Why are Arab nations so shit at fighting Israel?

[Johnny Canuck3]

By far the most difficult aspect of any nuclear-bomb-building project is the acquisition of fissile material. Learning how to shape the metal for a weapon, or how to set off a nuclear explosion, can be a challenge, but plans for crude devices have been in fairly wide circulation for half a century. There are a number of distinct technologies for creating fissile material, but centrifuges are particularly attractive to countries that wish to keep their nuclear programs hidden, because the machines can be housed in ordinary buildings, and they do not give off indications, such as extensive electricity consumption, that can be detected easily.



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[Johnny Canuck3]

“By 1981, our plant at Kahuta was fully operational,” Khan says in his sales video. “On the 10th of December, 1984, I wrote a letter to the then President, General Zia ul-Haq, and informed him that we were now in a position to detonate a device—a nuclear device—on a week’s notice.”

Iran signed a secret nuclear-coöperation agreement with Pakistan the following year, according to Leonard Weiss, who tracked the issue at the time for Senator John Glenn and conducted investigations into Pakistan’s program for a Senate subcommittee. Pakistan’s motives were unclear; Zia, the country’s military leader, was a religious man, but not a revolutionary in Khomeini’s vein. The 1985 agreement was detected at the time by American intelligence, but its provisions were unknown, Weiss said.

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[Johnny Canuck3]

When American and European intelligence agencies assessed similar uncertainties about Iraq’s nuclear program in the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, in 2003, they were inhibited by the fact that Saddam Hussein had banned U.N. inspectors from the country in 1998. Iran, on the other hand, has continued to permit I.A.E.A. inspectors to enter the country, and this has provided a much more detailed flow of current information about its nuclear program. Since the beginning of this year, however, the inspectors’ work has been curtailed by the Iranian government.

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[Johnny Canuck3]

A number of sites have attracted the I.A.E.A.’s interest since Iran’s uranium-enrichment work was first revealed, but the inspectors have focussed particular attention on a cluster of buildings, arranged roughly in the shape of a star, near the mountain town of Natanz, about two hundred miles south of Tehran. From the outside, the facilities look like warehouses, but inside one of them inspectors have found what amounts to a building within a building—a large centrifuge hall that has been constructed to seal out dust and other impurities, and which Iran calls a “pilot” facility. Within this hall are six concrete blocks, each designed to support a cascade of a hundred and sixty-four centrifuges. On one of the blocks stands a finished cascade of P-1s in working order; several of the other blocks contain cascade components in varying stages of construction. In another part of the building are electrical and feed-and-withdrawal systems.

As part of an agreement that Iran made to suspend enrichment activities while it negotiated with Britain, France, and Germany, work inside this building was discontinued and Iran placed its lone centrifuge cascade under I.A.E.A. seals from 2004 until the beginning of this year. Those talks failed, however, and Iran has now resumed work at Natanz.

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[Bernie Gunther]

On topic as ever I see JC

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

You're changing the subject - totally irrelevant answer, as usual.

The point is that if Libya could pull the wool over the IAEA's eyes, why not Iran?

 

[Bernie Gunther]

The Iranians aren't Arabs though (mostly)

 

[London_Calling]

It’s pointless; he’s got the analytical rigour of a sunbathing warthog.

 

[mears]

It’s pointless; he’s got the analytical rigour of a sunbathing warthog.

But he knows Al Queda was responsible for 9-11.

Do you?

 

[London_Calling]

Well blow me down, and here's tweedle dum right on cue.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

On topic as ever I see JC

The 'topic' was changed by Zamb, at post 46. If changing topics concerns you, then give him shit.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

It’s pointless; he’s got the analytical rigour of a sunbathing warthog.

And you look like Max Headroom.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

The Iranians aren't Arabs though (mostly)

Which means they pose no threat to Israel.

 

[mears]

Well blow me down, and here's tweedle dum right on cue.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/09/07/alqaeda.911/index.html

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/12/13/tape.transcript/

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2004/10/29/binladen_message041029.html

 

[Detroit City]

The Iranians aren't Arabs though (mostly)

thats true BG...historically they are considered to be Persians, which was an empire in and of itself.

 

[chainsaw cat]

Completely leaving aside that Hezbollah gave the IDF a real run for its money last year in southern Lebanon, and leaving aside the fact that many of the Arab regimes aren't actually interested in fighting Israel (i.e. Jordan), why would it be any suprise that a very heavily funded modern military machine often comes out on top of dedicated volunteers armed with small arms?
Or are you just shit stirring again? By any chance?

Yeah, that's Hezbollah and good luck to the loony tune heroes.

I think the OP was on about the regular forces of Egypt, Jordan, Syria Iran etc., who are all tooled up to the limits of tooled-upness but have successfully failed to knack the Israelis in 1948, 56, 67, 73 and at various times in the '80s.

Must be shit at fighting.

I seen the Iraqis trying it, they were a joke (my mates over there now reckon this is not so of the guerilla stuff - maybe there's something about Arabs that makes them good insurgents but shit soldiers? Discuss)

 

[chainsaw cat]

Then why is the US constantly developing new weapons?

Because weapons are profitable and huge fun.

 

[Detroit City]

Because weapons are profitable and huge fun.

not only that but military weapons and research is one of the few industries that the US still has a monopoly on. Pharmaceuticals is another.

We've given away heavy manufacturing, and autos, and bloody electronics to the rest of the bleedin' world.

 

[chainsaw cat]

not only that but military weapons and research is one of the few industries that the US still has a monopoly on. Pharmaceuticals is another.

We've given away heavy manufacturing, and autos, and bloody electronics to the rest of the bleedin' world.

You only borrowed heavy manufacturing from the UK for twenty years or so.

You didn't give those things away, they were taken from you.

As for military weapons monopoly - HAH! We have the best tank in the world....

Shame no-one else bought it except the Saudis. Most of our other kit is crap except the Scorpion/Scimitar. Warrior is OK but too pricey.

 

[Detroit City]

You didn't give those things away, they were taken from you.

thats what I meant...bloody Japanese

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

You only borrowed heavy manufacturing from the UK for twenty years or so.
.

I always thought that the assembly line was invented in the US.

 

[dash_two]

my mates over there now reckon this is not so of the guerilla stuff - maybe there's something about Arabs that makes them good insurgents but shit soldiers? Discuss)

Old Pashtun proverb:

Me against my brother.

Me and my brother against my cousin.

Me, my brother and my cousin against the world.

 

[ZAMB]

On topic as ever I see JC

Also none of what he has posted either takes away from the fact that Israel is already training for an attack on Iran, or that their puppet, the US, already has forces in Iran in breech of the Geneva convention.

None of it proves, either, that Iran is making a weapon. Even the CIA don't think that Iran is a nuclear threat. Like Iraq, the Iran war is something sold by politicians and media hype.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Also none of what he has posted either takes away from the fact that Israel is already training for an attack on Iran, or that their puppet, the US, already has forces in Iran in breech of the Geneva convention.

None of it proves, either, that Iran is making a weapon. Even the CIA don't think that Iran is a nuclear threat. Like Iraq, the Iran war is something sold by politicians and media hype.

What you've said here is just propaganda, and the mere repetition of it doesn't make it true.

 

[Detroit City]

I always thought that the assembly line was invented in the US.

It was....about 15 miles south of where I sit right now. By Henry Ford I believe

 

[ZAMB]

What you've said here is just propaganda, and the mere repetition of it doesn't make it true.

There are a lot of genuine sources for what I post - but, from observation, you seem to have more respect for US govt propaganda than any real sources.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

There are a lot of genuine sources for what I post - but, from observation, you seem to have more respect for US govt propaganda than any real sources.

What I find is that you and a few others continue to repeat the same slogans, no matter what is put before you in the way of contradictory evidence.

 

[yield]

What I find is that you and a few others continue to repeat the same slogans, no matter what is put before you in the way of contradictory evidence.

What ZAMB wrote is true, I can link to the Seymour Hersh New Yorker articles if you'd like. Care to provide the contradictory evidence JC2?

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

What ZAMB wrote is true, I can link to the Seymour Hersh New Yorker articles if you'd like. Care to provide the contradictory evidence JC2?

What: of the fact that Iran appears to be building a nuke?

 

[yield]

What: of the fact that Iran appears to be building a nuke?

No not that. Common knowledge that Iran are trying to build nuclear capabilities for energy production and weapons. All the rest, that US/UK special forces are already in Iran and that the CIA don't consider them a threat.