Fitzgerald Changes History

The special prosecutor has decapitated the US administration, very neatly given that he’s found no underlying crime. Glasses will be raised to him in Iran (for a while), France, Mexico, Russia, China, SCOTUS and George Galloway’s pad.

The London Times:

…the indictment of Mr Libby by Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor examining the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame, bodes ill for Mr Bush.

There is the specter of his Vice-President, Dick Cheney, being forced to take the witness stand. It will claim untold hours of Administration time and energy; likewise the continuing investigation into Mr Rove, Mr Bush’s senior adviser. The inquiry’s demands on Mr Rove have already brought the White House close to paralysis. During Mr Bush’s first term, little moved without Mr Rove’s say-so. And with him tied up with lawyers, little appears to be moving at all.

This is not a good time for Mr Bush to be distracted. His ambitious second-term domestic agenda of pension and tax reform is on life support. A bellicose and would-be nuclear Iran needs careful handling. Middle East peace is far from a reality.

The French are delighted because this gives them more than they ever dreamed of from their Niger yellowcake setup – more in a later post. With the administration tied in knots, there will be no change to US immigration policies and no Social Security reform. The Iranians, Russians & Chinese will continue their arms buildups unchallenged by the US and the Dems will stop a conservative getting on to SCOTUS.

George Galloway is safe. If the US tries to extradite him, a Brit judge will have to decide if he’s going to face a civilized legal system. Galloway will point at Fitzgerald’s leaks and abusive procedures, plus the 50-year jail sentences Fitzgerald has threatened Libby with. The Brit judge will conclude that this the same as an extradition to, say, Russia and nix it.

Fitzgerald has changed the world – not bad for a Brooklyn-born son of Irish immigrants.

Another Victory For SCOTUS Expertize

SCOTUS cited “international precedent” when ruling that 18-year old Americans could not be executed for murder, but they missed Saudi Arabia (hat tip LGF):

A 14-year-old Egyptian boy faces execution in Saudi Arabia after a flawed trial in which he was convicted for the murder of another child, Human Rights Watch says.

Oh well, the justices don’t get to travel much.

Israel Should Not Delay

Iran wants to destroy the State of Israel, which means killing 5 million Jews. It faces just a wrist slap from the “International Community” while its nuke program continues with French and Russian help. Israel should take Iran down now, before it has nukes and while it still has a friendly US administration. If it waits for the next administration, that may well be a Democratic one which will feed it to the butchers.

The Iranian declaration of war:

TEHRAN — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, cheered by tens of thousands of supporters, yesterday stood by his call for Israel to be “wiped off the map,” while Iran’s foreign ministry sought to defuse a diplomatic storm.

I bet Iran “tried to defuse” it – they don’t have the nukes yet!

Israel has a population of 6.3 million, of which 80% are Jewish, so that’s 5 million Jews the Iranian government plans to kill – only a million less than the Holocaust. This is very achievable with nukes because Israel’s population centers are crowded into a very small area – the entire country including the thinly-populated Negev desert is smaller than New Jersey.

Niccolo Machiavelli analyzed the similar multi-polar world of 15/16th Century Italy, and gives this advice:

War is just when it is necessary; arms are permissible when there is no hope except in arms.

There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.

Tardiness often robs us opportunity, and the dispatch of our forces.

However, he suggests waiting for maximum surprise. The mullahs will scatter and hide if they think there’s a strike on the way, so it’s best to wait until they are where they can be hit.

No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.

My suggested targeting uses about 75% of the estimated Israeli nuke arsenal, and is well within their delivery capacity (IRBMs, sub launched cruise missiles, long range F-15s). It will kill most of the population of Iran and severely contaminate large parts of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan .

It would be nice to wait until pinpoint weapons are available, but they are years off. And now there’s a good chance the next administration will be Dem, which will hold the Israelis back while the Iranians get their first strike together.

So I’d go late this year/early next, after the Mullahs have returned to Tehran from their spider holes.

Russia Spends Its Petrodollars

High priced oil is speeding up the development of Russian ICBMs that will dodge the US BMD. Americans must hope the CCC (Cranky Congressional Conservatives) doesn’t block the funds needed to counter it.

Here’s the report, hat tip Missilethreat:

MOSCOW. Oct 25 (Interfax) – The Russian Strategic Missile Troops’ step-by-step switchover to Topol-M land-based mobile missile complexes is to begin early in 2006, Strategic Missile Troops Commander Col. Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov told Interfax.

Topol-M is a unique missile complex adapted to advanced missile defense systems. It is more mobile than other missile systems and is better protected from the enemy’s reconnaissance.

It weights 47.2 tonnes and is capable of carrying a combat payload of 1,200 kilograms. Its range exceeds 10,000 kilometers. Three engines allow it to develop speed much faster than the previous types of missiles. Several dozen additional engines and control gear make its flight unpredictable for the enemy.

Topol-M’s designers claim the system is absolutely immune to electromagnetic impulses.

I don’t believe the last claim, but it’s a very neat system. Instead of being stuck in vulnerable silos, its launcher is fully mobile. It uses solid fuel with a 15 year storage life, and goes through its entire boost phase in a few minutes (boost phase is the most vulnerable). Then it deploys multiple maneuverable warheads and decoys.

A few Topol-Ms will saturate the currently planned US BMD deployment, so more are needed.

It’s a sobering thought – if the US gets a Dem Congress and President, they will scrap BMD and become wide open to Russian nuclear blackmail.