Sunday Times: (40,000) Iran suicide bombers ‘ready to hit Britain’

[sabra]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2136638,00.html

Iran suicide bombers ‘ready to hit Britain’

IRAN has formed battalions of suicide bombers to strike at British and American targets if the nation’s nuclear sites are attacked. According to Iranian officials, 40,000 trained suicide bombers are ready for action.

The main force, named the Special Unit of Martyr Seekers in the Revolutionary Guards, was first seen last month when members marched in a military parade, dressed in olive-green uniforms with explosive packs around their waists and detonators held high.

Dr Hassan Abbasi, head of the Centre for Doctrinal Strategic Studies in the Revolutionary Guards, said in a speech that 29 western targets had been identified: “We are ready to attack American and British sensitive points if they attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.” He added that some of them were “quite close” to the Iranian border in Iraq.

In a tape recording heard by The Sunday Times, Abbasi warned the would-be martyrs to “pay close attention to wily England” and vowed that “Britain’s demise is on our agenda”.

[leesa]

1. I see. And could thid bit of PsyOps have anything to do with the fact that

Britain won't go along with the Bush Crime Family's Iran war plans? Man, their tricks are getting old!

[DrDebug]

2. What are they going to do? Crash the same plane 1,000 times?

The only airplanes they have which are capable of reaching Britain without being shot down first are their F4s and only 40 of them are still operational...

[LynnTheDem]

4. They're going to defend themselves against attack, their legal right

to do.

And they will make Iraq's rebels look like total pansies.

[Terran1212]

17. The Suicide Bomber is their trump card in a guerilla war

[LynnTheDem]

18. Ya gotta use whatever means ya got at hand.

If that's all we could do to defend America against foreign invaders, many of us would do it. America of course just goes round threatening to nuke everyone. Like being nuked is better than being suicide-bombed. :shrug:

[Terran1212]

29. I would, too

[0007]

24. Wow! Some heavy duty talk....pansies....40,000 trained suicide bombers

These guys aren't short on breath, right they?

[Boojatta]

31. Has the UK threatened Iran? Are the hypothetical Iranian suicide bombers

going to be operating within Iran?

[TexasLawyer]

6. Attack points would probably be in neighboring Iraq

The British have around 8,000 troops in Iraq, and several strategic equipment and structural targets.


“We are ready to attack American and British sensitive points if they attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.” He added that some of them were “quite close” to the Iranian border in Iraq.

[Raine]

26. Yeah, really.

Don't know where they could get that many bombers or planes, it's a hollow threat.

[grottieyottie]

27. Er. Iran has a bit more than that.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/airforce.htm

As of 2000 it was estimated that only 40 of the 132 F-4Ds, 177 F-4Es and 16 RF-4E. Phantoms delivered before 1979 remained in service.

At that time, approximately 45 of the 169 F-5E/Fs delivered are still flying, while perhaps 20 F-14A Tomcats of the 79 initially delivered were airworthy. Another 30 F-4s, 30 F-5s and 35 F-14s have been cannibalized for spare parts. One report suggested that the IRIAF can get no more than seven F-14s airborne at any one time. Iran claims to have fitted F-14s with I-Hawk missiles adapted to the air-to-air role.

There have been reports of some 10 F-8Ms "Finback", 7 Tu-22Ms, 19 MIG-27s, and several MIG-31s (Russia's most modern fighter aircraft, US$40 million ) being present in Iran, but these are not confirmed.

The estimates on Iraqi Aircraft flown to Iran during Operation Desert Storm are sketchy but may be more than 250. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/air-force-equipment-intro.htm

[Demeter]

3. Would You Believe 40?

Where's Don Adams when we really need him?


Get Smart: Dump BushCo!

[ShortnFiery]

7. Lame drum roll!

Nope, would you believe that Dubya's Poodle is disobedient on the "bomb Iran" strategy. In no uncertain terms will the UK support a military option - stated Blair. Wuf!

Perhaps the UK people can be pushed toward the "coalition of the blackmailed and bribed" by such media stunts?

[shenmue]

23. Get on the shoe phone!

:7

[Rose Siding]

5. They won't just hold still?

They'll fight back (to one extent or another)?

Trying to defeat the asymmetrical threat of terrorism by attacking Iran doesn't make any more sense than it would have to have invaded the USSR during the Cold War.

[leftchick]

8. I imagine the Green Zone is one easy and juicy target

with that new embassy and all. I just watched Sam Gardiner on C&L and he says like Sy Hersh, the US is in Iran! Now!

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/04/15.html#a7928

[Onlooker]

9. This is all the fault of President Bush

The problem with Iran is a direct result of taking out their biggest enemy (Iraq) and causing the Iranians to elect their radical right wing (their radical right, like our radical right, used fear to get elected). Up until Bush's invasion of Iraq, Iran was headed on a moderate course. The worse thing for us is that the idiot who got us into this mess is still President of our nation.

[savemefromdumbya]

10. the CIA has been busy training 40,000?

Tony and George have a lot of patsies! 40,000 whew!

They will be easy to spot in the summer.

[Scurrilous]

11. What's 40,000 x 72?

Are there enough virgins to facilitate such sacrifice?

[Turbineguy]

19. They'll obviously

have to use the same virgins over and over again.

[Post]

12. Tony Blair Says NO to US on Iran

High Stakes game getting stoked by the NeoConArtists. http://postanapology.blogspot.com/2006/04/tony-blair-says-no-to-us-on-iran.html#links

[bee]

13. booga booga everybody! Booga booga! n/t

[bemildred]

14. The Mighty Wurlitzer spins on.

The Persian peril threatens us all.

[cliss]

15. "England's demise is on our agenda".

Well, that ought to make them sit up and pay attention.

I suspect that The British understand by now, that they were led into the quicksand. A quicksand of problems that just keep sucking them in, more and more each month. Tony Blair probably realized shortly after 2003 that this was going to be a mess.

An unwinnable mess.

London was the scene of a grisly bombing attack last summer. I think they are probably heeding the warning, as they should.

(are there more Iranians (68 million) than British?

[Terran1212]

16. They can't hit Britain they will hit them in Iraq

[cliss]

33. don't forget the muslims

who live in Europe. I believe there is something like 1 million muslims in England alone. This is 1st & 2nd generation.

I believe the people who were responsible for the London bombings were all muslims, residents of that city. France has about 1 million muslims.

Is this number correct?

[cosmicdot]

20. did Rupert Murdoch get an email from PNAC?

or does he and his News Corporation know by instinct just what to do ... or perhaps Board member Viet Dinh is the 'messenger'???

things are leaking all over

It took 4 people to produce 11 paragraphs ... nothing like team work ...
(Marie Colvin, Michael Smith and Sarah Baxter; Additional reporting: Safa Haeri)


News Corporation Board of Directors


K. Rupert Murdoch
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
News Corporation

Peter Barnes
Chairman
Ansell Limited

Chase Carey
President and Chief Executive Officer
The DIRECTV Group, Inc.

Peter Chernin
President and Chief Operating Officer
News Corporation

Kenneth E. Cowley
Chairman
R.M. Williams Holdings Pty. Limited

David F. DeVoe
Chief Financial Officer
News Corporation

Viet Dinh <----------- an author of the Patriot Act; former Ashcroft Asst Atty General; counsel to the Senate Whitewater committee
Professor of Law
Georgetown University

Rod Eddington
Non-Executive Chairman for
Australia and New Zealand
JPMorgan

Andrew S.B. Knight
Director
Rothschild Investment Trust C.P.

Lachlan Murdoch
Illyria Pty Ltd

Thomas J. Perkins
Partner
Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfield & Byers

Arthur M. Siskind
Senior Advisor to the Chairman
News Corporation

John L. Thornton
Professor of Global Leadership
Tsinghua University of Beijing

http://www.newscorp.com/corp_gov/bod.html

[cassiepriam]

21. I cannot blame Iran for being scared, they see what is happening

in Iraq. They are trying to prevent themselves from
being next.

[lovuian]

22. Iran knows who is really running things in the world...

its a tiny country thats aristocracy is incredibly corrupt...

Its like two inevitable forces converge fanaticism and greed...

[Pavulon]

25. luxembourg?(nt)

[lovuian]

34. Britain the Queen of England...

the woman who has all the money...

[fedsron2us]

28. 'Britain's demise is on our agenda'

Well the population of the UK are pretty sure that has been the neocons policy from day one.

There is surely no coincidence that since the British government started getting cold feet about attacking Iran these mysterious 'tapes' have suddenly started appearing in the Murdoch owned Sunday Times. You can guarantee that this story will be syndicated to all his other titles around the world. Exactly the same thing happened prior to the attack on Iraq. These people deserve a grade E for originality.

On edit -

Are n't 'tapes' a little old fashioned these days even for the mullahs in Tehran ?

Almost makes you think this story was prepared a few years ago.

[Gman]

30. I guess they pulled any 'ol number out of their asses

and 40,000 was it. I'm amazed that they would go with such a low figure. There's, what, a billion followers of Islam in the world? Why not go with at least 100 million? Think big, be big!

[Hobarticus]

32. Breaking: Iran holds parade, US prepares for suicide Shriners

The Department of Homeland Security is on the lookout for men on tiny motorcycles wearing fezzes, riding in circles.

Fer crissakes, it's a PARADE. It's a goddamned SHOW.

[CJCRANE]

35. Yeah well

I guess the Brits might just notice 1000's of Iranian men wearing bulky jackets in summer.

(Unlike FBI chiefs who didn't think arab guys learning to fly - but not take off or land - was worth investigating).

[Jazz2006]

36. They have had considerable experience dealing with terrorism in the UK....

over the past several decades. As a result, they have developed some pretty good instincts about what to look for. Not that that will prevent all manner of terrorist attacks, of course, (nobody can) but they do seem to be pretty good at ferreting out potential terrorist attacks, even though some slip through the cracks now and then.