Liveshots

Farewell Camp Victory – Baghdad’s Boomtown, Death Star and OK Corral rolled into one.

Dominic Di-Natale — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 14:38:00 +0000

By Dominic Di-Natale, World Affairs Contributor
There was no better way to arrive at Camp Victory than by the Rhino, an armored bus lined with Kevlar so thick the vehicle’s suspension coils would pop quicker than prom queen’s garter.
The Rhino would run from the Green Zone (before it was renamed the IZ) through Baghdad’s affluent neighborhoods and down the airport road that during the height of the violence was named Sniper’s Alley.
Being RPG-ed at or hearing the zing of a sharp shooter’s round bounce off the three-inch plating was an adrenalin-inducing introduction to an equally enthralling ride – life at Victory Base Complex (VBC).
Despite indirect fire constantly hitting the base, the unfeasibly indoctrinated and anally bureaucratic coalition forces’ press officers and the fact that everything from the latrines to the dining hall was referred to in a bewildering lexicon of acronyms that even the people who used them daily didn’t know what the abbreviations stood for, foreign journalists thrived on visits to VBC.
The Western press corps’ extortionately expensive but largely disheveled dwellings in the city were often no match for the most elaborately resourced military base that history has so far witnessed in an active combat zone.
For the 84,000 soldiers and contractors who lived there at its peak, the US built an elaborate, multi-billion-dollar cocoon of home comforts to ease the strains of punishing 15-month deployments in the most wretched war since Vietnam.
Chow halls (DFACs) served prime rib and lobster tail, with Baskin Robins for desert (hot fudge and all). There was the Green Beans chain of cafés that served up convincingly good lattes, frappucinos and smoothies. So-called morale, welfare and recreation centers (MWRs) were stacked with Xbox and Playstations networked together so that, perversely, soldiers could gun the living daylights out of each other in a multiplayer online orgy of Call of Duty. And there was even a beauty parlor where rugged male warriors would unstrap their battle-worn boots and revel in a pedicure and backrub from a bevvy of Tajik female stylists, all glammed up in blast-walls of Maybelline, false lashes and a French polish finish. They did greater wonders for military esteem more than the games consoles ever did.
A lucky journalist on embed could be billeted in the Joint Visitors’ Bureau instead of being bunked in a dusty, drafty transit tent over at Striker Stables. The JVB was a smart villa (by Saddam’s gaudy standards) on an artificial lake filled variably with an exponentially uncontrollable growth of creature-feature pondweed and the most oversized and deformed carp that ever did swim – should additional evidence have been needed both had fine potential as examples of Iraq’s chemical and biological chicanery.
The bedrooms at the JVB, with their mesmerizing headboards festooned like a Pride parade with rainbow decals and pastel flourishes were matched in their tackiness by the fake gold fixtures in the faux marble bathrooms, not to mention the bad wiring of the garish lighting, whose erratic flickering triggered epileptic seizures in passersby (well, just me, actually).
Across the lake was a swimming pool – which from early on was the domain of the Army (3rd ID, I think) until the all-assuming Air Force came along and kicked them out.
The lip-smacking smell of sizzling pork chops from the frequent poolside barbecues would waft across the water to the local Iraqis, whose job it was to dredge the untamable infestation of tangled weed and who were almost all exclusively Muslim. They would raise their nostrils to the scent in curiosity. I heard a soldier once cruelly tell them they would go to hell for passive pork inhalation.
These were the early and not-so-early days when reverence to local cultural sensitivities was not a fully-observed SOP (standard operating procedure). The “Hajis,” even the helpful ones, were routinely abused, ridiculed and scorned by coalition servicemen and women. At the military shopping plaza known as the PX, you could buy tongue-in-cheek souvenir t-shirts declaring, “It’s Time to Rake the Lake,” and, startlingly, “If it Ain’t Sunni, It Ain’t Shi’ite.”
Perhaps the most benign yet unlikely segment of VBC lake life was the Fishing Club of Baghdad. To my knowledge, it was never officially incorporated, nor is it clear who actually founded it but until as late as 2010, members of the Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment of the 36th Infantry Division were reportedly still trying to land those freaky three-foot, 35lbs+ carp as many others had in the seven years before them.
The only occasion I encountered a FCoB member was one night in October 2006. A rogue incoming round from suspected Sunni militants landed in VBC’s ammo dump around 2am and threw the entire camp out of bed.
Alarmed soldiers and civilians staggered out of their cots to watch in an ironic fix of awe and wonder as thousands of precious coalition shells cooked off in the tremendous heat of the explosion and rained down deafeningly across the base.
I vividly remember one soldier at the water’s edge whipping out his rod in that moment and casting a line to the deformed fish basking in the reflection of the massive maroon-orange mushroom cloud that thrust from the inferno and apocalyptically loomed over the base until dawn.
Perhaps the greatest highlight, but also the greatest challenge, for some members of the media corps was resisting U.S. soldiers’ pleas and ruses to help them disobey General Order #1 – no sauce and no sex. Strictly so.
Even for an Islamic capital city, Baghdad has always been big on booze but it was strictly forbidden to American soldiers. And if any of the other stuff was found to be happening, the soldiers (most often the females) got ejected out of theatre, pronto.
There was only so much we could ethically do to aide morale of the soldiers who protected us but my fellow British countrymen were given free reign to relative vice and, tantalizingly, even ran their own pub, The British House, on Victory.
It was helpfully set somewhat away from the prying eyes of the US-led command on the opposite side of the lake in Al Faw palace, which is why it was not uncommon to see the occasional serviceman of a certain nationality slip in on a busy night and quietly sip a pint in the corner, with no questions asked by Her Majesty’s patrons nor her bar tenders.
But this was VBC, Baghdad’s Boomtown, Death Star and OK Corral rolled into one for those who loved it, loathed it and lived it. For the foreign press corps, many of whom like myself became the current generation of war correspondents by spending pivotal points in our careers within its T-walls, it was not merely a conflict command center amid a military circus but a lifeline of (ab)normality; a surreal yet familiar escape from the fighting while still being at the very epicenter of it.

AIDS at 30: Progress and New Concerns

Jonathan Serrie — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 16:32:37 +0000

It was 30 years ago today that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published an article in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) on a then-new and deadly syndrome that would later be known as AIDS. Since then, effective treatments have helped improve and prolong the lives of those infected.

“But as these improvements have taken place, our nation’s collective sense of crisis has waned,” said CDC Director Thomas Frieden, MD.

At noon, the CDC released data showing the number of Americans living with HIV (more than 1.1 million) increased by more than 71 thousand between 2006 and 2008. Dr. Frieden attributed most of this increase to improved treatments for the disease. But he cautioned that as the number of people infected with HIV increases, so does the risk of transmission.

“Today, the most infections are among people under 30 – a new generation that has never known a time without effective HIV treatments and who may not fully understand the significant health threat HIV poses,” Frieden said.

The disease also poses an economic threat. The CDC estimates that if the disease continues to spread at current rates over the next decade, it could cost more than $200 billion to treat the newly infected.

“Reducing HIV rates in the United States is not only possible – it is imperative,” Dr. Frieden said.

According to federal health officials, improved testing and renewed awareness can help curb the spread of this treatable, but still incurable, disease.

As part of that effort, researchers at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health have created AIDSVu, a website linking federal, state and county-level data on the prevalence of HIV, as well as information on testing sites and treatment programs. The web address is: http://aidsvu.org/

“Oprah’s House Party” Full of Surprises

Marla Cichowski — Wed, 18 May 2011 19:28:56 +0000

Surprising the most famous woman in television is no simple task. Somehow Oprah Winfrey’s team of dedicated producers pulled it off with a star studded event that has the city of Chicago still buzzing with excitement.

The special taping of Oprah’s “Farewell Spectacular” was without a doubt the hottest ticket in town on Tuesday night at the United Center. More than 20,000 fans cheered, laughed and cried as celebrities honored Oprah Winfrey for her contributions over the past 25 years.

Hollywood A-listers shared the spotlight with Miss O for close to four hours as they taped Oprah’s third and second-to-last shows, airing May 23 and May 24. The first show taping kicked off with actor Tom Hanks as co-host, telling Oprah, “you are surrounded by nothing but love.” A few minutes later Tom Cruise surprised Oprah sharing memories from his very first appearance on the Oprah Show back in the 1980s. Later, Cruise and Oprah took a seat in the audience for a better view of the show.

Introduced as a “hard working mother of four,” Madonna delivered a special tribute to Oprah and her girls school in Africa, but did not perform. Beyonce, however, ended up performing her song, “Run the World (Girls)” twice due to a technical error during the first taping.

Some of the more candid moments happened during commercial breaks. At one point Tom Hanks led the audience in a cheer spelling out Oprah’s name, “give me an O, give me a, P…”. Hanks commented on Beyonce’s high energy performance saying, ”I don’t know what Beyonce was recruiting for but I’m signing up! If she runs for President I think she’s gonna win.” Oprah told the crowd, “I’m so happy you are all here. You must have known somebody to get these tickets. You’ve got connections.” With the exception of the many VIPs in the audience, Oprah die-hards applied on Oprah’s website for tickets to the ‘Farewell’ show and were selected at random.

Celebrity couple, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith co-hosted the second show taping of the night. Pinkett Smith told Oprah, “Thank you for 25 years you have given of you. I know you don’t have children of your own, but you have mothered millions..” Of all the surprise guests, one of the biggest may have been former Chicago Bulls player Michael Jordan who appeared after Will Smith told the crowd, “Let’s get this party started…. in the house that Michael Jordan built,” referring to the United Center where the Chicago Bulls play. Jordan joked with the queen of talk tv, “if you need a job, call me.”

Throughout the show several emotional tributes honored Oprah’s work, but the one that brought Oprah to tears (what she called the “ugly cry”) featured students from Morehouse College. Oprah has donated millions to the school in Atlanta enabling thousands to receive an education. During the tribute, Tony Award winning actress, Kristin Chenoweth, sang “Because I Knew You” from the musical “Wicked”. Oprah was visibly emotional throughout the performance.

At certain moments, it seemed as if even Oprah was at a loss for words. After a surprise performance by Oprah’s long time mentor, poet Maya Angelou and singer Alicia Keys, Oprah summed it up with one word, “Amaaaazing!” Just when fans thought they had seen it all, Aretha Franklin showed up to sing “Amazing Grace” which moved everyone to stand up and dance. Toward the end of the second taping, Oprah, clearly overwhelmed by the spectacular line up, shouted, “Aretha Franklin and Michael Jordan in the same night. I can’t take anymore. That’s crazy!”

Check out the photos below for more memorable moments from Oprah’s Farewell Spectacular!

Wave Of Suspicious Letters Hits D.C.

Mike Levine — Fri, 06 May 2011 15:20:10 +0000

Authorities in the nation’s capital are telling counterparts across the country to be on the look-out for letters with al Qaeda-related wording and a suspicious white powder in them, after dozens of schools in Washington, D.C., began receiving such letters on Thursday.

As of Friday morning, the FBI reported that 39 letters, all originating from the Dallas, Tex., area, had made their way to Washington, and authorities were bracing for even more letters to surface throughout the day. Five of the letters were intercepted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service before they could be delivered to their destinations in Washington, where many schools had to be evacuated Thursday and early Friday.

On Thursday, federal, state and local authorities issued a “bulletin” to hazardous materials units across the country, informing them of the latest developments.

The investigation is being led by the FBI in Dallas, but it has become a much broader investigation as similar scenarios have played out elsewhere in recent months. In the past year, schools in Washington and Texas have received similar letters containing references to al Qaeda and the FBI, but the sheer quantity of letters sent this time is unprecedented, authorities said.

Authorities do not believe the references to al Qaeda have any particular significance, saying they are likely just an attempt to get attention.

As of Friday morning, authorities had no specific leads or suspects. The addresses on the letters were printed, not handwritten, and each letter was addressed to a school, not a specific person, the FBI said in a statement Friday morning.

Though no hazardous substances have yet been found in the mailings, the head of the FBI’s Washington Field Office insisted they are still a serious matter and amount to a “serious criminal offense.”

During a press conference Thursday, James McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI, expressed frustration that “lots of resources are rolled out” as a result of these mailings, which he said distract the FBI from “other serious events.”

His office reiterated that sentiment in a statement Friday morning, saying the letters are “tying up hundreds of hours of police and law enforcement resources.”

Local and federal hazardous material experts spent much of Thursday responding to each school location, assessing the level of risk, and ensuring the letters and substances were packaged safely for further analysis, the FBI said in its statement Friday.

“No illnesses or injuries have [yet] been reported,” the statement said.

The chief of police in Washington, Cathy Lanier, said Friday her department has a plan in place “to ensure the safety of all the kids” and employees at area schools, adding, “They feel pretty comfortable now with the way we have this set up.”

McJunkin said he didn’t know why schools are being targeted, but he said he’s confident those responsible will be found.

The letters and all other evidence collected will be sent to the FBI’s lab at Quantico, Va., for further analysis.

While the investigation is being led by the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, and the D.C. Fire Department, among others, are all involved.

NFL Owners, Players Hit Courtroom Gridiron

Ruth Ravve — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 18:52:50 +0000

MINNEAPOLIS- There might finally be some good news for football fans. NFL team owners and locked out players are talking again. This time its in a federal courtroom in Minneapolis, with a judge mediating. The last time the two sides met was in Washington, March 11th, but after more than two weeks, talks broke off.

The bottom line to their dispute is money. Players and owners are fighting over how to split up $9 billion in revenue, and a lot of lawyers are propped up on both sides, trying to get their share. ”Ego is also a factor” said one sports reporter, who’s been following it all from the beginning.

A month ago, the players dissolved their union after 16 days of negotiations ended with a stalemate. The NFL had its first work stoppage since the strike in 1987. Many people worry that if the dispute doesn’t get resolved soon, there won’t be an upcoming football season for 2011.

In addition to the battle over cash, the NFL wants to stretch the regular season from its current 16 games to a full 18 games. “Players worry that more games will mean more injuries and less recovery time” suggested one football follower, who didn’t want his name used. Retired players are also in the mix, fighting for better benefits, and owners want to reduce the amount guaranteed to first round draft picks.

Yesterday NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell tweeted “I am also looking forward to resuming mediation talks tomorrow with players and their representatives”. Goodell and the others can’t speak to the media because of a gag order imposed by the judge.

A couple of NFL attorneys who briefly stepped out of the mediation to get bottles of water and diet cokes had smiles on their faces for reporters sitting outside. When asked ”How’s it going in there?”, the lawyer simply turned to me, grinned, pointed to his Diet Coke, and said ”What does this tell you?”. The need for caffeine could be interpreted to mean mediation will go on for awhile?

Lawyers for the retired players, who are also part of the suit against the NFL, walked out a few minutes later. The question “How’s it going” was met with “I don’t know” and shoulder shrugs. When asked how long negotiations could last, if they could continue all through the weekend, one former player who is now an attorney, Shawn Stuckey, quipped “It very likely could”. Shawn Stuckey’s tweets couldn’t be read because they are “locked”.

On a positive note, the delivery boy who brought to the courtroom sandwiches from Jimmy John’s, and who is not under the judge’s gag order, gave a big thumbs up when he said the two sides tipped him well.

Texas May Get New Highways with 85 MPH

Maggie Kerkman — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:39:21 +0000

Legislation is working its way through the Texas statehouse that would allow future highways to have speed limits of up to 85 miles per hour. Texas already has about 500 miles of rural interstate that allow 80 miles per hour. None of those or any other existing roads would change.

The 85 mile per hour limit would only apply to newly constructed roads that are engineered for that speed and only if the Texas transportation commission approves.

Backers say it’s just another tool in the toolbox. Representative Lois Kolkhorst is the lawmaker who introduced the bill. “We’re a big, big state, ” says Kolkhorst,”and so as we try to move goods and services and more importantly people from destination to destination, it could be an option for the future.”

But the discussion comes as highway deaths are down across the nation. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says from 2009 to 2010, traffic deaths fell three percent. In the region that includes Texas, deaths are down almost seven percent. It’s so low, the national traffic fatality rate will be at its lowest since 19-49.

That’s why some strongly oppose the plan. For example, insurance industry officials say any increase in speed whether it’s on an existing freeway or new one could cause more accidents leading to more injuries and fatalities. Says Jerry Johns, President of Southwestern Insurance Information Service, what’s worse is that people already tend to drive over any posted speed limit. “So does translate to people driving 90? 95?” asks Johns. “That certainly does pose a hazard to the other drivers.”

Despite the concerns, house lawmakers unanimously passed the legislation this week. Now it heads to the Texas senate. Lawmakers there could vote on it in the next few weeks.

Northern Border Security Goes High Tech

Marla Cichowski — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 15:44:30 +0000

SELFRIDGE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE – The U.S .Department of Homeland Security unveiled its newest high-tech tool today to fight terrorism and secure America’s northern border.

The Operational Integration Center, referred to as OIC, allows security analysts to monitor a critical part of the Northern border 24/7 relying on cameras and radars along the St. Clair River separating Michigan from Canada.

The $12 million OIC facility features a 30 foot video panel to watch various sections of the Northern border. Real time video feeds into the OIC’s situational awareness room from 11 towers equipped with high-tech cameras and radars built along 35 miles of the St. Clair River.

The towers are the result of a $20 million investment in technology as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Secure Border Initiative.

U.S. Border Patrol’s Special Operations Supervisor, Gregory Lambert managed the 13-month surveillance tower project. He says the technology is already paying off.

“Instead of having a camera and operator looking at a screen all day for eight hours, now we have a radar working with the cameras to tell that operator, ‘Hey. There’s something going on over here,” he says.

The Northern border accounts for nearly 4,000 miles of land and water between the U.S. and Canada. A recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reveals only 32 miles of the border, just one percent, had an “acceptable level of control.”

Border protection officials admit there is room for improvement, but this latest technology is a major step forward.

“We are continuing to beef up our efforts on the northern border and eventually we will get to a point where we have a lot more mileage that is secured. I think I’m comfortable saying we are a long way from where we were, we have a ways to go and we’ll get there, ” Lambert says.

In 2010, US Border Patrol made more than 7,400 arrests along the Northern Border. Nearly 1,700 arrests took place along the 863 miles that make up the Detroit Sector, which is the largest of the northern border’s eight sectors.

Watch our exclusive video to see how the new camera technology along the U.S. northern border actually works.

Rod Blagojevich: Round Two

Ruth Ravve — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 19:13:54 +0000

CHICAGO- Its not over until its over for Rod Blagojevich, and it looks like it won’t be over until sometime after April.

The former Illinois Governor was hoping a judge would cancel his upcoming retrial and drop more than a dozen charges against him, including fraud and racketeering, for allegedly trying to sell Barack Obama’s former senate seat.

At a status hearing today in federal court Judge James Zagel told attorneys he couldn’t discuss the “cancel the retrial” motion because it wasn’t filed properly. The defense apparently didn’t include something called a “notification of presentment”, which is supposed to accompany all motions filed, in order to get them on the judge’s schedule. So Blago’s attorneys say they’ll try again–despite the fact that the judge said the motion “was written for an audience other than the court” (which some speculated to mean it was written for the court of public opinion) and that it should “vanish into thin air”. Even if the defense re-files the motion, Zagel says he doesn’t have the authority to rule on it.

In his first trial, last year, Blago was convicted on one count of lying to Federal agents. The jury was deadlocked on the other counts. Defense attorneys say a retrial would be too expensive, since it will be mostly paid for by taxpayers, and that it would be cheaper and easier to just sentence Blago on the one count for which he was convicted. He’d likely get up to 5 years in prison for it. ”And then the government can go back to focusing on catching terrorists” Blago attorney Sheldon Sorosky said.

Blago’s lead attorney for his first trial, the much more dramatic and colorful Sam Adam junior, explained that the real reason for the defense pushing the motion to cancel the retrial “was NOT to get the Governor or the Court to dismiss the charges. That would have been nice but generally unrealistic”. Adam says it was more likely the court appointed defense attorneys were worried about the Federal Government shutting down, in which case they wouldn’t get paid. Adam claims when the motion was filed attorneys had not been paid since last October, yet once they asked for the retrial to be canceled “Miraculously the lawyers were paid within 3 days of filing their motion!!!!”.

When asked whether there was a chance of a plea bargain at this late date, the always expressive Adam went on to say “I think the chances of the Governor agreeing to plead guilty to anything is as likely as the snowball you know where. I am convinced that he may have used faulty judgement sometimes, and he relied upon the wrong people for advice at times, but he is totally innocent of all the charges. Remember, the government totally failed to show he ever took one corrupt dime while he was in public office…”

Blagojevich’s retrial is set to begin April 20. When asked how long the trial might take, defense attorneys simply rolled their eyes.

Israel Admits Kidnapped Palestinian in Jail

Yonat Friling — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 12:25:30 +0000

Israel admitted for the first time that it is holding a Palestinian Engineer in prison. Dirar Abu Sisi, 42, the head of the Palestinian Power plant in Gaza, went missing in Ukraine on February 18^th 2011.

Dirar Abu Sisi, Palestinian Engineer held by Israel

The official announcement came Sunday, after an Israeli court decided to partially lift a gag order imposed on the case.

Fox News has learned that Abu Sisi was in the Ukraine applying for citizenship when he went missing. After submitting all the paperwork, he was told by Ukrainian authorities to report to a government agency in Kharkiv, which was processing his case. After he turned up, government workers briefly seized his passport, and then gave it back to him, saying it was a routine check. Later that day, he boarded the night train to Kiev, where he was supposed to meet his brother. He never showed up. His wife, Veronica, Blames the Mossad, the Israeli spy agency for his kidnapping.

According to Human rights group “Hamoked”, Abu Sisi, was imprisoned on February 19^th, and he is now being held in Shikma Prison In the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. According to his lawyer, Smadar Ben Natan, Abu Sisi is still being held for questioning by the Shin Bet, the Israeli Domestic Secret Intelligence Service (equivalent to the FBI) , and was yet to be charged.

Israeli press has reported that he is a senior Hamas Operative. Ghazi Abu Sisi, cousin and a brother in law Talking to Fox News from Gaza denied he had any connections with the Palestinian Militant group.

“Who is ruling Gaza the Spanish or people from Indonesia?! “. Ghazi said. ” Yes, he has a relation with Hamas government as the chief of Gaza power plant.”

Ibrahim Hazboun contributed to this report

50 Tons of Smuggled Weapons Seized

Yonat Friling — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:55:10 +0000

The “Victoria”, The ship seized by Israel allegedly en route from Iran to militants in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday contained tons of weapons include six C-704 anti-ship missiles in ready-to-be launched containers, was presented today to the International press.

the weapons were concealed in Bags of Lentils (IDF photo)

The Israeli Army has displayed the weapons that were recovered from the ship, an estimated amounts of some 50 tons,that were hidden in three massive containers beneath cotton bags and lentils produced in Syria.

The ship’s cargo included: 230 mortar shells 120 mm, 2,270 mortar shells 60 mm, 6 C-704 anti-ship missiles, 2 radar systems manufactured in England, 2 launchers, 2 hydraulic mounting cranes for the radar system and 66,960 bullets for AK-47 rifles. All weapons had labels and manuals in Farsi , which links Iran to the arms smuggling attempt.

Israeli Deputy Navy Commander Rear Admiral Rani Ben-Yehuda also linked the 2 Iranian ships that crossed the Suez Canal a few weeks ago to the current arms smuggling attempt. Military Intelligence sources told Fox News that the Iranian ships might have transported cargo to Syria, and that the Cadets on board the two ships helped unload in into the Victoria. Security sourced also revealed to Fox News that had they reached Gaza, the missiles would have threatened Israeli sea-based strategic installations and navy vessels.

Israeli PM Netanyahu and Defense Minister Barak examine the weapons

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with Defense Minister Ehud Barak examined the weapons in the Israeli Port of Ashdod. Both have vowed to “smash the Syrian-Iranian axis of terror”. ”Every day there are efforts by Iran, Syria and terrorist organizations to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah and Hamas,” Netanyahu said. “There is an axis of terror in our region, and we have to confront it if we want to prevent terrorism and create a chance for peace.”

“We prevented something dangerous,” Defense Minister Ehud Barak said. “This is weaponry that could have impacted our navy ships and gas fields.”
“I have no doubt that the other side will continue trying, but we will continue fighting,” Barak added.

The commander of the Iranian army has rejected Israel’s claim that the ship it seized on Tuesday was smuggling weapons from Iran to militants in Gaza, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported on Wednesday. “Israel is a regime made of lie, making lies and fabrications,” Major-General Ataollah Salehi told IRNA. “The Zionist regime will drown in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, God willing, after the collapse of the Egyptian pharaoh.”

This is not the first time that Israel has seized a ship carrying concealed weapons. In November 2009, the Israel Navy seized the “Francop” cargo ship, which was carrying 500 tons of weaponry from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon – including Katyusha rockets and grenades.

50 Tons of smuggled weapons from Iran

In 2003, the Israeli military seized the “Karine A”, a vessel with 50 tons of missiles, mortars, rifles and ammunition destined for Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.