Star One Smart Blog's

---

Southern Beale is all hot and itchy over this one...

"Considering how the Bush Administration could screw up eating a ham sandwich, I’m dubious about this plan:

US: Broken Satellite Will Be Shot Down

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon, under orders from President Bush, is planning to shoot down a broken spy satellite expected to hit the Earth in early March, the White House said Thursday.

U.S. officials said that the option preferred by the administration will be to fire a missile from a U.S. Navy cruiser, and shoot down the satellite before it enters Earth's atmosphere.

And, to really make like some crazy...

"Sounds to me like the military doesn’t want any “unfriendly governments” finding this thing. Which strikes me as really insane. We launched our current two-front war thanks to a gang of crazies with boxcutters. Our troops are being taken down by IEDs in Iraq. Why worry about foreign governments finding our old spy satellite technology?"

Jeeze. People there in BDSland are strange in their noodles.

Remember, other countries have trial lawyers, too. We can't be taking chances with possibly injuring some brown people or Joooooooosss....

From GlobalSecurity.org...

Ambassador James F. Jeffrey, assistant to the President and deputy national security advisor, said President Bush decided to bring down the satellite because of the likelihood that the satellite could release hydrazine, a toxic chemical used as a maneuvering fuel.

The fuel tanks, pressurized and all, are built strong enough to survive reentry. They won't survive a direct hit from a Navy ASM, or even a near miss.

“The likelihood of the satellite falling in a populated area is small, and the extent and duration of toxic hydrazine in the atmosphere would be limited,” Jeffrey said. “Nevertheless, if the satellite did fall in a populated area, there was the possibility of death or injury to human beings beyond that associated with the fall of satellites and other space debris.”

We certainly don't want to give any Democratic trial lawyers incentives to sue us.

And, we need try out our nascent missile defense systems.

The Navy has modified three SM-3 missiles aboard Aegis ships to strike the satellite, Cartwright said. The Navy wants to intercept the satellite at a point just above the atmosphere so there would be a high likelihood of bringing it down in an unpopulated area. An intercept also would rupture the hydrazine tank. The vice chairman would not say exactly where the ships would fire from, only saying it will be from the northern hemisphere and the Pacific Ocean.

Intercepting the satellite at about 130 nautical miles altitude will reduce the risk of debris in space. Once the satellite is hit, officials hope 50 percent of the debris will come to Earth in the first two orbits and the rest shortly thereafter, Cartwright said.

Niiice. And, no 'floaters' to 'destroy our space shuttle fleet'. The Chinese killed one of their satellites early last year, but much higher up than our planned interaction. They should've waited until it dropped a bit more, less mess.

Testing our abilities is critical to progressing the defense technology we count on to protect our troops. Remember the Patriot anti-missile batteries that protected Israel against Saddam's rockets in Gulf War I? Those untested batteries probably bought Saddam a few extra years to develop his WMD's in Iraq. Now, they are an important part of our (and our allies) defense networks. We need protection from even bigger payloads, since Russia and Putin are starting to rattle the old chains again.

But from Beale, nothing but BDS. If Hillary or Baracky were in office and proposed the same solution, why, these partisan hacks would shit all over themselves falling in line to agreeing with them.

---

Links
Last of the Few: Practice shoot....

The DOD press release.

Crossed from Tennessee Free (that's a first; it's usually the other way around)

---

"This nation will not negotiate with anyone over its obvious and legal rights," Ahmadinejad told student members of the Basij religious militia, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"We are not even interested in negotiating with you (the United States) and the Iranian nation does not need America."

 

That's interesting, Ahmadinejad.  We've advanced to a new level of non-negotiation.  Because lines are being drawn for this conflict...

The United States, Britain and France are preparing to debate a third set of sanctions against the Islamic republic in response to Tehran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment.  Iran has rejected two U.N. Security Council resolutions requiring it to halt its enrichment program.  U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad said the five veto-wielding members of the Security Council along with Germany have begun negotiations in their capitals on a new resolution targeting Iran.  The goal is to get an agreement on suspending enrichment and answers to issues raised by ElBaradei, Khalilzad said.  "We believe that the Iranian nuclear issues is ... a defining issue of our time," he said.  "It cannot be acceptable for it to develop the capability to produce nuclear weapons."  Last week, the Bush administration announced a new set of sanctions targeting the Iranian military and state-owned banking systems in hopes of raising pressure on the world financial system to cut ties with Tehran.

On the Other Side?  Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov meets with Ahmadinejad today... "A short working visit of the [foreign] minister to Iran is scheduled for Tuesday," Mikhail Kamynin said.  For to discuss the nuclear 'problems' Iran is stirring up. Or... to finalize a working agreement?  Seems to me that Russia is very close to treaty alignment with Iran against the western powers.  Will we see a treaty?   Russia is rattling sabers again...

VLASIKHA (Moscow Region), October 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Strategic Missile Forces will conduct five launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles by the end of 2007, the SMF commander said Friday. "By the end of this year, we will test launch another five missiles, including a RS-18 (SS-19 Stiletto), a RS-12M (SS-25 Sickle), a missile interceptor and a heavy RS-20 (SS-18 Satan)," Colonel General Nikolai Solovtsov told a news conference. He said that seven ICBM launches had been conducted so far in 2007 to test the performance of a new RS-24 missile with multiple warheads, extend the service life of RS-18 and RS-25 missiles and lift payloads into orbit. He also said five regiments of an SMF division in the Saratov Region have been equipped with silo-based Topol-M (SS-27) systems and put on combat duty. A complete regiment of silo-based Topol-M comprises ten missiles. The advanced Topol-M missile is considered by many experts as the best ICBM in the world at present. "Therefore, Russia already possesses weapons that can penetrate any modern missile defenses," Solovtsov said.

Hmmmph. Give 'em a chance to work out with a market economy, get their house in order, what do they do? Go right back to the 'old' habits of the USSR, building more missiles, getting into an arms race with the U.S. And picking up the slack of the world's enemies. I see definite sides forming, on the same old playing fields. Pushing and shoving again, with missiles and nuclear weapons.

If Russia comes out with a blanket "Order of Protection" treaty with Iran, we have the new Axis.

Is Israel doomed?

This is the first time the U.S. Government has ever imposed economic sanctions on the military parts of a foreign government (usually sanctions against foreign military involve much ordnance...and scattered pieces.)  Also sanctioned was Iran's largest bank.

[Treasury Secretary Henry] Paulson and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced the penalties together, a recognition that a year-old effort to levy unilateral Treasury sanctions has had far greater effect than the diplomatic channels Rice has pursued with Iran. "Unfortunately the Iranian government continues to spurn our offer of open negotiations, instead threatening peace and security," through its nuclear program and export of ballistic missiles, Rice said, along with what she charged is backing for militants in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

Condoleezza Rice said all the assets of these organizations and individuals would be frozen, immediately, and transactions with them banned.  From Russia, the RIA take...

WASHINGTON, October 25 (RIA Novosti) - The U.S. imposed further sanctions against Iran Thursday, qualifying its Revolutionary Guard Corps as a proliferator of weapons of mass destruction and its elite arm Qods Force a supporter of terrorism.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, or Pasdaran) was given the task of 'guarding the revolution' (Jimmy Carter's legacy) inside Iran.

"While the Constitution of Iran entrusts the military with guarding Iran's territorial integrity and political independence, it gives the Revolutionary Guard [Pasdaran] the responsibility of guarding the Revolution itself. Established under a decree issued by Khomeini on May 5, 1979, the Pasdaran was intended to guard the Revolution and to assist the ruling clerics in the day-to-day enforcement of the government's Islamic codes and morality."

The IRGC guards against 'corruption' (western influences) and, along with the Baseej, internal dissent.

External to Iran, the Qods (Jerusalem) Force is the segment of the IRGC  known as the 'terrorist' committee, dealing with and training Hizbollah and Islamic Jihadists. These lovelies were deemed responsible for the attack on Karbala, resulting in the kidnapping and execution of four US soldiers.  They are in Iraq, we know they are responsible for many U.S. deaths, both from direct involvement and by  giving away arms, technology and Jihadist encouragement. 

So, more sanctions. What are Iranians going to miss from the U.S.? Well, the military, probably not much. The Iranian state-owned Bank, now, slapping sanctions on that is a bit more troublesome to Iran.

"As awareness of Iran's deceptive behavior has grown, many banks around the world have decided as a matter of prudence and integrity that Iran's business is simply not worth the risk," Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said.

Squeezing a few dollars and euros from Iran's coffers will allow more Rubles to flow.

 

Two like-minded communists soul mates  came out against the sanctions...

"Speaking to CBS Sunday, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said the Senate's amendment was a huge mistake and warned that recognizing the Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization would automatically mean approving a U.S. attack on Iran."

"Russia's President Vladimir Putin said the new U.S. sanctions against Iran were counterproductive. "Why do we need to aggravate the situation, drive it into a deadlock, and threaten with sanctions and military action?" Putin said at a news conference in Lisbon on the eve of an EU-Russia summit. As an example, the Russian leader cited the issue of North Korea's nuclear program, which has virtually been resolved through diplomacy. "Until recently, it seemed impossible to resolve peacefully the problem of North Korea," Putin said. "But we have nearly done it using peaceful means."

Lovely together, aren't they?

Is this another small step towards the eventual military conflict that's looming with Iran and Western Culture? Or will these "harsh" sanctions bring Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollahs to their knees?

From Chess, one phrase pretty much sums up this move..."When in doubt, push a pawn." 

^{Pierced Russian Navy dude, exuding his country's newfound sense of machismo}
Just check out this page capture of Russia's News and Information Agency's homepage, today. I was there for the Moon Landing story, but was sidetracked by the overt military saber-rattling I saw there. Click on this image, or go visit for yourself.


Putin is definitely unnerving our friends in Great Britain; has Kuwait perplexed, and the Washington Times recently classified him as an "Authoritarian Bully & Imperial Wannabe".

Well, I guess all of America's testosterone has to go somewhere...since we are getting so 'politically corrected' from coast to coast, that stuff is our chief export. Just load the unneeded testosterone in tankers in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, any liberal city that just doesn't need those old, bygone, knuckle-dragging sentiments, anymore. Goodbye, John Wayne, we're done here. Take your cowboy hat and stirrups and ride off into the sunset.

We've better things to handle here in America, such as framing Newspeak and making sure no one gets a bit offended by anything that might upset their ability to function. God Forbid.

Yep...