Iran's Increasing Nuclear Threat

http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/blog/2011/06/gaza-flotilla-take-2

Earlier this week Iran unveiled it's first ballistic missile silos built underground. The silos provide the regime with the ability to launch its long-range missiles capable of reaching targets 800 miles away at an increasingly rapid speed and from a better secured position, as underground silos are harder to destroy than on-the-surface launching pads. One day after the announcement, on Tuesday, Iranian news agencies reported that Tehran successfully tested 14 missiles during military drills. The test was held on the second day of Iran's 10 days of planned military exercises.

The United States and Great Britain have increasing concerns about Iran's growing nuclear program. The United States imposed new sanctions on Iran's airlines and international business executives last week. According to Great Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague, Iran has "been carrying out covert ballistic missiles tests and rocket launches, including testing missiles capable of delivering a nuclear payload." It is Great Britain's belief that Tehran has carried out a minimum of "three secret tests of medium-range ballistic missiles" since October.

June 28: Iranian Revolutionary Guards personnel watch the launch of a Zelzal missile during military maneuvers.

Tehran has also recently announced that it intends to triple it's enriched uranium capacity to 20 %, "enrichment levels far greater that is needed for peaceful nuclear energy," according to Hague. Uranium enriched to 90% purity can be used to develop a nuclear weapon, and reaching that 90% mark is more easily attained from uranium enriched to 20% than from low-enriched material.

Iran proves time and again that it has every intention to continue down its path towards nuclear production, making it imperative for the U.S. and U.K. to pressure Iran by continuing to impose sanctions. It is also important that the United States remain a cut above the rest regarding its nuclear weapons technology and missile defense development. Indeed, as Iran's program continues, its warfare technology will also advance. And it's only a matter of time before an Iranian missile will have the capability of reaching the United States.

Related Topics: Iran, Nuclear Proliferation | Lauren Stone

Gaza Flotilla, Take 2

by Samara Greenberg • Jun 28, 2011 at 12:21 pm

http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/blog/2011/06/iran-take-on-terror

According to IDF sources, participants of the upcoming flotilla planning to set sail to the Gaza Strip in defiance of Israel's sea blockade have prepared sacks filled with sulfur to pour on Israeli soldiers as they board the vessels. "This is a chemical weapon, and if poured on a soldier it can paralyze him," a source told The Jerusalem Post. "If the sulfur is then lit on fire, the soldier will light up like a torch."

Moreover, although reports earlier this month claimed that members of the Turkish terrorist group IHH would not participate in the flotilla, some members may be preparing to sail with the ships. A recent report by the German daily Bild revealed that Iranian spies falsified passports and travel documents for IHH flotilla organizers. The Mavi Marmara ship on which IHH members sailed to Gaza last summer was the only vessel in that flotilla to refuse to peacefully dock.

Weapons found aboard the Mavi Marmara.

At least one boat in this year's flotilla has already set sail. On Saturday, a ship named "Dignity / Karama" left France and is on its way to meet with at least nine other vessels "in international waters from which the boats will sail all together towards Gaza." Israel has spent time specificallypreparing for the event with the hopes that its soldiers will be well equipped to deal with any situation that arises on board as the flotilla sails close to Gaza's border. Israel has said it willstop any ship and has invited the vessels to dock in its port of Ashdod so that the goods aboard can be safely transferred to the Strip.

Israel has a right to protect itself and that is even more clear today than it was during the Mavi Marmara incident last year. At that time, Mubarak's Egypt had a stake in maintaining a seal on Hamas in Gaza. But now that Israel's once willing partner has been replaced, uncertainty over Egypt's future and the extent to which it will cooperate on joint security matters remains high. All of which is to say that keeping weapons out of Hamas's hands is an obvious Israeli priority and searching any cargo destined for the terrorist group is the government's right and responsibility.

Related Topics: Gaza, Israel | Samara Greenberg

Iran's Take on Terror

by Samara Greenberg • Jun 27, 2011 at 12:41 pm

http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/blog/2011/06/apple-removes-intifada-app

Over the weekend Iran held the world's first ever two day conference on fighting terrorism, theInternational Conference on Global Fight against Terrorism. The event, arranged under the slogan of "A World Without Terrorism," brought together senior officials from 60 countriesand representatives of various international bodies, including the UN.

In a written massage, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised Tehran for holding the conference, which he said was a major initiative against worldwide terrorism. "The UN has an important role in fighting terrorism and I hope that the Tehran conference can attain great goals," his message said.

A cartoon from the conference website.

Ki-moon's letter is outrageous. A quick look around the conference website tells us what the gathering was really about. For example, in theopening message, Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei stated: "The Zionist regime...has continued shamelessly and openly its terrorist acts outside and inside Palestine.... Another example is the United States that has a long list of terrorist behaviors..." On another part of the site, Khamenei is quoted as saying similar statements, such as: "the creation and growth of the wild and blind terrorism is basically the result of the wicked policy of America and England."

In his speech at the conference, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed that the United States manufactured the September 11 attacks and the Holocaust to boost its economy, spread panic, and eliminate Muslims worldwide. Moreover, the conference site features severalinflammatory cartoons, such as one that depicts an Israeli soldier with devil's horns near a bath of blood.

The weekend's conference was all part of Tehran's scheme to mask its complicity in all forms of terrorism and instead blame the U.S., Britain, and Israel as the cause of the global problem. Indeed, the Iranian regime is the embodiment of terrorism. From using terror tactics to quell its own people into submission to funding Hezbollah, Hamas, and others in their terrorist acts, the Iranian regime's terrorist reach extends across the globe. That the UN's Ban Ki-moon congratulated Tehran for its conference is abhorrent. Tehran is the problem, not the solution.

Related Topics: Iran, War on Terror | Samara Greenberg

Apple Removes Intifada App

by Samara Greenberg • Jun 24, 2011 at 11:18 am

http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/blog/2011/06/obama-sets-afghan-withdrawal

Days after authorizing an application called "The Third Palestinian Intifada," which offered users updates on upcoming protests - some violent - and featured pictures of "martyrs" and articles critical of Israel, Apple removed the application from iTunes on Wednesday. "We removed this app from the App Store because it violates the developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people," according to an Apple spokesman.

Apple made its decision after Israeli Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein sent a letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs requesting that the company remove the application. The Simon Wiesenthal Center also put out a statement asking the company to "immediately withdraw its approval" of the app, as it "contains anti-Israel content—articles, photographs of 'martyrs' and stories—and updates its users on further incitements to protest and violence."

The group behind the application is reported to be the same group that created the"Third Intifada" Facebook page, which was taken down at the end of March one month after it first appeared.

What does all this mean? As new media changes, so does Israel's battleground. Much to its credit, Israel's Public Diplomacy Department has been on the forefront of preventing groups from actively spreading their violent message on these new networks. Hopefully in the near future companies such as Facebook and Apple will take the initiative and either quickly remove or, in Apple's case, not approve, violent pages or applications in the first place.

Related Topics: Israel, Palestinians | Samara Greenberg

Obama Sets Afghan Withdrawal

by Samara Greenberg • Jun 23, 2011 at 12:41 pm

http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/blog/2011/06/cyberspace-the-next-battlefield

In a speech Wednesday night President Barack Obama announced his plan for withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan: "...We will be able to remove 10,000 of our troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year, and we will bring home a total of 33,000 troops by next summer," he said. "...Our troops will continue coming home at a steady pace.... By 2014, this process of transition will be complete..."

Obama's withdrawal plan goes against recommendations made by top generals in the field. Concerned with the risks involved with withdrawing too many troops too soon, NATO commanders led by General David Petraeus urged the president to keep the bulk of the 30,000 troops he committed to the Afghan "surge" until the end of 2012. The commanders are reportedly worried they will lose the ground gained against the Taliban during last winter's fighting.

Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.

The Taliban, for its part, dismissed Obama's speech. In an English-language statement, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said, "[The] Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan once again wants to make it clear that the solution for the Afghan crisis lies in the full withdrawal of all foreign troops immediately and until this ... happens, our armed struggle will increase from day to day."

On Saturday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai confirmed that theU.S. is talking with the Taliban to try and negotiate a settlement to the 10-year conflict. While Washington would not confirm this, White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said that integrating the Taliban was a possibility "provided they meet the Afghan government's long-standing red lines: renounce violence, break with al Qaeda and live under the Afghan constitution, including respect for the rights of women."

But many Afghans believe bringing the Taliban into the government as part of a peace negotiation would be a large step backward for the country. And they are correct. The Taliban is a fundamentalist Islamist organization that, according to the U.S. Department of State, gave Afghanistan "one of the worst human rights records in the world. The regime systematically repressed all sectors of the population and denied even the most basic individual rights," its 2001 report read.

After 10 years of fighting, even the strongest militaries on earth haven't destroyed the Taliban. It's hard to believe the current Afghan government will be able to protect its people against the fundamentalist group once the international coalition leaves without securing their defeat.

Related Topics: Afghanistan | Samara Greenberg

Cyberspace: The Next Battlefield

by Lauren Stone • Jun 22, 2011 at 1:47 pm

http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/blog/2011/06/palestinian-unity-falling-apart

North Korea is actively expanding its cyber warfare unit, recruiting and training students of all ages, according to recent reports issued on the subject. Last year alone, North Korea increased its "cybertroop" numbers from 500 to 3,000 hackers.

According to Kim Heung-kwang, a former computer science professor in North Korea before defecting to the South, the North Korean government is selecting young students across the country that show an understanding of math and the computer system and grouping them in the elite Keumseong school for middle and high school students. After graduating from the six year program, the students attend an expedited program at one of the country's top technology universities and institutes, only to be sent abroad to Russia or China to solidify their hacking skills. After the overseas training is complete, the now young adults are placed in warfare units to serve as "cyberwarriors."

North Korea's youth are being trained in advanced cyber warfare techniques.

"Grooming prodigies, deploying them, setting up Internet, buying programs, and providing conditions for them to operate in China or another third country is considerably cheaper than buying new weapons or fighter jets which cost hundreds of millions of dollars," explains Kim Heung-kwang.

Indeed, cyber warfare is a growing threat to the United States and its allies. While South Korea has experienced its share of cyber attacks from the North, such as the one in April that brought down a bank's network, the United States is feeling the affects as well. Last week the CIA's website was hacked by a group that calls itself LulzSec - the same group that recently claimed credit for hacking into sites for PBS, Sony, the U.S. Senate and others. And even though the hackers caused no harm to its victims, the fact that they were able to take down the CIA website for a short period of time is unacceptable.

According to cyber security experts, any future conflict will involve cyberspace. The United States needs to make cyber security a priority in order to prevent colossal damage from occurring in the future. Computer systems and the Internet hold vital government information and if attacked, it would be a devastating blow to the country's welfare.

Related Topics: Counterterrorism | Lauren Stone

Palestinian Unity Falling Apart

by Samara Greenberg • Jun 21, 2011 at 11:06 am