Let us remember with Times Online - Strike one: Israel took out Saddam’s reactor in 1981 - If Israeli forces attack nuclear sites in Iran, it will not be their first pre-emptive strike against a perceived nuclear threat. In 1981, Israeli jets bombed a reactor in Iraq to prevent Saddam Hussein getting nuclear weapons.
The Iraqi dictator had built a 40 – megawatt research reactor just south of Baghdad with the aid of France, which supplied technology, expertise and uranium-235.
Fearing this could be used in the long term to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons, Israel decided to destroy what became known as the Osirak reactor. Israel’s first move was in 1980 when war broke out between Iraq and Iran: its chief of army intelligence urged Iran to bomb Osirak. A pair of Iranian jets attacked the site, but damage was minor.
So Israel decided to bomb it…On June 7, 1981, Israel launched Operation Opera: six F-151 and eight F-161 jets flew over Jordanian and Saudi Arabian airspace and caught Iraqi defenses by surprise. The raid crippled the reactor.
Euronews, January 17 - Russia has said it has completed the sale of new missiles to Iran. It was a 700 million€ deal.
The New York Times, January 17, - Baghdad: The United Nations reported Tuesday that more than 34.000 Iraqis were killed in violence last year. This figure represents a vivid measure of the failure of the Iraqi government and American military to provide security.
Der Spiegel, January 19th - Sabre-rattling in Ankara - “Turkey concerned as Kurds take control of northern Iraq.” - Ankara is thinking aloud about a possible military intervention in northern Iraq. As the Kurdish population consolidates its hold on oil-rich Kirkuk, the Turkish government worried about increased sectarian violence among the separatist PKK.
…Some 600.000 Kurds have already been drawn into the multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk. Some Kurds have even been lured back with cash -while at the same time some 200,000 members of the Turkish minority have been driven out. Come referendum time, the city could become part of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq.
…Turkey cannot afford to remain passive…The Turkish government has called for the referendum in Kirkuk to be postponed…but it feels the US has let it down when it comes to fighting the PKK.
…Kirkuk, whose oil fields are among the richest in the world, was once part of the Ottoman Empire…Moreover the Turkmen minority living in Kirkuk should be protected.
…The Turkish government is concerned about a new wave of PKK attacks.
Antisemitism
Der Spiegel, January 15 - Extreme solidarity - “Far-right parties form new group in European Parliament” - Bulgaria and Romania’s accession to the EU has allowed Europe’s far-right parties to form a new political group in the European Parliament. Left-wing politicians fear the extremist parties become more powerful as a result.
…Among the politicians in the new grouping are Jean-Marie Le Pen …and Italy’s Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of the Italian Fascist National Front party…According to the group’s chair Bruno Gollnisch, deputy leader of France’s National Front, the aim of the new faction is to defend national Interests, Christian values and the “traditional family”…
Meanwhile German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke out against the rise of the far-right…
European Jewish Congress, January 18, - A court in Lyon convicted far-right leader and member of the European Parliament Bruno Gollnisch, fining him 6,450€ for questioning the existence of Nazi gas chambers.
…In December 2005, Gollnisch was stripped of his immunity by a European Parliament commission, paving the way for French authorities to prosecute him.
This sentence comes at a delicate time as a new far-right parliamentary group was just formed this week called “Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty” of which Goldnisch is the head. The Socialist group in the European Parliament has already said that it will attempt to form a “cordon sanitaire” around the group, keeping it from holding any important posts in the Parliament and refusing any collaboration with them.
Jerusalem Post, January, 19 - Iranian activists condemn Holocaust denial conference - More than 100 prominent Iranian activists around the world have signed a statement condemning the recent conference in Iran that questioned the occurrence of the Holocaust.
The statement pays homage to Jewish and non-Jewish victims of the Nazi regime while blasting the Iranian government for “distortion of historical facts” according to the Associated Press.
European Jewish Congress, January 14: Bulgaria - Dimitar Stoyanov, the youngest member of the European Parliament, whose country Bulgaria joined the EU a few days ago, did not wait for the official creation of a new extreme group in the parliament to give a racist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic tone to his political orientation.
…The EJC called upon members of the European Parliament to withdraw MEP Stoyanov’s parliamentary immunity.
January 19 : Turkey - EJC meets with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan - The EJC President Pierre Benaisnou and P.M.Erdogan talked about the harmonious relations based on shared values between Turkey and its Jewish community.
Pierre Besnainou expressed support for Turkey’s EU membership and that Ankara played a stabilizing role in the Middle East.
The EJC delegation also discussed with Erdogan the issue of Gilad Shalit abducted by Palestinians asking the Turkish PM to request from the Palestinians proof showing the kidnapped soldier is alive.
During their meeting, PM Erdogan confirmed his intention to open official Turkish archives for historians so that full light would be set on the painful historical dispute between Turks and Armenians.
