VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran will immediately curb UN inspections of its nuclear plants and pursue full-scale uranium enrichment after a UN nuclear watchdog agency vote reporting it to the Security Council, a senior Iranian official said on Saturday.

“After this decision, Iran has to immediately bring into force its parliamentary law to suspend voluntary implementation of (the watchdog agency’s) Additional Protocol (on snap inspections) and (pursue) commercial-scale enrichment which until today was under full suspension,” Javad Vaeedi, deputy Iranian nuclear negotiator, told reporters after the vote.
reuters.com

nice to see the Germans back on ‘our’ side:

Merkel likens Iran threat to Nazi era
MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel likened Iran’s nuclear plans on Saturday to the threat posed by the Nazis in their early days, as top U.S. officials urged a tough line to stop Tehran from making an atomic bomb.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accused the Islamic republic of being the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism, a charge his Iranian counterpart rejected as “ridiculous” and “outrageous”.

Addressing the annual Munich security conference, Merkel said countries around the world had underestimated the Nazi threat as Adolf Hitler rose to power.

“Looking back to German history in the early 1930s when National Socialism (Nazism) was on the rise, there were many outside Germany who said ‘It’s only rhetoric — don’t get excited’,” she told the assembled world defense policy makers.

“There were times when people could have reacted differently and, in my view, Germany is obliged to do something at the early stages … We want to, we must prevent Iran from developing its nuclear program.”

Iran launched ‘secret’ rocket test
IRAN secretly tested a new surface-to-surface missile (SSM) on January 17, seeking to establish the measurements needed for long-range missiles, the German daily Die Welt reported in its issue to appear today.

The test, conducted by members of the Revolutionary Guard led by Yahya Rahim Safavi, was successful, according to Western diplomats cited by the newspaper, which did not indicate the location where the test took place.

On January 28, Safavi said that Iran would use its ballistic missiles if it was attacked.

“Iran has a ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 kilometres,” he said on Iranian public television.

“We do not intend to attack any country, but if we are attacked, we are capable of effectively responding. Our position is defensive.”

Embassies torched as cartoon furor grows
DAMASCUS (Reuters) – Furious Syrians set fire to the Danish and Norwegian embassies on Saturday as protests over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad showed no signs of abating despite calls for calm.

Oil giant Iran, already embroiled in a dispute with the West over its nuclear programme, said it was reviewing trade ties with countries that have published such caricatures.

Something is about to blow…

Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. Maxine Waters (CA-35) expressed her support for a petition that is being filed before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The petition seeks to establish that the Bush Administration participated in a coup d’etat to overthrow President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the democratically-elected President of Haiti, in February of 2004, and, in so doing, violated the democratic rights of the people of Haiti.

The Congresswoman’s statement follows:
Two years ago, our government was a party to a coup d’etat in Haiti. President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the democratically-elected President of Haiti, was forced to leave Haiti in a regime change supported by the United States. President Aristide left the country on February 29, 2004, aboard a U.S. airplane when U.S. Marines and Embassy officials came to his home in the wee hours of the morning and told him to leave immediately or he and thousands of other Haitians would be killed. The U.S. plane took him to the Central African Republic and left him there.

This coup d’etat was carried out after groups of heavily-armed thugs had taken over several Haitian towns, occupied police stations, terrorized the local population, and entered Haiti’s capitol. Many of these thugs were former soldiers from the brutal Haitian army, and many of them continue to roam Haiti today with impunity.

After the coup d’etat, I led a delegation of President Aristide’s friends and supporters to escort President Aristide out of the Central African Republic and accompany him to Jamaica, where he was reunited with his family. President Aristide and his family are now living in exile in South Africa.

Two years later, the tragic results of regime change in Haiti are clear. Haiti is in total chaos. The unelected interim government, which was put in power by the United States and has received unprecedented support from our government, is both oppressive and incompetent. Violence is widespread, and security is non-existent. The Haitian police have been implicated in extrajudicial executions, and the interim government has imprisoned hundreds of political prisoners without trial. Haitian elections, which are now scheduled for next Tuesday, have been postponed several times, are fraught with technical problems, and are unlikely to be free and fair.

I urge the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to investigate the coup d’etat that occurred on February 29, 2004, and determine the role of the Bush Administration in this travesty of justice, which denied the democratic rights of the people of Haiti.
haitiaction.net

During an appearance today at the National Press Club in Washington, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld compared Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to Hitler, declaring, “We’ve got Chavez in Venezuela with a lot of oil money. He’s a person who was elected legally, just as Adolf Hitler was elected legally, and then consolidated power, and now is of course working closely with [Cuban leader] Fidel Castro and Mr. Morales [Bolivian President Evo Morales] and others. It concerns me.”

Concurrently, in testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence of the U.S. Congress, John Negroponte, Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the 15 intelligence bodies of the U.S. Government, claimed, “In Venezuela, President Chavez, if he wins reelection later this year, appears ready to use his control of the legislature and other institutions to continue to stifle the opposition, reduce press freedom, and entrench himself through measures that are technically legal, but which nonetheless constrict democracy. We expect Chavez to deepen his relationship with Castro (Venezuela provides roughly two-thirds of that island’s oil needs on preferential credit terms). He also is seeking closer economic, military, and diplomatic ties with Iran and North Korea. Chavez has scaled back counter-narcotics cooperation with the US. Increased oil revenues have allowed Chavez to embark on an activist foreign policy in Latin America that includes providing oil at favorable repayment rates to gain allies, using newly created media outlets to generate support for his Bolivarian goals, and meddling in the internal affairs of his neighbors by backing particular candidates for elective office.”
counterpunch.org

The United States is engaged in what could be a generational conflict akin to the Cold War, the kind of struggle that might last decades as allies work to root out terrorists across the globe and battle extremists who want to rule the world, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday.

Rumsfeld, who laid out broad strategies for what the military and the Bush administration are now calling the “long war,” likened al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin while urging Americans not to give in on the battle of wills that could stretch for years. He said there is a tendency to underestimate the threats that terrorists pose to global security, and said liberty is at stake.

“Compelled by a militant ideology that celebrates murder and suicide with no territory to defend, with little to lose, they will either succeed in changing our way of life, or we will succeed in changing theirs,” Rumsfeld said in a speech at the National Press Club.
washingtonpost.com

Rumsfeld: Terror Threat High
“The enemy — while weakened and under pressure — is still capable of global reach, and still possesses the determination to kill more Americans — and to do so with the world’s most dangerous weapons,” Rumsfeld said in remarks prepared for delivery at the National Press Club.

Bush’s Budget to Call for Nuclear Partnership With Russia
WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 — The Bush administration will propose in its budget on Monday the creation of an atomic energy partnership with Russia, offering countries a supply of fuel for their reactors under restrictions intended to prevent them from developing nuclear weapons, according to administration officials.

Under the proposal, the United States and Russia would provide reactor fuel to other countries and take back the spent fuel afterward to prevent its use in weaponry. President Bush called for a similar plan two years ago, and the International Atomic Energy Agency has recommended an international fuel system in which it would control custody of nuclear fuel.

World Nuclear Panel to Refer Iran to U.N. Security Council

Published: February 4, 2006
VIENNA, Feb. 3 – In a move that could change the course of international diplomacy towards Iran, the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency approved a resolution on Saturday to report the country’s nuclear case to the United Nations Security Council.

The resolution, which passed 27-3 with five abstentions, opens the door for the first time to possible punitive action against Iran in the New York body over fears that it is developing a nuclear weapon.

Cuba, Syria and Venezuela voted against the resolution. Algeria, Belarus, Indonesia, Libya and South Africa abstained.

The vote is the climax of a two-and-a-half year campaign by the Bush administration to convince the world that suspicions about Iran’s nuclear program are so serious that the issue must come before the Security Council for judgment.

Russian MP: US-Israeli anti-Iranian moves, premeditated assassination of Iranian nation
Russian Duma representative Alexi Mitrafanov Friday called the harmonized plot hatched by some EU members, United States, and Israel against Iran’s nuclear program “premeditated assassination” of the Iranian nation.”

Mitrafanov made the comment in an exclusive interview with IRNA, adding, “The reason behind US-Israeli antagonist policies pursued against Iran is your country’s independent and nationalist policies, that can be a model for other countries in the region.”

On Iran’s nuclear dossier, he said, “The united States, backed by the EU, the IAEA, and the UN Security Council lever, intends to impose sanctions against Iran, but such sanctions would initially inflict losses against the Americans and the Europeans.”

The Duma representative added, “In that case the oil prices would rise up to $100 per barrel and the West would suffer other losses, as well.”

He said, “Having the full cycle of producing nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes, too, is Iran’s natural right, and it is neither logical, nor possible to deprive your country of that legal right resorting to unreasonable pretexts.”

China’s UN Envoy: Won’t Support Sanctions Against Iran
UNITED NATIONS (AP)–China would never support sanctions against Iran as a ” matter of principle,” the Chinese ambassador to the U.N. said Friday, adding that his nation still prefers a low-key approach in confronting Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Ambassador Wang Guangya told reporters that he did not want the Security Council to put pressure on Iran, but instead to support the International Atomic Energy Agency as it tries to defuse the standoff over Iran’s suspect nuclear program.

Iran has no bomb but it will hit back, US told
IRAN’S clerical regime is supremely confident, has a firm grip on power and is ready to retaliate against attacks by the US or Israel with missiles or by activating terrorist allies, the latest American intelligence assessment says.

The National Intelligence Director, John Negroponte, delivered an implied rebuke to those in Washington hoping the West can engineer regime change in Tehran. In Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President George Bush issued a veiled call for the Iranian people to rise up against the mullahs.

But on Thursday, as the International Atomic Energy Agency’s governing body prepared to vote on a resolution to report Iran to the UN Security Council, Mr Negroponte suggested there was no imminent threat of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Tehran “probably” did not have an atomic bomb or the fissile material to make one, he said. But the risk Iran could make or buy a nuclear device and mount it on its missiles was “reason for immediate concern”.

Mr Negroponte told the Senate intelligence committee: “Iran already has the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the Middle East. And Tehran views its ballistic missiles as an integral part of its strategy to deter and, if necessary, retaliate against forces in the region, including United States forces.”

Mr Negroponte also noted that the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon “has a worldwide support network and is capable of attacks against US interests if it feels its Iranian patron is threatened”.

KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 3 — Heavy fighting in southern Afghanistan between the Taliban and Afghan police forces left three policemen and at least six Taliban militants dead, Afghan officials said Friday.

United States-led coalition forces and the Afghan Army were also drawn into the fighting, providing air support and ground troops in the battle that began Thursday night and lasted into Friday afternoon, an American Army spokesman said.

No American casualties were reported, he said.

The clash was one of the most serious in months, and it could be a sign that Taliban forces were regrouping in large numbers in advance of the spring. It also came as NATO prepared to take over military command of southern Afghanistan.

The clash began when the local police investigated a report of militants in an area south of Sangin, in Helmand Province, a big poppy-growing area where antigovernment militants have allied themselves with drug traffickers. The police came under fire and found themselves battling a large group of armed men, and temporarily surrounded.
nytimes.com

AFP: Fierce Fighting in Kandahar: 23 Killed
02/03/06 “AFP” — — Kandahar — US-led coalition planes bombed Friday an area of southern Afghanistan where a fierce battle had erupted between Taliban-linked militants and police, leaving about 23 dead, officials said.

“Coalition ground and air forces are on the ground… they are bombing the Taliban,” interior ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanizai told AFP.

“Coalition forces provided close-air support to Afghan security forces during an engagement,” coalition spokesman Lieutenant Mike Cody confirmed.

The fighting broke out near southern Helmand province’s Sangin district when police began a security sweep in response to several recent attacks on security posts, deputy provincial governor Amir Mohammad Akhundzada told AFP.

Reports from the battlefield said 20 rebels and three policemen had been killed, Akhundzada said.

Nearly 20 insurgents and 10 policemen were also wounded, he said. “The fighting is ongoing,” he said. “The Taliban have hidden in villages; we’re worried for the security of civilians.” Akhundzada said he believed the police were up against a force of more than 200 men armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating violence as such. But when I heard on the news and read in the newspapers about Jack Straw, Condoleeza Rice, Kofi Annan and others lecturing Hamas on the incompatibility of democracy and violence it nearly made me choke over my breakfast. The hypocrisy of it all. And some of our own leader writers joined in the general chorus. It takes two to tango. I did not see, in any of these calls to Hamas, reciprocal calls on Israel to stop its continuing daily violence against Palestinians.

As if democracy and violence have never existed together. As if democracy and violence do not go simply and always hand in hand. Which present day democratic state does not employ violence and terror? The US which claims to be a democratic country has used violent and terroristic means to impose its will over smaller countries. It has overthrown governments, which it does not like, by force throughout its history and has illegally invaded and terrorised many countries. The list is very long. Remember the Philippines, Cuba, Iran in the 50s, Indonesia, Chile, Guatemala, Iraq just to name a few important examples and has plans to continue to do so in the future. And what about Abu Ghraib, Baghram and Guantanamo? Are these not the living symbols of US “democracy” and violence? Stokely Carmichael, remember him of 60s fame, once said that violence is as American as apple pie. And to paraphrase Mark Antony “It is a democratic country”.

The champion of democracy in the Middle East, Israel, has occupied Palestine and practices terror on a large scale against Palestinians. Only a couple of years ago it flattened Jenin and continues to carry out what it calls “targeted killings” which are simply acts of murder. The great European democracies, England and France, maintained their colonies through violence and terror; so I wonder what Jack Straw was talking about. India, the world’s largest democracy, practices terror and violence in Kashmir.
zmag.org

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, Feb. 3 (UPI) — The avian influenza virus originated naturally and is not a biological weapon, a senior Russian scientist has said.

Oleg Kiselyov, director of the Russian Influenza Research Institute, said Thursday, “We have not advanced enough to create such a genetic machine,” the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

If the bird flu virus had been created artificially in order to be used as a biological weapon, scientists would have discovered this, he said.
upi.com

02/02/06 “OneWorld” — — Amnesty International is asking that hundreds of mentally ill people facing the death penalty in American prisons have their sentences commuted.

Ten percent of the first 1,000 people executed in the United States since 1977 suffered from illnesses ranging from schizophrenia to post-traumatic stress disorder and brain damage, the leading rights watchdog and opponent of capital punishment said in a report released Tuesday.

Another 3,400 people remain on death row and 5-10 percent of them have mental illnesses, Amnesty said, citing estimates by the National Institute of Mental Health.

The revelations coincided with hearings Wednesday in which U.S. senators heard about the death penalty from relatives of crime victims.
informationclearinghouse.info

02/03/06 “ICH” — — All over the country, organized citizens are fighting to restrict the military’s presence in schools. But having recruiters troll high schools cafeterias is just one way the Pentagon inundates our youngsters with messages to “Go Army!”

Since 2002, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has spent a half-million dollars a year creating a database it claims is “arguably the largest repository of 16-25 year-old youth data in the country, containing roughly 30 million records.” In Pentagonese the database is part of the Joint Advertising, Marketing Research and Studies (JAMRS) project. Its purpose, along with additional millions spent on polling and marketing research, is to give the Pentagon’s $4 billion annual recruiting budget maximum impact. And it has lit a fire under civil libertarians, privacy advocates and counter-recruiting activists across the nation.
informationclearinghouse.info