LEBANON: Nuclear material removed

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog days ago removed a stockpile of radioactive material from Lebanon.
According to an announcement today by the International Atomic Energy Agency, a cargo plane carried 36 Cobalt-60 "sources" from Lebanon to Russia for safe storage about 11 days ago. 
Just one of the Cobalt-60 sources, as small as a paintbrush, could kill someone directly exposed within minutes, the announcement said. 

ISRAEL: Prime Minister Netanyahu's secret trip to...where?

So, where was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week?

Standing up journalists and canceling other appointments, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disappeared from the press' radar for about 14 hours Monday, sparking a brush-fire of rumors.

Persistent queries and theories produced the first version of the explanation that evening. The prime minister spent the day visiting a "security installation" in central Israel, where meetings had run longer than expected, said a statement, curiously issued by his military secretary, Gen.  Meir Kalifi, and not his usual news media advisers. That's one long meeting. You can drive from the border with Lebanon to the border with Egypt and back twice in that time.

The next day a Palestinian newspaper chimed in, reporting that he had visited an Arab country that does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and that he had taken Kalifi and National Security Adviser Uzi Arad with him. The agenda was said to be Iran.

This was one step closer. Kalifi and Arad evidently did join the magical mystery tour -- but to a different destination. Wednesday, Israeli news reports said that Netanyahu had made a flash visit to Russia. Yes, he had visited a security installation, but proceeded from there to the airport, where he had leased a private plane from an Israeli tycoon to avoid attention and flew to Russia with Kalifi, Arad, a select security detail --  and according to one report, another senior person. The lot of them returned at 3 a.m. 

IRAN: Caspian Sea states shut Tehran out of summit

Iran is peeved at its northern neighbors over a decision to exclude the Islamic Republic from a meeting of Caspian Sea states on Thursday. 

Iran's top diplomat, Manouchehr Mottaki, said today he was outraged that Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan plan to meet in the Kazakh city of Aktau without Iran, according to the website of Iran's state-owned English-language Press TV satellite news channel.

"In our view the meeting runs contrary to Iran's national interests," Mottaki said.

IRAN: Russia urged to hedge bet on Ahmadinejad

An influential Russian newspaper recently published an article urging Moscow to "adjust" its policy toward Iran so as not to catch too much flak if President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad goes down. 

According to an Aug. 6 piece published by the privately owned Nezavisimaya Gazeta, it's time to give the divisive president the heave-ho.

"It appears that recent events in Iran, when the opponents of Ahmadinejad shouted slogans of 'Death to Russia,' indicate that Moscow's defense of Ahmadinejad's government has not been met with approval among a considerable portion of the Iranian population," the editorial said.

"It appears that the idea that Iran is a regional power which Russia could use as a trump card in relations with the West has turned out to be mistaken," the editorial says. 

"As a matter of fact, it has turned out that Iran is using Russia to polarize the Group of Six," the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany, over Iran's nuclear program.

IRAN: Will Tehran get Russian weapons or not?

Confusion reigned over reports that Russia might sell Iran sophisticated antiaircraft weapons despite a pledge not to.

It's no secret that Iran wants the S-300s, mobile long-range defensive weapons that could thwart potential missile or aircraft strikes on its controversial nuclear facilities.

Under Israeli pressure, Russians have promised not to make the sale.

But the chatter continues.

Today, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman was cagey. Hassan Qashqavi told reporters that he had not "received any report" regarding the missiles from "relevant" officials.

"You know we have cultural, economic and political as well as defense cooperation with Russia," he said. "I cannot confirm or deny the news. You all know that we have several agreements with Russia. Some of the agreements have been implemented, some not."

LEBANON: Russia to provide free fighter jets to Beirut

If the United States is not willing to deliver the heavy weapons that Lebanon seeks, no problem.

Russia will do so.

In a move sure to provoke the U.S. and its ally Israel, Russia will give Lebanon 10 Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter jets as a donation and commit to supply the teetering Arab democracy abutting Israel's northern border with more war machines, an official told reporters today, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

"As a trend toward stabilization of the situation has become visible, Lebanon has decided to intensify  military-technological cooperation" with Russia, said Mikhail Dmitriyev, the director of Russia's Federal Service for Military Technological Cooperation.

Dmitriyev also said Russia could soon provide "ground equipment," such as tanks and artillery, to Lebanon.

"We consider the Lebanese army as a key element of political stability within this country and are ready to provide it with arms," he said.

Lebanon has descended frequently into war during the last four decades. It's American-funded army must contend with the powerful armed forces of the Shiite political organization Hezbollah, the Iranian and Syrian backed militia committed to fighting Israel.

IRAN: Anti-American axis tightens business and military ties

 

Talk about provocative.

Not only did Venezuela's foreign minister reiterate today that Russia and his nation would conduct joint war games in Caribbean waters just a few hundred miles from America's shores later this year, he also chose an interesting venue to emphasize the news, just as Russian ships entered the Atlantic Ocean: the Islamic Republic of Iran, where he was hobnobbing with top Iranian officials.

At a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki today, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro told reporters that in November and December 2008, a contingent of the Russian fleet will come to Venezuelan waters to conduct war exercises.

He also said that Iran and Venezuela were tightening bilateral relations "on a daily basis" in order to become role models for other developing countries (and, presumably, any country with an ax to grind against the U.S.).

IRAN: If no sanctions and no war, then what?

Iran has managed to escape sanctions, but it didn't walk away completely unscathed from the latest United Nations General Assembly meeting.

The U.N. Security Council over the weekend passed a largely symbolic resolution against Iran for its refusal to stop producing enriched uranium, a key step in a certain type of nuclear weapons program, as well as in producing fuel for peaceful power generation.

The five-paragraph resolution reaffirmed four previous resolutions containing three sets of sanctions and urged Iran to comply with U.N. demands "without delay."

Of course Iran was flabbergasted.

Its office at the U.N. issued a news release calling the unanimous move "unfortunate" and an "unpleasant surprise" for the whole world. Iran downgraded its participation in an International Atomic Energy Agency conference set to begin today, a reminder that it could also boot U.N. arms inspectors out of the country if it's pushed too hard.

But the resolution fell far short of the harsh punitive sanctions the U.S. and Israel wanted. With veto-wielding Russia virtually ruling out the possibility of even mild sanctions, it was the best deal they could get, affirming the Bush administration's ninth-inning conversion to the type of painstaking multilateral consensus-building it decried during its first years in power.

IRAQ: Georgian troops trade one war for another

Georgian troops began leaving Iraq today to return to their homeland, where a showdown with Russian forces over the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia has exploded in bloodshed. The departure leaves the United States suddenly 2,000 soldiers short of what it once had, but the commander of the Georgian contingent said his forces have no choice but to defend their own country.

"It is of course preferable to go home and do everything we can for our country, not Iraq," said Col. Bondo Maisuradze after getting his redeployment orders. "Sorry," he added. "This may sound strange, but this is what we are feeling."

Col. Steven Boylan, a U.S. military spokesman, said U.S. aircraft began flying the Georgian contingent out of Iraq on Sunday. There was no word on how long it would take to get all 2,000 troops back home.

Georgia deployed troops to Iraq in 2004, and five of its soldiers have died in the war. Most recently, the Georgians were deployed along the Iranian border in Wasit province to bolster security and to try to prevent smuggling of weapons and bombs that are used by Shiite militiamen. It has represented the third-largest contingent of foreign troops in Iraq, after Americans and British soldiers.

U.S. officials say the loss of the Georgians, despite being unplanned, will not derail security gains made in recent months. "We had already been shuffling forces around in Wasit province before the recent events," Boylan said. "We can and are accomodating the changes."

— Tina Susman in Baghdad

JORDAN: Guns galore at Middle East weapons fair

The specter of conflicts in the Middle East intensifying and widening worries many countries in the region. But some Arab nations are showing a growing interest in acquiring or selling sophisticated weapons as suggested by the wide participation in an international exhibition for military hardware, held in Jordan over the last few days.

The event, Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference (SOFEX) 2008 was a muscular display of tanks, armored vehicles, high-tech surveillance equipment, gunboats, machine guns, etc.

Check out the first minute or two of the promotional video for the event and you'll get the idea.