Iran’s Digital Warfare

Last modified on 2008-07-10 18:41:06 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

It seems that in Iran beauty is in the eye of the person on a computer photo shopping the images released by the military’s communications shop. According to the New York Times, everyone was so pumped about the quality of the picture they didn’t notice two identical plumes of smoke, and two identical smoke trails immediately behind the missiles.

Four Missiles:

Or was it three missiles?

Apparently the Iranians felt that a paltry three missiles was only sufficient to get the French worried.

Take Ed or Leave Ed: Iran’s Nuclear Program

Last modified on 2008-07-08 20:54:32 GMT. 1 comment. Top.

It’s the world’s worst-kept secret that Iran would love to have a nuclear weapon. Oddly enough, not everyone is okay with that — the United States and Israel foremost amongst them. Most recently, Iran has rejected the diplomatic push by the United States and others.

The Iranian response was filled with criticism of the way the six world powers — the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China — have conducted the diplomacy.

“The time for negotiating from the condescending position of inequality has come to an end,” the response said, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity under normal diplomatic rules.

The letter added that such treatment “will not remain unnoticed in the eyes of intelligent statesmen.”

So the pressing question is: what does the United States do about it?

Fullosseous Flap keeps it short and sweet:

Negotiations with Iran have gone nowhere. The United States and Israel need to shit or get off the pot.

Allahpundit over at Hot Air says Syria might provide options:

The first question at the first debate between McCain and Obama should be how they’d improve upon the west’s current offer and what lesson they take from the fact that Iran still refuses to even address the substance of the proposal, let alone compromise on the terms. In the meantime, what’s our next move? Trying to turn up the pressure by peeling Syria away? I’m more credulous than usual that Assad might be open to it since Bush and Olmert are both weakened and anxious for a “legacy,” and thus he might think he can get a deal on favorable terms. It may be too that Maliki’s show of spine in Basra plus Israel’s big dress rehearsal in the Mediterranean have convinced him that Iran’s influence inside Iraq is ebbing and that war is on the way, and he doesn’t want to get dragged in on the losing side. Exit question: Would Bush go for it? After the North Korea deal, why not?

I agree that Syria provides an avenue from which to get through to Tehran. To what extent a war against Iran is expected, however, is another issue. The Iranians wouldn’t be saber-rattling and stalling the negotiations so intently if they weren’t confident that U.S. forces were already spread so thin as to make any serious military incursion nearly impossible. What they do need to worry about are the Israelis. According to CNN:

Israel conducted a major aerial military exercise over the eastern Mediterranean Sea this month, a U.S. military official confirmed.

The June 2 exercise was first reported Friday in The New York Times.

The United States believes that the maneuvers were in part an Israeli effort to send a public message that it has the capability to attack Iran’s nuclear program, the official said.

The exercise involved dozens of Israeli warplanes, including F-15s, F-16s and aerial refueling tanker aircraft, the official said. The size and scope of the exercise ensured that the United States and other nations in the region saw it, the official said.

The planes flew several hundred miles into the eastern Mediterranean.

The U.S. military calculates that the distance was roughly the same Israel would have to fly into Iranian airspace if it were attacking Iran’s Natanz enrichment plant, the official said.

So, are the Israelis planning to level a nuclear plant, as they did in Iraq in 1981? Who knows? It would certainly distract from Olmert’s political troubles. On the other hand, the DoD isn’t convinced the Israelis even know where the reactors are. Unless the Pentagon is fooling everybody and an attack is extremely imminent, an attack is not imminent. Am I not wise?

On a very different note, Andy Posner at the Huffington Post seems to have a solution to all these problems. Wind farms. I’m not kidding.

Such an offer would not only have the benefit of reducing carbon emissions and potentially spurring the adoption of renewable energy in oil-producing countries, it would also force Iran to reveal the real reason behind its nuclear program. After all, if Iran is truly seeking more electricity generating capacity, then it should be happy to accept energy in any form; if the offer is rejected, then clearly Iran’s program is not merely for civilian purposes.

A diplomatic coup! What trickery! What cunning! This is the most ridiculous thing I have seen today.

I take that back.

That takes the cake. (Skip ahead about a minute in, to the inspirational story of the elementary school nuclear scientist.)

On a final note, here’s an interesting twist to the whole affair courtesy of Aangirfan:

Britain’s top spy, Alex Allan, the 57-year-old chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, was found covered in blood by an artist, Dominique Salm, 35, who worked in his house.

To avoid any confusion, Allan was found blood-soaked in his apartment by an artist. He was not found in his apartment after having been covered in blood by an artist. Is it coincidence that this follows almost immediately MI6 head Sir John Scarlett’s visit to Mossad to discuss the Iranian situation? Perhaps we have some James Bond stuff boiling up here. It might also be pneumonia. I’m rooting for the Bond scenario, and am working on tying up the movie rights as soon as all of this is declassified.

Take it or leave it.