But GREEN argues its proposal would support US obligations under
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The NNSA itself began
reducing plutonium and highly enriched uranium from Livermore
last month, stating it would remove nearly all of it by 2014.
The group says the Department of Energy has unfairly eliminated
it from the competition because NNSA officials objected to its
non-nuclear agenda for the facility. In a letter of protest sent
to NNSA Tuesday, GREEN charges the agency with using deficient
grounds in rejecting the bid, and acting "in a biased and
prejudicial manner … by treating the Livermore Lab GREEN and
its proposal differently than it treated competitors."
GREEN called for an immediate reinstatement of its bid to manage
the lab.
The University of California, which manages two other US
nuclear-research labs in addition to Lawrence Livermore,
partnered with the firm Bechtel to submit its proposal. Weapons
giant Northrop Grumman is also vying for management of the
facility. © 2007 The
NewStandard. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
24 [NYTr] "Wiped Off the Map" - The Canard of the Century
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2007 16:41:41 -0600 (CST)
X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu
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Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
sent by Kevin Zeese - Jan 18, 2007
"WIPED OFF THE MAP" - The Rumor of the Century
by Arash Norouzi
Across the world, a dangerous rumor has spread that could have
catastrophic implications. According to legend, Iran's President
has threatened to destroy Israel, or, to quote the misquote,
"Israel must be wiped off the map". Contrary to popular belief,
this statement was never made, as the following article will
prove.
BACKGROUND:
On Tuesday, October 25th, 2005 at the Ministry of Interior
conference hall in Tehran, newly elected Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a speech at a program, reportedly
attended by thousands, titled "The World Without Zionism". Large
posters surrounding him displayed this title prominently in
English, obviously for the benefit of the international press.
Below the poster's title was a slick graphic depicting an hour
glass containing planet Earth at its top. Two small round orbs
representing the United States and Israel are shown falling
through the hour glass' narrow neck and crashing to the bottom.
Before we get to the infamous remark, it's important to note that
the "quote" in question was itself a quote--- they are the words
of the late Ayatollah Khomeini, the father of the Islamic
Revolution. Although he quoted Khomeini to affirm his own
position on Zionism, the actual words belong to /Khomeini/ and
not Ahmadinejad. Thus, Ahmadinejad has essentially been credited
(or blamed) for a quote that is not only unoriginal, but
represents a viewpoint already in place well before he ever took
office.
THE ACTUAL QUOTE:
So what did Ahmadinejad actually say? To quote his exact words in
farsi:
"Imam ghoft een rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods bayad az safheh-ye
ruzgar mahv shavad."
That passage will mean nothing to most people, but one word might
ring a bell: /rezhim-e/. It is the word "/Regime/", pronounced
just like the English word with an extra "/eh/" sound at the end.
Ahmadinejad did not refer to Israel the country or Israel the
land mass, but the Israeli /regime/. This is a vastly significant
distinction, as one cannot wipe a /regime/ off the map.
Ahmadinejad does not even refer to Israel by name, he instead
uses the specific phrase "rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods" (regime
occupying Jerusalem).
So this raises the question.. what exactly did he want "wiped
from the map"? The answer is: /nothing/. That's because the word
"map" was _never used_. The Persian word for map, "/nagsheh/", is
not contained anywhere in his original farsi quote, or, for that
matter, anywhere in his entire speech. Nor was the western phrase
"wipe out" ever said. Yet we are led to believe that Iran's
President threatened to "wipe Israel off the map", despite never
having uttered the words "map", "wipe out" or even "Israel".
THE PROOF:
_The full quote translated directly to English:_
"The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from
the page of time".
Word by word translation:
Imam (Khomeini) ghoft (said) een (this) rezhim-e (regime)
ishghalgar-e (occupying) qods (Jerusalem) bayad (must) az
safheh-ye ruzgar (from page of time) mahv shavad (vanish from).
Here is the full transcript of the speech in farsi, archived on
Ahmadinejad's web site:
http://www.president.ir/farsi/ahmadinejad/speeches/1384/aban-84/840804sahyonizm.htm
THE SPEECH AND CONTEXT:
While the false "wiped off the map" extract has been repeated
infinitely without verification, Ahmadinejad's actual speech
itself has been almost entirely ignored. Given the importance
placed on the "map" comment, it would be sensible to present his
words in their full context to get a fuller understanding of his
position. In fact, by looking at the entire speech, there is a
clear, logical trajectory leading up to his call for a "world
without Zionism". One may disagree with his reasoning, but
critical appraisals are infeasible without first knowing what
that reasoning is.
In his speech, Ahmadinejad declares that Zionism is the West's
apparatus of political oppression against Muslims. He says the
"Zionist regime" was imposed on the Islamic world as a strategic
bridgehead to ensure domination of the region and its assets.
Palestine, he insists, is the frontline of the Islamic world's
struggle with American hegemony, and its fate will have
repercussions for the entire Middle East.
Ahmadinejad acknowledges that the removal of America's powerful
grip on the region via the Zionists may seem unimaginable to
some, but reminds the audience that, as Khomeini predicted, other
seemingly invincible empires have disappeared and now only exist
in history books. He then proceeds to list three such regimes
that have collapsed, crumbled or vanished, all within the last 30
years:
(1) The Shah of Iran- the U.S. installed monarch
(2) The Soviet Union
(3) Iran's former arch-enemy, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein
In the first and third examples, Ahmadinejad prefaces their
mention with Khomeini's own words foretelling that individual
regime's demise. He concludes by referring to Khomeini's
unfulfilled wish: "The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem
must vanish from the page of time. This statement is very wise".
This is the passage that has been isolated, twisted and distorted
so famously. By measure of comparison, Ahmadinejad would seem to
be calling for /regime change/, not war.
THE ORIGIN:
One may wonder: where did this false interpretation originate?
Who is responsible for the translation that has sparked such
worldwide controversy? The answer is surprising.
The inflammatory "wiped off the map" quote was first disseminated
not by Iran's enemies, but by Iran itself. The Islamic Republic
News Agency, Iran's official propaganda arm, used this phrasing
in the English version of some of their news releases covering
the World Without Zionism conference. International media
including the BBC, Al Jazeera, Time magazine and countless others
picked up the IRNA quote and made headlines out of it without
verifying its accuracy, and rarely referring to the source.
Iran's Foreign Minister soon attempted to clarify the statement,
but the quote had a life of its own. Though the IRNA wording was
inaccurate and misleading, the media assumed it was true, and
besides, it made great copy.
Amid heated wrangling over Iran's nuclear program, and months of
continuous, unfounded accusations against Iran in an attempt to
rally support for preemptive strikes against the country, the
imperialists had just been handed the perfect raison d'jtre to
invade. To the war hawks, it was a gift from the skies.
It should be noted that in other references to the conference,
the IRNA's translation changed. For instance, "map" was replaced
with "earth". In some articles it was "The Qods occupier regime
should be eliminated from the surface of earth", or the similar
"The Qods occupying regime must be eliminated from the surface of
earth". The inconsistency of the IRNA's translation should be
evidence enough of the unreliability of the source, particularly
when transcribing their news from Farsi into the English
language.
THE REACTION:
The mistranslated "wiped off the map" quote attributed to Iran's
President has been spread worldwide, repeated thousands of times
in international media, and prompted the denouncements of
numerous world leaders. Virtually every major and minor media
outlet has published or broadcast this false statement to the
masses. Big news agencies such as The Associated Press and
Reuters refer to the misquote, literally, on an almost daily
basis.
Following news of Iran's remark, condemnation was swift. British
Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed "revulsion" and implied that
it might be necessary to attack Iran. U.N. chief Kofi Annan
cancelled his scheduled trip to Iran due to the controversy.
Ariel Sharon demanded that Iran be expelled from the United
Nations for calling for Israel's destruction. Shimon Peres, more
than once, threatened to wipe /Iran/ off the map. More recently,
Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, who has warned that Iran is
"preparing another holocaust for the Jewish state" is calling for
Ahmadinejad to be tried for war crimes for inciting genocide.
The artificial quote has also been subject to additional
alterations. U.S. officials and media often take the liberty of
dropping the "map" reference altogether, replacing it with the
more acutely threatening phrase "wipe Israel off the face of the
earth". Newspaper and magazine articles dutifully report
Ahmadinejad has "called for the destruction of Israel", as do
senior officials in the United States government.
President George W. Bush said the comments represented a
"specific threat" to destroy Israel. In a March 2006 speech in
Cleveland, Bush vowed he would resort to war to protect Israel
from Iran, because, "..the threat from Iran is, of course, their
stated objective to destroy our strong ally Israel." Former
Presidential advisor Richard Clarke told Australian TV that Iran
"talks openly about destroying Israel", and insists, "The
President of Iran has said repeatedly that he wants to wipe
Israel off the face of the earth". In an October 2006 interview
with Amy Goodman, former UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter
referred to Ahmadinejad as "the idiot that comes out and says
really stupid, vile things, such as, 'It is the goal of Iran to
wipe Israel off the face of the earth' ". The consensus is clear.
Confusing matters further, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pontificates
rather than give a direct answer when questioned about the
statement, such as in Lally Weymouth's Washington Post interview
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/22/AR2006092201306_pf.html
in September 2006:
Are you really serious when you say that Israel should be wiped
off the face of the Earth?
We need to look at the scene in the Middle East --- 60 years of
war, 60 years of displacement, 60 years of conflict, not even a
day of peace. Look at the war in Lebanon, the war in Gaza ---
what are the reasons for these conditions? We need to address and
resolve the root problem.
Your suggestion is to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth?
Our suggestion is very clear:... Let the Palestinian people
decide their fate in a free and fair referendum, and the result,
whatever it is, should be accepted.... The people with no roots
there are now ruling the land.
You've been quoted as saying that Israel should be wiped off the
face of the Earth. Is that your belief?
What I have said has made my position clear. If we look at a map
of the Middle East from 70 years ago...
So, the answer is yes, you do believe that it should be wiped off
the face of the Earth?
Are you asking me yes or no? Is this a test? Do you respect the
right to self-determination for the Palestinian nation? Yes or
no? Is Palestine, as a nation, considered a nation with the right
to live under humane conditions or not? Let's allow those rights
to be enforced for these 5 million displaced people.
The exchange is typical of Ahmadinejad's interviews with the
American media. Predictably, both Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes and
CNN's Anderson Cooper asked if he wants to "wipe Israel off the
map". As usual, the question is thrown back in the reporter's
face with his standard "Don't the Palestinians have rights?,
etc." retort (which is never directly answered either). Yet he
/never/ confirms the "map" comment to be true. This did not
prevent Anderson Cooper from referring to earlier portions of his
interview after a commercial break and lying, "as he said
earlier, he wants Israel wiped off the map".
Even if every media outlet in the world were to retract the
mistranslated quote tomorrow, the major damage has already been
done, providing the groundwork for the next phase of
disinformation: complete character demonization. Ahmadinejad, we
are told, is the next Hitler, a grave threat to world peace who
wants to bring about a new Holocaust. According to some
detractors, he not only wants to destroy Israel, but after that,
he will nuke America, and then Europe! An October 2006 memo
titled _Words of Hate: Iran's Escalating Threats_ released by the
powerful Israeli lobby group AIPAC opens with the warning,
/"Ahmadinejad and other top Iranian leaders are issuing
increasingly belligerent statements threatening to destroy the
United States, Europe and Israel."/ These claims not only
fabricate an unsubstantiated threat, but assume far more power
than he actually possesses. Alarmists would be better off
monitoring the statements of the ultra-conservative Supreme
Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, who holds the most power in Iran.
As Iran's U.N. Press Officer, M.A. Mohammadi, complained to The
Washington Post in a June 2006 letter:
"It is not amazing at all, the pick-and-choose approach of
highlighting the misinterpreted remarks of Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in October and ignoring this month's remarks
by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that "We have
no problem with the world. We are not a threat whatsoever to the
world, and the world knows it. We will never start a war. We have
no intention of going to war with any state."
The Israeli government has milked every drop of the spurious
quote to its supposed advantage. In her September 2006 address to
the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli Foreign Minister
Tzipi Livni accused Iran of working to nuke Israel and bully the
world. "They speak proudly and openly of their desire to 'wipe
Israel off the map.' And now, by their actions, they pursue the
weapons to achieve this objective to imperil the region and
threaten the world." Addressing the threat in December, a fervent
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert inadvertently disclosed that his
country already possesses nuclear weapons: "We have never
threatened any nation with annihilation. Iran, /openly/,
/explicitly/ /and publicly/ threatens to wipe Israel off the map.
Can you say that this is the same level, when they are aspiring
to have nuclear weapons, as America, France, Israel, Russia?"
MEDIA IRRESPONSIBILITY:
On December 13, 2006, more than a year after The World Without
Zionism conference, two leading Israeli newspapers, The Jerusalem
Post and Haaretz, published reports of a renewed threat from
Ahmadinejad. The Jerusalem Post's headline was _Ahmadinejad:
Israel will be 'wiped out'
Charge DOE Using Enrichment Plan To Push Interim Storage
Clip 837 words
Jan 17 2007
Energy Washington Week
English
Copyright © 2007, Inside Washington Publishers. All rights reserved. Also available in print and online as part of www.EnergyWashington.com.
Activists assert that a recently signed agreement between DOE and USEC (United States Enrichment Corporation) to begin construction of the American Centrifuge Plant project in Piketon , OH -- with the goal of deploying advanced technology for uranium enrichment -- is in fact a quiet administration move to open an interim spent fuel storage facility. With last November's elections suggesting the new Congress would be hostile to centralized spent fuel storage at Yucca Mountain, Piketon may evolve into a de facto waste storage area, they warn.
Industry sources and state regulators say the site at Piketon will most likely host two separate programs -- uranium enrichment and fuel reproces sing for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) -- but anything more than that is an "overreaction." Still, a major question overshadowing the project will be what to do with the waste materials remaining from these two programs, activist sources say.
DOE and USEC together hope to use an NRC license for a failed centrifuge project to lobby Congress for a licensing requirement waiver to begin construction of the facility, say citizen groups along with nuclear research activists and residents of the Piketon area.
Clip 837 words
Jan 17 2007
Energy Washington Week
English
Copyright © 2007, Inside Washington Publishers. All rights reserved. Also available in print and online as part of www.EnergyWashington.com.
Activists assert that a recently signed agreement between DOE and USEC (United States Enrichment Corporation) to begin construction of the American Centrifuge Plant project in Piketon , OH -- with the goal of deploying advanced technology for uranium enrichment -- is in fact a quiet administration move to open an interim spent fuel storage facility. With last November's elections suggesting the new Congress would be hostile to centralized spent fuel storage at Yucca Mountain, Piketon may evolve into a de facto waste storage area, they warn.
Industry sources and state regulators say the site at Piketon will most likely host two separate programs -- uranium enrichment and fuel reproces sing for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) -- but anything more than that is an "overreaction." Still, a major question overshadowing the project will be what to do with the waste materials remaining from these two programs, activist sources say.
DOE and USEC together hope to use an NRC license for a failed centrifuge project to lobby Congress for a licensing requirement waiver to begin construction of the facility, say citizen groups along with nuclear research activists and residents of the Piketon area.
Vina Colley
EarthLink Revolves Around You.