Saturday, March 03, 2012

DTN News - IRAN NUCLEAR FACTOR: U.S. Backers Of Israel Pressure Obama Over Policy On Iran

DTN News - IRAN NUCLEAR FACTOR: U.S. Backers Of Israel Pressure Obama Over Policy On Iran
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Mark Landler & David E. Sanger contributed reporting - The New York Times
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 3, 2012: On the eve of a crucial visit to the White House by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, that country’s most powerful American advocates are mounting an extraordinary public campaign to pressure President Obama into hardening American policy toward Iran over its nuclear program.
From the corridors of Congress to a gathering of nearly 14,000 American Jews and other supporters of Israel here this weekend, Mr. Obama is being buffeted by demands that the United States be more aggressive toward Iran and more forthright in supporting Israel in its own confrontation with Tehran.

While defenders of Israel rally every year at the meeting of the pro-Israel lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, this year’s gathering has been supercharged by a convergence of election-year politics, a deepening nuclear showdown and the often-fraught relationship between the president and the Israeli prime minister.
Mr. Obama and Mr. Netanyahu will both speak to the group, known as Aipac, as will the three leading Republican presidential candidates, who will appear via satellite from the campaign trail on the morning of Super Tuesday. Republicans have seized on Iran’s nuclear ambitions to accuse Mr. Obama of being weak in backing a staunch ally and in confronting a bitter foe.
The pressure from an often-hostile Congress is also mounting. A group of influential senators, fresh from a meeting with Mr. Netanyahu in Jerusalem, has called on Mr. Obama to lay down sharper criteria, known as “red lines,” about when to act against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“We’re saying to the administration, ‘You’ve got a problem; let’s fix it, let’s get back on message,’ ” said Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, who took part in the meeting with Mr. Netanyahu and said the Israeli leader vented frustration at what he viewed as mixed messages from Washington.
“It’s not just about the Jewish vote and 2012,” Mr. Graham added. “It’s about reassuring people who want to avoid war that the United States will do what’s necessary.”
To give teeth to the deterrent threat against Iran, Israel and its backers want Mr. Obama to stop urging restraint on Israel and to be more explicit about the circumstances under which the United States itself would carry out a strike.
Specifically, Israeli officials are demanding that Iran agree to halt all its enrichment of uranium in the country, and that the suspension be verified by United Nations inspectors, before the West resumes negotiations with Tehran on its nuclear program.
The White House has rejected that demand, Israeli and American officials said on Friday, arguing that Iran would never agree to a blanket ban upfront, and to insist on it would doom negotiations before they even began. The administration insists that Mr. Obama will stick to his policy, which is focused on using economic sanctions to force the Iranian government to give up its nuclear ambitions, with military action as a last resort. But in his tone, at least, the president is working hard to reassure Israel.
In an interview published on Friday, Mr. Obama reiterated his pledge to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon — with force, if necessary — and ruled out a policy of accepting but seeking to contain a nuclear-armed Iran. The Israeli government, he said, recognizes that “as president of the United States, I don’t bluff.”
The White House’s choice of interviewer — Jeffrey Goldberg, a national correspondent for the magazine The Atlantic — was carefully calculated. Mr. Goldberg is closely read among Jews in America; in 2010, he wrote an article exploring the situations under which Israel would attack Iran.
American Jews are anything but monolithic. More dovish groups, like J Street, are trying to make a case against a pre-emptive Israeli strike. But for the next few days, Aipac will set the tone for an intense debate over the Iranian nuclear threat.
Mr. Obama will not lay down new red lines on Iran, even if he discusses them with Mr. Netanyahu, administration officials said. And he is not ready to accept a central part of Israel’s strategic calculation: that an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would be warranted to stop it from gaining the capability to build a nuclear weapon, rather than later, to stop it from actually manufacturing one.
Israel’s supporters said they believed that a majority of Americans would support an Israeli military strike against Iran. But polling data paints a murkier picture: while close to 50 percent of Americans say in several polls that they would support Israel, a slightly larger number say they would stay neutral. In some surveys, there is strong support for continuing diplomacy. 
Supporters of Israel argue that in the American news media, Iran’s nuclear program has been wrongly framed as Israel’s problem, rather than as a threat to the security of the whole world.
“This is about the devastating impact on U.S. and Western security of a nuclear-armed Iran bent on bullying the region into submission,” said Josh Block, a former spokesman for Aipac.
Turnout for this year’s Aipac conference is expected to surpass all previous records. And the roster of speakers attests to the group’s drawing power. In addition to Mr. Obama, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta will speak, as will Congressional leaders including Senator Mitch McConnell, the chamber’s Republican leader, and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House.
On Tuesday, the screens in the Washington convention center will light up with the Republican presidential contenders Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, who are likely to fault Mr. Obama as not doing enough to prevent Iran from getting a weapon.
“Aipac is the spearhead of the pro-Israel community’s efforts to move the American government’s red lines closer to Israel’s red lines,” said Martin S. Indyk, a former American ambassador to Israel.
Officials at Aipac declined to comment about the conference or their strategy. But Mr. Block and other former Aipac officials said that, as in previous years, the group would blanket Capitol Hill with its members — all of whom will carry a message about the Iranian nuclear threat.
They will be pushing on an open door. Democrats and Republicans, divided on so much, are remarkably united in supporting Israel and in ratcheting up pressure on Iran. The Senate voted 100 to 0 last year to pass legislation isolating Iran’s central bank, over the objections of the White House.
There are four bills in the House and Senate that call for tougher action against Iran or closer military cooperation between Israel and the United States. Mr. Graham is one of 32 Republican and Democratic sponsors of a resolution that calls on the president to reject a policy of containing Iran.
“The Senate can’t agree to cross the street,” Mr. Graham said. “Iran has done more to bring us together than anything in the world.”
To counter Aipac’s message, J Street has circulated a video on Capitol Hill, highlighting American and Israeli military experts who have voiced doubts about the efficacy of a strike on Iran.

Related 



 


*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources  By Mark Landler & David E. Sanger contributed reporting - The New York Times
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS


DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: Indian Navy Purchasing 9 More Poseidon P-81 Maritime Surveillance And Patrol Aircraft

DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: Indian Navy Purchasing 9 More Poseidon P-81 Maritime Surveillance And Patrol Aircraft
*DTN News - INDIA DEFENSE NEWS: Indian Government Sanction $ 1Billion For Navy Aircraft Deal ~ February 27, 2012                
*Govt Nod For $1Bn Navy Plane Deal

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources UPI
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 3, 2012: The Indian government has allocated its navy funds to buy an additional nine mid-range reconnaissance airplanes for nearly $1 billion.

The new aircraft will assist in maintaining India's Indian Ocean security and supplement the Indian navy's earlier order of P-8I Poseidon long-range reconnaissance airplanes from U.S. defense manufacturer Boeing.

The tender for the new aircraft is being sought by not only by Boeing and U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin, but Sweden's Saab, France's Dassault Aviation, Brazil's Embraer and European concern EADS, Web site navaltoday.com reported.

India's military specifications demand the new aircraft must carry missiles and torpedoes capable of destroying both surface ships and submarines and have a minimum flight range of the airplanes of 400 miles. The range of Boeing's P-8I is in excess of 1,250 miles.

In 2008 India signed an initial procurement contract with Boeing for eight P-8I Poseidon airplanes worth $2.1 billion, with another contract for an additional four P-8Is expected to be signed this month, as India intends to increase its fleet of Poseidon P-81 patrol aircraft to 24 in total.





DTN India - - @DTNIndia ~ Available on Twitter
Comprehensive Daily News on India Today ~ © Copyright (c) DTN News Defense-Technology News 

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources UPI 
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS 


DTN News - RUSSIA DEFENSE NEWS: Russian Defense Ministry To Buy 92 Su-34 Fighters

DTN News - RUSSIA DEFENSE NEWS: Russian Defense Ministry To Buy 92 Su-34 Fighters      
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Ria Novosti
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 3, 2012: The Russian Defense Ministry has signed a deal for 92 Su-34 Fullback fighter-bombers from the Sukhoi aircraft maker, the ministry said on Thursday.

The deal under which the warplanes are to be delivered by 2020 was signed by Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Sukhoi General Director Igor Ozar.
This is one of the largest warplane contracts under the government arms procurement program and it will help replace all of the Su-24 bombers currently in service with the “4+ generation” aircraft, Serdyukov said.
The Ministry will take delivery of 10 Su-34s in 2012, all of them to be deployed in the Western Military District. Last year six fighter-bombers were delivered to the Air Force. These come under an initial contract for 32 Su-34s.
At present the Air Force has 12 Su-34s.
Factoring in the new contract, the Air Force will have a total of 124 Su-34s. 
The ministry previously said a total of 70 Su-34s will be delivered by 2015.
Commenting on the deal, Douglas Barrie, air warfare specialist at International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, said “the Su-34 - previously known as the Su-27IB - has been long in the gestation.”
“The program began in the 1980s and has suffered as a result of funding problems. It is entering service well over a decade after it was envisaged originally to be replacing the Su-24 Fencer.”
However the Su-34 will - with the appropriate avionic and weapons systems - provide the air force with a capable long range strike platform, with considerably more punch than the Su-24, he said.
“Work is continuing to integrate modern air-to-surface weaponry now in development in Russia on the Su-34, with trials being carried out at the air force test center at Akhtubinsk.”
The news of the contract comes a week after Russia partially resumed flights of Su-24 Fencer tactical bombers after one of them crashed in Russia’s Urals.
All Su-24s were grounded after the crash, in the woods of the Kurgan region during a routine flight on February 13. Both pilots ejected safely. The crash was the third of a Su-24 in Russia over the last four months. The two previous crashes occurred in October and December 2011.
It has been in service with the Russian Air Force since the mid-1970s. However, in recent years Russia has gradually been phasing out the planes, which have a patchy safety record.
The Defense Ministry earlier said the Air Force will procure over 1,500 new aircraft by 2020.
Russia started the full-scale production of Su-34s in 2008 at a Novosibirsk-based aircraft-manufacturing plant, a subsidiary of the Sukhoi Aircraft Holding.
Designed by Sukhoi, the $36-million Su-34 fighter-bomber is a two-seat strike aircraft fitted with twin AL-31MF afterburner turbojet engines.
It is designed to deliver high-precision strikes on heavily-defended targets under any weather conditions, day or night, and is equipped with a 30-mm GSh-301 cannon, up to 12 Alamo or Archer AAMs, ASMs, and bombs.

Related News

Multimedia

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Ria Novosti
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS


DTN News - LIST OF MILITARY POWERS: Global Military Powers By Countries Ranking - Statistics Compiled Through Various Sources

DTN News - LIST OF MILITARY POWERS: Global Military Powers By Countries Ranking - Statistics Compiled Through Various Sources
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources GlobalFirepower.com (GFP)
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 3, 2012: GFP provides a unique analytical display of data covering global military powers with statistics compiled through various sources. All manner of countries are considered in the ranking, a spectrum helping to produce a near-complete comparison of relative military strengths from across the globe. The user should note that nuclear capability is not taken into account for the final ranking for this listing is purely a "numbers game" meant to spark debate and including nuclear weapons would clearly defeat its purpose. Therefore GFP comparisons are for consideration in a conventional war based solely on each individual nation's capabilities on land, at sea and through the air while including logistical and financial aspects when waging total war. Sources are stated whenever possible though some statistics are estimated if official numbers are not available.

Final Thoughts
It goes without saying that lists such can be completely subjective, though the GFP intention is to be wholly unbiased.
The final GFP rankings are based on a formula taking some 45 factors into account and compiling totals against each country, applying bonuses and penalties as needed to generate this list.

Country Ranks 1 through 30...
9
Map of Japan
29
Map of Spain
10
Map of Israel
20
Map of Ukraine
30
Map of Mexico
Country Ranks 31 through 55...
33
Map of Greece
43
Map of Jordan
53
Map of Kuwait
35
Map of Syria
45
Map of Chile
55
Map of Qatar
36
Map of Iraq
38
Map of Algeria
48
Map of Yemen
39
Map of Libya
49
Map of Belgium
40
Map of Norway
50
Map of Georgia





*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources GlobalFirepower.com (GFP) 
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS