The reality much closer to home...

[makku]

Washington Times
January 28, 2005
Pg. 1

Nicaragua Seeks Stash Of Missiles

U.S. urges investigation of military over SA-7s

By Rowan Scarborough, The Washington Times

The State Department said yesterday it has asked Nicaragua to investigate whether its military is hiding stashes of SA-7 missiles capable of downing commercial airliners.

The Nicaraguan government later announced it was conducting a "thorough investigation."

The statements came the same day The Washington Times reported that Nicaraguan police seized one of the Soviet-made missiles from black marketeers during a U.S.-assisted sting operation in Managua, Nicaragua.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher yesterday confirmed to reporters that Nicaraguan authorities seized the missile.

"There are allegations or suspicions that there might be some stockpile that's held by the military or other parties," Mr. Boucher said. "We have asked the government of Nicaragua to look into that and to investigate and find out whether indeed there might be some of these that have gone missing or might be in the wrong hands."

Of the missile seizure on Jan. 11, Mr. Boucher said, "We commend Nicaraguan authorities for successfully recovering one of their Manpads [man-portable air defense systems], in this case a Russian-made SA-7, during a criminal investigation that culminated this month. Our Drug Enforcement Administration assisted them with that investigation."

Salvador Stadthagen, the Nicaraguan ambassador to Washington, told The Times yesterday that "this is an extremely serious matter and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed me that the president has ordered a thorough investigation."

The Times reported that the United States has intelligence that indicates elements of Nicaragua's military have hidden about 80 SA-7s for possible sale on the black market to terrorists.

The arrested men believed they were selling missiles, for several hundred thousand dollars each, to Colombian terrorists and were willing to provide them to Islamic militants, a Bush administration official told The Times.

The seizure has set off alarm bells among Bush administration officials because, to them, it confirms intelligence reports that elements of the Nicaraguan military have stashed SA-7s and that some could already be in terrorists' hands.

The seized missile did not match the serial number of any of the 1,000 SA-7s in Nicaragua inventoried by the Organization of American States. The non-match is further evidence of a secret stash, an administration official said.

The official said it is not hard to imagine what terrorists could do with SA-7s procured in Nicaragua. From there, the missiles could be smuggled through Central America into Mexico and then across the porous border into the United States.

The heat-seeking SA-7s have a maximum range of about 15,000 feet, or three miles. Terrorists could use them to down aircraft on airport approaches or takeoffs.

Pro-U.S. President Enrique Bolanos of Nicaragua's ruling Liberal Constitutional Party has pledged to the Bush administration to destroy the country's inventoried stock.

"In Nicaragua, we have worked with the government of President Bolanos," Mr. Boucher said. "He gave assurances to President Bush and former Secretary of State [Colin L.] Powell in 2003 that Nicaragua would destroy all of its man-portable air defense systems."

But some Bush officials believe Mr. Bolanos is being double-crossed by officers loyal to the opposition Sandinista National Liberation Front, which opposes destroying the weapons. The Sandinistas are re-emerging as a powerful force in Nicaragua after losing the elections in 1990. The left-wing Sandinistas have loyal officers well-placed in the army.

The Bush administration official said intelligence agencies have identified one particular officer as being linked to a secret stash of SA-7s and the Jan. 11 aborted sale.

The sting occurred at an air conditioner repair shop, with Nicaraguan police and U.S. officials present. A Nicaraguan general appeared at the scene and asked for the missile, but the police retained custody of the weapon.

The Sandinistas acquired thousands of SA-7s from the Soviet Union in the 1980s to battle the U.S.-supplied Contras.

In 2002, terrorists fired two SA-7s at an Israeli airliner taking off in Kenya. Both missiles missed.

Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda and other terror groups are actively seeking acquisition of SA-7s, especially now that new security procedures make it difficult to execute a September 11-style hijacking.

"Worldwide, the United States has been very concerned about the issue of Manpads and we've had a number of programs, whether it's with individual countries or in organizations like [the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation], where we're looking to control these missiles that can be used against aircraft," Mr. Boucher said.

[makku]

More scariness.... :(

Washington Times
January 28, 2005
Pg. 14

North Suspected Of Buying Nuke Weapon

SEOUL — North Korea appears to have bought a complete nuclear weapon from either Pakistan or a former Soviet Union state, a South Korean newspaper said yesterday, quoting a source in Washington.

Seoul Shinmun quoted the source as saying the United States was checking the intelligence.

The purchase was apparently intended to avoid nuclear weapons testing that could be detected from the outside, the source was quoted as saying.

North Korea is believed to have one or two nuclear weapons and possibly more than eight.

[makku]

Jerusalem Post
January 28, 2005

Putin To 'Post': Missile Deal Possible

By David Horovitz, The Jerusalem Post

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem Post on Thursday, refused to rule out his country's sale of anti-aircraft missiles to Syria, insisting that such missiles serve "defensive" purposes only and would not affect the balance of forces in the region.

Putin was speaking to the Post through a translator at a luncheon in Krakow hosted by Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski.

He was asked first about the direct link he had drawn between Nazism and modern terrorism in a speech he delivered earlier in the day.

Questioned as to whether he regarded modern terrorism as a threat to humankind, Putin replied: "Definitely. That has been our direct experience. Those extremists who represent international terrorism in our territory in the northern Caucasus, what they want is to establish a global caliphate. This resembles the Nazis' aspiration to global leadership. The same can be said, by the way, of the Communist revolution."

The Post then put it to Putin that Israel was extremely concerned by terrorism, and had specific anxieties regarding planned Russian missile sales to Syria, a state notorious for its support of terror groups. Putin responded at length.

"First of all," he said, "we understand and are committed to maintaining the balance of forces in the region. We understand our responsibilities. We have not taken a single step to violate that balance and we will follow that pattern in the future."

Waiting patiently while his translator rendered this into English, Putin then continued, "Second of all, we won't bring to the region weapons that can be used by terrorists or that can be transferred to terrorists without controls." The Russian president then repeated, "We have and will always act according to our international obligations." In that light, he added, the contemplated missile sale to Syria would not constitute a violation of responsibility because, he asserted, these are purely "defensive missiles."

"While we're talking about supplies of weapons to countries in the region," he said, "such a supply should be understood in the light of supporting defensive capacities, as in Syria."

Putin added that he was discussing the planned sale along with all other issues, "with all participants" in what he called "the Middle East settlement, including frankly and openly with our Israeli partners."

Indeed, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon talked with Putin only last week, and the two are expected to speak again in the coming days. And it is understood that Russia's planned missile sale to Syria is currently on hold – neither definitively on, nor definitively off, according to Israeli sources.

"Our actions, I say again," Putin then reiterated, "have never violated and will never violate the balance of power in the region."

The Post then pointed out to the Russian president that at the moment, that balance finds Israel with a vital military advantage.

Putin's response: "Definitely, today, Israel has all the powers compared to its neighbors." The Post would have liked to clarify that rather equivocal response, but Putin indicated that the interview was over.

Israel, and the US for that matter, have been particularly concerned by Russian plans to sell SA-18 shoulder-held anti-aircraft missiles to Damascus.

According to Israeli sources, the SA-18 may indeed be described as a defensive missile, but Israel's concern is that from Damascus they will find their way to Hizbullah and then to the West Bank, and come to constitute a threat to civilian airliners landing at and taking off from Ben-Gurion International Airport.

Senior Israeli diplomatic officials responded to Putin's comments by saying he was resorting to a "traditional" Soviet policy regarding arms sales – namely, that Moscow was only selling defensive, and not offensive, weapons.

"The line between defensive and offensive weapons is very thin," one official said. "With this type of weapon they may feel more confident to take offensive actions against Israel." Furthermore, the officials said, if this weapon is delivered to terrorist organizations it becomes a purely offensive weapon that could be used to shoot down civilian aircraft.

The officials said that while Jerusalem did not expect that the sale would be finalized during Syrian President Bashar Assad's current trip to Russia, they do expect that Russia will try to go through with the deal at another time, and try to get around Israeli and US objections that the missiles could be easily transferred to terrorists by reconfiguring them and placing them on Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs).

The officials said that the Russian decision to waive Syria's $10 billion debts accumulated from previous arms deal is a clear indication that Russia has long-term plans for future arms deal with Damascus, and is trying to pave its way back into the Middle East via weapons sales.

Regarding whether mounting the missiles on APCs would remove the threat of their being transferred to terrorists, one official said "whatever can be mounted on a vehicle can easily be removed later."

Herb Keinon contributed to this report .