Apocalyptic Storm Forming in the Middle East
Joel Rosenberg writes, events are moving so quickly in the epicenter it can be difficult to keep track of, much less understand the big picture. So here it is in a sentence: An apocalyptic storm is forming over the Middle East.
Consider the data points:
1. Iran has just been caught secretly building a 2nd uranium enrichment facility on a military base in the religious capital of Iran, a city known as Qom;
2. A growing number of Western military analysts say the design of this new facility — and its secrecy, and location — clearly indicates it was being built by Iran for the purpose of creating nuclear weapons;
3. Iran has thus been caught in its third lie since 2002 with regards to building secret nuclear development facilities in Natanz, Arak, and now Qom;
4. Ahmadinejad refused four times during his NBC News interview last week to rule out the building of nuclear weapons;
5. A.Q. Khan — the father of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons development program – has just admitted selling advanced nuclear weapons blueprints years ago to Iran for millions of dollars;
6. The latest IAEA report indicates Iran has enough low-enriched uranium (LEU) to produce enough high-enriched uranium (HEU) by 2010 to produce two nuclear weapons;
7. Iran has just spent the weekend testing “its most advanced missiles” capable of reaching Israel;
8. Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began his speech to the U.N. by praying for Allah to hasten the coming of the Islamic Messiah, which according to his theology requires the destruction of Judeo-Christian civilization as we know it;
9. Ahmadinejad spoke more openly about his End of the World theology during his U.N. speech than ever before;
10. Ahmadinejad was asked for the first time by an American reporter to describe his relationship with the “Twelfth Imam” and admitted on camera that he is communicating with this mystical Shia messiah.
Iran Test-Fires Long-Range Missile – Puts Israel Within Reach
Iran test-fires one of its longest-range missiles, capable of carrying a warhead, state TV reports, putting Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf within reach. Iran state television says the Revolutionary Guard has fired one of the longest-range missiles in its arsenal in a third round of tests meant to demonstrate the country’s preparedness for an attack.
English-language Press TV said the Guard successfully tested the Shahab-3 missile, which is capable of carrying a warhead. It has a range of up to 1,200 miles, capable of striking Israel and U.S. Mideast bases and parts of Europe.
State television said Iran test-fired Shahab-1 and Shahab-2 missiles overnight, following tests of short-range missiles early Sunday. The Shahab-1 and Shahab-2 have ranges of about 185 miles and 435 miles respectively.
The drills are a show of force days after the U.S. and its allies condemned Tehran over a newly revealed underground nuclear facility that was being constructed secretly
English-language Press TV reported that on Sunday, the first day of exercises, the solid-fuel Fateh-110, Tondar-69 and Zelzal missiles were test fired, but did not give specifics on range or other details. Both are short-range, surface-to-surface missiles.
