Iran fires rocket 'into space', plans satellite for '09

@Ian Hislop

"President Ahmadinejad insists that Iran is not a threat to any country. ®"

and I'm a banana.......

with apologies to Ian Hislop

What a country!

They finally have pulled off what US private companies like Orbital Sciences (http://www.orbital.com/About/) have been doing for almost 30 years for anyone willing to pay the launch fee. Woo Hoo!

Those Iranian Scientists are so smart. Maybe by the Iranian government writing more checks they can reinvent the wheel too.

Iranian Rockets vs Propaganda

Applying for a job at CNN/Fox?

I'm bored already...

I may well be alone in asking this, but, why are the US so obsessed with Iran? Why don't thery just button it and wait and see...

They kept on for months inflaming rows over the arms program after their own spooks (as you call them) had declared the nuclear program as "dead as Disco" (as I call it)...

Lets face it, the US have a paranoid puerile administration who are belligerent and bungling to the extreme.

@Ross

That's a great plan, bud. In fact, it's the "reason" we have nuclear armaments; the Nuclear Deterrant (Mutually Assured Destruction).

However, the trouble starts when you remember Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other predominantly Islamic countries have a statistically higher frequency of fundamentalist populations who believe that it is the highest acclaim to have laid waste to fields of "infidels" from the West (or so the media would have us believe). They would have no trouble WHATSOEVER with nuking^H^H^H^H^H^Htesting their satellite delivery system over the western world.

Please

"President Ahmadinejad has publicly predicted that Israel will not exist forever".

Enough with the lies.

Hypocrisy indeed!

Interestingly there are at least 8 countries that already have the capability to launch orbital payloads, including France, China, India and Israel. All of those quoted four also have nukes. There are a number of private companies also developing space vehicles.

None of these seem to cause the USA such angst.

@ Ross

No. You're certainly not the only one.

I find the magnitude of their hypocrisy mind boggling!

Your point about ICBMs applies equally well to the whole "WMD" thing they've created. If the Americans are so anti nuclear proliferation wtf did they give them to Israel? Isn't it reasonably plausible that if one side has them then the other side might feel some need to get them? Didn't something like that happen during the cold war too?

Since when has "shock and awe" possibly meant anything other than "terrorism"?

Would it really be wise to terrorize large, populous nations with an already iffy attitude towards "The West", even if they didn't control most of the world's oil, into hating us?

It's bonkers.

And there's so much more! Why don't they EVER learn?

"You reap what you sow" is the expression, I believe. We are sowing.

Paris because she's American, and fairly typical it seems.

@Capt. Kangaroo

We're "obsessed" with Iran ever since their revolution took our citizens hostages.

Combine that with our country's support of Isreal and Iran's general hostile nature (and let's not forget their oil) we think they bear watching.

The fact that our current administration is paranoid and puerile does not necessarily mean that Iran isn't up to no good.

My question is why don't you Brits hold them in lower esteem?

After all, it was less than a year ago that they captured 15 of your sailors... Here's a refresher link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6484279.stm

@Ross

This bothers me. It bothers me a great deal. Personally I'm expecting the US to cease to exist (as we now know it) within the next 20 years.

I have family and friends in the US. Lots of them. Ex-pats and Americans. I'm expecting there to be a sizeable unconventional explosion in at least one of their major cities any time now. This really does bother me. I don't think it might, just happen someday. I'm expecting it to happen. Why wouldn't it? If I was a civilian in Baghdad or Iran or maybe even further afield, I'd probably be fuming right now. Wouldn't you?

Meanwhile all the politicos seem to be getting all hot and bothered about global warming! I think some serious risk assessment needs to go on in high places! ...there might be a rise of global temperatures of a few degrees over the course of the next 100 years, and if there is, it might be unpleasant for some bears, maybe? Bring it on! Perhaps it'll help offset the nuclear winter a tiny bit.

@Im_Gumby

I reckon if you asked many brits, they would hold them in low esteem. The issue seems to be (from my point of view anyway) that as far as everyone can tell, its a peaceful program, ergo by telling them there all terrorist jihadi scum (which is the message both yours and our countries politicians seem to send out) when our intelligence services are suggesting that they're doing nothing wrong kind of gives us a bad name.

And lets not forget there's plenty of countries already with less than ideal views of our countries currently packing nukes. Our sailors shouldn't have got themselves caught, and they way most of them conducted themselves both during and after their detention is, to me, an affront to everything that the british armed forces stand for, so I bear the Iranians no ill will for that.

See what you've done, you dragged me out from under my rock now!

Rant over, I think, and no ill will borne to anybody, honest :p

BillG - because if anyone has WMD's, its him...

@Im_Gumby

That probably had something to do with where those sailors were serving at the time and what they were up to. Par for the course. Unfortunately.

Let Iran develop satellite tech.

After all, space access should be free to all!

/me checks my shares in anti-sat missile companies that could sell said tech to Israel......

And any money they waste on playing catch-up with the West will also keep their Revolving Guard armed with cheap N.Korean/Chinese junk for the foreseeable future.

@Ash

Why is it unreasonable for Iran to seek a nuclear capability when there are so many, so obviously hostile, nuclear powers pointing the things at them?

Hypocrisy. Look it up.

It's total bullshit

I'm completely tired of hearing about the dangers of Iran. A lot of what gets Americans hyped up is based on mistranslations anyway.

And let's face it: They're not acting irrationally. Think about it.

If Russia occupied Canada, what do you think the US would be doing? Attempting to influence the situation while at the same time seriously building up our military? You fucking bet! And it wouldn't be crazy to be doing so.

This is a big thing for Iran. First launch into space, AND first satellite. How many middle eastern countries are too busy blowing themselves up right now? Plenty of them. Yay for Iran.

And anyway, the US intelligence agencies very recently said out loud that they think Iran halted their nuclear weapons program back in 2003.

But you wouldn't hear that from Bush.

@Isreal?

If the Iranians don't think that Isreal exist, they're hardly likely to waste precious Ammo on them...

@Stuart Wells

"...the British generally end up in the middle trying to find some middle ground. It's how the Brits have done diplomacy for years and maybe it will head back that way now we have rid of that toad Blair."

Too right, but alas, I envy your optimism.

Insanity

All I see is insanity on all sides...

Thanks for getting the Ahmadinejad vs. Israel quote right!

Thank you, Mr. Page, for finally getting the Ahmadinejad quote right. Far too many (certainly in the US press) have misquoted him as calling for the *destruction* of Israel, with the implication that that was what Iran intended to do. But that's *not* what Ahmadinejad said!

The effect was much like Krushchev's "We will bury you", which got whipped into being taken as intent to attack the US. But that's not what the Russian phrase meant at all. It was more like "see you at your funeral" -- i.e., we will outlive you, History is on our side, etc. Might well express contempt, but contempt is not aggressive war.

@Im_Gumby

"We're "obsessed" with Iran ever since their revolution took our citizens hostages."

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Iran+1952+govt+overthrow

Do a little searching to see WHY.

The US and UK overthrow a democratically elected Primeminster of Iran and installed the tyrant known as the Shah of Iran. And you wonder why!?

How the F*** the US and UK (and the rest of the "West") can claim to want Democracy in the region when they perform acts like that.

... and No, they haven't changed...

FIS were elected in Algeria in the early 90s... they were done away with...

Hamas were elected... they are sidestepped and ignored.

The only time that democracy is supported by the "West" is when a pliant, subservient, kiss-ass govt is elected that will do as they are told.

So long as that is the status-quo, the WoT will never end...

@Steve & Coward

OK, for sake of brevity in rebuttal to Capt. Kangaroo I didn't do a complete recount of all US/UK/Iranian history, yet I am not ignorant of those facts.

Yes, the Shah and SAVAK weren't boy scouts. Neither was Sadam and the Republican Guard.

Both were opposed to someone we disliked even more at the time. The enemy of my current enemy is my current friend.

In both cases there were reprocussions from those alliances.

Dead bird because there isn't a dead horse icon to beat.

"If you are not with us, you are with the terrorists."

Wise words by a great man. America is God's country and therefore is ALWAYS in the right! How DARE you critisize us? If it wasn't for us you wouldn't even HAVE the internet! You people should be grateful to the USA. AT LEAST WE HAD THE BACKBONE TO STOP IRAQ FROM BECOMING A TERRORIST STATE.

The same must be done with Iran, I hear that they may have been behind 9/11 too. Okay, so a few people died, but sometimes you have to break a few eggs to make an omlette. Besides, God doesn't really pay attention to what happens in those backward dumbass countries anyway.

And as far as the oil is concerned, we take that as payment for doing the right thing. Americans died.

You people need to learn more gratitude towards your betters.

God Bless America!

Israel

Looking at the larger picture, entropy dictates that the Earth, Solar System, local galaxy et. al. will not exist forever, let alone Israel!

If you can just stop throwing the screwed up paper at me, I'll go to the coat rack.

@Vladimir Plouzhnikov

"Ayatollas want to keep their power, control and their own comfortable lives. If you're dead you don't have any of that."

While that's might even be true, I'm also willing to admit the possibility that some people _are_ fanatical about their religion.

Since you talk about "ayatollahs" generally, I'll point you at the fact that during the shah's regime, being the ayatollah was more of a horrible death sentence, than a comfortable position of power. The SAVAK (the shah's secret police) killed at least two Ayatollahs. One they burned alive (and I don't know about this particular case, but IIRC at least some such executions were more like slowly roasting alive, and make even the Inquisition version seem merciful and civilized.) The other, they removed his eyelids and forced him to watch as they raped his daughter. He died later from the complications.

You have to believe in _something_ to lead the resistance in the face of such brutal repression. Be it religion, or some nationalist ideals, or whatever. But, you know, you don't risk burning alive if you just want comfortable power. Especially when the odds of actually winning that power don't look so great. It's a bit like playing the russian roulette with only one chamber empty.

A lot of the current ayatollahs are the same that fought against the shah. "Supreme Leader" and grand ayatollah Khamenei was (A) involved together with the old Khomeini in the islamic revolution, and (B) pretty much personally selected by Khomeini as a successor... Dunno, I have no trouble accepting that maybe the guy genuinely believes in his islamic vision.

Note that I'm not saying that his islamist utopia is right or wrong. Just that there's a distinct possibility that he genuinely believes in it.

Please,

As an iranian I think mullahs won't use it as they know it's the last thing they will do. they just want to have it to do whatever they want to do in iran and abroad.

Ahmadinejhad told he will remove the poverty, it's not a lie or any thing just he didn't said he will do it by making the poor men the dead men. They just don't care about the country, the only important thing for them is regime itself.

Also As I know the biggest foreign help for mullahs and starting the Islamic republic of iran was USA. This may sound odd but as far as I know it's true. Very sad.

http://www.roozonline.com/archives/2008/02/post_6018.php

The man says to ahmadinejhad: "can't you go with this?".

Hmmm,

The turkeys and chicken little's seem to be flying higher and faster then a failed and grounded supersonic Concorde Airliner today for some strange reason !

As Paris would say with so many wankers running around with the self induced paranoia of chicken little syndrome , you may proceed with this nonsense at flank emergency full ahead speed forthwith !

@steve

@steve given the current penurious state of the Royal Navy , they would need to borrow a local life boat and beg for some free fuel just to hail a row boat off Portsmouth as for the English channel forget it !

How to demonize a country

1. Point out how 'those' people are just not like us regular normal folks.

2. Take things that they do, and put the evil spin on it.

3. Point out how easy it would be for them to harm us if the really wanted to.

4. Show pictures of how ugly they are.

5. Make propaganda about how ugly/unreasonable/aggressive they are to display in the local media.

I only draw up this list off the top of my head because I remember this happening during the cold war. I remember all Russian women being old with large calves, I remember communists having no morals because they were godless, I remember movies portraying young Americans defeating the evil communist machine.

Then I found out that lots of Russian women are really good looking. I realised that no-one except America has ever used nuclear weapons in anger. That when Americans have wars, it's more about stand off weapons platforms than Johnny Hero fighting to save a child. Neither the governments of Iraq, Iran, or Afghanistan sponsored 9/11, or have ever attacked the UK or the US on their own soil (that was 'Al-Qa'ida' not the Taliban).

So, to make a few points. Iranians are just like us. Their leaders are not insane, they are a good deal less likely to sponsor foreign violence than the UK or the US, and they have beautiful women. If they are making satellites, that's what probably all they are doing, if they are making nuclear reactors, that's all they are doing.

@Im_gumby

"Yes, the Shah and SAVAK weren't boy scouts. Neither was Sadam and the Republican Guard."

throw the ISI in there and you have the whole set

what's the connection? all supported by uncle sam for a significant period

dead bird to signify the eagle of freedom is a dead turkey

Im_Gumby

"After all, it was less than a year ago that they captured 15 of your sailors..."

15 IDIOTS who were arsing around in a MILITARY boat in Iranian territorial waters. It's so pathetic, it's like pulling a dog's tail over and over again until it bites you so you can justify having it put down. Iran is NOT going to attack Israel or the US or the UK - and there's ZERO evidence to indicate that they ever would.