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Archive for the ‘fanatics’ Category

US missed chance for Iran nuclear deal, Turkey says – Middle East …

www.stripes.com4/14/12

The United States missed an opportunity to ease concerns about Iran's nuclear program nearly two years ago when it rejected a carefully negotiated deal that would have allowed Western powers to provide Iran uranium for its …

Zakaria: The shape of a deal with Iran – Global Public Square – CNN …

globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com4/15/12

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN I've been following the tense back and forth with Iran very closely. I continue to believe it is the single most dangerous crisis that we confront today. And I'm struck by the pessimism surrounding it.

Is Iran ready to make a deal or is it just playing for time?

If the Tehran stock index is anything to go buy then Iran is likely going to make a face saving deal in the near future.

The index just posted its largest daily rise in months and closed at a record high.

How Would A Deal Work?

According to details that emerged after Saturday’s (April 14, 2012) first session in Istanbul.

Iran would agree to stop enriching uranium to the 20% level.

Would halt work at an underground facility near Qom that was built for higher enrichment.

Would export its stockpile of highly enriched uranium for final processing to 20% for use in medical isotopes.

So Where’s The Face-Saving?

In the language of these talks, the Iranians would be able to describe their actions, not as concessions to the West, but as "confidence-building" measures, aimed at demonstrating the seriousness of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s public pledge in February not to commit the "grave sin" of building a nuclear weapon.

And the West would describe its easing of sanctions not as a climb down, but as "reciprocity".

Reciprocity And A Step-By-Step Approach

The basic framework for the talks was set several weeks ago, in an exchange of letters between the chief negotiators.

Catherine Ashton, who represents the "P5+1" group of permanent U.N. security council members and Germany, proposed a "confidence-building exercise aimed at facilitating a constructive dialogue on the basis of reciprocity and a step-by-step approach".

The Iranian negotiator, Saeed Jalili, responded that.

"Because the West was willing to recognize Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy, our talks for cooperation based on step-by-step principles and reciprocity on Iran’s nuclear issue could be commenced".

Jalili’s status as personal representative of the supreme leader is important too.

Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu played his expected role in this choreography, criticizing the negotiators for agreeing to another round of talks on May 23 in Baghdad without getting concessions in return.

"It has got five weeks to continue enrichment without any limitation, any inhibition".

His comments were just scathing enough to keep the Iranians and Americans worried that the Israelis might launch a military attack this summer if no real progress is made in the talks.

Preparing The Public In Iran

The Iranians appear to be preparing their public for a deal that limits enrichment, at the same time as preserving their right to enrich.

In an interview Monday with the Iranian student news agency, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi explained that,

"Making 20% fuel is our right, but if they guarantee that they will provide us with the different levels of enriched fuel that we need, then that would be another issue".

Jalili struck the same upbeat tone in comments printed in the Tehran Times.

"We witnessed progress. The supreme leader’s religious edict renouncing nuclear weapons created an opportunity for concrete steps toward disarmament and non-proliferation. The next talks should be based on confidence-building measures, which would build the confidence of Iranians".

The Turkish Plan

Salehi seemed to be reviving a 2009 Turkish plan to export Iran’s low-enriched uranium abroad, and receive back 20% fuel for its Tehran research reactor, supposedly to make the isotopes.

The deal collapsed because of opposition from Khamenei, who now seems more ready to bargain.

A Workable Deal?

At a minimum, Iran will ask for a delay of the U.S. and European sanctions that are set to take full effect on June 28 and July 1, respectively.

The West will agree, but will keep the the threatened sanctions in place until the Iranians make the required concessions.

Gov. Christie praises Israel's tech industry during Bridgewater town …

ru1bailbonds.com4/11/12

Gov. Chris Christie today said he believes free market ideals have allowed Israel's high-tech industry to flourish BRIDGEWATER — In the first of a series of town hal…

Israpundit » Blog Archive » Why is Israel so happy? What, me worry?

www.israpundit.com4/10/12

Israel is much happier than all the European countries that experienced their last war six decades ago. The Jewish state's population exceeds 7.5 million, nine times that of 1948, the year of the state's creation. Israelis are …

Israel ranked 14th in the United Nations first World Happiness Report, conducted by Columbia University’s Earth Institute.

And it’s a result that is likely to surprise a lot of people.

Denmark, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands topped the list, while Benin, Central African Republic, Togo and Sierra Leone came in last.

Canada came in right behind The Netherlands in fifth.

And the United States ranked 11th, while the United Kingdom came in 18th.

The 158-page report was commissioned for the United Nations Conference on Happiness, which aims to “review the state of happiness in the world today and show how the new science of happiness explains personal and national variations in happiness.”

The report was based on findings published by the Gallup World Poll between the years 2005-2011, as well as three other surveys.

The rankings compile a “life evaluation score,” which is based on various factors including health, job security, political and personal freedom and corruption.

According to the report,

“while basic living standards are essential for happiness, after the baseline has been met happiness varies more with the quality of human relationship than with income.”

Israel Ranked 14th?

If you think the report must be wrong when it comes to Israel and perhaps the USA too, then take a look at,

World’s Happiest Countries – Happiness Index From Forbes.com

Threats To Israel

Israel is under contestant threat from many Islamic countries that have vowed to destroy it.

Iran is going nuclear and continually threatens to wipe Israel off of the map

Arabs fire rockets every day at civilians in Ashkelon, Beersheba, Ashdod and Sderot

And suicide bombers would blow themselves up in cafes and shopping mall if they were able to.

Israel is the only nation without recognized borders.

And organized propaganda is endlessly used against it by Islamic countries, third world countries, and liberals that love to support the perceived underdog.

Divisions In Israeli Society

Israel’s social fabric is deeply divided, between its Ultra-Orthodox Jews and its Secular Jews.

Between nationalists and leftists.

So What Is The Source Of Their Happiness?

Perhaps because,

Israelis have one of the longest life expectancies of any nation in the world.

Their country has a history of scintillating enlightenment, with the highest production of scientific publications per capita in the world, more museums per capita and the highest worldwide publication of new books.

Economic success! No other industrialized country does it better, especially for a nation that doesn’t have natural resources and has a population roughly half of Belgium’s.

Israel’s high-tech industry is flourishing, making the country known as the “start-up nation".

In a war-ravaged country like Israel, the past few years saw five Israeli Nobel Prize winners.

There is attachment to the land, whereas love for one’s land, is a nationalistic taboo in most of the West.

For a country the size of Wales, Israel has the varied landscape of the US but the distance from the north to the south is only around 500km or 310 miles.

Israel’s population is very resilient. A new governmental study just found that Intifada-era violence did nothing to affect Israel’s national morale.

Israelis are also happy because they know that Dimona and the IDF are there to protect them.

To Summarize

In Israel, the celebrations of life are far more important than the memories of death, and to quote Golda Meir.

“We will have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us”.

And perhaps Israel is a lighthouse of life, on the border between survival and destruction, believing that ultimately, that life will overcome death?