Uranium Smuggling

Directly related to the previous post comes this article from The Times of London. Large quantities of Uranium ore have been intercepted before they could reach Iran. One wonders, of course, how many other shipments were not caught.

IRAN is seeking to import large consignments of bomb-making uranium from the African mining area that produced the Hiroshima bomb, an investigation has revealed.

A United Nations report, dated July 18, said there was “no doubt” that a huge shipment of smuggled uranium 238, uncovered by customs officials in Tanzania, was transported from the Lubumbashi mines in the Congo.

Tanzanian customs officials told The Sunday Times it was destined for the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, and was stopped on October 22 last year during a routine check.

The disclosure will heighten western fears about the extent of Iran’s presumed nuclear weapons programme and the strategic implications of Iran’s continuing support for Hezbollah during the war with Israel.

It has also emerged that terror cells backed by Iran may be prepared to mount attacks against nuclear power plants in Britain. Intelligence circulating in Whitehall suggests that sleeper cells linked to Tehran have been conducting reconnaissance at some nuclear sites in preparation for a possible attack.

The parliamentary intelligence and security committee has reported that Iran represented one of the three biggest security threats to Britain. The UN security council has given Iran until the end of this month to halt its uranium enrichment activities. The UN has threatened sanctions if Tehran fails to do so.

A senior Tanzanian customs official said the illicit uranium shipment was found hidden in a consignment of coltan, a rare mineral used to make chips in mobile telephones. The shipment was destined for smelting in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, delivered via Bandar Abbas, Iran’s biggest port.

“There were several containers due to be shipped and they were all routinely scanned with a Geiger counter,” the official said.

“This one was very radioactive. When we opened the container it was full of drums of coltan. Each drum contains about 50kg of ore. When the first and second rows were removed,the ones after that were found to be drums of uranium.”

In a nuclear reactor, uranium 238 can be used to breed plutonium used in nuclear weapons.

The customs officer, who spoke to The Sunday Times on condition he was not named, added: “The container was put in a secure part of the port and it was later taken away, by the Americans, I think, or at least with their help. We have all been told not to talk to anyone about this.”

All of this information, plus details of other intercepted shipments are in a UN report that is due to be considered by the Security Council. Given that Iran has announced an expansion of their enrichment program, I suspect it's fairly safe to assume they have managed to get their hands on a considerable quantity of uranium. I wonder how Saudi Arabia will enjoy being a province of the new Persian Empire?

Iran Announces Nuclear Expansion

So much for the much ballyhooed UN package of incentives to get Iran to drop it's nuclear program. Iran announced that it will be greatly expanding it's nuclear efforts.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's top nuclear negotiator said Sunday that Iran will expand uranium enrichment, in defiance of a U.N. Security Council resolution giving the Islamic Republic until Aug. 31 to halt the activity or face the threat of political and economic sanctions.

Ali Larijani called the U.N. Security Council resolution issued last week illegal and said Iran won't respect the deadline. "We reject this resolution," he told reporters.

"We will expand nuclear activities where required. It includes all nuclear technology including the string of centrifuges," Larijani said, referring to the centrifuges Iran uses to enrich uranium.

He said Iran had not violated any of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty, and that the U.N. had no right to require it suspend enrichment. "We won't accept suspension," he said.

Larijani said the Security Council resolution contradicted a package of Western incentives offered in June to persuade Tehran to suspend its enrichment activities. He reiterated that Iran would formally respond to the incentives package on Aug. 22.

Iran has said it will never give up its right to produce nuclear fuel, but has indicated it may suspend large-scale activities to ease tensions with the West.

Larijani said the world should blame the United States and its allies for acting against their proposed package and seeking to deny Iran its rights under the NPT.

Iran will continue to mock efforts to stop it's quest for nuclear weapons. The West is going to have a major, major problem if they allow Tehran to get the bomb. So will Iran's neighbors in the Middle East. It would be a good time for the other countries in that region to realize they are in danger of becoming dependencies of the resurgent Persian Empire. That's where this is heading.

Exclusive! Reuters Original Photos!

EXCLUSIVE! Must credit Blue Crab Boulevard! (Eat your heart out, Drudge). We here at Blue Crab Boulevard, tireless seekers of the truth that we are, have gotten our hands on the original, unaltered Reuters photograph of smoke rising in Beirut! This is the actual, unretouched source file before all the photoshop elements were added! Our superwhamadyne secret operative from Magic 8-Ball Photography and Wax Museum, LLC, managed to infiltrate the fortress of Reuters! He obtained this photo directly from a wastebasket just before the editors tried to burn the evidence. He is very brave, if not all that smart! Here's the photoshopped picture that Reuters tried to pass off to the world as real:

Now here's the unaltered original before all the photoshopping occurred:

Oh, sorry. That is actually a picture of the Reuters photo editor that our operative took while he was slinking around. Here's the actual photo as it appeared before the photoshop elements were added:

There you have it! Reuters, your source for bird cage liners!

Reuters Admits Fraud

Reuters has withdrawn the altered photograph of smoke rising from Beirut, admitted it was faked and issued an apology. Too late to save their credibility, the apology serves as notice that Reuters is simply not to be considered a trustworthy source for news.

A Reuters photograph of smoke rising from buildings in Beirut has been withdrawn after coming under attack by American web logs. The blogs accused Reuters of distorting the photograph to include more smoke and damage.

The photograph showed two very heavy plumes of black smoke billowing from buildings in Beirut after an Air Force attack on the Lebanese capital. Reuters has since withdrawn the photograph from its website, along a message admitting that the image was distorted, and an apology to editors.

In the message, Reuters said that "photo editing software was improperly used on this image. A corrected version will immediately follow this advisory. We are sorry for any inconvience."

Ynet is publicly praising Charles Johnson from Little Green Footballs for his work in busting yet another fraud. Go Charles! They also mention several other blogs that did yeoman's work on this.

This is Reuters' picture site and I am not seeing a real public apology right up front yet.

Hezbollah Rejects UN Ceasefire

The Lebanese politician who represents Hezbollah has rejected outright the draft UN resolution for an end to hostilities.

Nabih Berri said Lebanon would not accept any terms that did not include a government plan calling for an immediate cease-fire and withdrawal of Israeli troops.

"Lebanon, all of Lebanon, rejects any talks or any draft resolution that does not include the seven-point government framework," Berri said at a news conference in Beirut.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora first offered the plan, later adopted by his Cabinet, during the Rome crisis summit July 26.

The seven-point proposal calls for a mutual release of prisoners held by Israeli and Hezbollah and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon. It foresees the Lebanese government taking control of southern Lebanon with the help of an international force.

The U.S.-French proposal, which was expected to go to the floor of the U.N. Security Council early this week, calls for Hezbollah to stop all military operations and for Israel to stop its offensive drive against Lebanon. The proposal would allow Israel to strike back if Hezbollah were to break a cease-fire.

The draft resolution does not require an immediate Israeli withdrawal to its side of the common border.

"We always spoke about an immediate cease fire. We never spoke about ending military operations because this is in a way like legitimatizing the occupation, as if the war is being legitimatized," Berri said in fiery remarks before opening the floor to questions.

He said the U.S.-French draft resolution was fundamentally tilted in favor of Israel.

"If Israel has not won the war but still gets all this, what would have happened had they won" the war, Berri asked.

The central demand of the U.S.-French plan, agreed to after days of difficult negotiations, is "a full cessation of hostilities" under which Hezbollah must stop all attacks, and Israel must stop all offensive attacks. That's a victory for Israel because its military is not prohibited from defensive operations, a term that can be interpreted broadly.

Now we can see the duplicity of the terrorists. They have been demanding, practically whining for, a ceasefire. When one is offered, they reject it because it's different from all the ones in the past. This one doesn't give them the fiction that they won.

Hezbollah Rocket Kills 10

An artillery rocket fired by Hezbollah into a farming commune in Israel killed 10 people. The rocket apparently landed directly on a crown of people near the entrance to the village.

One rocket landed near the entrance of the communal farm of Kfar Giladi on the border, killing all 10 victims. Channel Two television reported that nine reserve soldiers were among the dead, and television footage showed a soldier holding his head in grief.

"It was a direct hit on a crowd of people," said Dan Ronen, the chief of the northern police command Ronen told Army Radio the Katyusha barrage was the most intense in 23 days of fighting with Hezbollah.

Black smoke rose over the town and convoys of police, military and rescue vehicles raced through the kibbutz. A group of people ran through a field toward a military helicopter, carrying a stretcher with an injured man wearing a bloody bandage and a respiration bag.

"The scene is very difficult. It can be described as a battlefield," said Shimon Abutbul, a rescue worker who was one of the first to arrive in the area. "There was a lot of blood."

"We saw difficult scenes in the days of this fighting. This is the worst I have seen," he said, adding that the rockets also hit cars.

A nearby forest burst into flames from the barrage and huge plumes of gray smoke rose into the air.

The barrage of at least 80 rockets lasted more than 15 minutes. More rockets were fired as rescue workers tried to treat and evacuate the injured.

Note the additional war crime Hezbollah has added to the long list it has already committed. Because Hezbollah is part of the Lebanese government and is bound by the Geneva Conventions. Notice anything else? Where are the photos plastered across every, single media outlet depicting this atrocity? I guess the wireservice photographers are too busy ginning up fake photos to bother with real war crimes.

Meanwhile In Cuba

Dissidents in Cuba report that the Cuban military has beefed up it's presence in the Eastern part of the country. They are being told that the troops have orders to crack down hard on any signs of unrest.

HAVANA (AP) — Dissidents in Cuba's eastern provinces say the country's military has beefed up its presence on the streets and is telling citizens they have permission to respond with force against anyone who speaks out against the government.

In a series of interviews conducted by phone in Miami on Friday, dissidents told the Associated Press they are fearful about retaliations against political opponents of the government.

"Everybody now knows that Fidel is ill, but everyone is waiting," said Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva, 41, an attorney from the province of Ciego de Avila. "They are wondering what is going to happen. There is a grave silence. It's like being in the center of a hurricane."

Gonzalez, who became blind as a child and went on to study law in Havana, was accused in 2002 of insubordination to Castro and spent more than two years in prison. His case gained international attention after Amnesty International called for his release.

Gonzalez said officials met with neighborhood watch groups on Tuesday to encourage them to look out for anyone who might speak against Castro.

"My concern right now is for the political prisoners in this country, and what could happen to them," Gonzalez said.

He said that on Wednesday night a mob came to the home of Yamile Llanes, who is the wife of Jose Luis Garcia Penequi, and threatened her. Garcia was among one of 75 political opponents rounded up by the Cuban government in 2003 and accused of being on the U.S. government payrolls. Both the dissidents and Washington denied the allegation. He remains incarcerated.

Gonzalez said he and others are asking that the government hold free elections and urged other Cubans not to participate in mob attacks, or "repudios" as they are called, against dissidents.

Gonzalez said his wife fled to the United States last year after being repeatedly harassed in government-sponsored attacks, but he refused to leave.

I would suspect that the army is deployed because the government is very afraid indeed of what the reaction will be to an announcement of Castro's death. Babalu Blog also notices this USA Today story and calls it a MSM epiphany. Welcome to the real world. By the way, if you are not checking Babalu every day, you are not getting the best and most complete Cuba coverage available.

Smoke And Mirrors And Photoshop

The apparently very, very, very bad photoshopped picture of smoke rising from Beirut is a raging story in the right blogosphere. The left appears to be utterly silent as far as I can tell. Michelle Malkin has some comments by professional photographers about the picture. Taken from a comment thread at SportShooters.com, they are pretty well sickened by this. It is too blatant and obvious to escape the eye of professionals. Or even rank amateurs.

Geoff Miller, Photographer Portage | MI | USA | Posted: 8:53 PM Today ->> Not looking to get political on this one… But, um, does anyone see anything odd about this photo?:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060805/photos_ts/2006_08_05t152933…

Wesley R. Bush, Photographer
Nashville | TN | U.S. | Posted: 9:13 PM Today
->> Cloned smoke?

Jenna Isaacson, Photographer
Columbia | Mo | USA | Posted: 9:15 PM Today
->> That *IS* weird. I wonder if any non-photo people notice it as much as we do.

Bruce Twitchell, Photographer
Coeur d'Alene | ID | USA | Posted: 9:16 PM Today
->> Nah… smoke naturally repeats itself in perfect patterns like that. It always does…..doesn't it?

; )

Alan Rogers, Photographer
Carbondale | IL | USA | Posted: 9:18 PM Today
->> I'll second the cloned smoke…but it looks so obvious that I don't know how the photographer could have gotten away with it. Has anyone seen a high-res version of the photo?

Geoff Miller, Photographer
Portage | MI | USA | Posted: 9:29 PM Today
->> I know that building plans are often reused in other parts of the world, but if you look at the building that's the apparent source of the plume on the left (as well as the next two buildings to its right) it appears that it's been rubber stamped at least two other times up and to the right.

Jenna, Yes, non-photographers have notices it. To make matters worse, Mr. Hajj was one of the photographers that covered the Qana apartment complex bombing where some people (incorrectly, I believe) questioned the truthfullness of the images. This photo is going to _really_ pour gas on the that whole issue.

Matt Mallams, Photographer
Ventura | CA | USA | Posted: 9:31 PM Today
->> This makes me sick to my stomach. This is got to be a joke.

If your going to ruined your career, at least work on the photo a little longer than two minutes.

Jason Fritz, Student/Intern
San Francisco | CA | USA | Posted: 10:14 PM Today
->> The IDF has reduced many parts of Lebanon to smoldering piles or rubble. And then they bomb those piles again. I am having trouble understanding why a photographer would ruin their career over a photo that isn't very good in the first place, especially considering there is no shortage of buildings being consumed by fire and smoke in Lebanon. Can this be a bad video still? Or perhaps a long lens with a doubler attached. This image would certainly catch the attention of any Reuters photo editor, if it were - as many of you are suggesting - a clone stamp fakery, would it not?

I am sure someone can shoot an email to the Reuters Beirut Bureau Photo Editor, to alert them and get an answer, if the building is even still there. It is our job as journalists to bring these things up. Its a sad day if the accusations are indeed true. I've seen some truly moving images from this conflict. Ones that evoke anger and a deep sense of sadness. I can't imagine why, with all the horror, violence and destruction happening in Lebanon, a photojournalist would feel the need to spend the time doctoring a bad photograph when it is very evident that there are truly moving images that convey the absurdity of this war being taken everyday.

Every morning, I pick up a copy of the LA Times, and see the outstanding work of their photographers are doing on both sides of the border. It obvious to me that there are moving pictures to be made there, if photographers would spend less time doctoring bad pictures in photo shop, and more time walking the streets of the cities of Lebanon.

Pretty damning. I can't wait to hear Reuters leap to the defense of their photographer's professionalism like they did when people questioned the pictures from Qana. If you haven't heard, Adnan Hajj, the photographer who appears to do really bad photoshops, also did quite a few pictures at Qana.