Iran's new satellite

[Canuck_Buck]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/02/03/pentagon-irans-domestic-satellite-launch-grave-cause-concern/

Iran's launch of its first satellite into space is a grave cause for concern to the U.S. as the Islamic Republic continues to work toward developing long-range missile capability, the Pentagon and White House said Tuesday.

[8D]

Iran sent its first domestically made satellite into orbit, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Tuesday -- claiming a significant step in an ambitious space program that has worried many international observers.

The satellite -- called Omid or "Hope" in Farsi -- was launched late Monday on the 30th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

...here we go...let the games begin....oh wait...wait...Obama fix dat eh?

[Aught Six]

I think we should shoot it down.

[Fieldmouse]

ORIGINAL: Aught Six

I think we should shoot it down.

+1 in the navy they call those things targets

[bergall]

and they lambasted Reagan over his 'star wars' defense system proposals.....
Just last week, Obamhole came out and asserted he will not militarize space...hmmm....in his own words, he "may have to revisit that" decision....hahaha

[Champlain Islander]

At least he didn't say he screwed up about that....at least not yet
On a serious note there is real cause for concern now that they have entered the space age. I imagine making their first nuke will happen sooner than they expect. I wonder what Israel is thinking right now. That little war into Gaza was probably just a militaryexercise getting ready for their big one with Iran.

[Canuck_Buck]

ORIGINAL: Champlain Islander

I wonder what Israel is thinking right now. That little war into Gaza was probably just a militaryexercise getting ready for their big one with Iran.

I agree CI, that Gaza thing is just a little exercise to flex the muscles a bit...

[burniegoeasily]

The satalite is not what we need to worry about. Its the rocket they used to get it up there. Replace satalite with war head and we could be seeing some new muscle from Iran.

[bergall]

ORIGINAL: burniegoeasily

The satalite is not what we need to worry about. Its the rocket they used to get it up there. Replace satalite with war head and we could be seeing some new muscle from Iran.

I don't know if a rocket capable of putting something in orbit is automatically capable of delivering a
'payload' of any kind of explosives. Basically, the cockroaches have shown the world they have the
ability to accelerate a chunk of metal to 17000+ mph. THat's a bit different from AIMING that same rocket
(as what we used to call an ICBM) at a distant strategic target and hitting it. Still, there's the ability to
'throw' bombs a long long way with something like that...I wonder when the rest of world is going to wake up and realize that a rocket like that does not NEED to be capable of hitting a target. It's potential as a dispersing mechanism for radioactive plutonium as a terror weapon is quite scary... NOW do we wack them ?

[Champlain Islander]

The official US comment was that the technology appeared to be about the same as the RussianSputnik which was about 50 years ago.

[bergall]

ORIGINAL: Champlain Islander

The official US comment was that the technology appeared to be about the same as the RussianSputnik which was about 50 years ago.

my point exactly. But that's not to say this is nothing to worry about. It'd be a different thing entirely if
Iran did not support terrorism, was not killing U.S. troops (directly or indirectly) in Iraq and/or Afghanistan,
did not vow to wipe Israel off the face of the map and did not say they did not care if they were victorious in
their endeavours or were wiped out. They need to be slapped, and hard. My point is this; a country like Iran is led by someone who appears to have a lot of support from the Iranian people. That being said, he has shown support for terrorism in the past, and as his participation in the storming of the American Embassy in Teheran (during Jimmy Carter's admin), Ahmedinijad is a threat. I do not think he'd dis-count a state-sponsored terror attack using something as poisonous as plutonium by dispersing it into the atmosphere from a long-range missile. I don't know how realistic that is, but the fact they have a powerful missile, regardless of the technology being used, it also follows that they have the ability to do something with that missile other than put satellites into orbit....and their nuclear ambitions continue unabated as we read this.