Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

TEHRAN (AFP) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was unhurt on Wednesday after an explosive device, officially described as a firecracker, went off near his motorcade.

Ahmadinejad was on his way to a sports arena to make a speech in Hamedan, south of the capital, when the explosion occurred.

Conservative website Khabaronline, the first source to report the incident initially said a hand grenade was thrown at the hardliner's motorcade but later in the day dropped "grenade" in its report and used the word "firecracker" instead.

[...]The incident came only two days after Ahmadinejad repeated his claim that Iran's archfoe Israel wants him dead.

"Stupid Zionists have hired mercenaries to assassinate me," Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech to expatriate Iranians on Monday.

On Tuesday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman also insisted that the hardliner is on Israel's hit list.

"It is quite evident that the Zionist forces are under state orders to assassinate different figures in the Islamic world," Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters.

"They may dare in their mind to assassinate Islamic world figures as soon as they have access to them and one of the greatest enemies of this regime is Dr Ahmadinejad."

The animosity between Iran and Israel has steadily worsened under the presidency of Ahmadinejad who has infuriated the world powers by dismissing the Holocaust as a "myth."

Israel too has never ruled out a military strike against Iran to stop its nuclear programme. On its part, Iran does not acknowledge Israel.

Idiots.

If the Joos really wanted that crazy SOB dead, right now there'd be a cork in his ass to keep the worms out.

True Colors

With Iran teetering on the brink of a revolution, our gutless Muslim-In-Chief defers from entering the fray. Remember the sixties? Remember the colleges seething with unrest? The demonstrations? The violence? Remember how the hippies who later became Congressmen and community organizers were so energized by this? Remember how these events changed American foreign policy?
That is where Iran is today. This is an historic opportunity to destabilize and perhaps completely neutralize an outlaw regime that has participated in the murder of thousands of innocent victims, as well as US servicemen, through its financial and logistical support of terrorism. This is an opportunity that was afforded by Bush The Younger's policies. And it is going down the tubes.

The Muslim-In-Chief's concern about Iran obtaining nuclear weapons is a sham. It's just another one of his Mussolini-style head shakes as he goes for the basket.
Charles Krauthammer has an excellent op-ed piece in today's Washington Post regarding how this once in a lifetime opportunity is being squashed.

This started out about election fraud. But like all revolutions, it has far outgrown its origins. What's at stake now is the very legitimacy of this regime -- and the future of the entire Middle East.

This revolution will end either as a Tiananmen (a hot Tiananmen with massive and bloody repression or a cold Tiananmen with a finer mix of brutality and co-optation) or as a true revolution that brings down the Islamic Republic.

The latter is improbable but, for the first time in 30 years, not impossible. Imagine the repercussions. It would mark a decisive blow to Islamist radicalism, of which Iran today is not just standard-bearer and model, but financier and arms supplier. It would do to Islamism what the collapse of the Soviet Union did to communism -- leave it forever spent and discredited.

[...] And what side is the Obama administration taking? None. Except for the desire that this "vigorous debate" (press secretary Robert Gibbs's disgraceful euphemism) over election "irregularities" not stand in the way of U.S.-Iranian engagement on nuclear weapons..

"Vigorous debate" is how the Obama administration labels the cries of millions of oppressed people who finally have run out of patience with their corrupt leaders. Millions marching in the streets and this clown calls it vigorous debate. What will he call it when the streets run with blood as government sponsored Irani thugs up the debate a notch? "Lively persuasive tactics?" or perhaps "strenuous disputation?" Obama's press hand puppet would have called WWII a "discourteous manifestation of international dissension."

Remember, this is the very same administration that labelled protests a form of "low-level terrorism" in a Pentagon refresher on terrorism. But I guess that only applies when the protests occur in the United States against the current President's policies.

The question read: "Which of the following is an example of low-level terrorism activity?"

Test takers had four choices: "Attacking the Pentagon," "IEDs," "Hate crimes against racial groups," and "Protests."

The correct answer to the question was "Protests."

Quoth Charles Krauthammer:

And where is our president? Afraid of "meddling." Afraid to take sides between the head-breaking, women-shackling exporters of terror -- and the people in the street yearning to breathe free. This from a president who fancies himself the restorer of America's moral standing in the world.

I vehemently disagree. The President has taken sides. He has sided with the purveyors of terror. He has sided with murderers of gays (what else do you do with unused construction equipment?) and he supports treating women like chattel.


He has sided with his birthright and his upbringing, he has chosen the side of Islamic and socialist radicals.

A Closer Perspective

The following is the gist of what the chairman of Iraq’s Democratic Party, Mithal al-Alusi, had to say about the state of Iraqi security, Iran, and what the US needs to do. These words were uttered during an anti-terrorism conference held in Tel Aviv this past week.

First of all, he said, “In Iraq, there is no occupation—there is liberation.” Alusi acknowledged that mistakes have been made, as is the case in any war. But for the first time in Iraq’s history, he said, “There is such a thing as democratic elections.”

And as for the terrorists that have fled Iraq in order to fight on another front in Afghanistan—as if miraculously beamed from one country to the next—Alusi urged the audience to get a map and locate the massive territorial divide these terrorists have miraculously hopped over on their way to Afghanistan.

“Iran is at the center of all the troubles in our region,” he said. And just as they meddled in Iraq’s affairs, they are now complicating the situation on the ground in Afghanistan in order to provide themselves with cover, he explained. They need time to finish developing their nuclear arsenal, he said.

After his remarks, Mr. Alusi was approached by the columnist for additional clarification.

“It’s very clear this is a liberation,” he told me. “People on the left in America have a problem with this. We in Iraq don’t have a problem with it. We call it a liberation because we know this is a liberation.”

Later, Alusi said, “I would like to say to the American people, thank you—not only because Saddam is gone—thank you for the change on the street and for the change in [our hearts].”

When asked about the controversial timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, Alusi pleaded, “This is not the time to give up.” Later, he said, “Please, the time you are working for us is over. Now we are your partner. We are facing now Iran. And Iran is not an Iraqi problem. Iran, in the reality, is an international problem.”

Alusi resents the fact that in America, Iraq is being turned into a political issue. “This is not fair to the Iraqi people,” he said. “This is not fair to the American soldiers. We know the price they paid. We paid the same price. We have lost families and children.”

Three years ago Alusi lost two sons to terrorists. They were gunned down right in front of him. He anticipates and accepts the same fate.

Now That Is A Big-Ass Bomb

There is a new bomb in town. The MOP.

It is a 30,000 pound monster designed to penetrate deeply buried facilities.

The MOP is a technology demonstration program funded by DTRA to develop a 30,000-pound conventional penetrating weapon that will defeat a specialized set of hard and deeply buried targets. Designed to be carried aboard B-2 and B-52 bombers and deployed at high altitudes, the MOP's innovative design features include a Global Positioning System navigation system and more than 5,300 pounds of explosives. Measuring 20 feet long, the MOP is designed specifically to attack hardened concrete bunkers and tunnel facilities.

I wonder who is going to have the honor of being the first on the receiving end of this? The Brits have a special interest in this type of munitions development and want their cousins (the US)across the pond to remember that they were first in this matter:

Bomb spotters may care to note that the MOP won't be the heaviest conventional bomb ever made by the US. The 1940s era T-12, at almost 44,000 lb, was a substantially bigger brute. The T-12 was one of the final developments of the World War II Allies' "earthquake bomb" programmes, developed to knock out German V-weapon sites and U-boat pens.

Famed British bomb boffin Barnes Wallis, inventor of the dam-busting "bouncing bomb", was an early innovator, designing the "Tallboy" and "Grand Slam" penetrators.

I remember the bouncing bomb used to take out German dams. I had a model of a Lancaster bomber when I was a kid with that bomb in a special rack under the fuselage. There was a movie made in the 1950's about it, "The Dam Busters." After watching that movie my parents bought me the model.

Leaning On Iran

Internation economic pressure is mounting on Iran.

Trade figures and other data have begun to reflect deepening economic isolation taking place as a result of U.S.-led efforts to penalize Tehran for what the United States alleges is the pursuit of nuclear weapons and sponsorship of terrorist groups.

I wonder if it will work because it didn't for Iraq. My initial opinion is that pay back is waaaaaay overdue. With lots of interest.

For example, Iran's imports from Germany fell 14% in the first eight months of 2006, the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce says. European Union countries account for 40% of Iran's imports, and Germany is Iran's largest European supplier, providing machinery, steel and electrical equipment, along with other goods.

German government export credits, used to finance trade, also fell by a third last year and are expected to drop again this year, said Ulrich Sante, a spokesman at the German Embassy in Washington.

Pressure is also being applies to corporations that have investments in Iran.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- DaimlerChrysler intends to divest its majority stake in the company that is its exclusive distributor for Mercedes-Benz vehicles in Iran, Germany's WirtschaftsWoche magazine reported on its Web site.

"The group is reacting to the growing pressure that the United States is applying on companies that do business in Iran," the magazine said Monday, without giving a source for its information.

It said DaimlerChrysler would sell its 51 percent stake in marketing group Setareh in the next few weeks.

This kind of pressure is certainly going to hurt Iran's economy, but will it make enough of a difference to influence those who make decisions regarding Iran's nuclear future?

And of course another consideration is the UN and its penchant for perfidy and greed. Is there an Irani Oil-For-Food deal in the future?

Iranian Five Passenger Zippos

Fresh news out of Tehran:

HUNDREDS of Iranian-made cars have suddenly caught fire on Iran's roads over the past months, with police pointing to the Peugeot 405 as the main culprit.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

The Iranians are manufacturing splodeydopin' suicidal Fwench cars!!! Instead of fifteen pounds of Semtex and nails, just take a test drive in a brand new Iranian car, "le Zippo."

Since the beginning of the Iranian year in March, there have been 125 incidents of cars catching fire without warning and then killing or injuring the occupants, traffic police chief Mohammad Rooyanian said.

"Around 300 people have been killed or wounded and 40 per cent of the fatalities were attributed to the Peugeot 405," he told the Kayhan newspaper.

The Peugeot 405, is a very popular model in Iran. The most popular car is the Paykan modelled after the British Hillman. Approximately 40% of all cars registered in Iran are Paykans. Other models include the Souren and the Samand which is entirely of Iranian design and manufacture.

The Peugeot 405 and other well-known models from the French carmaker have been manufactured under licence since 1990 by Iran Khodro, Iran's largest car manufacturer." Fire service figures from the first six months of the year have said that 700 cars caught fire in Tehran, out of which 70 per cent of them were manufactured by Iran Khodro," Mr Rooyanian said.

These cars are sold with a full tank of gas, three quarts of "Allah's Revenge" barbeque sauce and extra flints.

Iran Khodro's director of marketing Mehdi Ghasem said the problem was an "occasional technical fault in the fuel system" in cars more than two years old and emphasised that vehicles made in this Iranian year had no such fault.

It was just such an"occasional technical fault" in the fuel tank of the Ford Pinto that resulted in hundreds of deaths in the 1970's. One report indicated that:

the Ford Motor Company makes 24 per cent of the cars on the American road, yet these cars account for 42 per cent of the collision-ruptured fuel tanks.

Another staggering fact that was discovered was that a large and growing number of corpses taken from burned cars involved in rear-end crashes contained no cuts, bruises or broken bones.

They clearly would have survived the accident unharmed if the cars had not caught fire.

The Ford fiasco was a result of a cold hearted economic decision not to address the fault, which was discovered in test crashs conducted before the Pinto went into production. The tests indicated that the cars burst in flames when involved in a rear impact collision. The reason? The trunk of the Pinto would crush into the passenger compartment, splitting open the gas tank in the process.

As Lee Iacocco infamously stated, "Safety doesn't sell." The cost to fix the Pinto gas tank problem: just $5.08 per car to install a rubber bladder inside the tank. The Pinto went into production without it.

In comparison, the Iranian models apparently turn into gas fired grills for no reason. Maybe the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, believes that there was no Holocaust because all those Jews were killed in automobile accidents?

The traffic police chief, Mr Rooyanian, continues,

"We are not to going compromise on this issue. We are emphasising the need to improve the safety of the vehicles, so that our citizens will not be worried any more."

The citizens still uncharred that is. All this goof says is that they are emphasizing the need for improvements in safety. Actual changes to the vehicles to protect the Irani consumer? Programs to recall dangerous vehicle models? Guess again. In the same breathless fashion he finishes:

"Neither us nor the police have received any report on such a fault in this year's cars. Therefore, the registration process will automatically go on," he said, dismissing warnings of a ban on the car.

Ban them? No way! Use them as street lights!

Let me introduce the new fuel-efficient, four-cylinder, Iranian family car ... le Bic!


UPDATE:
Maybe the Iranian cars are suffering from sympathy flames. The muzzies are at it again in France. About four hundred cars were torched during New Year "celebrations."