THE FINAL CONFRONTATION

by James Reed
The Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in October 2005 said that the Holocaust was a myth and that Israel should be "wiped off the map". On 24/4/06 he said: "We say that this fake regime [Israel] cannot legally continue to live."
He also said that the people of Germany and Austria were victims of a historical injustice. "German people today are still making amends for a war they had no part of. Three generations later, what have the German people done to deserve this?"

Israel's President Moshe Katsav said in reply:
"I call on the western world not to stand silently in the face of nations that are trying to acquire nuclear weapons and preach for the destruction of Israel."
The Israeli Defence Minster Shaul Mofaz also said:
"Of all the threats we face, Iran is the biggest. The world must not wait. It must do everything necessary on a diplomatic level in order to stop its nuclear activity. Since Hitler we have not faced such a threat." That is indeed so.

Ahmadinejad is a follower of Basiji, an Islamic movement created by Khomeini in 1979, which was a volunteer militia. The Basiji fought by a "human wave" approach, charging the enemy in wave after wave of cannon fodder. Death did not matter.
Theologically, Khomeini held that the natural world was degenerate and unclean and that what mattered was the Divine world which martyrs could reach.
Such a theology was capable of making men use their own bodies in "human waves" to clear mine fields. For such minds, what difference is there between a mine and a nuclear bomb?

Former Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani said in December 2001, "the use of even one nuclear bomb inside Israel will destroy everything." He acknowledged that Israel will respond with its own nuclear exchange but felt that it "will only harm the Islamic world. It is not irrational to contemplate such an eventuality." He thought that only 100,000 martyrs would die. A crazy estimation, or more likely, simply propaganda.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad apparently is unconcerned about such matters as radioactive fall out over Europe and destruction of Europe's ecology. For the Basiji the natural world is, after all; "the scum of creation". There is little real doubt that a nuclear-armed Iran will attempt to destroy Israel, and probably will succeed. The US has failed to secure international support for targeted sanctions against Iran.
Iran argues that it has a right to a nuclear programme; after all Israel has hundreds of nuclear weapons and has not signed a nuclear non-proliferation agreement.

These sorts of arguments have no doubt persuaded nations like China and Russia on the United Nations Security Council to resist international sanctions. This leaves the US with the remaining option of using tactical nuclear weapons on Iranian nuclear sites. Journalist Paul Rogers, writing on this issue in the on-line journal Open Democracy (20/4/06, www.opendemocracy.net) believes that war with Iran could be within the remaining months of this year.
The US military elites believe that the destruction of Iran's nuclear facilities is military feasible. (One wonders what change to plans have been made in the knowledge that North Korea now has nuclear capabilities…ed) Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a "psychopath of the worse kind, with an anti-Semite. God forbid this man from ever getting his hands on nuclear weapons."
He has said that if the West did not act "Israel has always left open the possibility that it would itself launch an attack against Iranian nuclear development facilities. (The Australian 1/5/06, p.10)

Whatever happens, the world is entering a dangerous era where mass-death seems unavoidable.

"COLD WAR SHIVERS"

by Michel Chossudovsky of Global Research:
War Preparations in the Middle East and Central Asia
It is essential that people across America and around the World take cognizance of the dangers of a Middle East war directed against Iran and act decisively to challenge the US military agenda and reverse the tide of war.
The World is at the crossroads of the most serious crisis in modern history. The US has embarked on a military adventure, "a long war", which threatens the future of humanity. This article documents recent developments, focusing on military deployment and preparations in the event of a US led war on Iran, and follows a number of earlier reports published by Global Research pertaining to the War on Iran (See Iran dossier, Nuclear War dossier, Lebanon dossier )

Background - The entire Middle East Central Asian region is on a war footing:
US-NATO naval deployment is taking place in two distinct theatres: the Persian Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean. (See Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, October 2006). The naval armada in the Persian Gulf is largely under US command, with the participation of Canada. Both the USS Enterprise and Eisenhower Strike groups have been dispatched to the Persian Gulf in a massive display of US military might.

The militarization of the Eastern Mediterranean (on land and sea) is under the control of several NATO member countries including France, Germany and Turkey. This military build-up is conducted under the façade of a UN peace-keeping mission (UNIFIL) pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1701. In this context, the war on Lebanon must be viewed as a stage of the broader US sponsored military road-map, which targets Syria.

In September, Germany dispatched a fleet of eight ships including 2 frigates, with up to 2,400 personnel aboard. The German navy will be in charge of the multinational naval force, which has, under its official UNIFIL mandate "to prevent arms shipments to Hezbollah". The German naval force will operate out of the Cyprus port of Limassol, located within less than 100 km. from the Lebanon-Syria coastline. The Cyprus based multinational naval force could eventually be used to encroach on maritime trade with Syria.

In early October, Turkey dispatched several warships, which will join the multinational naval force under German command. While Turkey is formally part of the UN international force (UNIFIL), it is also a close military ally of Israel. Greek, Bulgarian and Italian warships have also been dispatched to the Lebanese coast. France has dispatched armoured vehicle and infantry units:
The nature of the military equipment and weapons systems being deployed has little to do with "peace-keeping". Moreover, NATO established a close military partnership with Israel in 2005, which in practice binds NATO member countries involved in Lebanon to fully co-operate with Israel. The naval build up has been co-ordinated with the planned air attacks on Iran.

The latter were outlined in mid-2004, following the formulation of CONCEPT PLAN CONPLAN 8022 (early 2004). The air attacks on Iran would involve a "shock and awe" blitzkrieg on a scale similar to the 2003 air war on Iraq.
In November 2004, US Strategic Command conducted a major exercise of a "global strike plan" entitled "Global Lightening". The latter involved a simulated attack using both conventional and nuclear weapons against a "fictitious enemy" [Iran]. Following the "Global Lightening" exercise, US Strategic Command declared an advanced state of readiness.
CONPLAN is the operational plan pursuant to the Global Strike Plan. It is described as "an actual plan that the Navy and the Air Force translate into strike package for their submarines and bombers'. CONPLAN 8022 is 'the overall umbrella plan for sort of the pre-planned strategic scenarios involving nuclear weapons.'
'It's specifically focused on these new types of threats -- Iran, North Korea -- proliferators and potentially terrorists too,' he said. 'There's nothing that says that they can't use CONPLAN 8022 in limited scenarios against Russian and Chinese targets.' (According to Hans Kristensen, of the Nuclear Information Project, quoted in Japanese. The use of tactical nuclear weapons is contemplated under CONPLAN 8022 alongside conventional weapons, as part of the Bush administration's pre-emptive war doctrine. In May 2004, National Security Presidential Directive NSPD 35 entitled Nuclear Weapons Deployment Authorization was issued. While its contents remains classified, the presumption is that NSPD 35 pertains to the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in the Middle East war theatre in compliance with CONPLAN 8022. Economic News Wire, op cit)

Iran is in an advanced stage of readiness in the eventuality of a US attack. In response to the US-NATO sponsored military build-up, Iran has conducted extensive war games throughout its territory. (See Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, 21 August 2006)

Moreover, barely acknowledged by the Western media, both China and Russia have conducted war games in Central Asia, in collaboration with their coalition partners. In late September, Russia conducted air war exercises over a large part of its territory, extending from the Volga to the frontiers of Alaska and North America. These war games prompted the scrambling of NORAD fighter planes.

Military exercises involving the participation of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan under the Collective Security Treaty Organization, (CSTO) were launched in August. These war games, officially described as part of a " counter terrorism program", were held barely a week before those conducted by the Iranian military. (See Michel Chossudovsky, 24 August 2006)
Broadly coinciding with both the Iranian and CSTO military exercises, China and Kazakhstan also conducted military exercises in August under the auspices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Iran is an observer member in the SCO…"
The planned future looks grim - may God help us all.

IRAQ 'EXCESS' DEATH TOLL

WE ARE BEING SOLD OUT ON JOBS

Nick O'Malley, Workplace Reporter for the Sydney Morning Herald reports, 3/10/06 wrote:
"The State Government has been attacked for allegedly training Chinese to work in the Australian construction industry at the same time Labor is criticising the Federal Government over the use of short-term foreign labour. The course has led to bitter disputes within TAFE. One senior employee accused a colleague of selling out Australian jobs.

Commercial arm of NSW TAFE:
Cr Ray Harty, a Labor member of Baulkham Hills Council, who also runs an accredited trade skills training centre, accused the NSW Government of hypocrisy over the partnership between a TAFE-owned company and a recruitment company that is providing courses in construction trades in Shanghai.
Last night a spokesman for the NSW Education Minister, Carmel Tebbutt, denied there was a conflict, and said none of the Shanghai students were being taught with a view to coming here. He said a commercial arm of the NSW TAFE system - TAFE Global - was working in partnership with SkillForce in a programme designed to train and assess students in skills for use in China. "TAFE Global did not award any Chinese worker with any qualification that would be recognised in Australia," he said.
"The results of these practical skill exercises provided under the contract had no validity for migration purposes."

Series of internal documents suggest otherwise:
But a series of internal documents obtained by the Herald suggests the courses were designed to prepare people for work on Australian sites. A report by a TAFE employee who co-ordinated a pilot program recommends that an Australian standard house brick should be made available in China to improve teaching and that "safety signage consistent with that encountered on Australian worksites would enhance the appropriateness of the assessment".
The report on an August programme for 139 people in bricklaying, plastering and carpentry included a photograph of 24 candidates at the Shanghai training centre standing under a banner that says, "Australian Construction Workers (Internal Decoration Workers) Examination Site."
A letter about the programme from Marie Persson, deputy director-general of TAFE and Community Education, to the NSW Teachers Federation begins:
"I respond to your letter … seeking information on a TAFE Global project in China related to skilled worker assessments for prospective candidates to work in Australia."
The letter outlines the commercial arrangement between TAFE Global and SkillForce, before noting that the courses had no validity for migration purposes.
An internal newsletter published by TAFE Global says:
"Our client recruits skilled workers in China for deployment to Australia and other countries."
The SkillForce website, bearing the TAFE Global logo, boasts that one course "will begin the Australian cultural acclimatisation of new employees".
It says another course would include the finer points of Australia's workplace culture, such as the "smoko". The contract between the two partners has not been renewed.

A TAFE official who asked not to be named said he believed Ms Tebbutt had not been briefed properly on TAFE Global's operations in Shanghai. He said TAFE NSW, through TAFE Global, is trying to profit from the industry growing around the importation of foreign labour into Australia. It was clear that many of the workers who undertook the assessments in China would seek work in Australia, but that the assessments themselves did not meet Australian standards.

In an angry email exchange between TAFE staff, one accuses a colleague who worked on the programme of selling out "the jobs of Australian workers and apprentices for a short-term gain".
The NSW Industrial Relations Minister, John Della Bosca, said yesterday workers coming here on temporary working visas were threatening job security. "We are now seeing entire workforces imported into Australia working for less than Australian rates of pay and conditions," Mr Della Bosca said. (emphasis added)

A MESSAGE FROM THE BUSH