FOREIGN CONFIDENTIAL
Foreign News and Analysis Since April 2005 -- Formerly China Confidential -- What's Happening in the World
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Islamists Aim to Annihilate Muslim Sect
Hazara Muslims marked for annihilation in Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Click here for the story.
Syrian Regime Reportedly Resorting to Chemical Warfare
Monday, March 18, 2013
Cyprus Pushing Parliament to Violate Bank Accounts
The government of Cyprus is pressing parliament to pass a so-called tax--actually, a bill that permits official theft--which has sent shockwaves across Europe.
Read more.
N. Korean Video Depicts Imaginary Attack on White House
North Korea has a released a new propaganda video that depicts a nuclear strike on the … White House. If an ordinary American nutcase did this, he or she would probably be arrested. But North Korea's brazen threats are ignored or downplayed by liberal media outlets bent on advocating diplomacy for its own sake.
FBI Says it Knows Who Stole $500 Million in Art Decades Ago
Bureau Believes it Has Solved Mystery of 1990 Theft of Rare Paintings, Seeks Public's Help in Recovering Stolen Works; $5 Million Reward for Information Leading to Return of Property to Isabella Gardner Museum
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| HAVE YOU SEEN THIS PAINTING? Call the FBI if you have information. |
On March 18, 1990, two men disguised as police officers gained access to the Gardner Museum. Once inside, they tied up the security guards and proceeded to steal 13 objects, including rare paintings by Rembrandt, Degas, and Vermeer, valued at approximately $500 million.The case represents the largest property crime in U.S. history.
The FBI, along with Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, released new information about one of the largest property crimes in U.S. history—the art theft from the museum more than two decades ago. The FBI is appealing to the public for help in what is one of the FBI’s Top Ten Art Crimes.
The FBI believes it has determined where the stolen art was transported in the years after the theft and that it knows the identity of the thieves, Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston office, revealed for the first time in the 23-year investigation. “The FBI believes with a high degree of confidence that in the years after the theft, the art was transported to Connecticut and the Philadelphia region, and some of the art was taken to Philadelphia, where it was offered for sale by those responsible for the theft.” DesLauriers added, “With that same confidence, we have identified the thieves, who are members of a criminal organization with a base in the Mid-Atlantic states and New England.” After the attempted sale, which took place approximately a decade ago, the FBI’s knowledge of the art’s whereabouts is limited.
13 Stolen Works
Information is being sought from those who possess or know the whereabouts of the 13 stolen works of art—including rare paintings by Rembrandt and Vermeer—by publicizing new details about the case and continuing to highlight the $5 million reward for the return of the art. Although the FBI does not know where the art is currently located, the FBI is continuing its search, both in and beyond the Connecticut and Philadelphia areas. “With this announcement, we want to widen the ‘aperture of awareness’ of this crime to the reach the American public and others around the world,” said DesLauriers.
Anthony Amore, the museum’s chief of security, noted that the reward is for “information that leads directly to the recovery of all of our items in good condition.” He further explained, “You don’t have to hand us the paintings to be eligible for the reward. We hope that through this media campaign, people will see how earnest we are in our attempts to pay this reward and make our institution whole. We simply want to recover our paintings and move forward. Today marks 23 years since the robbery. It’s time for these paintings to come home.”
“The investigation into the Gardner Museum theft has been an active and aggressive effort, with law enforcement following leads and tracking down potential sources of information around the globe. Over the past three years, I have visited the museum several times, and each time I entered the Dutch Room and saw the empty frames, I was reminded of the enormous impact of this theft. I do remain optimistic that one day soon the paintings will be returned to their rightful place in the Fenway, as Mrs. Gardner intended,” said U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. “As we have said in the past, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will consider the possibility of immunity from criminal prosecution for information that leads to the return of the paintings based on the set of facts and circumstances brought to our attention. Our primary goal is, and always has been, to have the paintings returned.”
14 Special Agents
To recover stolen items and prosecute art and cultural property crime, the FBI has a specialized Art Crime Team of 14 special agents supported by special trial attorneys. The team investigates theft, fraud, looting, and trafficking across state and international lines, with estimated losses running as high as $6 billion annually. The FBI also runs the National Stolen Art File, a computerized index of stolen art and cultural properties that is used as a reference by law enforcement agencies worldwide.
The FBI stressed that anyone with information about the artwork may contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or the museum directly or through a third party, said Special Agent Geoffrey Kelly, who is the lead investigator in the case and a member of the Art Crime Team. “In the past, people who realize they are in possession of stolen art have returned the art in a variety of ways, including through third parties, attorneys, and anonymously leaving items in churches or at police stations.” Tips may also be submitted online at https://tips.fbi.gov.
The publicity campaign announced today includes a dedicated FBI webpage on the Gardner Museum theft, video postings on FBI social media sites, publicity on digital billboards in Philadelphia region, and a podcast. To view and listen to these items, click here to visit the FBI’s new webpage about the theft.
Senior Pentagon Official Warns N. Korea on Nuclear Threats
America's deputy defense chief says security guarantees to South Korea include a "nuclear umbrella."
Read more.
War Game Highlights Horror of a Nuclear Iran
Simulating the unthinkable….
In a tense war game that itself nearly spun out of control, participants playing Iran used Hezbollah to bombard Israeli cities with conventional missiles--tipped with made-in-Iran cluster bombs--and a crude but effective Iranian nuclear force, including road-mobile missiles, to bring Israel to the brink of destruction and radically alter Iran's power relationship with the United States.
Read more.
The war game described in the article is actually a synthesis, or composite, of several simulations. The main point, however, is terrifying: there is no way to know how a nuclear-armed Iran would actually use its weapons of mass destruction. Our assumptions about deterrence could be wildly wrong.
POSTSCRIPT: Assumptions about deterring iran's proliferation partner, North Korea, could also be wildly wrong.
China: US Shouldn't Defend Against N. Korean Missiles
Again, China disappoints.
Its foreign ministry spokesman says U.S. plans to install interceptors in response to North Korean threats to attack the United States homeland with nuclear missiles will only make matters worse.
Read more.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Cyprus as Sarajevo? Unbelievable Bank Bailout Could Spark Continental Catastrophe; Crucial Players Caught Flat-Footed
Like the European city that will forever be associated with the assassination that sparked the First World War, the Mediterranean nation of Cyprus is in the news for a frightening reason. Click here and here for the news reports.
Iran Launches Destroyer in Caspian Sea
First Iran-Made Major Warship
In yet another show of force, Islamist Iran has launched a domestically built destroyer in the Caspian Sea, the world's largest inland body of water. Read more.
Iran-N. Korea Coordination Coming into Sharp Focus
Conflicts Loom in Northeast Asia and the Middle East
North Korea and Iran are clearly coordinating their menacing moves and statements ahead of President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to Israel. The two partners in nuclear and missile crimes are testing, taunting, boasting … and plotting provocations that could easily spin out of control.
Read more.
Perceptions matter. North Korea and Iran perceive the United States as weak. Weakness invites aggression.
North Korea Threatens Japan With Attack
North Korea has lashed out at Japan for calling for "independent additional sanctions" against Pyongyang.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency carried a statement from the Foreign Ministry Sunday saying that it would be a fatal mistake for Japan if it thinks it will be safe when a war breaks out on the Korean Peninsula.
The statement warned that the Japanese would face a horrible strike if they collude with the United States.
The article appeared days after U.S. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon said Washington is willing to hold "authentic negotiations" with the North if it changes its behavior.
-VOA
North Korea to World: Nukes Not Negotiable
North Korea says it will never abandon atomic arms, calling its nuclear program "an all-powerful treasured sword." Read more.
The story so far:
- Iran and North Korea are partners in nuclear and missile crimes--and biological weapons development.
- iran and North Korea have developed and tested sea-based ballistic missile launch systems that could be used to attack U.S. coastal cities or to cripple the United States with an EMP strike.
- So-called satellite launches by North Korea and Iran could be covers for developing Fractional Orbit Bombardment Systems--to attack the U.S. from over the South Pole.
- Iran muses openly about "a world without America and Zionism."
- North Korea has threatened to attack the United States with nuclear weapons.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
On North Korea's Polar Trajectory 'Satellite Launch'
Is North Korea working on a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System? Iran's partner in nuclear and missile crimes could be developing missiles capable of striking the US from over the South Pole, updating technology developed during the 1960s by the North's Cold War ally, the Soviet Union.
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| PARADE: Soviet R-36 missiles built to attack North America from over the South Pole. |
There could be more … much more … to North Korea's so-called satellite launch than a phony cover story, especially given the North's subsequent admission that its long-range missile--and nuclear--tests are aimed at the United States.
The December 12 launch used a polar orbital trajectory for its successful, 3-stage missile test.
Consider this report and the information set forth below.
The Soviet Union in the 1960s developed missiles for the purpose of attacking the United States from the south--that is to say, from over the South Pole. According to Wikipedia,the
Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS) was a Soviet ICBM program in the 1960s that after launch would go into a low Earth orbit and would then de-orbit for an attack. It had no range limit and the orbital flight path would not reveal the target location. This would allow a path to North America over the South Pole, hitting targets from the south, which is the opposite direction from which NORAD early warning systems are oriented.
The Outer Space Treaty banned nuclear weapons in Earth orbit. However, it did not ban systems that were capable of placing weapons in orbit, and the Soviet Union avoided violating the treaty by conducting tests of its FOBS system without live warheads.
The Soviets developed three missiles to employ FOBS, with only one entering service: The orbital missile 8K69 (also known as R-36orb) was initially deployed in 1968, with the first regiment put on alert in 1969….
The U.S. Defense Support Program early warning satellites, first launched in 1970, enabled the US to detect [italics added for emphasis] a FOBS launch.
Detection is one thing; defense, another. There is no known defense against an FOBS-launched ICBM from over the South Pole.
Wikipedia has this to say about the 8K69:
The 8К69 fractional-orbit missile ("FOBS") began on April 16, 1962. Such a missile provides some advantages over a conventional ICBM. The range is limited only by the parameters of the orbit that the re-entry vehicle has been placed into, and the re-entry vehicle may come from either direction, compelling the enemy to build considerably more expensive anti-missile systems. Due to the possibility of placing the warhead in orbit and keeping it there for some time, it is possible to reduce the time required to strike to just a few minutes. It is also much more difficult to predict where the warhead will land, since while the re-entry vehicle is on orbit, it is a very small object with few distinguishing marks and is hard to detect; moreover, since the warhead can be commanded to land anywhere along the orbit's ground track, even detecting the warhead on orbit does not allow accurate prediction of its intended target.
The structure and design of the fractional-orbit bombardment system were similar to a conventional P-36 ICBM system. A two-stage rocket was equipped by the liquid rocket engines using storable propellants. The silo launcher and command point were hardened against a nuclear explosion. The basic difference from a conventional ICBM consists of the design of the re-entry vehicle, which is fitted with a single 2.4Mt warhead, de-orbit engine and control block. The control system uses independent inertial navigation and radar-based altimeter which measures orbit parameters twice—in the beginning of an orbital path and just before de-orbiting engine firing.
Flight testing consisted of 15 successful launches and four failures. During test launch #17, the warhead was retrieved with a parachute. Flight tests of a rocket have been completed by May 20, 1968 and on November 19 of the same year it entered service. The first (and the only) regiment with 18 launchers was deployed on August 25, 1969.
The R-36orbs (8К69) were retired from service in January 1983 as a part of SALT II treaty (they were considered "space-based" nuclear weapons).
The Tsyklon series of civilian space launchers is based on the R-36orb (8К69) design.
Soviets FOBS Testing Followed Cuban Missile Crisis
More FOBS history from the Federation of American Scientists:
In the early 1960s, the Soviets needed a way to overcome the West's geographic advantages (forward bases in Turkey, Europe, and Asia from which shorter range missiles and bombers could attack the USSR). The Soviet attempt to place missiles in Cuba would have been a partial remedy. When the Cuban venture did not go as planned, they moved to other technological possibilities. The Soviets demonstrated the technology necessary to orbit a space vehicle and then land it in a specific place with the Vostok launches. It was thus logical to assume they could place nuclear weapons in orbit and return them to Earth at any time and place. Khrushchev made this suggestion in 1961, but on 15 March 1962, as part of the rhetoric proceeding the Cuban crisis, he made yet another, more ominous suggestion.
"We can launch missiles not only over the North Pole, but in the opposite direction, too. . . Global rockets can fly from the oceans or other directions where warning facilities cannot be installed. Given global missiles, the warning system in general has lost its importance. Global missiles cannot be spotted in time to prepare any measures against them."
This statement was the first hint of a new concept called the fractional orbit bombardment system (FOBS)....
After the failure of their first two tests in 1966, the Soviets tested their FOBS with nine launches between 25 January and 28 October 1967. All missions followed the same distinct flight profile--launching in the late afternoon into an elliptical, near-polar low-Earth orbit and deorbiting over the Soviet landmass before one complete orbit. This profile allowed the Soviets to monitor the deorbit, reentry, and impact. US planners viewed FOBS as a pathfinder system intended to precede a conventional ICBM attack. The FOBS would circumvent the existing US ballistic missile early warning radars and hit SAC airfields before the bombers could take off. FOBS could destroy ABM radars, disrupt US retaliatory capability, destroy command posts, the White House, and the command and control network. But, due to its limited accuracy and payload, FOBS was ineffective against hardened targets.
FOBS and EMP: Satellite Could be Orbiting Doomsday Warhead
The president of EMPact America, Dr. Peter Vincent Pry, connects the FOBS and EMP threats as follows:
During the Cold War, the USSR experimented with a secret weapon, the Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS), that used an ICBM like a Space Launch Vehicle to put a nuclear warhead into orbit, like a satellite. Instead of using the ICBM to lob the warhead on a more accurate arcing ballistic trajectory, flying along the shortest range to target, like an artillery shell, the FOBS lofted the warhead into a "fractional" or partial orbit, sacrificing accuracy for limitless range.
FOBS could reach any nation or threaten any target anywhere on Earth.
A Super-EMP warhead does not weigh much, and could probably be delivered by North Korea's Fractional Orbital Bombardment System, successfully tested in December 2012, against any nation on Earth. Thus, North Korea already possesses an ICBM and poses a mortal nuclear threat to the United States, and to all nations on Earth--right now.
North Korea, during the successful test of its ICBM on December 12, 2012, orbited a satellite weighing 100 kilograms (about 200 pounds). One design of a Super-EMP warhead would be a modified neutron bomb, more accurately an Enhanced Radiation Warhead (ERW) because it produces not only many neutrons but also many gamma rays. As noted earlier, gamma rays cause the EMP effect. One U.S. ERW warhead (the W-82) deployed in NATO during the Cold War weighed, including its heavy casing, less than 50 kilograms. Since the EMP attack entails detonating the warhead at high-altitude, above the atmosphere, the warhead does not even need a heavy re-entry vehicle and heat shield.
Click here for a comment on the sea-based ballistic missile threat from North Korea and Iran. For all we know, the two proliferation partners might have already deployed cargo ships capable of firing ballistic missiles high above the U.S. homeland or into U.S. coastal cities. Such vessels could be lurking even now, in the Atlantic or Pacific oceans, or in the Gulf of Mexico.
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