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Confirmation Vote On Ashton And Rest Of Barroso II Team Tomorrow |
 A daunting agenda awaits the incoming Barroso II team ahead of its confirmation vote in the European Parliament tomorrow (9 February), as valuable time has been lost in ratifying the Lisbon Treaty, choosing new leaders and putting in place the new EU executive. "We have now had the longest interregnum in the Union's history," Sir Julian Priestley, a veteran EU insider, told this website. The jury will remain "out" on this Commission until we see the quality of the proposals and actions of the new team, but the toughest test will be for Catherine Ashton, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Commission vice-president, Priestley said. "Her job is the make-or-break one. She has to create the new service, ensuring that it has sufficient authority and autonomy to provide a serious back-up for the EU's external agenda. And she has to decide on what will essentially be a limited number of EU external priorities, where consensus can be achieved, and where the EU has a clear locus. And she will not be afforded the luxury of much time to prove herself," he warned. The pressure will now be on for the whole team to perform, and to act quickly and decisively. They may not be expected to produce "a hundred days of dynamic action," but "before the summer, people in the institutions and beyond will expect results," Sir Julian said.  Posted Monday February 8th, 2010 |
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Lieberman: 'Land For Peace' Is Dead |
 Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Israel Our Home party, says, "It's time to forget our obsession of "territory in exchange for peace; all future agreements must be based on 'peace in exchange for peace." Speaking at a party faction meeting on Monday, Lieberman said, "Peace is in fact our heart's desire, but it is not more important than Israel's existence as the state of the Jewish people or than lasting security for its citizens. We extend our hand in peace to enemies, but as long as they choose the path of war, we must be firm, return battle, and defeat the enemy. We must strive for victory instead of talking about possible compromise, interpreted as weakness by our enemies. "The demand upon us is to remove all Jews from Judea and Samaria, just as we did in Gush Katif – which would mean that a totally Jew-free state would arise in those areas, at the same time that Israel remains a bi-national state [with a 20 percent Arab minority]. This is not acceptable. A future solution must be symmetrical, and must not perpetuate the conflict whose very basis is the clash between two peoples." And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. And the LORD showed me four carpenters. Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it. Zechariah 1:19-21 Posted Monday February 8th, 2010 |
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NATO Chief 'Surprised' By Russia's Listing Alliance As Threat |
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen today expressed surprise that Russia still considers the military alliance a major security threat. Rasmussen, speaking on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich, said, "I have to say that this new doctrine does not reflect the real world." "To make NATO the main threat to Russia simply doesn't reflect realities," he said. "NATO is not an enemy of Russia. Posted Monday February 8th, 2010 |
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Russia In "Stand-By Mode" Over US Missile Plans In Romania |
 Moscow is "concerned" and expects "proper explanations" on US plans to deploy anti-ballistic missile defence systems in Romania, but it is still interested in contributing to a "common assessment" of threats with Europe and the US, Russia's envoy to Brussels told this website. Last Thursday, Romanian President Traian Basescu announced that his country had accepted an invitation by the Obama administration to host land-based anti-ballistic missiles as part of US plans to defend Europe against Iranian and other regional threats. "We took note of President Basescu's statement on his agreement to host those elements. This is a serious issue which we'll be analysing when we receive all the details regarding what exact equipment is meant to be deployed there," Mr Chizhov said in a phone interview on Monday (8 February). Asked why the Russian reaction was milder this time around, Mr Chizhov said that this was a "preliminary reaction," pending further clarifications from the American side. The rockets are set to be deployed by 2015, in a second phase of the new version of the US shield, which combines sea and land-based interceptors for short, medium and long-range missiles. Is their reaction "milder this time around" because they know what they and their evil coalition is planning to do just around the bend? Ezekiel 38 & 39. Posted Monday February 8th, 2010 |
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Netanyahu To Press Moscow On Iran |
 Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will travel to Moscow next Sunday for three days, his office announced on Sunday, for talks expected to focus on getting Russia to back stepped-up sanctions against Iran. The visit, planned weeks ago, comes as the West is showing signs of growing impatience with what is starting to be seen throughout the US and Europe as little more than Iranian stalling tactics. German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg responded to Ahmadinejad’s comments, saying, “Today’s statement shows that farce is being played out just like we have seen in the past, that the outstretched hand of the international community has not only not been taken but pushed back.” Israeli officials said they have been warning for months that as “crunch time” approaches, when a decision will have to be made on additional sanctions, Iran would “play all kinds of games.” A whole lot of good this visit is going to do. Does Netanyahu not realize that he is dealing with the “prince of the covenant”, the “guard” for the alliance? And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant. Daniel 11:22 I believe the” him” in this verse refers to the Man of Sin. … and be thou a guard unto them. Ezekiel 38:7
Posted Monday February 8th, 2010 |
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Iran Strong Enough Without Nuclear Weapons |
Iran has no plans to develop nuclear weapons because the country is strong enough to protect its interests without them, the Iranian ambassador to Russia said on Thursday. "First of all, we believe that the might of any country is based on the national unity rather than on nuclear weaponry. We believe in our national might, in our national unity," Seyyed Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi said at a news conference in RIA Novosti. "Secondly, nuclear weaponry has no place either in our religion or in our defense doctrine, and we believe that we are strong enough to protect our national interests using traditional methods," he said. Posted Monday February 8th, 2010 |
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Iran Plans Major Nuclear Expansion Over Next Year |
Iran said it will start making higher-grade reactor fuel on Tuesday and will add 10 uranium enrichment plants over the next year in a nuclear expansion sure to stoke tensions with the West. The statement by Iran's Atomic Energy Organization head Ali Akbar Salehi followed orders from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday for work to begin on producing atomic fuel for a Tehran research reactor. It may increase Western suspicions that Iran's nuclear program is aimed at making bombs, a charge Tehran denies. "The Iranian nation will show on (February 11) how it will punch the faces of all the world's arrogants -- America, Britain and Zionists -- with its unity," Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday, state television reported. Posted Monday February 8th, 2010 |
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World Can't Ignore Iran Nuclear Provocations |
Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday urged the international community not to turn a blind eye to Iran's declaration that it would begin enriching uranium to higher levels. "This is additional proof that Iran is ridiculing the world," Barak told members of his Labor party at a faction meeting. Posted Monday February 8th, 2010 |
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Iran Has Developed Air Defense System Comparable To Russia's S-300 |
 Iran has developed its own air defense system comparable to and even more sophisticated than the Russian S-300 system, the IRNA news agency said Monday, citing an Iranian military official. "In the near future, a new domestically-made air defense system will be unveiled by the country's experts and scientists which is as powerful as the S-300 system, or even stronger," IRNA quoted Heshmatollah Kassiri. The advanced version of the S-300 missile system, called S-300PMU1 (SA-20 Gargoyle), has a range of over 150 kilometers (over 100 miles) and can intercept ballistic missiles and aircraft at low and high altitudes, making the system an effective tool for warding off possible air strikes. Russia's delay in delivering its S-300 air defense missiles ordered by Iran in 2005 now makes sense. They have skirted the pressure applied by the US which insisted that they would not delivery the weapons system to Iran. It now appears that they have helped them build their own within the country. Posted Monday February 8th, 2010 |
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Iran Builds Own Aerial Drones With Strike Capabilities |
Iran started on Monday production of two domestically-developed unmanned aerial vehicles capable of delivering high-precision bombing strikes and performing reconnaissance missions, the Fars news agency said. Iran unveiled the drones, dubbed Ra'd (Thunder) and Nazir (Harbinger), at a plant in the northern province of Mazandaran. According to analysts, Iran has recently made significant progress in developing various types of combat planes and succeeded in gaining the technical know-how for producing aircraft and drones with stealth capabilities. Iran launched a domestic arms development program after a U.S. weapons embargo was imposed during its 1980-88 war with Iraq. Since 1992, the Islamic Republic has reportedly produced its own Saeqeh and Azarakhsh jet fighters, stealth-capable Ghadir submarine, missile boats, torpedoes, tanks and armored carrier vehicles. I guess these are for "peaceful purposes" as well. Posted Monday February 8th, 2010 |
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Two Israeli Navy Ships Pass Through Suez Canal Headed For Red Sea |
Two Israeli missile boats reportedly passed through the Suez Canal Thursday morning, according to Arab media reports over the weekend. Egyptian authorities reportedly adopted strict security measures to ensure the ships' safety. According to the reports, the two Navy ships traveled through the canal en route to the Red Sea. The sources did not provide the exact ultimate destination of the missile boats. However, Egyptian maritime sources quoted in the Arab media estimated that both ships were headed to the Persian Gulf and may reach it within four days. Posted Sunday February 7th, 2010 |
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