Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Aerei spia USA sui cieli dell'Iran

Indovinate un po' cosa parte dall'Iraq da circa un anno a questa parte...Eh,
si: aerei spia americani che servono a raccogliere informazioni sulle WMD
iraniane: ciň non fa che confermare che l'attacco all'Iraq non era altro che
una mossa americana per il controllo geopolitico e militare del MO; e
infatti subito son partiti coi monitoraggi delle nazioni "a rischio"!
Ma - pensa te!! - siccome alcuni militari iraniani sono stati addestrati
dagli USA all'epoca dello Sciŕ e sanno che se si attivasse la contraerea per
individuare e colpire i droni si offrirebbero informazioni sui propri
sistemi di difesa, il Consiglio nazionale di Sicurezza iraniano ha deciso di
non accendere i radar.
Saluti
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http://www.expobg.it/modules/news/article.php?storyid=730
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19820-2005Feb12.html
U.S. Uses Drones to Probe Iran For Arms
Surveillance Flights Are Sent From Iraq
By Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 13, 2005; Page A01
The Bush administration has been flying surveillance drones over Iran for
nearly a year to seek evidence of nuclear weapons programs and detect
weaknesses in air defenses, according to three U.S. officials with detailed
knowledge of the secret effort.
The small, pilotless planes, penetrating Iranian airspace from U.S. military
facilities in Iraq, use radar, video, still photography and air filters
designed to pick up traces of nuclear activity to gather information that is
not accessible by satellites, the officials said. The aerial espionage is
standard in military preparations for an eventual air attack and is also
employed as a tool for intimidation.
The Iranian government, using Swiss channels in the absence of diplomatic
relations with Washington, formally protested the incursions as illegal,
according to Iranian, European and U.S. officials, all speaking on the
condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
A U.S. official acknowledged that drones were being used but said the
Iranian complaint focused on aircraft overflights by the Pentagon. The
United States, the official said, replied with a denial that manned U.S.
aircraft had crossed Iran's borders. The drones were first spotted by dozens
of Iranian civilians and set off a national newspaper frenzy in late
December over whether the country was being visited by UFOs.
The surveillance has been conducted as the Bush administration sharpens its
anti-Iran rhetoric and the U.S. intelligence community searches for
information to support President Bush's assertion that Tehran is trying to
build nuclear weapons.
The Washington Post reported Saturday that the intelligence community is
conducting a broad review of its Iran assessments, including a new look at
information about the country's nuclear program, according to administration
officials and congressional sources. A similar review, called a National
Intelligence Estimate, formed an important part of the administration's case
for war against Iraq.
Bush's senior advisers, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, said last week that a U.S. attack on
Iran is not imminent but that the option remains available.
In late December, Iranians living along the Caspian Sea and on the Iraq
border began reporting sightings of red flashes in the sky, streaks of green
and blue, and low, racing lights that disappeared moments after being
spotted. The Iranian space agency was called in to investigate, astronomy
experts were consulted, and an agreement was quickly signed with Russian
officials eager to learn more about the phenomena.
But the mystery was laid to rest by Iranian air force commanders, some of
whom were trained more than 25 years ago in the United States and are
familiar with U.S. tactics. They identified the drones early last month, a
senior Iranian official said, and Iran's National Security Council decided
not to engage the pilotless aircraft.
That action is considered a major policy decision and reflects Iran's belief
that an attack is unlikely anytime soon.
The U.S. National Security Agency, which conducts and manages overseas
eavesdropping operations, said it has no information to provide on the
reconnaissance missions over Iran.
The drones are among several tools being used to gather information on
Iran's nuclear programs and its military capabilities, U.S. officials said.
The United States believes Iran is using its nuclear energy program to
conceal an effort to manufacture nuclear weapons, but no one has found
definitive evidence to substantiate that.
Iran is engaged in diplomacy with France, Britain and Germany aimed at
ending a 2 1/2-year crisis over Tehran's nuclear ambitions that began when
Iranian defectors exposed a large uranium enrichment facility in August
2002. Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have
been in and out of the country since then investigating nuclear facilities.
U.S. officials confirmed that the drones were deployed along Iran's northern
and western borders, first in April 2004, and again in December and January.
A former U.S. official with direct knowledge of earlier phases of the
operation said the U.S. intelligence community began using Iraq as a base to
spy on Iran shortly after taking Baghdad in early April 2003. Drones have
been flown over Iran since then, the former official said, but the missions
became more frequent last year.
The spring 2004 flyovers led Iran's military to step up its defenses around
nuclear facilities in the southern cities of Isfahan and Bushehr, where
locals first reported the UFO sighting. Defenses were added around those
sites and others last month, Iranian officials said, after it became clear
they were being observed by the drones.
A Dec. 25 article in the Etemaad newspaper, translated from Farsi by the
CIA, reported on "the presence of unidentified flying objects in the Bushehr
sky on a number of occasions, particularly in recent weeks." After Moscow
experts were called in, the Russian daily Pravda reported on "UFO mania"
sweeping Iran.
One U.S. intelligence official said different types of drones with varying
capabilities have been deployed over Iran. Some fly several hundred feet
above the earth, getting a closer view of ground activities than satellites,
and are equipped with air filter technology that captures particles and
delivers them back to base for analysis. Any presence of plutonium, uranium
or tritium could indicate nuclear work in the area where the samples were
collected.
The last drone sightings were in mid-January, about the same time that
Iran's National Security Council met in Tehran to discuss them, according to
an Iranian official.
"It was clear to our air force that the entire intention here was to get us
to turn on our radar," the official said.
That tactic, designed to contribute information to what the military calls
an "enemy order of battle," was used by the U.S. military in the Korean and
Vietnam wars, against the Soviets and the Chinese, and in both Iraq wars.
"By coaxing the Iranians to turn on their radar, we can learn all about
their defense systems, including the frequencies they are operating on, the
range of their radar and, of course, where their weaknesses lie," said
Thomas Keaney, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and executive director of
the Foreign Policy Institute at Johns Hopkins University.
But it did not work. "The United States must have forgotten that they
trained half our guys," the Iranian official said. After a briefing by their
air force three weeks ago, Iran's national security officials ordered their
forces not to turn on the radar or come into contact with the drones in any
way.
"Our decision was: Don't engage," the Iranian official said. Leaving the
radar off deprives U.S. forces of vital information about the country's air
defense system, but it also makes it harder for Iran to tell if an attack is
underway.
The Iranian government lodged a formal protest through the Swiss Embassy in
Tehran, which passed it on to the State Department, a Bush administration
official said. The complaint was then forwarded to the Pentagon and to
senior Bush administration officials, the official said.
Asked last Sunday about Iran, Rumsfeld told ABC's "This Week" that he had no
knowledge of U.S. military activities in Iran. Rice, who helped plan the
Iraq war, said during her European trip last week that an assault on Iran
was not on the agenda "at this time."
So far, the drones have added little information to Iran's nuclear file,
according to U.S. intelligence officials familiar with the mission.
Estimates vary on when Tehran could build a nuclear weapon using material
from its energy program. Iran has agreed to stop enriching uranium, a key
ingredient for a bomb, while it is engaged in talks with European
governments. Mohamed ElBaradei, the director general of the IAEA, said if
Iran resumes that work, it could have enough highly enriched uranium for a
bomb within two years and could complete a weapon within three years.
Iranian officials have said repeatedly that their country has no intention
of building nuclear weapons.
Staff writer Glenn Kessler contributed to this report.

informazioni sulle WMD iraniane:
Come no! :)
E volano assieme a Dumbo :)
*LOL*
-Stefano