The big news today looks and sounds familiar. Here’s USA Today (3/8/12):
Here’s what that Associated Press piece is reporting:
VIENNA — Satellite images of an Iranian military facility appear to show trucks and earth-moving vehicles at the site, indicating an attempted cleanup of radioactive traces possibly left by tests of a nuclear-weapon trigger, diplomats told the Associated Press on Wednesday….
Two of the diplomats said the crews at the Parchin military site may be trying to erase evidence of tests of a small experimental neutron device used to set off a nuclear explosion….
The diplomats said they suspect attempts at sanitization because some of the vehicles at the scene appeared to be haulage trucks and other equipment suited to carting off potentially contaminated soil from the site.
All of that sounds very much like what Secretary of State Colin Powell said about Iraq in his famous United Nations presentation on February 5, 2003. Which yielded coverage like this:
USA Today (2/6 03):
A satellite photo showed a munitions facility at Taji, 18 miles north of Baghdad, where the presence of special security units and a decontamination vehicle suggested the presence of chemical weapons. A later photo of the same site, taken Dec. 22 as inspectors were due, showed the location had been “sanitized,” Powell said. Similar cleanups took place at almost 30 sites, Powell said, with the activity peaking in November — just after the U.N. decided to deploy inspectors.
Washington Post (2/6/03):
[Colin Powell] showed satellite photographs of buildings, said to be chemical and biological weapons bunkers, with “decontamination trucks” parked outside, and subsequent photos where the vehicles had been removed, indicating that the site had been “cleaned up” before inspectors could arrive.
Another set of aerial photographs, said to have been taken two days before inspections began in November, showed a convoy of trucks and a crane he said indicated pre-inspection “housecleaning.” Drawings he said were made from information provided by defectors who had worked in top weapons positions depicted mobile biological and chemical laboratories, mounted on both trucks and rail, designed to evade inspectors.
Powell’s presentation relied heavily on sensitive U.S. intelligence — satellite imagery, communications intercepts and defector interviews — that officials usually guard zealously but agreed to release to make as compelling a case as possible to skeptical domestic and foreign audiences.
Washington Post (2/6/03)
Equally persuasive to weapons experts were satellite photographs of sites that Powell said were used to store or transfer toxic chemicals for bombs, missiles and rockets. In one series of photos taken last spring and summer, Iraqis appeared to have scraped away a layer of topsoil from what was described as a transshipment point near Al Moussaid chemical complex — a move intended to eliminate evidence that might be discovered later by inspectors, Powell said.
In another series of photos, a weapons bunker near the town of al-Taji appeared to have been furnished with a special guard station and a decontamination truck. In a later photo of the same facility — taken on December 22, when UN inspections were well underway — the decontamination truck and guard had disappeared.
“The bunkers were clean when the inspectors got there,” Powell said. “They found nothing.”…
Experts familiar with Iraq’s chemical weapons program said Powell’s satellite photos, while open to interpretation, appeared to back the Bush administration’s claims.
Of course, this is not to say that the current Iran images are just as misleading as the previous ones from Iraq. But you’d hope that journalists covering these new revelations might recall the mistakes of the past in their reporting–and remind readers that there’s good reason to be skeptical about officials’ satellite claims.
UPDATE: Today the New York Times handles these images with appropriate skepticism. As Rick Gladstone and William Broad put it, the images “according to some news reports suggest efforts by the Iranians to cleanse the site before permitting an inspection. Some experts in satellite reconnaissance have discounted those reports, saying it would be impossible to determine such information from the images.”
They go on to report that:
private specialists in satellite imagery have scrutinized the sprawling Parchin complex, on a desert site not far from Tehran.
Paul Brannan, a senior analyst at the Institute for Science and International Security, a private group in Washington that tracks nuclear proliferation, said he had looked at many images but so far had not found the specific site or signs of any cleanup activity. But he added that the massive scale of development at Parchin made the problem quite challenging. “There’s no way to know whether or not the activity you see in a particular satellite image is cleansing or just regular work,” he said. “They build a lot of stuff. There’s a lot of activity there – always.”
When it comes to the corpress’ servility in the cause of US and Israeli policy, it really isn’t necessary to teach these old wardogs new tricks, is it?
The real enemies of America are its lie spewing media and the lying liars they find so newsworthy.
And the naive public whose memory event horizon is the time it takes to count their fingers and toes.
Where are the satellite photos of Israel’s nuclear sites? Or are they classified?
Instead of the rhetoric of constant belligerency against Iran, the whole debate needs to be re-framed. Instead of a disastrous war under the pretext of ‘preventing’ Iran from having nuclear weapons, the focus needs to be toward nonproliferation of nuclear weapons in general and the dismantling of existing nuclear stockpiles in particular.
Iran is currently surrounded by Israel, India and Pakistan, all countries with nuclear weapons. There are US bases and naval fleets flanking Iran, no doubt with nuclear weapons capability. The focus should be that all these nuclear nations should be subject to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The surrounding countries should dismantle their nukes in exchange for Iran agreeing to inspections and not building nuclear weapons. Nuclear Apartheid will never work. The more we threaten Iran, the more they will perceive the need to have nuclear weapons to protect themselves from us.
They should use the phrase Herman Cain came out with when he was propagandizing – “I don’t have any evidence about this ..but”
Aha! What do we have *here*? Dump trucks and bulldozers at a construction site!
Very suspicious.
This is so silly. What am I even looking at? How could anyone even say something is being “sanitized?” It all looks like pieces of a smashed up cell phone and a few legos! Who are those diplomats who have no names? Nameless diplomats? Anonymous sources that aren’t authorized to speak are so tiring, and this is non-news. Wikileaks really does deserve its journalism awards.
It’s hard to tell what this is at all, or even if its in Iran. Maybe it’s a bunch of homeless people in the Mojave desert living in school buses. Geez, you’d think with all the money that was spent on satellites that they would show a very close up picture if there was really anything there.
Let’s back it up a little… And why was it that Iran should not have nuclear weapons? Why does the same argument not apply to the US, Israel, Pakistan, and India? Talk about cogency!
But as someone said here before, the issue should be about nonproliferation for all countries. Nuclear weapons and nuclear energy are both detrimental to the future of our Earth. All coutries should be stripped of them.
Well it could be that they are building a Disney land where we can all go and relax in the beautiful Iranian sunshine.
Freespirit..lets back it up a lot.The reason they should not have the bomb is because they have constantly and consistently threatened us and israel with nuclear destruction.”We shall destroy the jews and the great Satan in a sea of fire.This is our holy course that shall bring on the coming of the twelfth Imam.”They are insane.
The Truth has but one face,
but paranoid delusions wear a million scary masks…
Ashurbanipal you seem to be a voice for Iranian policies.Tell me what is the point of ratcheting up tensions?How does it help Iran?Sanctions are starting to hurt her and could get worse.You cannot deny the constant stream of threats that Iran puts forth.You can not expect the world to ignore them.To hope she is only kidding.Read her daily newspapers and try to imagine the words coming from her leaders are sane.Paranoid delusions?????Show me anything this country has done to walk the path of peace with Israel and the US.
Amazing how Russia opened up after the fall of communism.I look forward to traveling there soon to see that amazing country.I have dear friends who are Russian born.There were those that said at the time it was us who were the proponents of world tension.After Russian communism and light came streaming in we heard the truth(from the Russians themselves).I hope Iran finds a way away from “paranoid delusions”..and the “masks” woman are forced to wear there under threat of punishment, and let the sunshine of freedom in.Iran can be a friend to this country.Im sure her people would want that.Israel would seek friendship.Show me what the religious leaders there have done to make that happen.Their control is complete.They could declare peace tomorrow and allow freedom in.Where is it?I can’t see it
Michael, you are so easily distracted by the slight of hand. Wise people judge others not by what they say, rather by what they do. The government of Iran is despicable. It is a theocracy (very similar to that of Israel, although this is not publicly acknowledged). The country of Iran has not attacked another country for over 200 years. This is a record of peace that has to be recognized. Your government on the other hand has been at war every single year since WW2. It overthrew the democratically elected government of Iran in 1953. If Iran had overthrown the US government 60 years ago, you too would be upset and say a lot of things. The US is currently supporting dictators around Israel is committing human rights violations against international rights (occupation, expansion, genocide in Gaza, mass murder in Lebonan). If you stop being governed by your emotions, detach, and become objective you will see our POV a bit more. I think you want to free yourself of the propaganda you have been raised with. Why else do you frequent these blogs? You are acting like those straight guys who are vehemently anti-gay but go dancing at a gay clubs. Most of those guys are really gay but don’t have the courage to go against the forces of conformity and to become authentic. So they remain closeted and suffer! You are a closet progressive yearning to be free. Take the first step now. Stop believing what you are told and start listening to that inner voice. Who knows, you may come out of the closet yet!
Free spirit I gagged when you said Iran has not been at war.Kindof like saying George Bush was never at war…because he did not declare it as such.Iran has been a host and breeding ground for terrorist cells for a long time now.Declared war?No but just as lethal.The US supports freedom the world over,and has for many years.At times we have thrown in with unsavory characters as the best choice open.We have made mistakes no doubt.Hell we were allies with STALIN in WW2.But if you cant see the difference between Ronald Reagans speech about spreading the benefits of freedom to all men and ah mah needs a jobs recent speech on Sharia law,theocracy and the coming of the 12 Imam than you are beyond help.
A closeted progressive.Ok Ill give ya that one.That really gave me a good laugh.But no I am against an increase in state power to effect change
This new Satellite Intelligence reminds me ‘Google Earth’s’ 2010 claim that an image of the â┚¬Ã‹Å“Star of Zion’ exists on the roof of the headquarters of Iran Air in Tehran.
AEarlier, Israeli media had reported a Star of Zion spotted at a building in the main square in Tehran.
http://rehmat1.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/iran-and-the-zionist-pranks/
michael e – Even if some brainwashed dude accept your version of Iranian history – you got to agree that Iran (Persia) has existed over 5,000 years and even had a Jewish Queen Esther – while Israel was created by European Jewish terrorists only 64 years ago.
Israel has never claimed that Iranian agents have killed any of Israeli leaders or scientist – while Israel has killed five Iranian nuclear scientists and score of Hamas, Hizbullah, Syrian, Swedish and American political and military leaders.
Israel stole highly enriched Uranium from a US laboratory to build its first batch of nuclear bombs in late 1960s. Iran, on the other hand, is enriching its Uranium stockpile locally for its need for the medical isotopes.
It’s not Iran which has been terrorizing its neighbors and the US and EU countries – but the Zionist regime in Israel. It’s Israel which has invaded all its neighbors since its plantation by the western colonists in 1948. Iran has not disobeyed any UN resolution while Israel has disobeyed over 78 UN resolutions against it.
Furthermore, it’s Israel is which is created on myths and not Iran.
Israel has been caught behind terrorist acts in 25 countries – at least.
http://rehmat1.wordpress.com/2011/06/11/israel-caught-in-terrorism-in-25-nations/
Rehmat Nothing personal ,but you sound like those kooks we see on CNN in the streets of too many Arab states- waving their brightly colored flags, fists in the air(sometimes firing Ak-47s),burning people in effigy along with their flags.You are bouncing all over history,gleaning this and that ,rewriting and believing myths,with one thought in mind.And that thought is not friendly to jews.Surprise me…how many jewish friends do you hold close to your heart?Tell us all here on these blogs how you felt on 911.And how do you feel today about 911?
“Have you now or have you ever had any thoughts about 9/11.”
Signed
The Ghost of McCarthy
Hey michael e, before you slip back into barely comprehensible name-calling mode, tell all us like-minded liberal pinko commie dirt-bags monopolizing this site why the U.S and Israel should have nuclear weapons and Iran not.