Snapped Shot

On the heels of Iran's announcement that they "accidentally" forgot to disclose their second nuclear enrichment facility, the terrorist nation has launched missiles that are technically able to reach Israel.

Israel is not taking the news lightly, though I will use this occasion to point out that the Obama Administration is strangely silent on these new developments.

Perhaps the tourist-in-chief has more important things on his plate than dealing with the increased potential for nuclear holocaust.

Bad news: We're Going To Make This Incredibly Strongly-Worded Demand Within A Matter of Weeks.

Glad to see he's got the really important issues tackled in a timely manner.

On a positive note, the Washington Post is busy examining the feelings of the man behind Iran's nuclear program. It's such a gosh-darn shame that he had to feel so "shocked" at seeing our anger (at discovering that Iran was actually twice as far in their nuclear-weaponry ambitions as they had previously admitted).

Funny, I could've sworn the Post was a newspaper based here in America. I must've missed when they moved to Tehran.

Iran is clearly operating its military out of the Jim Henson War of Art book:

Wearing ghillie suits, Iranian troops march during a military parade ceremony marking the 29th anniversary of the start of the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran war, in front of the mausoleum of late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The German magazine Berlingske has discovered that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's supporters in Iran have been fudging the coverage of the pro-Mahmoud rallies in Tehran. Given the fact that the Iranian government is also furiously suppressing all dissent, I guess this isn't all that surprising. It's a good reminder that Iran sucks at teh Photoshop, at least.

Of course, the fact that the Iranian government feels compelled to digitally insert fake people into a photograph could be a sure-fire sign that they're losing control of their population. Dictatorships that can't even astroturf a protest with real people are barely worthy of the name.

Update: Yeah, I am pretty bloody slow. What can I say? I'm still trying to wake from my blogging slumber over here...

It goes without saying that this story won't be found in any of your morning news.

And sure, the cause of death hasn't been conclusively reported yet—but the behavior of past dictatorial regimes does kind of imply that an "execution" is exactly what it was:

Omid Reza Misayafi, one of a number of Iranian bloggers arrested for "insulting" the government and religious authorities in that country, is dead. Misayafi's death was reported on Global Voices Online via an Iranian human rights site in Farsi and we learned of it from The Committee to Protect Bloggers.

No cause of death is yet known, but the Committee says torture of bloggers is common in Iran and they are usually placed in close proximity to the most dangerous criminals in any facility. Misayafi was sentenced in December to 30 months in prison "for insulting Islamic Republic Leaders." The man said he was a cultural blogger, not a political one, and only wrote a few satirical articles that got him into trouble.

To think that the Obama Administration is more interested in reaching out to a nation that imprisons and kills dissidents than it is in reaching out to our 200-year-old allies.

If this is what the Democratic Party considers to be "rational" international relations, we're doomed.

There goes Iran again, shamelessly using its citizenry as props in its effort to legitimize its nuclear-weapons ambitions in front of the press.

I'm not sure what it says about Iran that the same faces keep appearing at these events. Could it be that Tehran running low on puppets that it can march into these media-friendly events?

I'm torn, incidentally. These photos show that either (a) Iran uses its citizens—or at the very least, a small portion thereof—as puppetry, staging protests like this for the cameras to help create the impression that your average Iranian citizen supports the nuclear program.

Or (b) the Iranian people really do support Tehran's nuclear program—because it is being taught by the imams that the Iranian government puts in its mosques.

I think this begs a larger question, and am positive that I'll be hearing some interesting reactions from at least one of you about it. Continue reading »

William Teach has the stunning proof you've been waiting for:



In all seriousness, I've looked at the photos of the actual missile launch, and don't see any obvious forgery there.

I am a mere amateur, however, so feel free to chime in down in ye comments if you think otherwise.

Strangely enough, the Obasmic American media seems to be completely silent on this rather significant news event:

A tense standoff has developed in waters off Somalia over an Iranian merchant ship laden with a mysterious cargo that was hijacked by pirates. Somali pirates suffered skin burns, lost hair and fell gravely ill “within days” of boarding the MV Iran Deyanat. Some of them died.

Gee, what disease could those symptoms possibly be describing?

Hint: It's probably not awesomeitis.

In an election year, when one of the candidates for the Presidency has expressed his intent to enter discussions with a terrorist nation, don't you think the curious actions of said nation would be.... somewhat newsworthy?

(Thanks to Flopping Aces.)

I always love seeing the sentiments of manufactured rage express themselves. Never worry, though, because the nefarious Elder of Ziyon has rounded up the excitement for us this year.

Snapped Shot Looks Back with Love: The memories. 2007, 2006.

Barack Obama's negotiating partners in peace over in Iran are up to their usual antics.

Will he or Joe "13 Minutes" Biden be condemning the Iranian regime for their continued militarist aggression?

Considering that Iran isn't one of Obama's 57 states of the invariably-at-fault United States of America, I'm betting on "no."

That's the word, at least if Der Telegraaf is to be believed. And we all know that Newspapers Would Never Lie To Us, right?

(h/t MEMRI and Smooth Stone)

... As in "Nunya Bidness?"

Iran's way on top of that grade-school tactic—which I recall last leveraging in the 6th grade—to pooh pooh (Wait a minute, shouldn't that be "poo poo?") Western worries about its peaceful (and mostly sinister) nuclear ambitions.

Soccer Dad is totally running with this scoop, so be sure to click on over for the rest of the story!

Reuters reports on the definite success of the recent conference between Western nations and Iran over the latter's "worrisome" nuclear buildup:

Iran says nuclear talks a step forward

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's president described talks with world powers on its disputed nuclear programme as a step forward on Sunday, official media said, even though the meeting in Geneva failed to produce any breakthrough in the standoff.

At Saturday's discussions in the Swiss city, the six powers gave the Islamic Republic two weeks to answer calls to rein in its nuclear activities or face tougher sanctions after talks ended in stalemate despite unprecedented U.S. participation.

Wow, it's interesting that Reuters has this upbeat picture of events, considering that they did, after all, end in stalemate.

So how much effort did Reuters go through to get this scoop? Which crack in-country Reuters reporter took the question to Mr. President-ijad himself to get the final say on the matter?

You'll find the earth-shattering answer beyond the fold. Continue reading »