Crossfire War – RAPID FIRE NEWS=TEHRAN – BAGHDAD – DAMASCUS WATCH – West Asia – North – Northeast Africa Theatre: US Constructed Four New Military Bases in Iraq Near Iran Border – US Military Officers Met Anti-Iran Kurdish Leaders – Syria Denied UN Nuclear Inspectors Access to Three Sites
Night Watch: QASR E-SHIRIN – All this year Washington has made constant preparations for direct war with Iran. The most current example is the PressTV reports the Pentagon has constructed, in the last four months, four missile bases inside Iraq just 20 miles ( 30 km) from the Iranian border. The news comes from the Iraqi paper al-Noor which quoted an Iraqi police official. No details were given as to the location of the bases but it seems they are similar to the radar bases the U. S. used in Kuwait during the 1990-91 Gulf War. The bases also contain missile launch pads which are remote controlled and are only intended to be used in the event of an Iranian attack on Israel. Perhaps the missiles used here have the potential of intercepting Iran’s ballistic missiles, the main one being the Shahab-3. The military personnel at the base is composed of U. S. Marines, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) staff and Pentagon experts. [PRESSTV]
Palace Hotel – In its extreme desperation to find any weapon against Tehran PressTV reports Washington had U. S. military officials meet the representatives of four Kurdish groups which have long been active inside Iran in opposition to the government in Tehran and at times that opposition has involved armed attacks. It is part of the historical Kurdish regional position to oppose and attack any government in the region whether Turkey-Iran and at times Iraq. Armed Kurdish groups are active in both Turkey-Iran to such an extent it has forced Ankara-Tehran to engage in joint planning against Kurdish groups in their respective countries. Not only has Ankara openly declared and is engaging in a war on Kurdish militias in Turkey and Iraq, but quite frequently Iran has shelled Kurdish communities in Iraq near Iran’s border. [PRESSTV]
Since Washington found Kurdish groups in Iraq useful against Saddam Hussein in 2003 the Pentagon is now clinging to the hope Kurdish groups in Iran will have a pivotal role in overthrowing the government in Tehran. The meeting was held at the Palace Hotel in Sulaimaniyah which is in Iraqi Kurdistan near the Iranian border. A Kurdish website reported the representatives in attendance were: Mostafa Hejri, Abdullah Mohtadi Secretary-General of a faction of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, Abdullah Hassanzadeh and the General-Secretary of the Revolutionary Union of Kurdistan Hussein Yazdanpanah. I would not be surprised if all these leaders know they have no chance of overthrowing the government in Tehran, but they may believe, with more support from the Pentagon, they may have some successes inside Iran which could help them achieve more autonomy for Kurdish communities inside Iran. The U. S. military officials at the meeting may have given the impression a U. S. attack on Iran will weaken the Iranian government to such an extent it should improve the chances of the Kurdish armed opposition.
But the Iranian government is in a much more secure position than the enormously corrupt Baath party in Iraq under Saddam Hussein and what happened in 2003 just completed what was left unfinished in 1991. The reason for the twelve year delay is one of the themes of crossfirewar.com. The day after the Gulf War ended in 1991 CNN showed the London branch office of the San Francisco engineering concern invited to Iran. The firm constructed military bases for Saudi Arabia in the 1980s and Tehran wanted something similar but first it wanted damage done to Iraq’s military. The most important facilities are subterranean and nuclear bomb proof which is why any U. S.-Israel attack will do little if any substantial damage to Iran’s nuclear weapons industry. When the Gulf War ended in 1991 U. S. President George Bush Sr. called on Kurdish groups in Iraq to revolt and they were slaughtered. The same could easily happen if there is an uprising in Kurdish communities in Iran so I hope they ignore Washington. They should distance themselves from the suspicious and clumsy Order of the Death’s Head mentality in the Pentagon’s planning.
Al-Kibar – The Jerusalem Post reports Syria Vice-President Farouk al-Sharaa stated the nuclear inspectors from the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were allowed to visit the destroyed site at Al-Kibar in the desert in a remote part of eastern Syria and that was that. During their four day visit Damascus imposed not only a news blackout but also denied the inspectors the chance to visit three other sites suspected of being part of the Syrian-Iranian nuclear network. Their combined production of nuclear warheads at Al-Kibar was bombed by the Israel Air Force (IAF) on Sept. 6, 2007 but this is the first time I have seen mention of three other sites. Those three could be part of the discussions between the Chairman of the Pentagon Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen and Israel’s military leaders on Friday when the admiral arrives in Jerusalem. This is the reason Washington has positioned the aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman in the Eastern Mediterranean and the command-communications ship USS Mount Whitney. [JPOST]
Gaza – “Today there was another rocket attack on Israel. There was this kind of violation two days ago. It doesn’t matter to me who fired every violation demands and immediate response.” Those were the angry words of Israel Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni as the Jerusalem Post reports Palestinian rocket fired continued Thursday which makes a mockery out of the ceasefire agreement signed only last week. Hamas and Palestinian militants actually used the agreement as a publicity stunt knowing it possessed all the substance of a mirage. I expect Israel to make a response at any moment ending the ceasefire myth completely. Since the arrangements were made through Cairo, Tehran may hope Israel’s attack may cause Egypt to blame the ending of the ceasefire on Israel and therefore reduce any potential joint operations which may have been planned by Egypt-Israel against Palestinian militants. [JPOST]
