Day: December 30, 2017

The Danger of Iranian/ Korean Collusion

 

Recall Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States formed a political commitment with Iran in Geneva on July 14, 2015. The third anniversary of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known as the Iran deal will be mid-July 2018. (The deal was neither a treaty nor signed.)

But now there is a new wrinkle concerning Iran: Tehran is an apparent partner in proliferation with North Korea. Iran can get around the “sunset provision” of refraining from a nuclear weapons breakout for 10 years after the commitment was made among the parties to the 2015 nuclear deal: Tehran would be able to purchase technology or knowledge related to building a nuclear weapon from Pyongyang and breakout far sooner.

Earlier this year, CIA Director Mike PompeoMichael (Mike) Richard PompeoTillerson: State Dept. ‘not missing a beat’ despite vacancies Trump considering spy network to combat ‘deep state’ enemies: Intercept Five things senators should ask Tom Cotton if he’s nominated to lead the CIA MORE told Fox News:

“As North Korea continues to improve its ability to do longer-range missiles and to put nuclear weapons on those missiles, it is very unlikely, if they get that capability, that they wouldn’t share it with lots of folks, and Iran would certainly be someone who would be willing to pay them for it.”

North Korea and Iran have a history of joint missile development dating back to the 1980s, and both countries have been linked to the same Pakistani nuclear physicist. As CNN reports:

“Iran currently possesses more ballistic missiles than any other country in the Middle East but remains dependent on foreign suppliers for missile development and production.”

Background

What is the Iran nuclear deal? It posed a simple tradeoff: In exchange for Tehran agreeing to limit its nuclear capabilities, economic sanctions would be lifted. But the devil is in the details concerning a role for missiles on the nuclear side and state sponsorship of terrorism on the sanctions relief side. Obama front-loaded sanctions reprieve, so Iran received respite upfront, while compliance is to come later. Obama “trumped” Trump, so to speak.

The nuclear deal aims to extend time for Iran to create the bomb. To make one type takes, among other things, enriched uranium, which is fissile material; actual building and testing the bomb; a trigger mechanism; and a delivery system.

Some say Iran might be 2 to 3 months away from getting the bomb. With the deal, Tehran commits to refrain from pursuing it, and faces obstacles, if Iran seeks to break its commitment and pursues the bomb.

Under the accord, Iran is to abandon 97 percent of its stockpile of enriched uranium. It should give up 14,000 of its 20,000 centrifuges, machines used to enrich uranium, and agree to enrich it only to levels unsuitable in weapons for 15 years.

The deal curbs Iranian production of plutonium, another other element that can be used to build the bomb. The accord bans plutonium reactors for 15 years and stipulates Iran must dismantle its current one. If Iran abides by these rules for 10 years, it would take it at least 12 months to build a weapon.

While specific restrictions lapse in 10, 15, or 25 years, the deal binds Iran to permanent measures, committing to refrain from pursuing nuclear weapons and agreeing to notify the IAEA when it decides to build a nuclear facility.

Trump is right to place Tehran on notice. But the accord is just the tip of the iceberg now that North Korea is in the picture.

Opponents of Trump’s approach state:

“As for the problem from Hell in North Korea, (the president) and his National Security Adviser reject the acceptance of mutual deterrence. What then, pray tell, remains on the table? When we are unable to imagine deterrence and diplomacy working, we invite war, and sometimes wage it. On the plus side, the year now receding has produced a Ban Treaty. Kudos are due to its champions.”

The accord aims to extend time for Iran to create the bomb. To make one type takes enriched uranium, which is the fissile material; actual building and testing the Bomb; a trigger mechanism; and a delivery system.

The deal curbs Iranian production of plutonium, another element used to build the Bomb. The accord bans plutonium reactors for 15 years and stipulates Iran must dismantle its current one. If Iran abides by these rules for 10 years, it would take it at least 12 months to build the weapon.

While specific restrictions lapse in 10, 15, or 25 years, the deal binds Iran to permanent measures: Committing not to pursue the bomb and agreeing to notify the IAEA, when it decides to build a nuclear facility.

As an aside, another wrinkle concerns growing capacity of Iran in cyberwarfare. David Ignatius states:

“The Trump administration has declared its desire to help Saudi Arabia and other allies push back against Iran’s proxies across the Middle East, in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere. … (Washington’s) call for rollback is largely rhetoric, at this point; there’s still little clear policy. But Tehran’s allies can fight back, sometimes in ways that are hard to identify or attribute. That’s especially true with cyberweapons.”

Given the breaking news, background, and debate between opponents and supporters, how to proceed, considering evidence in this study?

The Way Forward

First, Trump must remember Tehran is a partner in proliferation with Pyongyang. Break links between them by pressuring both. If Pyongyang partners with Tehran they are stronger, and Beijing’s as well as Washington’s sanctions will have little effect.

Second Trump must make sure his National Security Council staff is familiar with pros and cons of the deal, for them to defend the administration’s position on the Hill.

Third, today is Trump time. Trump’s day has come to crack down on both partners in proliferation, with coercive diplomacy, that risks yet minimizes the need for war.

Prof. Raymond Tanter (@AmericanCHR) served as a senior member on the Middle East Desk of the National Security Council staff in the Reagan-Bush administration, Personal Representative of the Secretary of Defense to international security and arms control talks in Europe, and is now Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan.

The Rising China Nuclear Horn (Daniel 7)

China conducts ‘WORLD FIRST’ nuclear missile test that could hit target in SECONDS

CHINA has conducted a “world first” ballistic missile test that can come “within metres” of its target, US officials have confirmed.

By Dan Falvey 03:08, Fri, Dec 29, 2017 | UPDATED: 03:45, Fri, Dec 29, 2017
HGV MissileGETTY

In November, China’s People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force conducted two flight tests of a new ballistic missile that was attached to a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV).

A HGV is a form of aircraft that is capable of speeds five times faster than the speed of sound, allowing it to deliver nuclear weapons to their target in a matter of seconds.

According to the US official the test was “the first HGV test in the world using a system intended to be fielded operationally”.

Both the US and Russia have been working hard on their own tests of HGVs, but neither are believed to have conducted tests for a system that could be operational.

James Syring, Director of the US Missile Defence Agency, said in June that attempts to harness HGVs span back over seventy years but are only now being tested with the intention of being used.

He said: “Although hypersonic glide vehicles and missiles flying non-ballistic trajectories were first proposed as far back as World War Two, technological advances are only now making these systems practicable.”

The new tests conducted by China are their first since the ruling Communist Party’s annual Congress in October.

A Lack Of Vigilance Before The Sixth Seal (Revelation 6)

https://i0.wp.com/dmna.ny.gov/home/storyimages/NYSfaultsnoearthquakesforNG.jpgFaults Underlying Exercise Vigilant Guard

Story by: (Author NameStaff Sgt. Raymond Drumsta – 138th Public Affairs Detachment

Dated: Thu, Nov 5, 2009

This map illustrates the earthquake fault lines in Western New York. An earthquake in the region is a likely event, says University of Buffalo Professor Dr. Robert Jacobi.

TONAWANDA, NY — An earthquake in western New York, the scenario that Exercise Vigilant Guard is built around, is not that far-fetched, according to University of Buffalo geology professor Dr. Robert Jacobi.

When asked about earthquakes in the area, Jacobi pulls out a computer-generated state map, cross-hatched with diagonal lines representing geological faults.

The faults show that past earthquakes in the state were not random, and could occur again on the same fault systems, he said.

“In western New York, 6.5 magnitude earthquakes are possible,” he said.

This possibility underlies Exercise Vigilant Guard, a joint training opportunity for National Guard and emergency response organizations to build relationships with local, state, regional and federal partners against a variety of different homeland security threats including natural disasters and potential terrorist attacks.

The exercise was based on an earthquake scenario, and a rubble pile at the Spaulding Fibre site here was used to simulate a collapsed building. The scenario was chosen as a result of extensive consultations with the earthquake experts at the University of Buffalo’s Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER), said Brig. Gen. Mike Swezey, commander of 53rd Troop Command, who visited the site on Monday.

Earthquakes of up to 7 magnitude have occurred in the Northeastern part of the continent, and this scenario was calibrated on the magnitude 5.9 earthquake which occurred in Saguenay, Quebec in 1988, said Jacobi and Professor Andre Filiatrault, MCEER director.

“A 5.9 magnitude earthquake in this area is not an unrealistic scenario,” said Filiatrault.

Closer to home, a 1.9 magnitude earthquake occurred about 2.5 miles from the Spaulding Fibre site within the last decade, Jacobi said. He and other earthquake experts impaneled by the Atomic Energy Control Board of Canada in 1997 found that there’s a 40 percent chance of 6.5 magnitude earthquake occurring along the Clareden-Linden fault system, which lies about halfway between Buffalo and Rochester, Jacobi added.

Jacobi and Filiatrault said the soft soil of western New York, especially in part of downtown Buffalo, would amplify tremors, causing more damage.

“It’s like jello in a bowl,” said Jacobi.

The area’s old infrastructure is vulnerable because it was built without reinforcing steel, said Filiatrault. Damage to industrial areas could release hazardous materials, he added.

“You’ll have significant damage,” Filiatrault said.

Exercise Vigilant Guard involved an earthquake’s aftermath, including infrastructure damage, injuries, deaths, displaced citizens and hazardous material incidents. All this week, more than 1,300 National Guard troops and hundreds of local and regional emergency response professionals have been training at several sites in western New York to respond these types of incidents.

Jacobi called Exercise Vigilant Guard “important and illuminating.”

“I’m proud of the National Guard for organizing and carrying out such an excellent exercise,” he said.

Training concluded Thursday.

2018: Preparing for the Sixth Seal (Revelation 6)

Nostradamus predicts a major eruption of Mount Vesuvius

French prophet Nostradamus is believed by some to have accurately predicted the rise of Napoleon and Hitler and the 9/11 Twin Towers attacks.Many researchers of the infamous prophet, who died in 1566, are also convinced he has correctly foretold the current barbaric acts being committed by ISIS in the Middle East including its bid to capture areas of Europe to fulfil its Caliphate. 

Now people are looking at what his writings could foretell about 2018.

Alessandro Bruno wrote on Lombardiletter.com: “The Nostradamus predictions for 2018 are dire, as they include what might become World War 3.

“The Nostradamus WW3 predictions have gained traction because so many people feel helpless. They sense that the world is beyond their control and they feel that difficult times are ahead.

“Beyond the individual Nostradamus future predictions 2018, there is a common theme.

“Negative energy will intensify and accelerate with unprecedented intensity and speed.

“World War 3 news has become current again. That’s because most people are ignoring the fact that Russia and the United States have resumed a level of tension not seen since almost 30 years ago.

“Instead of diffusing it, Senators and congressional representatives in Washington are fuelling the risks.”

Getty

Nostradamus has predicted terrible woes for 2018, but people may live until 200.

2018 PREDICTIONS:1. World War 3:

 

The most chilling prediction for 2018 is from Nostradamus’ book Les Propheties.

It includes a quatrain that some have interpreted as describing the start of the third world war.

Nostradamus said: “The big war will start in France and all Europe will be attacked, it will be long and terrifying for everyone and then finally there will be peace but only a few will enjoy it.

“A war will start between the two great world powers and it will last for a period of 27 years.”

Some commentators have predicted China, Russia and North Korea will unite to take on the US.

2. Major eruption of Mount Vesuvius

The Italian volcano will “shake the earth every five minutes,” and at least 6,000 people will be killed, according to the prophecy.

In early 2016 more than 1.5million people were warned they are were living in the danger zone of the super volcano, which it was said could go off anytime -causing a global catastrophe.

Half of the three million people living in Naples were told they live within a new yellow danger zone of the Vesuvius supervolcano, the infamous peak which was responsible for the historic destruction of Pompeii in 79AD.

Rocky Mountains recluse claims to be prophet of God

3. Terrible earthquake:Nostradamus appears to have predicted natural disaster across the United States. 

He wrote: “An earthquake shall concern particularly the western area of the United States. Its power shall be felt in lands throughout the globe.”

Worryingly, the US Geological Survey (USGS) carefully monitors seismic activity in the Cascadia Subduction Zone, where there were a series of medium tremors in 2016, and two fault lines in California, including San Andreas.

Scientists say both the California fault lines and the Cascadia Subduction Zone are long overdue a major earthquake of magnitude eight or above.

They have revealed the Cascadia Subduction Zone is of most concern.

It runs about 60 miles offshore along the Pacific coast from northern California to Vancouver Island, so major cities including Portland, Seattle and Vancouver are within its tsunami range, threatening millions of people and major infrastructure.

Do these pictures ‘prove’ the end of the world is near?

Thu, November 9, 2017

According to conspiracy theorists, the end is upon us

This creature washed up on the shores of a Texas beach

This creature washed up on the shores of a Texas beach

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4. Comet or asteroid strike:A major asteroid strike is expected as Nostradamus has been interpreted as saying for 2018: “A moment of great violence will coincide with the appearance of a comet in the sky. A nuclear terrorism and natural catastrophes will destroy our planet.”While it is accepted an asteroid or comet will one day threaten Earth, NASA says it knows of no major one that threatens is for at least 100 years.

5. Economic collapse:

Nostradamus said: “the rich would die many times over.”

This is taken by many to mean the global economic collapse as a result of WW3 and the effects of many natural disasters.

6. Humans will live to be over 200: 

With so much doom and gloom predicted, this seems as unlikely one.

However, Nostradamus predicted: “The advancements of medicine will raise humans’ life expectancy up to at least 200 years of age.”

It has been interpreted as meaning towards the end of 2018, an 80-year-old person will resemble a 50-year old.

Five Nostradamus predictions for 2017

Other predictions for 2018 include humans will become able speak to animals people who want to have children will require a licence or permit; language differences will disappear, wild fires from global warming, but on the plus size there will be an end of taxes in the west.However, according to Ancientcode.com, which looks at such prophecies, the interpretations have to be taken with a pinch of salt as similar ones were made for 2017.It said in an article: “But what does Nostradamus say about 2018?

“Nostradamus’s quatrains describe a level of destruction more gruesome than anything he had predicted earlier.

“According to these reports, Nostradamus saw terrible events happening in 2018 (Although similar things were said about 2017).

“Consider these predictions with caution, but many of these warnings—with a few detail changes— could certainly apply to the modern world.

“For the skeptics, among whom I include myself, there are doubtless some ominous-sounding Nostradamus predictions from the past to generate concern.”

Sceptics also point out that there have been many earlier interpretations of other Nostradamus quatrains which said WW3 would begin around 1999.

Nostradamus Predictions for 2017

Sun, January 8, 2017

Nostradamus made a number of shocking predictions for what he believed would happen in 2017.

Nostradamus Predictions for 2017

Nostradamus Predictions for 2017

This problem with dates has led some Nostradamus researchers to conclude we are already in a WWIII, which some how started in 1999, and should therefore come to an horrific conclusion, “probably involving nuclear weapons”, in 2026, after the 27 years ends.Nostradamus is also claimed by some to have correctly predicted the Twin Towers attacks of 9/11 with the line: “The year 1999 seven months, from the sky will come the great King of Terror”, prompting Bin Laden’s brief holder of the third Antichrist title, but it was actually around two years out.
 

Sceptics of Nostradamus point out that at least 50 per cent of his premonitions were so way off that even the die hard researchers leave them alone.

And, of the 50 per cent that he is said to have got right, there are many that believe the vague terminology used by the French “prophet, and so-called Nostradamus codes need a strong dose of hindsight and imagination to prove the prophecy after the event.

One online researcher wrote: “By using the same techniques as those who find miracles in the Quran or Bible, “researchers” have done the exact same thing with Nostradamus.

“To be clear, I don’t believe such nonsense, since all Nostradamus did was write a whole bunch of cryptic things and then let the reader use their imagination to interpret verses to suit their own beliefs.

“The verses can only be understood once the event has already happened, as hindsight.”

Obama’s Dirty Deals (Daniel 8:4)

The Barack Obama administration thwarted a covert operation against the Iran-backed terror organization Hezbollah in order to avoid hurting what was then a delicate emerging nuclear agreement with Iran, Politico reported on Monday.

According to the extensive report, the White House directly prevented actions by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to battle Hezbollah drugs and weapons trafficking operations.

Lebanon-based Hezbollah is officially designated by the U.S. State Department as terrorist group.

The operation against Hezbollah, dubbed “Project Cassandra,” began in 2008 after the DEA received ample evidence of Hezbollah’s evolution from a military and political organization in the Middle East into a full-fledged international crime organization that smuggles ammunitions and drugs -among other illegal activities.

The Politico report says the agency operatives tracked Hezbollah’s criminal activity for eight years, witnessing the terror group laundering money and smuggling cocaine through regular shipments. Evidence attested to the fact that Hezbollah insiders as well as the group’s supporters in Iran were in on the covert, criminal actions.

But the Oval Office during Obama’s tenure allegedly posed multiple hurdles along the DEA’s path to fighting Hezbollah, with the Department of Treasury and the Department of Justice both preventing the program’s managers from taking action and withholding approval for requests.

Politico reported that federal agents involved in “Project Cassandra” told the publication that they wanted to put a Hezbollah operative on trial but were refused by the administration. The suspect, nicknamed “Ghost,” is known by the DEA to be one of the biggest cocaine smugglers in the world. “This was a policy decision, it was a systematic decision,” David Asher, who helped found the program and oversaw it as a Defense Department finance analyst, told Politico. “They serially ripped apart this entire effort that was very well supported and resourced, and it was done from the top down,” he charged.

The DEA was not the only entity the White House held back from acting against the terror group. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was also forced to take more measured steps, an ex-CIA official told Politico.

The White House demanded that the CIA refrain from taking actions against the group, the unnamed official said. He explained that during an early stage in the negotiations of the nuclear accord, the Iranians complained to the U.S. and asked that it lessen the pressure it was applying on Hezbollah. The official said that the Obama administration agreed to it,  because it “really, really, really wanted the deal.”

As a result, the former senior CIA officer said, the agency was “making concessions that had never been made before, which is outrageous to anyone in the agency.” Orders from Washington were especially aggravating to CIA officers in the field who he asserted knew that Hezbollah “was still doing assassinations and other terrorist activities.”

He added that this was a directive by the administration that was meant to “show good faith toward the Iranians in terms of reaching an agreement.”

Nonetheless, some of the interviewees in the report did not agree with the harsh claims against the Obama administration.

A former senior member of the national security establishment who participated in talks with Iran cast doubts on the charge that cases that were managed as part of the “Cassandra Project” were closed for political reasons. According to him, there were other reasons that seem more logical, such as a substantial lack of evidence or the administration’s concern of interfering with intelligence activities.

“What if the CIA or the Mossad had an intelligence operation ongoing inside Hezbollah and they were trying to pursue someone against whom we had impeccable [intelligence] collection and the DEA is not going to know that?” the official said.

“The world,” he went on to say, “is a lot more complicated than viewed through the narrow lens of drug trafficking. So you’re not going to let CIA rule the roost, but you’re also certainly not going to let DEA do it either. Your approach to anything as complicated as Hezbollah is going to have to involve the interagency [process], because the State Department has a piece of the pie, the intelligence community does, Treasury does, DOD does.”

The Iran nuclear deal, which reportedly was the main reason behind the Obama’s administration wariness in regards to cracking down on Tehran’s ally Hezbollah, is known also at the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. It was signed on July 14, 2015, between Iran, China, France, Russia, the UK, Germany, the European Union and the U.S.

Hezbollah and Iran are known to be close proxies, with Iran providing the terror group with ammunition, military training and funding. Ex-President Barack Obama was an avid supporter of the deal, and lauded it as the only means to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.