Clipmarks | abailart's 'iran' clips

US Trade Embargo with Iran

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:33:46 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: Figures are total for 2008 to date

Iran considers the recent US pressure on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to restrict trade with the Islamic Republic as "illegal" and it would jeopardize the region’s economy. T

Iran’s most widely circulated newspaper, Hamshahri, warned in its editorial that trade restrictions would hurt Iran, the UAE and other Middle East countries. US pressure for tougher trade laws is part of the Bush administration’s broader campaign to contain Iran amid tensions over what the US calls pursuit of nuclear weapons and support of the Iraqi insurgency.

Clip Source: www.census.gov

Trade in Goods (Imports, Exports and Trade Balance) with Iran

NOTE: All figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

Exports

65.0

Imports

59.8

SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division, Data Dissemination Branch, Washington, D.C. 20233

Tags: us-iran trade

Turkey is Centre of the World

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 09:14:40 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: Despite the fragile situation, if Turkey were to organise autonomy for Kurds in its own borders, northern Iraq, Syria and Iran it would be a heroic act of enormous historical import.

Clip Source: www.atimes.com

Turkey's political stability is no longer just a national issue of 80 million Turks. It is a vital issue today for the international community. And Turkey's role in the Israel-Syria peace talks is only the tip of the iceberg. In the highly volatile Middle East situation, Turkey also facilitated contacts between US National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. (The two adversaries visited Ankara recently.) Furthermore, Turkey has waded into the Iraq project.

Besides, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is poised to spread to the northern shores of the Black Sea. The new cold war has arrived in Turkey.

Turkish foreign policy is cruising at an optimal level with its prestige as a regional power running high as it mediates peace in its neighborhood and commands influence. Turkey has returned to the Middle East region after an absence of almost nine decades.

Tags: turkey

Iraq Poised to Explode

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:27:24 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: Not a stunningly original analysis but sometimes the obvious needs repeating over and over.

Clip Source: www.thenation.com

Despite the Optimism of the Neocons, which has pushed mainstream media coverage to be increasingly flowery about Iraq's political progress, in fact the country is poised to explode.

There are at least three flashpoints for an explosion, any or all of which could blow up over the next couple of months. (Way to go, Surgin' Generals!) The first is the brewing crisis over Kirkuk, where the pushy Kurds are demanding control and Iraq's Arabs are resisting.

second is in the west, and Anbar, where the US-backed Sons of Iraq sahwa ("Awakening") movement is moving to take power against the Iraqi Islamic Party, a fundamentalist Sunni bloc

third is the restive Mahdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr, which is chafing at gains made by its Iranian-backed rival, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI).

Tags: iraq factional internicine war, kurds, north iraq-turkey, iran shiites

A Gleam of Sufi Hope in the Darkness

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:34:34 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: <<<Another belief he shares with Sufism is the idea that God, humanity and the natural world are all linked, and might even be part of a single entity, a sort of cosmic trinity. This idea has practical consequences. For example, it suggests that a believer will love and respect humanity and the natural world as they would God. It also means that no one should be seen as an outsider.>>>
Who today represents a Christian counterpart?

Clip Source: www.prospect-magazine.co.uk

The Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, winner of our intellectuals poll, is the modern face of the Sufi Ottoman tradition. At home with globalisation and PR, and fascinated by science, he also influences Turkish politics through links to the ruling AK party

Is it possible to be a true religious believer and at the same time enjoy good relations with people of other faiths or none? Moreover, can you remain open to new ideas and new ways of thinking?

He promotes an open brand of Islamic thought and, like the Iran-born Islamic philosophers Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Abdolkarim Soroush, he is preoccupied with modern science

Unusually for a pious intellectual, he and his movement are at home with technology, markets and multinational business, and especially with modern communications

Sufism is integral to Ottoman as well as wider Islamic history, and in spite of attempts at repression, it remains popular and powerful in many Muslim countries

Tags: fethullah gulen

Israel Will Attack Iran with US Backing

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:21:30 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Israel "will attack" Iran if it continues to develop nuclear weapons, one of prime minister Ehud Olmert's deputies warned yesterday. Shaul Mofaz, a former defence minister and a contender to replace the scandal-battered Olmert, said military action would be "unavoidable" if Tehran proved able to acquire the technology to manufacture atomic bombs.

Mofaz is Israel's transport minister, but he is also a former chief of staff, privy to secret defence planning as a member of the security cabinet, and leads regular strategic talks with the US. He implied that any attack on Iran would be coordinated with Washington. "If Iran continues with its programme for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it," he told the Hebrew daily Yediot Aharonot. "The UN sanctions are ineffective."

Tags: israel, nuclear weapons

Israel's Nuclear War on Iran

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:19:30 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Oil prices leaped to another record high yesterday as Israel warned Iran about its nuclear sites and the dollar slumped on news of the biggest jump in US unemployment for 22 years.

Already jittery oil markets were sent into spasm by remarks from Israel's transport minister that an attack on Iranian nuclear sites looked "unavoidable". Any attack on the country would threaten supplies from the whole region.

Shares dived after the US unemployment rate unexpectedly jumped to 5.5%, intensifying fears that the world's biggest economy is sliding into recession.

Tags: oil, recession, israel

Iran Pulls the Strings: oil is not well for Cheney

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:39:15 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: Useful analysis of the complex matrix behind the geopolitical war to control Iraq.

Clip Source: www.atimes.com

The turf war in the Iraqi Shi'ite regions has several templates. Iraq's future as a unitary state; the parameters of acceptable federalism, if any; attitude towards the US; control of oil wealth; overvaulting political ambitions - all these are intertwined features of a complex matrix.

Tehran would be gratified that in any case it has made the point that it possesses awesome influence within Iraq. Anyone who knows today's anarchic Iraq would realize that triggering a new spiral of violence in that country may not require much ingenuity, muscle power or political clout.

to be able to summarily cry halt to cascading violence, and to achieve that precisely in about 48 hours, well, that's an altogether impressive capability in political terms. In this case, the Iranians have managed it with felicitous ease, as if they were just turning off a well-lubricated tap.

Cheney must be furious that Tehran torpedoed the entire US strategy for Big Oil.

Tags: iraq, iran

10 Most Beautiful Bridges in the World

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 08:55:32 GMT

clipped by: Aribeth
clipper's remarks: >>We’ve come a long way in bridge building since crossing a river on a fallen log. The first bridges were built with wooden planks, ropes and stones. Soon, stronger material were required. Wood and stone bridges gave way to iron, then to steel ones. Bridge building techniques also evolved: beam, cantilevered, cable-stayed, and suspension bridges - each with advantages that made it the right choice for a particular location.

Political fortunes and wars have been made or lost by bridges. Throughout history, bridges had been built by engineers and burned by warriors, and crossed by kings and commoners alike. Millions of people owe their livelihood to bridges, as most require them to commute; and yet thousands of people choose to end their lives by jumping off them every year.<<

Clip Source: www.neatorama.com

10. Khaju Bridge

Iran

9. Pont du Gard

spanning the Gard River in southern France

8. Bridge of Sighs

Legend has it that if lovers kissed on a gondola underneath the Bridge of Sighs at sunset, their love would last for eternity.

7. Iron Bridge

spanning the Severn river in Shropshir

England

6. Covered Bridges

5. Ponte Vecchio

The Ponte Vecchio is a medieval bridge over the Arno River. Actually, it’s much more than a bridge - it’s a street, a marketplace, and a landmark of Florence, Italy.

It is said that the word "bankruptcy" came from Ponte Vecchio. When a merchant failed to pay his debt, the table ("banco") he used to sell his wares was broken ("rotto") by soldiers. Not having a table anymore ("bancorotto"), meant the seller was bankrupt.

4. The Wind and Rain Bridge

in China.

3. Brooklyn Bridge

one of the main crossings of the East River and one of the most heavily trafficked bridges in the world

2. Tower Bridge

one of London’s most recognizable landmarks

1. Golden Gate Bridge

symbol of San Francisco

Story of Jesus Through Iranian Eyes

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 15:54:08 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

A new movie in Iran depicts the life of Jesus from an Islamic perspective. "The Messiah," which some consider as Iran's answer to Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ," won an award at Rome's Religion Today Film Festival, for generating interfaith dialogue. The movie will be adapted into a television series, shown on Iranian TV later this year.

LS: What are the key differences between Jesus through Islam's eyes and Jesus through the traditional Christian perspective?

NT: We are talking about the same beautiful man, the same beautiful prophet, the same divine person sent from heaven. In the Koran, it emphasizes maybe three main points: about the birth, about the fact that he was not the son of God, and then, that he was not crucified. The rest is [the same] Jesus ... the sermons, and the miracles, and the political situation.

Tags: jesus, christianity, muslim, islam, bible, iran, movie, film

Iraq: the Long War

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 08:03:25 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: Iraq and the mideast are historical unfoldings, not journalistic titillations. War and history are longterm and over decades. Children take years to grow into the bequeathed world.

Clip Source: www.opendemocracy.net

The Iraq war's relegation to the inside pages of most newspapers and media outlets in the United States is part of a wider decline in attention to areas where the country's political and military interests remain deeply involved. There has been little coverage, for example, of important events in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the first weeks of 2008 (see "Iran and Pakistan: danger signals", 10 January 2008"). This relative neglect notwithstanding, a cluster of incidents in both countries signals deeper trends with long-term significance.

The impact of the United States surge in Iraq on the containment of the worst of the violence is being represented in neo-conservative circles in Washington as a sign of success. The provisional and qualified nature of current trends in Iraq needs to be emphasise

Iraqi defence minister Abdul Qadir said that Iraq would require US forces in the country for the next ten years

Tags: iraq

Images of Squirrels

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:02:36 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: I am working on a field guide. In the meantime, be vigilant, be aware.

Clip Source: uk.gamespot.com

Clip Source: daniel5799.stumbleupon.com

Clip Source: www.morningstarr.co.uk

Clip Source: www.geocities.com

Above: Terrorist Squirrel attacks feeder and chews off finger.

Above: Amish Terror Camp where squirrels are taught to plant explosives.

Clip Source: www.extremefunnyhumor.com

Clip Source: www.israelforum.com

Exclusive photo of a Mossad trained Secret Agent squirrel with spy equipment.

Clip Source: www.bactexas.com

Clip Source: news.sfgate.com

Clip Source: www.zancy.com

Clip Source: images.google.co.uk

Baby squirrels
416 x 300 - 40k - jpg
news.bbc.co.uk

Clip Source: www.squirrelweb.co.uk

Simulation of the spread of grey squirrels. Different colours represent the predicted densities (no/ha) at 10 year intervals. a) year 2011; b) year 2021; c) year 2031; d) year 2041.

Clip Source: squirreldish.com

Clip Source: craterranch.com

Clip Source: message.snopes.com

"My government categorically denies that this incident ever occured. We have no interest in Iran. We are peaceful squirrels, and do not wish any harm upon any human nation."

Clip Source: forums.virtualfestivals.com

Clip Source: tv.winelibrary.com

Clip Source: www.hidden-worlds.com

Flying Squirrel

Clip Source: www.garyswildlife.com

Squirrels chew on wires

Clip Source: www.evilsquirrel.net

Clip Source: www.lookoutnow.com

Clip Source: www.winknews.com

Squirrels cause power outages for hundreds of customers

Clip Source: www.flickr.com

Tags: squirrels

An Iranian Philosopher: dissent and thinking

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 07:49:34 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: 'verbal violence': so thick in discourse it is taken for granted, made invisible.

Clip Source: chronicle.com

Ramin Jahanbegloo, the Iranian philosopher who won notice in recent years for his courageous conferences that built bridges to the liberal West, who invited such major Western apostles of free speech as Jürgen Habermas to Tehran.

"Doing philosophy in a country like Iran,"

"as in many other countries, is a work of dissidence ... but philosophy for me since Socrates is a work of dissidence. It's not just because of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It teaches you, and you teach others, how to think otherwise. To question and to criticize."

one must "search for the humanity behind the inhuman," that a philosopher's most important task is to fight violence, intolerance, and inhumanity.

"You know, being on the side of violence is wrong: verbal violence, moral violence, military violence."

a Sorbonne-educated thinker, who has published more than 20 books and sees himself as a votary of Isaiah Berlin's liberalism as well as Gandhi's and the Dalai Lama's nonviolent activism.

Tags: ramin jahanbegloo, philosophy

Iran receives first Russian Nuclear Fuel

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 19:36:48 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Russia has delivered its first shipment of nuclear fuel to a reactor it is helping to build at Bushehr in Iran.

The two sides reached agreement last week on a schedule to finish building the plant after years of delays.

The delivery of the nuclear fuel has removed one of the most significant practical sanctions against Tehran, says the BBC's diplomatic correspondent, Jonathan Marcus.

Russia urged Iran to stop enriching uranium, saying there was no longer any need.

But a senior Iranian official said his country would not halt uranium enrichment under any circumstances, Reuters news agency said.

Tags: iran, russia, nuclear

Tehran Calls Iranian Kurds "Terrorists"

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 06:59:10 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: In an exclusive interview with Newsmax recently in Berlin, Ahmadi says that Iran was now working hand-in-glove with Turkey to get PJAK labeled as a terrorist organization.

“Iran knows they can’t make trouble for us directly because they have such bad relations with Europe. That’s why they are going through Turkey.”

The Iranian regime has been telling journalists and diplomats that PJAK and the PKK (the Kurdistan Workers Party) are the same. “But we are an Iranian party, and have nothing to do with Turkey,” he says.

PJAK has become a serious threat to the regime in Tehran because it is fighting to overthrow the clerical regime in favor of a secular republic and because it favors equality between men and women, Ahmadi asserts. The group has around 2,500 armed guerilla fighters, 40 percent of whom are women.

Clip Source: www.newsmax.com

Unable to defeat rebel Kurds in their mountain strongholds in Northern Iraq, the Iranian regime has launched a campaign of terror against its own Kurdish citizens in an effort to paint regime opponents as terrorists.

“The regime is planning to blame this attack on PJAK, even though their own agents carried it out,” a well-placed Iranian source tells Newsmax. “They did the same thing in Sistan-va-Balouchestan province earlier this year, then went to [neighboring] Pakistan demanding the extradition of Balouchi activists.”

A PJAK liaison representative in Washington, D.C. denied that the group had any involvement in the Sanandaj explosion, calling the allegations “an Iranian fabrication.”

“PJAK does not carry out operations against civilians,” Saif Badrakhan tells Newsmax. “Iran is behind this kind of operation to terrorize the Kurdish population.”

PJAK President Rahman Haj-Ahmadi, the prime target of the Iranian regime effort, has lived in Germany for the past 35 years

Tags: iranian kurds, pjak, tehran, turkey, europe, terrorists

How to win in Iraq

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 04:18:07 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners
clipper's remarks: General Batiste is famous for being outspoken against the war and appearing in an anti-war ad for VoteVets.org. Lt. Hegseth is the executive director for Vets for Freedom.

These two from opposite sides have come together to lay out the way forward if we want success in Iraq and the war on terror.

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Getting Beyond Stalemate to Win a War

By John Batiste and Pete Hegseth

We are veterans of the Iraq war with vastly different experiences. Both of us commanded troops in Iraq.

One of us spoke out against mismanagement of the war

The other championed the cause of successfully completing our mission.

It's time to discuss the way forward rather than prosecute the past. Congress must do the same, for our nation and the troops.

First, the United States must be successful in the fight against worldwide Islamic extremism.

Second, whether or not we like it, Iraq is central to that fight.

Third, the counterinsurgency campaign led by Gen. David Petraeus is the correct approach in Iraq.

Fourth, our strategy in fighting the Long War must address Iran.

Fifth, our military capabilities need to match our national strategy.

Americans must mobilize for the Long War

Tags: iraq, war on terror, veterans, general, politics, military, congress