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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran rocket launch 'troubles' US |
| 2008-08-18 |
| Iran says it has successfully launched a rocket capable of carrying its first domestically built satellite. Officials said only the rocket had been fired, correcting state media reports that the communications satellite itself had been sent into orbit. The White House voiced concern, saying the technology could also be used for launching weapons. Tehran has pursued a space programme for years, despite international concern over its nuclear plans. In February it sent a probe into space as part of preparations for the launch of the satellite. Long-held ambition Footage aired on Irinn (Islamic Republic of Iran News Network) showed the launch of the Safir rocket in darkness. The presenter said that the satellite launch was a trial which was successful. State and military officials confirmed the launch had taken place. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was at the event, said one report. In October 2005 a Russian-made Iranian satellite named Sina-1 was put into orbit by a Russian rocket. Sunday's launch comes amid a long-running dispute over Iran's nuclear activities. White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said: "The Iranian development and testing of rockets is troubling and raises further questions about their intentions. "This action and dual use possibilities for their ballistic missile programme are inconsistent with their UN Security Council obligations." The US and some European countries have demanded that Iran curtail uranium enrichment - but Iran protests that its purposes are peaceful and says it has a right to continue. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #9 looks like it may have been a dud. |
| Posted by: tipper 2008-08-18 14:55 |
| #8 Well, the obvious concern is that if one can put a satellite into orbit, they are capable of launching a warhead to any place on the planet. Basically it says Iran would have global range on warheads if they launched such a thing. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2008-08-18 12:40 |
| #7 Thank Allah for global warming. It stopped the rocket. |
| Posted by: Nour Yame 2008-08-18 12:27 |
| #6 He sounds like a real sport. Wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall where he goes to school. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-08-18 07:56 |
| #5 That is a point, lotp. :-) I didn't think it was qualified to have an opinion, either, but I haven't as many tools in my repertoire. Good morning to you, too, Mad Eye! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-08-18 07:06 |
| #4 Not an obscene one promising mass death. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-08-18 06:41 |
| #3 *sigh* Once again the moderators beat me to it. I really must work on my timing. It claimed to be a student learning to fight a cyberjihad, and was a bit overexcited at the thought of dirty bombs. It seems the moderators didn't think it qualified to have an opinion. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-08-18 06:37 |
| #2 Lol Tw . Such a nice way to say FOAD :) Brought a smile to my day |
| Posted by: Mad Eye 2008-08-18 06:35 |
| #1 My dear Malaysian Soul, in America every university and college has required courses in writing viruses, trojans, etc. It's been a standard requirement for a BA/CompSci for ages. The cleverer children play hack wars against one another in secondary school, while Malaysian children are still chasing the family chickens under the house. We invented the tools of cyberwarfare, after all, and we wouldn't want our students to use them accidentally. Perhaps if you work very, very hard at your courses, you'll get to come to America for graduate school and see for yourself. You might want to give over cruising the internet for foreign sites, though; based on your post I wouldn't think you have the intelligence to succeed at the universities where my brother and sister teach. In the meantime, I hope you were clever enough to conceal your computer's IP effectively; some very interesting people read Rantburg, and I'd hate to think one of them thought you were worth his or her attention. You did read the site owner's biography, right? As for dirty bombs, they sound awfully frightening to the ignorant, I know, but they don't accomplish terribly much. And it's ever so easy to trace the radiation sources used. Which means the supplier would soon be experiencing the full range of toys the U.S. Marines and the U.S Navy have to play with when they're feeling destructive. You shame your teachers and your God when you display such childish ignorance, Malaysian Soul. You make those who read your childish threats laugh. And you guarantee that any Malaysian who hereafter applies to an American college or university will be assumed to more ignorant and more vicious than his resume indicates. Quite an outcome for only three sentences posted in the middle of the American night. Although not quite the one you had hoped for, poor man. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-08-18 06:28 |