Arab geologist urges immediate halt of nuclear processing at Iran's earthquake-prone Bushehr facility; Next hit could devastate entire region with renewed tsunami, Japan-like irradiation

Massive earthquake to hit Iran & Gulf states: expert. Says would cause Japan-like disaster al-Arabiya News (translated into English) March 25, '11

Iran's nuclear plant in Bushehr next Japan

A massive earthquake, similar to the one that hit Japan recently, is set to hit Iran and might reach the Arab Gulf states as well, a Kuwaiti expert said, without forecasting she expected such natural disaster to take place.

"A destructive earthquake, centered in Iran, is likely to strike, according to all scientific and historical facts that we have," Dr. Ferial Bu Rabei, an expert in earthquakes at the University of Kuwait, was quoted as saying by the Kuwaii al-Watan daily on Thursday.

She urged the importance of giving up on all the nuclear projects in the region, even if those projects were aimed at producing electricity.

Next quake in S.E. Iran could devastate w radiation, tsunamis

Bu Rabei expected that the quake might have a magnitude of 8 on the Richter scale and could trigger a huge tsunami in all directions that could reach as far as the Arab Gulf states.

The Kuwaiti expert sounded alarm over the presence of Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant as it might cause a huge catastrophe in the whole region.

Bu Rabei wondered whether the Arab Gulf states have taken the needed precautions to limit the risks of possible future earthquakes.

The Kuwaiti expert explained that the expected massive earthquake will hit south-east Iran at any moment and will have destructive outcomes in Iran, Kuwait and most countries overlooking the Arab Gulf.

Obama bungles Mubarak crisis, "shatters the mystique of America's superpower status"; Iran sails warships Red Sea to oppose Egypt & Israel

Two excellent columns about the Obama Administration's bungling Mubarak's crisis:
As the lies come crashing down by Caroline Glick

The Obama administration's decision to ban relevant language from the official US policy discourse was ideologically motivated. And in choosing ideology over reality, the Obama administration has induced a situation where rather than construct policies to deal with reality, at all levels, US officials have been charged with constructing policies to deny and ignore reality.

Against this backdrop it becomes fairly clear why the Obama administration's handling of the political turmoil in Egypt has been so incompetent.

Upon entering office, Obama made a determined effort to ignore the political instability percolating under the surface throughout the authoritarian Arab world. US government officials were instructed to curtail programs aimed at developing liberal alternatives to authoritarianism and the Muslim Brotherhood. The justification for this behavior was again ideological.

The Obama administration's ideologically driven strategic ineptitude is evident everywhere.

From its slavish devotion to appeasing Iran, its single-minded insistence on withdrawing from Iraq, its announced commitment to withdrawing from Afghanistan, to its tolerance of Hugo Chavez, and its infantile reset button diplomacy towards Russia, the Obama administration's foreign policy is on a collision course with reality.

But nowhere is its premeditated incompetence more evident than in its obsession with the establishment of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River.

Our leaders are doubtlessly tempted to simply take the path of least resistance and join Obama and his merry band of blind men as they move from lie to lie to defend their ideology from reality. ...

But doing so will not protect us when the dangers sown by the US's strategic dementia provoke the next conflagration.

Israel's best option is to simply tell the truth as loudly and forcefully as it can and base our policies on it. While doing so will win Israel no friends in the Obama administration or in Europe, it will prepare us for the day when the wall of lies they are building from Islamabad to Cairo to Ramallah come crashing down.

Egyptian women supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood demonstrate in this Tahrir Square video against Pres. Hosni Mubarak as a supporter Israel and America, the "infidel" states they've been inculcated to hate.
(Video courtesy NTEB2012)

Prof. Barry Rubin, back from the Herzliya Policy Conference around his office at the Interdisciplinary Center in Israel, returns to analyze: "Egypt: Mubarak's not the one who should resign."

... The quality of the American leadership has grown worse.

There has been an attempt to spin President Husni Mubarak’s speech as some type of victory for the Obama Administration. Yet within hours this effort collapsed. The nation’s highest intelligence officials showed they had no idea what the Muslim Brotherhood represents, joked that they didn’t know any more than did CNN, and provided completely inaccurate information on the course of events in Egypt.

It was the Egyptian army that decided that Mubarak had to go in order to preserve its own power and privileges.

When the New York Times can write,

"American officials said Mr. Panetta was basing his statement not on secret intelligence but on media broadcasts,” It seems that Panetta—not Mubarak--should resign not so much for getting the story wrong but for not understanding what his job is supposed to be.

The president of the United States leapt into an issue he didn’t understand, put forward a bad policy, showed he didn’t comprehend the most basic principles of statecraft and diplomacy, publicly celebrated as if he were making a campaign speech projected events in Egypt that didn’t happen, and then admitted that he had no idea what was going on.

Even some of his biggest left-wing fans had to admit this was a debacle. "The mystique of America's superpower status has been shattered," said Steve Clemons, of the New America Foundation.

From the Middle East itself, the reviews are indeed shattering. The Saudis, just about the most cautious and conservative government there is in the world, publicly rebuked President Obama on his strategy. This is not primarily an issue concerning Israel. It’s an issue affecting anyone in the Middle East who opposes revolutionary Islamism and looks to the United States as a protector.

Iran's destroyer docks in Jeddah opposite Israel & Egypt

Prof. Rubin adds the news that:  two Islamic Republic of Iran warships just visited the Saudi port of Jeddah in the Red Sea. No, that wasn't a misprint, I said "Red Sea," and not "Persian Gulf." This is the first time Iranian warships have been in the Red Sea, just down the coast from Israel and just across from Egypt.

Not only is this a strategic alarm bell for the United States and Israel but also for the Saudis themselves. Bereft now of their last significant Arab ally and feeling unable to depend on the United States, the Saudis are facing their worst strategic situation since the 1950s at a time when Iran is spreading its influence and racing toward nuclear weapons.

Israeli navy stations nuclear missile submarines off Iran coast

Sunday Times quotes IDF official saying the 3 German-made long range submarines will gather intelligence, act as deterrent and potentially land Mossad agents.

(Video: Israeli Submarine Fleet)

The Sunday Times of London reports:

Three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline.

The first has been sent in response to Israeli fears that ballistic missiles developed by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, a political and military organisation in Lebanon, could hit sites in Israel, including air bases and missile launchers.

INS Dolphin was commissioned in 1999, 
INS Leviathan in 2000. 

The submarines of Flotilla 7 — Dolphin, Tekuma and Leviathan — have visited the Gulf before. But the decision has now been taken to ensure a permanent presence of at least one of the vessels.

The flotilla’s commander, identified only as “Colonel O”, told an Israeli newspaper: “We are an underwater assault force. We’re operating deep and far, very far, from our borders.”

Each of the submarines has a crew of 35 to 50, commanded by a colonel capable of launching a nuclear cruise missile.

The vessels can remain at sea for about 50 days and stay submerged up to 1,150ft below the surface for at least a week. Some of the cruise missiles are equipped with the most advanced nuclear warheads in the Israeli arsenal.

The deployment is designed to act as a deterrent, gather intelligence and potentially to land Mossad agents. “We’re a solid base for collecting sensitive information, as we can stay for a long time in one place,” said a flotilla officer.

Torpedo room with reserve stowage

The submarines could be used if Iran continues its programme to produce a nuclear bomb. “The 1,500km range of the submarines’ cruise missiles can reach any target in Iran,” said a navy officer.

Apparently responding to the Israeli activity, an Iranian admiral said: “Anyone who wishes to do an evil act in the Persian Gulf will receive a forceful response from us.”

Israel’s urgent need to deter the Iran-Syria-Hezbollah alliance was demonstrated last month. Ehud Barak, the defence minister, was said to have shown President Barack Obama classified satellite images of a convoy of ballistic missiles leaving Syria on the way to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, will emphasise the danger to Obama in Washington this week.

Tel Aviv, Israel’s business and defence centre, remains the most threatened city in the world, said one expert. “There are more missiles per square foot targeting Tel Aviv than any other city,” he said.