iraq to kill and maim Iranian civilians and soldiers during that disastrous war. By the conflict's end, Iran had suffered an estimated one million casualties, killed or wounded, and the near-destruction of their economy.
Investigative journalist Alan Friedman, the author of Spider's Web: The secret history of how the White House illegally armed Iraq, documented how early in the conflict, the U.S. began providing tactical battlefield advice to the Iraqi Army.
"At times," Friedman wrote, "thanks to the White House's secret backing for the intelligence-sharing, U.S. intelligence officers were actually sent to Baghdad to help interpret the satellite information. As the White House took an increasingly active role in secretly helping Saddam direct his armed forces, the United States even built an expensive high-tech annex in Baghdad to provide a direct down-link receiver for the satellite intelligence and better processing of the information."
According to Friedman's definitive account: "The American military commitment that had begun with intelligence-sharing expanded rapidly and surreptitiously throughout the Iran–Iraq War. A former White House official explained that 'by 1987, our people were actually providing tactical military advice to the Iraqis in the battlefield, and sometimes they would find themselves over the Iranian border, alongside Iraqi troops'."
But such support was not limited to providing advice and battlefield intelligence to Saddam's generals; it also extended to Iraqi procurement of banned chemical and biological weapons, actual "weapons of mass destruction," backed by billions of dollars in loan guarantees extended to Iraq by the U.S. Commerce Department.
Indeed, as Scotland's Sunday Herald reported more than a decade ago, months before America and Britain's rush to war with Iraq, an investigation all but suppressed by American media, "The US and Britain sold Saddam Hussein the technology and materials Iraq needed to develop nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction."
Investigative journalists Neil Mackay and Felicity Arbuthnot reported at the time that "the US Senate's committee on banking, housing and urban affairs--which oversees American exports policy--reveal that the US, under the successive administrations of Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr, sold materials including anthrax, VX nerve gas, West Nile fever germs and botulism to Iraq right up until March 1992, as well as germs similar to tuberculosis and pneumonia. Other bacteria sold included brucella melitensis, which damages major organs, and clostridium perfringens, which causes gas gangrene."
Weapons that were used to deadly effect against Iran with the full knowledge, and complicity, of Western governments.
As Fars News Agency reported last June, Iran's Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani "condemned the use of chemical weapons against innocent people throughout the world, and lamented that the Iranians who came under Iraq's chemical attacks during the imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) are still suffering from the impacts of these invasions."
"On June 28, 1987," Fars reported, "Iraqi aircraft dropped what Iranian authorities believed to be mustard gas bombs on Sardasht, in two separate bombing runs on four residential areas."
"Sardasht was the first town in the world to be gassed. Out of a population of 20,000, 25% are still suffering severe illnesses from the attacks."
As the National Security Archive revealed in declassified documents published in 2003, "By the summer of 1983 Iran had been reporting Iraqi use of using chemical weapons for some time. The Geneva protocol requires that the international community respond to chemical warfare, but a diplomatically isolated Iran received only a muted response to its complaints. It intensified its accusations in October 1983, however, and in November asked for a United Nations Security Council investigation."
What was the Reagan administration's response?
"A State Department account indicates that the administration had decided to limit its 'efforts against the Iraqi CW program to close monitoring because of our strict neutrality in the Gulf war, the sensitivity of sources, and the low probability of achieving desired results'."
Those "desired results"? The destruction of Iran by Saddam's military, propped-up by the repressive Gulf monarchies that now constitute the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates) whom Asia Times Online analyst Pepe Escobar has characterized as the "Gulf Counter-Revolution Club" and "NATOGCC."
Indeed, as the Archive revealed "the department noted in late November 1983 that 'with the essential assistance of foreign firms, Iraq ha[d] become able to deploy and use CW and probably has built up large reserves of CW for further use. Given its desperation to end the war, Iraq may again use lethal or incapacitating CW, particularly if Iran threatens to break through Iraqi lines in a large-scale attack'."
Meanwhile, by 1984 "Ronald Reagan issued another presidential directive (NSDD 139), emphasizing the U.S. objective of ensuring access to military facilities in the Gulf region, and instructing the director of central intelligence and the secretary of defense to upgrade U.S. intelligence gathering capabilities."
According to documents published by the Archive, "It codified U.S. determination to develop plans 'to avert an Iraqi collapse.' Reagan's directive said that U.S. policy required 'unambiguous' condemnation of chemical warfare (without naming Iraq), while including the caveat that the U.S. should 'place equal stress on the urgent need to dissuade Iran from continuing the ruthless and inhumane tactics which have characterized recent offensives.' The directive does not suggest that 'condemning' chemical warfare required any hesitation about or modification of U.S. support for Iraq."
As we now know, U.S. support continued and American and British firms supplied Iraq with chemical precursors used in the manufacture of chemical weapons subsequently deployed against the Iranian city of Sardasht, whose inhabitants "are still suffering severe illnesses from the attacks," as Fars noted.
Bottom line for the Reagan administration's State Department? "Gas the hajis and let God sort 'em out!"
Another 'Just War' on the Horizon
As with the Bush administration's ginned-up "evidence" used to slaughter some million Iraqis when the U.S. launched its "preemptive and premeditated" invasion of Iraq in 2003, as the National Security Archive disclosed, U.S. perception management over the use of banned weapons reflected "the realpolitik that determined this country's policies during the years when Iraq was actually employing chemical weapons. Actual rather than rhetorical opposition to such use was evidently not perceived to serve U.S. interests."
Indeed, the "U.S. was concerned with its ability to project military force in the Middle East, and to keep the oil flowing."
Fast forward to 2012 and the manufactured hysteria over an "aggressive" Iran's alleged pursuit of nuclear deterrence.
Is there a disconnect here? What "red line" have the Iranians allegedly "crossed" that would necessitate extorting billions of dollars from our disreputable Congress for war while Americans go hungry and lose their homes, congressional thieves in thrall to pro-Israel lobby groups and the Military-Industrial cabal of war profiteers who pull their collective strings? Are we to flatten yet another nation that hasn't attacked us solely on the basis of ill-defined "ultimate ambitions"?
Increasingly, it looks like the answer is yes.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that an unnamed "U.S. intelligence official" familiar with discussions amongst top administration officials and their Israeli counterparts averred that Israel "won't warn the U.S. if they decide to launch a pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear facilities."
Why not? Well, we're supposed to believe a ludicrous fairy tale spun by Benjamin Netanyahu's unhinged government that keeping "the Americans in the dark" would actually "decrease the likelihood that the U.S. would be held responsible for failing to stop Israel's potential attack."
Washington "peacemakers" eager to "avoid" war with the Islamic Republic, including senior "U.S. intelligence and special operations officials," AP reported, "have tried to keep a dialogue going with Israel" by "sharing options such as allowing Israel to use U.S. bases in the region from which to launch such a strike, as a way to make sure the Israelis give the Americans a heads-up, according to the U.S. official, and a former U.S. official with knowledge of the communications."
With this in mind, Haaretz reported that "Netanyahu is expected to publicly harden his line against Iran during a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on March 5, according to a senior Israeli official."
Correspondent Barak Ravid disclosed that Israel is demanding that Obama "make further-reaching declarations than the vague assertion that 'all options are on the table'." In fact, Netanyahu "wants Obama to state unequivocally that the United States is preparing for a military operation in the event that Iran crosses certain 'red lines'."
Apparently, administration officials and Pentagon war planners got the message. On Thursday, Bloomberg News reported that "the U.S. could join Israel in attacking Iran if the Islamic republic doesn't dispel concerns that its nuclear-research program is aimed at producing weapons."
"Four days before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to arrive in Washington," Bloomberg averred, "Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz told reporters the Joint Chiefs of Staff have prepared military options to strike Iranian nuclear sites in the event of a conflict."
"What we can do, you wouldn't want to be in the area," Schwartz told reporters in Washington.
In keeping with Obama's statement that his administration is marching in "lockstep" with Israel, "Pentagon officials said military options being prepared start with providing aerial refueling for Israeli planes and include attacking the pillars of the clerical regime, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its elite Qods Force, regular Iranian military bases and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security."
The Guardian disclosed on Friday that "Israel is to test an advanced anti-ballistic missile system in the coming weeks, inevitably fuelling speculation about preparations for a possible military confrontation with Iran."
"The unusual advance notification of the test," The Guardian noted, "follows an unannounced test in November of a long-range ballistic missile that intensified speculation that Israel was preparing for a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities."
Just yesterday, TASS disclosed that "the carrier group of the USS Carl Vinson has re-entered the Gulf. Another US carrier group, of the USS Abraham Lincoln, continues to patrol the Arabian Sea just south of the Strait of Hormuz. It is backed by three attack submarines, one of which is carrying 154 Tomahawk missiles."
In other words, preparations for a joint U.S.-Israeli-NATO attack will target Iran's entire defense infrastructure, and in all likelihood its civilian infrastructure as well, in preparation of Washington's long-standing goal of "regime change."
Driving home the point that the United States American is preparing to launch a new war of aggression in the Middle East,The Washington Post reported last week that contingency plans have already been drawn up for attacking the Fordow nuclear facility.
"Built into a mountain bunkers designed to withstand an aerial attack," Pentagon stenographer Joby Warrick informed us, "U.S. military planners ... are increasingly confident about their ability to deliver a serious blow against Fordow should the president ever order an attack."
"In arguing their case, U.S. officials acknowledged some uncertainty over whether even the Pentagon's newest bunker-buster weapon--called the Massive Ordnance Penetrator--could pierce in a single blow the subterranean chambers where Iran is making enriched uranium," Warrick wrote.
However, "a sustained U.S. attack over multiple days would probably render the plant unusable by collapsing tunnels and irreparably damaging both its highly sensitive centrifuge equipment and the miles of pipes, tubes and wires required to operate it."
"If you can target the one piece of critical equipment instead of the whole thing, isn't that just as good?" an anonymous official told the Post. "Even by reducing the entrances to rubble, you've effectively entombed the site."
It isn't just centrifuges however that American and Israeli war criminals plan to "entomb."
Close aides to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Tel Aviv's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper Wednesday that "Iran's citizens should be starved in order to curb Tehran's nuclear program."
"Suffocating sanctions could lead to a grave economic situation in Iran and to a shortage of food," YNET's anonymous source said. "This would force the regime to consider whether the nuclear adventure is worthwhile, while the Persian people have nothing to eat and may rise up as was the case in Syria, Tunisia and other Arab states."
"The Western world led by the United States must implement stifling sanctions at this time already, rather than wait or hesitate," YNET disclosed. "In order to suffocate Iran economically and diplomatically and lead the regime there to a hopeless situation, this must be done now, without delay."
As left-wing analyst Richard Silverstein pointed out on the Tikun Olam web site: "Keep in mind, this particular gem of an Israeli isn't advocating merely putting Iran 'on a diet' as Dov Weisglass, Ariel Sharon's advisor, did toward Gaza. He's advocating death, malnutrition, pestilence: the whole nine yards of incremental genocide."
"It's especially telling that this genius came up with such a policy proposal on the eve of Bibi's trip to Washington to meet with Pres. Obama, who will certainly warm to such an idea," Silverstein noted. "I guess the Israelis must see this as an ice-breaker to bring the two leaders, who have a history of icy relations, closer."
Mass starvation? Genocide? No problem!
And why not? After all, as Karl Rove told journalist Ron Suskind back in 2004: "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality."
But as Iran specialist Gary Sick recently observed in Le Monde Diplomatique, "When sanctions began Iran had only a rudimentary nuclear programme, without a single centrifuge. Today, after 16 years of ever-stronger sanctions, the IAEA reports that Iran has a substantial nuclear programme with some 8,000 operational centrifuges installed in two major sites, and a stockpile of about five tons of low-enriched uranium. This is the definition of a failed policy."
"The US and its allies have responded by increasing the sanctions to a point where Iran would no longer be able to sell its petroleum products, depriving it of more than 50% of its revenues. This amounts to a military blockade of Iranian oil ports, an act of war," Sick wrote.
"So sanctions, supposed to be the alternative to war, are gradually morphing into economic warfare. The point at which economic pressure becomes undeclared war will be reached by mid-2012 when near-total boycotts of Iranian banks and Iranian oil by the US and the EU will formally take effect. No one can be sure how Iran will respond, but it is difficult to believe it will meekly surrender or simply do nothing."
And when Obama and Netanyahu meet tomorrow in Washington, "neither heads of state will have to worry too much about plotting their war on Iran. Pentagon officials are saying that those wheels are already in motion," Russia Today noted.
"With Obama preparing to go before the AIPAC conference this weekend, there are already talks that the United States' commander-in-chief is considering giving in to Israeli pressure to align against Iran with force, fearing what repercussions could come on Election Day should he walk," RT observed.
Although "Obama has been hesitant to throw his weight behind any actual endorsements of war so far--and much to the chagrin of Israel--but this week's meeting between Barak and Panetta suggest that Obama may soon crack."
Should the United States engage Iran militarily however, it just might be more than Obama that would "soon crack."
As Global Research analyst Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya warned, citing the results of a 2002 Pentagon war game: "Iran would react to U.S. aggression by launching a massive barrage of missiles that would overwhelm the U.S. and destroy sixteen U.S. naval vessels--an aircraft carrier, ten cruisers, and five amphibious ships. It is estimated that if this had happened in real war theater context, more than 20,000 U.S. servicemen would have been killed in the first day following the attack."
While we do not know where belligerent moves by the West will lead, it is also clear that despite these threats Iran will "not go gentle into that good night."
Tom Burghardt is a researcher and activist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to publishing in Covert Action Quarterly andGlobal Research, an independent research and media group of writers, scholars, journalists and activists based in Montreal, he is a Contributing Editor with Cyrano's Journal Today. His articles can be read on Dissident Voice, Pacific Free Press, Uncommon Thought Journal, and the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks. He is the editor of Police State America: U.S. Military "Civil Disturbance" Planning, distributed by AK Press and has contributed to the new book from Global Research, The Global Economic Crisis: The Great Depression of the XXI Century.
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From: Global Research E-Newsletter <crgeditor@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 5:36 PM
Subject: Tom Burghardt: Secret State Agencies - 'No Hard Evidence' Iran Building Nukes, March to War Continues
To: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
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Secret State Agencies: 'No Hard Evidence' Iran Building Nukes, March to War Continues
By Tom Burghardt
Global Research, March 5, 2012
Antifascist Calling... - 2012-03-04
URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29610
Although all 16 U.S. secret state intelligence agencies confirmed, again, that "Iran had abandoned its nuclear weapons program years earlier," reaffirming the "consensus view" of not one, but two National Intelligence Estimates The New York Times reported last week, the march towards war continues.
Last Saturday The Daily Telegraph, citing The Wall Street Journal, reported that "military planners have asked for emergency funding from Congress to address a perceived shortfall in defence capabilities that could undermine the ability of US forces to respond to an Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz."
Plans are underway "to modify weapons systems on ships that are at present vulnerable to Iranian fast-attack boats, many of which carry anti-ship missiles," the Telegraph averred.
Feeling the heat from pro-Israeli lobby shops and congressional grifters, President Obama told The Atlantic on Friday: "When I say we're not taking any option off the table, we mean it. I think that the Israeli government recognizes that, as president of the United States, I don't bluff. I also don't, as a matter of sound policy, go around advertising exactly what our intentions are. But I think both the Iranian and the Israeli governments recognize that when the United States says it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say."
In other words, despite repeated assertions by Iran that its nuclear program is strictly for civilian, not military purposes, facts borne out by multiple on-the-ground inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency and assessments by American spy agencies, the bar for Iranian "compliance" is continually set higher, moved from an "active program" to a mere "capability," it is now clear that war is the first, last, indeed only "option."
With this mind, Times' journalists James Risen and Mark Mazzetti informed us that lying "at the center of the debate is the murky question of the ultimate ambitions of the leaders in Tehran."
While there is "no dispute among among American, Israeli and European intelligence officials that Iran has been enriching nuclear fuel and developing some necessary infrastructure to become a nuclear power," the Times disclosed that secret state agencies also "believe that Iran has yet to decide whether to resume a parallel program to design a nuclear warhead--a program they believe was essentially halted in 2003 and which would be necessary for Iran to build a nuclear bomb."
In his January 31 Senate testimony, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper "stated explicitly that American officials believe that Iran is preserving its options for a nuclear weapon, but said there was no evidence that it had made a decision on making a concerted push to build a weapon."
Clapper's assessment is shared by other top Obama administration officials including CIA Director David Petraeus, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey.
According to the Times, "intelligence officials and outside analysts believe there is another possible explanation for Iran's enrichment activity, besides a headlong race to build a bomb as quickly as possible. They say that Iran could be seeking to enhance its influence in the region by creating what some analysts call 'strategic ambiguity'."
Given the belligerent rhetoric and hostile military maneuvers by the United States, Israel and NATO, why wouldn't the Iranians aim for "strategic ambiguity" in their dealings with the West?
Ringed by U.S. military bases, targets of a CIA/Mossad "active program" to assassinate scientists, bomb military installations, wage cyberwar against nuclear facilities and impose crippling sanctions intended to crater their economy, it's surprising the Iranians haven't sought the illusory "security" afforded by possessing nuclear weapons!
Disappeared History
While disinformation specialists such as The Washington Post's Joby Warrick shamefully assert that "Iran already has enough enriched uranium to build four nuclear weapons," he trumpets this specious charge--and gets away with it--by hiding behind the skirts of anonymous "U.S. officials and nuclear experts."
In fact Iran's "Supreme Leader," Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated the obvious not only for Iranians but for the entire planet: "We believe that using nuclear weapons is haram and prohibited, and that it is everybody's duty to make efforts to protect humanity against this great disaster."
Khamenei, the head of Tehran's repressive mullahocracy, whose hand was strengthened in recent parliamentary elections, also reiterated that "besides nuclear weapons, other types of weapons of mass destruction such as chemical and biological weapons also pose a serious threat to humanity."
"The Iranian nation which is itself a victim of chemical weapons feels more than any other nation the danger that is caused by the production and stockpiling of such weapons and is prepared to make use of all its facilities to counter such threats," Khamenei declared.
The Grand Ayatollah pointedly alluded to chemical attacks on Iran during the 1980-1988 war with Iraq.
Though studiously ignored by corporate media today's rush to war, we would do well to recall that Iraq had been given a green light to invade the Islamic Republic by the Carter administration.
During that period, Western-supplied technology and logistical support, including geospatial intelligence provided by America's fleet of spy satellites, along with billions of dollars in arms provided by Britain, France, Germany and the United States were lavished on Iraq when Saddam was America's "best friend forever." American and European firms literally handing over the know-how that allowed Iraq to kill and maim Iranian civilians and soldiers during that disastrous war. By the conflict's end, Iran had suffered an estimated one million casualties, killed or wounded, and the near-destruction of their economy.
Investigative journalist Alan Friedman, the author of Spider's Web: The secret history of how the White House illegally armed Iraq, documented how early in the conflict, the U.S. began providing tactical battlefield advice to the Iraqi Army.
"At times," Friedman wrote, "thanks to the White House's secret backing for the intelligence-sharing, U.S. intelligence officers were actually sent to Baghdad to help interpret the satellite information. As the White House took an increasingly active role in secretly helping Saddam direct his armed forces, the United States even built an expensive high-tech annex in Baghdad to provide a direct down-link receiver for the satellite intelligence and better processing of the information."
According to Friedman's definitive account: "The American military commitment that had begun with intelligence-sharing expanded rapidly and surreptitiously throughout the Iran–Iraq War. A former White House official explained that 'by 1987, our people were actually providing tactical military advice to the Iraqis in the battlefield, and sometimes they would find themselves over the Iranian border, alongside Iraqi troops'."
But such support was not limited to providing advice and battlefield intelligence to Saddam's generals; it also extended to Iraqi procurement of banned chemical and biological weapons, actual "weapons of mass destruction," backed by billions of dollars in loan guarantees extended to Iraq by the U.S. Commerce Department.
Indeed, as Scotland's Sunday Herald reported more than a decade ago, months before America and Britain's rush to war with Iraq, an investigation all but suppressed by American media, "The US and Britain sold Saddam Hussein the technology and materials Iraq needed to develop nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction."
Investigative journalists Neil Mackay and Felicity Arbuthnot reported at the time that "the US Senate's committee on banking, housing and urban affairs--which oversees American exports policy--reveal that the US, under the successive administrations of Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr, sold materials including anthrax, VX nerve gas, West Nile fever germs and botulism to Iraq right up until March 1992, as well as germs similar to tuberculosis and pneumonia. Other bacteria sold included brucella melitensis, which damages major organs, and clostridium perfringens, which causes gas gangrene."
Weapons that were used to deadly effect against Iran with the full knowledge, and complicity, of Western governments.
As Fars News Agency reported last June, Iran's Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani "condemned the use of chemical weapons against innocent people throughout the world, and lamented that the Iranians who came under Iraq's chemical attacks during the imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) are still suffering from the impacts of these invasions."
"On June 28, 1987," Fars reported, "Iraqi aircraft dropped what Iranian authorities believed to be mustard gas bombs on Sardasht, in two separate bombing runs on four residential areas."
"Sardasht was the first town in the world to be gassed. Out of a population of 20,000, 25% are still suffering severe illnesses from the attacks."
As the National Security Archive revealed in declassified documents published in 2003, "By the summer of 1983 Iran had been reporting Iraqi use of using chemical weapons for some time. The Geneva protocol requires that the international community respond to chemical warfare, but a diplomatically isolated Iran received only a muted response to its complaints. It intensified its accusations in October 1983, however, and in November asked for a United Nations Security Council investigation."
What was the Reagan administration's response?
"A State Department account indicates that the administration had decided to limit its 'efforts against the Iraqi CW program to close monitoring because of our strict neutrality in the Gulf war, the sensitivity of sources, and the low probability of achieving desired results'."
Those "desired results"? The destruction of Iran by Saddam's military, propped-up by the repressive Gulf monarchies that now constitute the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates) whom Asia Times Online analyst Pepe Escobar has characterized as the "Gulf Counter-Revolution Club" and "NATOGCC."
Indeed, as the Archive revealed "the department noted in late November 1983 that 'with the essential assistance of foreign firms, Iraq ha[d] become able to deploy and use CW and probably has built up large reserves of CW for further use. Given its desperation to end the war, Iraq may again use lethal or incapacitating CW, particularly if Iran threatens to break through Iraqi lines in a large-scale attack'."
Meanwhile, by 1984 "Ronald Reagan issued another presidential directive (NSDD 139), emphasizing the U.S. objective of ensuring access to military facilities in the Gulf region, and instructing the director of central intelligence and the secretary of defense to upgrade U.S. intelligence gathering capabilities."
According to documents published by the Archive, "It codified U.S. determination to develop plans 'to avert an Iraqi collapse.' Reagan's directive said that U.S. policy required 'unambiguous' condemnation of chemical warfare (without naming Iraq), while including the caveat that the U.S. should 'place equal stress on the urgent need to dissuade Iran from continuing the ruthless and inhumane tactics which have characterized recent offensives.' The directive does not suggest that 'condemning' chemical warfare required any hesitation about or modification of U.S. support for Iraq."
As we now know, U.S. support continued and American and British firms supplied Iraq with chemical precursors used in the manufacture of chemical weapons subsequently deployed against the Iranian city of Sardasht, whose inhabitants "are still suffering severe illnesses from the attacks," as Fars noted.
Bottom line for the Reagan administration's State Department? "Gas the hajis and let God sort 'em out!"
Another 'Just War' on the Horizon
As with the Bush administration's ginned-up "evidence" used to slaughter some million Iraqis when the U.S. launched its "preemptive and premeditated" invasion of Iraq in 2003, as the National Security Archive disclosed, U.S. perception management over the use of banned weapons reflected "the realpolitik that determined this country's policies during the years when Iraq was actually employing chemical weapons. Actual rather than rhetorical opposition to such use was evidently not perceived to serve U.S. interests."
Indeed, the "U.S. was concerned with its ability to project military force in the Middle East, and to keep the oil flowing."
Fast forward to 2012 and the manufactured hysteria over an "aggressive" Iran's alleged pursuit of nuclear deterrence.
Is there a disconnect here? What "red line" have the Iranians allegedly "crossed" that would necessitate extorting billions of dollars from our disreputable Congress for war while Americans go hungry and lose their homes, congressional thieves in thrall to pro-Israel lobby groups and the Military-Industrial cabal of war profiteers who pull their collective strings? Are we to flatten yet another nation that hasn't attacked us solely on the basis of ill-defined "ultimate ambitions"?
Increasingly, it looks like the answer is yes.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that an unnamed "U.S. intelligence official" familiar with discussions amongst top administration officials and their Israeli counterparts averred that Israel "won't warn the U.S. if they decide to launch a pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear facilities."
Why not? Well, we're supposed to believe a ludicrous fairy tale spun by Benjamin Netanyahu's unhinged government that keeping "the Americans in the dark" would actually "decrease the likelihood that the U.S. would be held responsible for failing to stop Israel's potential attack."
Washington "peacemakers" eager to "avoid" war with the Islamic Republic, including senior "U.S. intelligence and special operations officials," AP reported, "have tried to keep a dialogue going with Israel" by "sharing options such as allowing Israel to use U.S. bases in the region from which to launch such a strike, as a way to make sure the Israelis give the Americans a heads-up, according to the U.S. official, and a former U.S. official with knowledge of the communications."
With this in mind, Haaretz reported that "Netanyahu is expected to publicly harden his line against Iran during a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on March 5, according to a senior Israeli official."
Correspondent Barak Ravid disclosed that Israel is demanding that Obama "make further-reaching declarations than the vague assertion that 'all options are on the table'." In fact, Netanyahu "wants Obama to state unequivocally that the United States is preparing for a military operation in the event that Iran crosses certain 'red lines'."
Apparently, administration officials and Pentagon war planners got the message. On Thursday, Bloomberg News reported that "the U.S. could join Israel in attacking Iran if the Islamic republic doesn't dispel concerns that its nuclear-research program is aimed at producing weapons."
"Four days before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to arrive in Washington," Bloomberg averred, "Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz told reporters the Joint Chiefs of Staff have prepared military options to strike Iranian nuclear sites in the event of a conflict."
"What we can do, you wouldn't want to be in the area," Schwartz told reporters in Washington.
In keeping with Obama's statement that his administration is marching in "lockstep" with Israel, "Pentagon officials said military options being prepared start with providing aerial refueling for Israeli planes and include attacking the pillars of the clerical regime, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its elite Qods Force, regular Iranian military bases and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security."
The Guardian disclosed on Friday that "Israel is to test an advanced anti-ballistic missile system in the coming weeks, inevitably fuelling speculation about preparations for a possible military confrontation with Iran."
"The unusual advance notification of the test," The Guardian noted, "follows an unannounced test in November of a long-range ballistic missile that intensified speculation that Israel was preparing for a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities."
Just yesterday, TASS disclosed that "the carrier group of the USS Carl Vinson has re-entered the Gulf. Another US carrier group, of the USS Abraham Lincoln, continues to patrol the Arabian Sea just south of the Strait of Hormuz. It is backed by three attack submarines, one of which is carrying 154 Tomahawk missiles."
In other words, preparations for a joint U.S.-Israeli-NATO attack will target Iran's entire defense infrastructure, and in all likelihood its civilian infrastructure as well, in preparation of Washington's long-standing goal of "regime change."
Driving home the point that the United States American is preparing to launch a new war of aggression in the Middle East,The Washington Post reported last week that contingency plans have already been drawn up for attacking the Fordow nuclear facility.
"Built into a mountain bunkers designed to withstand an aerial attack," Pentagon stenographer Joby Warrick informed us, "U.S. military planners ... are increasingly confident about their ability to deliver a serious blow against Fordow should the president ever order an attack."
"In arguing their case, U.S. officials acknowledged some uncertainty over whether even the Pentagon's newest bunker-buster weapon--called the Massive Ordnance Penetrator--could pierce in a single blow the subterranean chambers where Iran is making enriched uranium," Warrick wrote.
However, "a sustained U.S. attack over multiple days would probably render the plant unusable by collapsing tunnels and irreparably damaging both its highly sensitive centrifuge equipment and the miles of pipes, tubes and wires required to operate it."
"If you can target the one piece of critical equipment instead of the whole thing, isn't that just as good?" an anonymous official told the Post. "Even by reducing the entrances to rubble, you've effectively entombed the site."
It isn't just centrifuges however that American and Israeli war criminals plan to "entomb."
Close aides to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Tel Aviv's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper Wednesday that "Iran's citizens should be starved in order to curb Tehran's nuclear program."
"Suffocating sanctions could lead to a grave economic situation in Iran and to a shortage of food," YNET's anonymous source said. "This would force the regime to consider whether the nuclear adventure is worthwhile, while the Persian people have nothing to eat and may rise up as was the case in Syria, Tunisia and other Arab states."
"The Western world led by the United States must implement stifling sanctions at this time already, rather than wait or hesitate," YNET disclosed. "In order to suffocate Iran economically and diplomatically and lead the regime there to a hopeless situation, this must be done now, without delay."
As left-wing analyst Richard Silverstein pointed out on the Tikun Olam web site: "Keep in mind, this particular gem of an Israeli isn't advocating merely putting Iran 'on a diet' as Dov Weisglass, Ariel Sharon's advisor, did toward Gaza. He's advocating death, malnutrition, pestilence: the whole nine yards of incremental genocide."
"It's especially telling that this genius came up with such a policy proposal on the eve of Bibi's trip to Washington to meet with Pres. Obama, who will certainly warm to such an idea," Silverstein noted. "I guess the Israelis must see this as an ice-breaker to bring the two leaders, who have a history of icy relations, closer."
Mass starvation? Genocide? No problem!
And why not? After all, as Karl Rove told journalist Ron Suskind back in 2004: "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality."
But as Iran specialist Gary Sick recently observed in Le Monde Diplomatique, "When sanctions began Iran had only a rudimentary nuclear programme, without a single centrifuge. Today, after 16 years of ever-stronger sanctions, the IAEA reports that Iran has a substantial nuclear programme with some 8,000 operational centrifuges installed in two major sites, and a stockpile of about five tons of low-enriched uranium. This is the definition of a failed policy."
"The US and its allies have responded by increasing the sanctions to a point where Iran would no longer be able to sell its petroleum products, depriving it of more than 50% of its revenues. This amounts to a military blockade of Iranian oil ports, an act of war," Sick wrote.
"So sanctions, supposed to be the alternative to war, are gradually morphing into economic warfare. The point at which economic pressure becomes undeclared war will be reached by mid-2012 when near-total boycotts of Iranian banks and Iranian oil by the US and the EU will formally take effect. No one can be sure how Iran will respond, but it is difficult to believe it will meekly surrender or simply do nothing."
And when Obama and Netanyahu meet tomorrow in Washington, "neither heads of state will have to worry too much about plotting their war on Iran. Pentagon officials are saying that those wheels are already in motion," Russia Today noted.
"With Obama preparing to go before the AIPAC conference this weekend, there are already talks that the United States' commander-in-chief is considering giving in to Israeli pressure to align against Iran with force, fearing what repercussions could come on Election Day should he walk," RT observed.
Although "Obama has been hesitant to throw his weight behind any actual endorsements of war so far--and much to the chagrin of Israel--but this week's meeting between Barak and Panetta suggest that Obama may soon crack."
Should the United States engage Iran militarily however, it just might be more than Obama that would "soon crack."
As Global Research analyst Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya warned, citing the results of a 2002 Pentagon war game: "Iran would react to U.S. aggression by launching a massive barrage of missiles that would overwhelm the U.S. and destroy sixteen U.S. naval vessels--an aircraft carrier, ten cruisers, and five amphibious ships. It is estimated that if this had happened in real war theater context, more than 20,000 U.S. servicemen would have been killed in the first day following the attack."
While we do not know where belligerent moves by the West will lead, it is also clear that despite these threats Iran will "not go gentle into that good night."
Tom Burghardt is a researcher and activist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to publishing in Covert Action Quarterly andGlobal Research, an independent research and media group of writers, scholars, journalists and activists based in Montreal, he is a Contributing Editor with Cyrano's Journal Today. His articles can be read on Dissident Voice, Pacific Free Press, Uncommon Thought Journal, and the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks. He is the editor of Police State America: U.S. Military "Civil Disturbance" Planning, distributed by AK Press and has contributed to the new book from Global Research, The Global Economic Crisis: The Great Depression of the XXI Century.
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Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government
09 Mar 2012
All links are here:
FBI director: Have to check whether targeted killing rule is outside US only --'Uh, I'm not certain whether that was addressed or not.' 07 Mar 2012 FBI Director Robert Mueller on Wednesday said he would have to go back and check with the Department of Justice whether Attorney General Eric Holder's "three criteria" for the targeted killing of Americans also applied to Americans inside the U.S. Pressed by House lawmakers about a recent speech in which Holder described the legal justification for assassination, Mueller, who was attending a hearing on his agency's budget, did not say without qualification that the three criteria could not be applied inside the U.S. "I have to go back. Uh, I'm not certain whether that was addressed or not," Mueller said when asked by Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kan., about a distinction between domestic and foreign targeting.
Netanyahu: Strike on Iran's nuclear facilities possible within months 09 Mar 2012 An attack on Iran could take place within a matter of months, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a series of television interviews on Thursday. "We're not standing with a stopwatch in hand," he said. "It's not a matter of days or weeks, but also not of years. The result must be removal of the threat of nuclear weapons in Iran's hands." Netanyahu gave separate interviews to all three Israeli television stations, the first he has given since his return from Washington earlier this week.
Israel asks U.S. for arms that could aid Iran strike 08 Mar 2012 Israel has asked the United States for advanced "bunker-buster" bombs and refueling planes that could improve its ability to attack Iran's underground nuclear sites, an Israeli official said on Thursday. "Such a request was made" around the time of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week, the official said, confirming media reports. But the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the issue, played down as "unrealistic" Israeli reports that the United States would condition supplying the hardware on Israel promising not to attack Iran this year.
Panetta: U.S. Has Potential Military Plans for Iran 08 Mar 2012 The Pentagon is preparing an array of military options for striking Iran if hard-hitting diplomatic and economic sanctions fail to persuade Tehran to drop its nuclear ambitions, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told National Journal in an interview on Thursday. Panetta said such planning had been under way "for a long time," a reflection of the Obama administration's mounting concern over Iran's [alleged] continued progress towards a nuclear weapon. Panetta said in the interview that a unilateral Israeli strike against Iran would be less effective than one conducted by the U.S., which has a significantly larger air force and an array of advanced weapons more powerful than any possessed by Israel.
USociopaths trolling for new wars for oil: Obama asks Pentagon for military plans on Syria: Gen. Dempsey 08 Mar 2012 Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey says President Barack Obama has requested from the Pentagon military options against the Syrian government. According to a Wednesday report by The New York Times, Dempsey declared in a US Senate committee hearing in Washington that the Department of Defense was preparing military alternatives with regards to the existing situation in Syria for Obama's review. The top American military chief made the remarks during a Wednesday hearing of US Senate's Armed Services Committee. Dempsey added that potential measures considered by the American military ranged from "aerial surveillance of the Syrian military, the establishment of a no-fly zone, naval monitoring and humanitarian [sic] airlifts."
Israeli fighter jet crashes in US military base --Aircraft is one of several types Israeli Airborne Tactical Advantage Co. provides to US military 07 Mar 2012 An Israeli-made fighter jet has crashed inside a military base in the western US state of Nevada, killing an American pilot. The F-21 Kfir aircraft crashed inside the west gate of Fallon Naval Air Station in northern Nevada on Tuesday. The cause of the crash of the single-seat, single-engine aircraft was not immediately clear, but an Israeli Air Force commander blamed heavy fog and snow for the crash.
US assassination drone crashes in Somalia's Hobyo seaport 07 Mar 2012 Another US assassination drone has crashed in Mudug region near Somalia's seaport city of Hobyo, Press TV reports. A Somali official speaking on condition of anonymity said that the US spy drone had flown from the nearby USS Taylor warship. Recently, the US is using a new kind of drone, called a kamikaze drone, in Somalia. It functions both as a missile and an intelligence-gathering reconnaissance aircraft.
Afghanistan, U.S. to sign prison transfer deal: officials --Agreement will be the framework for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan beyond 2014 09 Mar 2012 The United States and Afghanistan are expected to sign a deal on the transfer of U.S.-run detention centers to Afghan authorities on Friday, two Afghan officials said, improving the prospects of a strategic partnership allowing long-term U.S. involvement in the country. The Foreign Ministry later said Afghan Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak and Gen. John Allen, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, would sign an MOU. The Strategic Partnership Agreement, which Washington and Kabul have been discussing for over a year, will be the framework for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan beyond 2014, when the last foreign combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan.
Afghanistan deaths: Six dead UK soldiers named by MoD --Deaths take total of British military personnel killed in Afghanistan since 2001 to 404 08 Mar 2012 Six British soldiers killed in southern Afghanistan by a Taliban bomb have been named by the Ministry of Defence. Cpl Jake Hartley, 20, Pte Anthony Frampton, 20, and Pte Christopher Kershaw, 19, died in the blast. Pte Daniel Wade, 20, Pte Daniel Wilford, 21, and Sgt Nigel Coupe, 33, were also killed when their Warrior armoured vehicle was hit on Tuesday.
U.S. firm linked to civilian deaths hired to train Canadian soldiers --Military has had relationship with Blackwater/Xe for years - documents 07 Mar 2012 An American mercenary firm whose employees have been implicated in the killing of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan was paid nearly $2.4 million to train Canadian soldiers last year. Documents tabled in the House of Commons show Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater, was providing select troops specialized training in precision shooting and defensive driving at the company's North Carolina facilities. Other soldiers were trained in bodyguard and close-quarter combat skills.
MoD Official Accused of Leaking Secrets 08 Mar 2012 A Ministry of Defence official is due to appear in court today charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act, Scotland Yard has said. Edward Devenney, 29, is accused of communicating information which could be deemed to be useful to an enemy of the state. He was arrested by officers in Plymouth on Tuesday morning before being charged last night, the Metropolitan Police said. A Met spokesman said a number of searches had been completed in connection with the arrest.
Obama to Simulate Cyber Attack on New York Power to Lobby Senate [and blame Anonymous] 07 Mar 2012 The Obama regime will simulate a cyber attack crippling New York City's electric supply during a summer heat wave to drum up support for cybersecurity legislation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Security Agency and Justice Department are among agencies in Washington involved today in a Senate briefing on the New York scenario, said Vincent Morris, a spokesman for Senator Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and John Brennan, the White House counterterrorism adviser, are taking part.
AntiSec again knocking snitches' doors cause treason is something we don't forgive Posted by www.legitgov.org 08 Mar 2012 Panda Pwned (Lulz Security lives!) By voice 06 Mar 2012 Luis Corrons, research director of PandaLabs. LOL HE ASKED FOR THE LULZ!!!! HERE IT IS THE LULZ.
LulzSec's Sabu: 'ask me about the CIA' --When the Guardian spoke to the hacker last year, he was keen to discuss claims he worked for the authorities By James Ball 07 Mar 2012 [Sabu] asked me to join him in an off-the-record internet chat – a conversation that happened seven weeks after Sabu, now unmasked as Hector Xavier Monsegur, had already been picked up by the FBI. Given the latest revelations about Sabu's activities, that he worked as an informer from after his arrest on 7 June until just a few days ago, I think it is appropriate to publish a few extracts from our conversation. Sabu – and we cannot even be sure that our correspondent was the real Monsegur and not a US agent – was not representing himself accurately to the newspaper. If anything, he was testing the Guardian out, openly flirting with the notion that he worked for the CIA – and then inviting me to knock him down.
Elite hacker arrested in NY cooperated from Day 1 08 Mar 2012 In his Twitter postings, the elite computer hacker known as "Sabu" urged followers to resist the U.S. government and its agents. But court papers made public Thursday reveal that Hector Xavier Monsegur put up no such fight when FBI agents first knocked on his door on June 7. From almost that first moment, he began talking, naming names and helping investigators pick apart the international community of Internet saboteurs [heroes]. He was arrested at 10:15 p.m. By the next day, federal prosecutors had told a judge that Monsegur had given them detailed information on other hackers suspected of breaking into the computer systems at several big corporations.
Irish police free student accused of breaking into top cybercop's email, US-UK security call --FBI affidavits: Student is Internet infiltrator responsible for recording and posting online Jan. 17 trans-Atlantic conference call between American and British anti-hacking detectives 07 Mar 2012 An Irish computer hacker accused of breaking into the email account of Ireland's top cybersecurity cop, then using its contents to eavesdrop on American and British anti-hacking detectives, was released without charges Wednesday. Irish police said they were preparing a new evidence file for state prosecutors to use against Donncha O Cearbhaill. He's been arrested and released once before over alleged hacking attacks in Ireland last year.
White Powder Mailed to New England Schools, Including 3 In Connecticut --FBI investigating incidents 08 Mar 2012 Schools throughout New England, including three in Connecticut, have been targeted by someone mailing envelopes containing white powder. The envelopes arrived at John F. Kennedy Middle School in Enfield on Monday, and at Anna Reynolds School in Newington and Island Avenue School in Madison on Wednesday. In each case, the envelopes disrupted the school day and prompted responses by police and firefighters.
New strain of flu found in bats --'And even though they don't have all the answers yet, infectious disease experts say just knowing this strain exists is giving them a head start at creating a vaccine.' 06 Mar 2012 The blockbuster movie "Contagion" showed just how easy it is for an emerging disease to spread across the world. Now, some say the cause of that fictional flu is at least one step closer to reality. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is tracking creating something new. It's not the bird flu. Not swine flu. But rather, the bat flu. Researchers in Guatemala 'found' a new strain of influenza in bats and are now watching to see how and if it can transmit to humans. Bats are known to carry emerging diseases.
Mystery Illness Kills Three in Maryland Family --'We have to wonder if it may be a mutant strain of flu virus.' 06 Mar 2012 Three members of a Maryland family died after contracting severe respiratory illnesses and a third family member is hospitalized in critical condition, the Calvert County Health Department announced Tuesday. Officials are trying to identify the illness that killed an 81-year-old woman and two of her children, both in their 50s, who cared for her in her home in Lusby. Another of the woman's children is seriously ill at Washington Medical Center. "The first thing that comes to mind is influenza," said Dr. William Schaffner, chair of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. "But when they're a cluster like this, we have to wonder if it may be a mutant strain of flu virus. There's been some concern about a swine flu variant."
Senate rejects GOP measure to build oil pipeline 08 Mar 2012 The Senate narrowly rejected a Republican-sponsored measure Thursday that would have bypassed the Obama administration's current objections to the Keystone XL pipeline and allowed construction on the controversial project to move forward immediately. Fifty-six senators voted in favor of the amendment -- four short of the 60 required for approval. Eleven DemocRATs joined a unanimous Republican caucus in backing the plan.
Georgia women senators walk out, protesting 'war on women' 08 Mar 2012 Women members of the Georgia Senate staged a brief demonstration against the Republican and male majority in the Senate, complaining that the GOP is waging a war -- against women and their access to abortion and contraceptives. Eight of the nine women senators -- the eight women Democrats -- walked out of the Senate chamber in protest as the Republican majority passed two bills they oppose.
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CLG Editor-in-Chief: Lori Price. CLG Chair: Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D. Copyright © 2012, Citizens for Legitimate Government ® All rights reserved.
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Farmers suicide and Implementation of Jadhav report
Farmers suicide and Implementation of Jadhav report
Respected Prithviraj Chavan(CM of Maharashtra).
News carried by national daily DNA carrying report on farmers suicide where the onus has being put on BT cotton seeds failure is very shocking. This failure has lead to many suicidal deaths of farmers in Maharashtra&specially Marathwada region. The million dollar question is who will be held responsible for such failure of spurious seeds?
The report which we are demanding to be implemented includes supply of good seeds, that Government should supply good quality seeds to distressed farmers. All private seed companies should compulsorily get their seeds graded by the Government. The Government should fix the prices of the seeds supplied by the private companies. The farmers should be encouraged to develop their own seeds. Further the Graded Seeds Scheme should be expanded to cover land ownership at least upto 2 hectares. Immediate action should be taken against companies selling defective or spurious seeds. The Seed Control Order, 1983 should be strictly enforced and if necessary, selling of spurious seeds should be made cognizable offence.
We demand an inquiry which has lead to failure of crops in turn huge losses& finally farmer's suicides. Therefore the seed company which has provided the seeds like Mahyco &others which are multinational-corporate brands must be held responsible and adequate compensation must be seek from these 'false seed'(BT cotton) providers. A strong legal case must be registered for selling such spurious seeds. We demand that Govt of Mah. must take swift& strong action against such seed companies.
Farmer's are backbone to economy,their life's are precious to be counted in & so losses are immense and irreparable to our Nation.
Jai Kisan & Kisan Sangathna!!
Yours Sincerely Contact:-mpjmedia@gmail.com
Soheb Lokhandwala
MPJ.Mah.
(Included the report by Dr.Narendra Jadhav&mpj marathi folder regards to farmers suicide)
Japan cleans up radiation zone, unsure of success
Japan cleans up radiation zone, unsure of success
AP | Mar 7, 2012, 03.31PM ISTFUKUSHIMA: Workers in rubber boots chip at the frozen ground, scraping until they've removed the top 2 inches (5 centimeters) of radioactive soil from the yard of a single home. Total amount of waste gathered: roughly 60 tons.
One down, tens of thousands to go. And since wind and rain spread radiation easily, even this yard may need to be dug up again.
The work is part of a monumental task: a costly and uncertain effort by Japan to try to make radiation-contaminated communities inhabitable again. Some contractors are experimenting with chemicals; others stick with shovels and high-pressure water. One government expert says it's mostly trial and error.
The radiation leak has slowed considerably at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, nearly one year after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami sent three of its reactors into meltdown. Work continues toward a permanent shutdown, but the Japanese government declared the plant stable in December, setting the stage for the next phase: decontaminating the area so that at least some of the 100,000 evacuated residents can return.
Experts leading the government-funded project cannot guarantee success. They say there's no prior model for what they're trying to do. Even if they succeed, they're creating another problem they don't yet know how to solve: where to dump all the radioactive soil and debris they haul away.
The government has budgeted $14 billion (1.15 trillion yen) through March 2014 for the cleanup, which could take decades.
The uncertainty plays out at many levels. One of the workers at the house with the frozen ground said they weren't sure how to measure 2 inches (5 centimeters) from the uneven ground or what to do with the snow on top of it.
``We often encounter situations that are not in the manual and wonder if we are doing the right thing,'' Takahiro Watanabe said as they wrapped up on a chilly February day. ``Just to be safe, we packed the snow into the bags.''
The 60 tons of radioactive waste sat in 60 waterproof bags, waiting to be carted away from the house in Fukushima city's Onami district. Some 40 miles (60 kilometers) from the nuclear plant, the neighborhood is a ``hot spot'' _ an area with high radiation readings that is outside the 20-kilometer (12-mile) ring that has remained closed since the early days of the crisis. Residents of hot spots were encouraged, but not ordered, to leave, and some, including the residents of the house that was decontaminated, have not moved out.
In the fading late afternoon light, Watanabe took a dosimeter in his bare hand and placed it on the ground, now covered with a fresh layer of replacement soil. It read 0.24 microsieverts per hour close to the target level of 0.2 and about one-fifth of what it had been before. "Looks like it has come down a bit,'' he said.
But for how long? With so much radiation in the area, workers probably will have to return to redo this neighborhood. And areas where children gather, such as parks, schools and playgrounds, will be held to an even stricter standard than homes and offices.
"You have to keep cleaning up,'' said Toshiaki Kusano, Fukushima city's top crisis management official. The city has a five-year decontamination plan, which he said could be extended.
For evacuees, a major step forward may come in the next few weeks, when officials hope to redefine the evacuation zone, possibly opening up some areas, based on radiation data.
Radiation accumulates in soil, plants and exterior building walls. Workers start cleaning a property by washing or chopping off tree branches and raking up fallen leaves. Then they clean out building gutters and hose down the roof with high-pressure water. Next come the walls and windows. Finally, they replace the topsoil with fresh earth.
Historically, the only parallel situation is Chernobyl, where the contaminated area _ once home to 110,000 people _ remains off-limits nearly 26 years after the nuclear power plant exploded.
``They abandoned the land,'' Environment Minister Goshi Hosono told a meeting of local officials and residents last month. ``We won't give up. The land belongs to each village, to each resident. As long as there are people who want to return home, we'll do everything we can to help.''
In an interview with a group of reporters, though, he conceded that such a massive cleanup is ``untested.''
In Hirono, a quiet seaside town just outside the 20-kilometer ring, 70-year-old Shuzo Okada hired workers to decontaminate his house but is not willing to live there yet.
Most of the 5,500 residents have left because of radiation fears. The town office reopened recently, but Okada says the dosimeter readings he takes at his house are too high for comfort.
``I've had the whole house cleaned already, but it's not enough,'' he said. ``We have to do it again and again. I hope we can come back some time. I'm an old man, so I'm not afraid of radiation. But I doubt younger people would want to come back.''
Experts say it may be possible to clean up less-contaminated areas, but nothing is promising in the most contaminated places, where any improvement is quickly wiped out by radiation falling from trees, mountains and other untreated areas.
Most of the cleaning is taking place in less contaminated areas, but the government also launched pilot projects in 12 districts around the plant, most of them highly contaminated, in December. Major construction companies and others won government contracts to experiment with various methods to remove and compact the overwhelming volume of waste. Those found effective will be chosen for further cleanup starting in April.
The dozens of methods range from the relatively basic _ soil removal and washing and scrubbing surfaces _ to the more experimental, such as using chemicals to remove radioactive cesium from farmland, and dry ice to get it out of roads and other hard surfaces. Konoike Construction Co. has tested equipment that compresses soil into round waffle-like discs after absorbing moisture.
``It's largely trial and error,'' said Kazuaki Iijima, a radiation expert at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, which is supervising the pilot projects. ``Decontamination means we are only moving contaminant from one place to another. We can at least keep it away from the people and their living space, but we can never get rid of it completely.''
Then there's the question of finding places willing to accept an ever-growing pile of radioactive waste.
The Environment Ministry expects the cleanup to generate at least 100 million cubic meters (130 million cubic yards) of soil, enough to fill 80 domed baseball stadiums.
For now the waste is being bagged and buried in lined pits. Officials hope to build safer storage facilities somewhere inside the 20-kilometer (12-mile) zone within three years. The government launched the cleanup without definitive plans for the storage facilities; it plans to start discussing their location with local leaders later this month.
The waste would remain in the longer-term storage for 30 years, until half the radioactive cesium breaks down. Then it would still have to be treated and compacted _ using technology that hasn't been fully developed yet _ before being buried deep underground in enclosed containers.
With all the uncertainties swirling around the cleanup, many evacuees are torn between a desire to go back and worries about their health.
Masato Yamazaki, a 68-year-old retired electrician, misses the vegetable garden at his house in Namie, a highly contaminated town just northwest of the plant.
``I want to go home even tomorrow if radiation levels come down and electricity and water are restored,'' he said in his temporary home, a two-bedroom, subsidized apartment in Nihonmatsu that he shares with his wife, their daughter and two grandchildren.
His wife, Hiroko, 64, doesn't think that day will come. She became particularly skeptical after watching the cleanup of a park across from their apartment _ she described it as a ``cat and mouse chase'' in which radiation seemed to be moved from one place to another.
It didn't help to learn that the foundation of their temporary housing had been built with gravel contaminated by the Fukushima nuclear plant. City inspectors say the level of radiation is safe, though everyone on the ground floor has moved out.
``I don't think decontamination works, and I don't feel safe about it,'' Yamazaki said. ``I've given up hope of returning to our home.''
One down, tens of thousands to go. And since wind and rain spread radiation easily, even this yard may need to be dug up again.
The work is part of a monumental task: a costly and uncertain effort by Japan to try to make radiation-contaminated communities inhabitable again. Some contractors are experimenting with chemicals; others stick with shovels and high-pressure water. One government expert says it's mostly trial and error.
The radiation leak has slowed considerably at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, nearly one year after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami sent three of its reactors into meltdown. Work continues toward a permanent shutdown, but the Japanese government declared the plant stable in December, setting the stage for the next phase: decontaminating the area so that at least some of the 100,000 evacuated residents can return.
Experts leading the government-funded project cannot guarantee success. They say there's no prior model for what they're trying to do. Even if they succeed, they're creating another problem they don't yet know how to solve: where to dump all the radioactive soil and debris they haul away.
The government has budgeted $14 billion (1.15 trillion yen) through March 2014 for the cleanup, which could take decades.
The uncertainty plays out at many levels. One of the workers at the house with the frozen ground said they weren't sure how to measure 2 inches (5 centimeters) from the uneven ground or what to do with the snow on top of it.
``We often encounter situations that are not in the manual and wonder if we are doing the right thing,'' Takahiro Watanabe said as they wrapped up on a chilly February day. ``Just to be safe, we packed the snow into the bags.''
The 60 tons of radioactive waste sat in 60 waterproof bags, waiting to be carted away from the house in Fukushima city's Onami district. Some 40 miles (60 kilometers) from the nuclear plant, the neighborhood is a ``hot spot'' _ an area with high radiation readings that is outside the 20-kilometer (12-mile) ring that has remained closed since the early days of the crisis. Residents of hot spots were encouraged, but not ordered, to leave, and some, including the residents of the house that was decontaminated, have not moved out.
In the fading late afternoon light, Watanabe took a dosimeter in his bare hand and placed it on the ground, now covered with a fresh layer of replacement soil. It read 0.24 microsieverts per hour close to the target level of 0.2 and about one-fifth of what it had been before. "Looks like it has come down a bit,'' he said.
But for how long? With so much radiation in the area, workers probably will have to return to redo this neighborhood. And areas where children gather, such as parks, schools and playgrounds, will be held to an even stricter standard than homes and offices.
"You have to keep cleaning up,'' said Toshiaki Kusano, Fukushima city's top crisis management official. The city has a five-year decontamination plan, which he said could be extended.
For evacuees, a major step forward may come in the next few weeks, when officials hope to redefine the evacuation zone, possibly opening up some areas, based on radiation data.
Radiation accumulates in soil, plants and exterior building walls. Workers start cleaning a property by washing or chopping off tree branches and raking up fallen leaves. Then they clean out building gutters and hose down the roof with high-pressure water. Next come the walls and windows. Finally, they replace the topsoil with fresh earth.
Historically, the only parallel situation is Chernobyl, where the contaminated area _ once home to 110,000 people _ remains off-limits nearly 26 years after the nuclear power plant exploded.
``They abandoned the land,'' Environment Minister Goshi Hosono told a meeting of local officials and residents last month. ``We won't give up. The land belongs to each village, to each resident. As long as there are people who want to return home, we'll do everything we can to help.''
In an interview with a group of reporters, though, he conceded that such a massive cleanup is ``untested.''
In Hirono, a quiet seaside town just outside the 20-kilometer ring, 70-year-old Shuzo Okada hired workers to decontaminate his house but is not willing to live there yet.
Most of the 5,500 residents have left because of radiation fears. The town office reopened recently, but Okada says the dosimeter readings he takes at his house are too high for comfort.
``I've had the whole house cleaned already, but it's not enough,'' he said. ``We have to do it again and again. I hope we can come back some time. I'm an old man, so I'm not afraid of radiation. But I doubt younger people would want to come back.''
Experts say it may be possible to clean up less-contaminated areas, but nothing is promising in the most contaminated places, where any improvement is quickly wiped out by radiation falling from trees, mountains and other untreated areas.
Most of the cleaning is taking place in less contaminated areas, but the government also launched pilot projects in 12 districts around the plant, most of them highly contaminated, in December. Major construction companies and others won government contracts to experiment with various methods to remove and compact the overwhelming volume of waste. Those found effective will be chosen for further cleanup starting in April.
The dozens of methods range from the relatively basic _ soil removal and washing and scrubbing surfaces _ to the more experimental, such as using chemicals to remove radioactive cesium from farmland, and dry ice to get it out of roads and other hard surfaces. Konoike Construction Co. has tested equipment that compresses soil into round waffle-like discs after absorbing moisture.
``It's largely trial and error,'' said Kazuaki Iijima, a radiation expert at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, which is supervising the pilot projects. ``Decontamination means we are only moving contaminant from one place to another. We can at least keep it away from the people and their living space, but we can never get rid of it completely.''
Then there's the question of finding places willing to accept an ever-growing pile of radioactive waste.
The Environment Ministry expects the cleanup to generate at least 100 million cubic meters (130 million cubic yards) of soil, enough to fill 80 domed baseball stadiums.
For now the waste is being bagged and buried in lined pits. Officials hope to build safer storage facilities somewhere inside the 20-kilometer (12-mile) zone within three years. The government launched the cleanup without definitive plans for the storage facilities; it plans to start discussing their location with local leaders later this month.
The waste would remain in the longer-term storage for 30 years, until half the radioactive cesium breaks down. Then it would still have to be treated and compacted _ using technology that hasn't been fully developed yet _ before being buried deep underground in enclosed containers.
With all the uncertainties swirling around the cleanup, many evacuees are torn between a desire to go back and worries about their health.
Masato Yamazaki, a 68-year-old retired electrician, misses the vegetable garden at his house in Namie, a highly contaminated town just northwest of the plant.
``I want to go home even tomorrow if radiation levels come down and electricity and water are restored,'' he said in his temporary home, a two-bedroom, subsidized apartment in Nihonmatsu that he shares with his wife, their daughter and two grandchildren.
His wife, Hiroko, 64, doesn't think that day will come. She became particularly skeptical after watching the cleanup of a park across from their apartment _ she described it as a ``cat and mouse chase'' in which radiation seemed to be moved from one place to another.
It didn't help to learn that the foundation of their temporary housing had been built with gravel contaminated by the Fukushima nuclear plant. City inspectors say the level of radiation is safe, though everyone on the ground floor has moved out.
``I don't think decontamination works, and I don't feel safe about it,'' Yamazaki said. ``I've given up hope of returning to our home.''
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