Iran rattles saber - firing missiles during "war game."

NYPOST: TEHRAN, IRAN — Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards test fired several ballistic missiles on Tuesday, including a long-range variety meant to dissuade Israel and the U.S. from attacking the Islamic Republic, local media reported. The Guards' acting commander told state TV that the tests, aimed at mock enemy bases in a war game exercise, were a response to Israel's and Washington's refusal to rule out military strikes to stop Iran's nuclear program. "It is a response to the political impoliteness of those who talk about all options being on the table," Gen. Hossein Salami said. The official IRNA news agency said the surface-to-surface missiles successfully hit their targets, while semi-official Fars said the salvos included the so-called Shahab-3 missile. It quoted a leading officer as saying the missiles travelled distances of up to 1,300 kilometers, or 800 miles. Iran has tested a variety of missiles in previous war games, including a Shahab-3 variant with a range of 2,000 kilometers that can reach Israel and southern Europe. The launched missiles are also capable of hitting U.S. bases in the region. Iranian state TV showed footage of several missiles being launched. "So far, we have launched missiles from 300 to 1,300 kilometers in the maneuver," said Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who heads the Guards' aerospace division. He hinted that some missiles had an even longer range. Israel is about 1,000 kilometers away from Iran's western borders, while the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain, some 200 kilometers from Iranian shores in the Persian Gulf. he Iranian commander quoted by Fars said Iran used both unmanned and manned bombers in the war games, and was firing a variety of other missiles. Tehran says the drills aim to assess the accuracy and effectiveness of its warheads and weapons systems. On Sunday, a European Union oil embargo meant to pressure Iran over its nuclear program came into effect. The West suspects the Islamic Republic wants to build nuclear weapons, and Israel has hinted at an attack if diplomatic efforts and sanctions fail to eliminate what it sees as a direct threat. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, such as power generation and cancer treatment.

Jet Blue pilot not guilty - insane.

AMARILLO -- The Federal District Court in Amarillo has found Clayton Osbon not guilty only by reason of insanity. 

Court documents say that evidence based upon the psychological evaluation and testimony of Dr. Robert Johnson, the Osbon was suffering from a severe metal disease or defect that impaired his ability to appreciate the nature, quality, or wrongfulness of his behavior at the time. 

If Osbon was found guilty, he could have been put in prison for up to 20 years and a fine not to exceed $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.

US military buildup in Persian Gulf - signal to Iran

WASHINGTON — The United States has quietly moved significant military reinforcements into the Persian Gulf to deter the Iranian military from any possible attempt to shut the Strait of Hormuz and to increase the number of fighter jets capable of striking deep intoIran if the standoff over its nuclear program escalates.

The deployments are part of a long-planned effort to bolster the American military presence in the gulf region, in part to reassure Israel that in dealing with Iran, as one senior administration official put it last week, “When the president says there are other options on the table beyond negotiations, he means it.”

But at a moment that the United States and its allies are beginning to enforce a much broader embargo on Iran’s oil exports, meant to force the country to take seriously the negotiations over sharply limiting its nuclear program, the buildup carries significant risks, including that Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps could decide to lash out against the increased presence.

The most visible elements of this buildup are Navy ships designed to vastly enhance the ability to patrol the Strait of Hormuz — and to reopen the narrow waterway should Iran attempt to mine it to prevent Saudi Arabia and other oil exporters from sending their tankers through the vital passage.

The Navy has doubled the number of minesweepers assigned to the region, to eight vessels, in what military officers describe as a purely defensive move.

“The message to Iran is, ‘Don’t even think about it,’ ” one senior Defense Department official said. “Don’t even think about closing the strait. We’ll clear the mines. Don’t even think about sending your fast boats out to harass our vessels or commercial shipping. We’ll put them on the bottom of the gulf.” Like others interviewed, the official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the diplomatic and military situation.

Since late spring, stealthy F-22 and older F-15C warplanes have moved into two separate bases in the Persian Gulf to bolster the combat jets already in the region and the carrier strike groups that are on constant tours of the area. Those additional attack aircraft give the United States military greater capability against coastal missile batteries that could threaten shipping, as well as the reach to strike other targets deeper inside Iran.

And the Navy, after a crash development program, has moved a converted amphibious transport and docking ship, the Ponce, into the Persian Gulf to serve as the Pentagon’s first floating staging base for military operations or humanitarian assistance.

The initial assignment for the Ponce, Pentagon officials say, is to serve as a logistics and operations hub for mine-clearing. But with a medical suite and helicopter deck, and bunks for combat troops, the Ponce eventually could be used as a base for Special Operations forces to conduct a range of missions, including reconnaissance and counterterrorism, all from international waters.

For President Obama, the combination of negotiations, new sanctions aimed at Iran’s oil revenues and increased military pressure is the latest — and perhaps the most vital — test of what the White House calls a “two track” policy against Iran. In the midst of a presidential election campaign in which his opponent, Mitt Romney, has accused him of being “weak” in dealing with the Iranian nuclear issue, Mr. Obama seeks to project toughness without tipping into a crisis in the region.

At the same time he must signal support for Israel, but not so much support that the Israelis see the buildup as an opportunity to strike the Iranian nuclear facilities, which Mr. Obama’s team believes could set off a war without significantly setting back the Iranian program.

A key motivation for “Olympic Games,” the covert effort to undermine Iran’s enrichment capability with cyberattacks, has been to demonstrate to the Israelis that there are more effective ways to slow the program than to strike from the air.

But this delicate signaling to both Iran and Israel is a complex dance. Senator John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said that the administration must strike a fine balance between positioning enough forces to deter Iran, but not inadvertently indicate to Iran or Israel that an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites is imminent or inevitable.

Senior Pentagon and military officials acknowledge that Iran has the capability to close the strait, at least temporarily, and the additional mine-clearing forces can be viewed as both concrete and spoken evidence of Washington’s commitment to make sure any closing is as brief as possible.

Rare "dual unrelated engine failures" caused Virginia Beach F-18 crash.

By Ian SimpsonWASHINGTON, July 2 (Reuters) - The Navy on Monday blamed a
rare two-engine mechanical failure for the April crash of 
an F/A-18D fighter into a Virginia apartment complex that caused
minor injuries.


An investigation of the crash, on April 6 in Virginia Beach
just over a minute into a training flight, showed that the right
engine compressor stalled and the left afterburner blew out,
said Rear Admiral Ted Branch, the Atlantic naval air commander.

The root cause of the crash remains under investigation but
may never be known since many parts were destroyed in the crash
and a subsequent fire. A leaking fuel cap is a possible culprit,
he said.

"Let me stress again, this type of concurrent dual-engine
malfunction is extraordinarily unusual," Branch told a news
conference carried online.

"We are very confident we can continue to operate the F-18
and fly it safely and effectively, not only here in Virginia
Beach but around the world

Terror Alert: Al Qaeda targeting US airliners/Norwegian operative sought

(CBS News) There are reports of concern over another terror plot involving Al Qaeda targeting a U.S. airliner.

Sources say that the bomber that Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has recruited is a Norwegian convert to Islam, who is believed to be in his thirties, with no criminal record.

The Times of London reports that the airliner attack is believed to be timed to the upcoming Olympics, though a U.K. intelligence official told the paper that the plot would be pursued regardless of the London Games: "The only thing that connects this to the Olympics is the fact that they are about to happen," the official said.

An earlier AQAP plot to blow up a plane was foiled two months ago when a man working with British intelligence infiltrated the group and volunteered to be a suicide bomber - then delivered the bomb to intelligence officials.

CBS News senior correspondent John Miller, a former Deputy Director of National Intelligence, said that despite foiled bomb plots targeting airliners, al Qaeda has not lost its fascination with commercial aviation - and that AQAP (al Qaeda's branch based in Yemen) has been specifically assigned to find a way to blow up a U.S. plane.

"They were the architects of the first underwear bomb, they were the architects of the ingenious printer bomb which was interdicted before it could go off," Miller said. "And I think what we're seeing once again is they've tried to put a bomb on a person and get them on a plane. Whether it has anything to do with the Olympics or the Fourth of July - one of the chosen target holidays by bin Laden - is something we don't yet know.

"Another thing that AQAP and Yemen developed was a surgically implanted bomb," Miller added. "Now, we've seen the design for that, but we haven't seen it used in a commercial airline threat yet."

On "CBS This Morning" Miller said using a Norwegian convert matches al Qaeda's efforts to find operatives who don't fit the profile of terrorists for whom Western intelligence is searching, who are radicalized via the Internet.

Miller said intelligence agencies must now find an individual who fits the profile of an al Qaeda convert: "Someone 18 to 35, someone who is from Norway, someone who has traveled to places that are jump-off spots to go to Yemen. Now, you've got maybe tens of thousands of people, or thousands. But you want to crunch that down to who has connection somewhere else in the database, and focus on those people."

Miller said there are two ways to investigate the pool of possible suspects: "One, the traditional way, which is you have intelligence officers overseas who run intelligence agents in the field and you say, 'Now bang against your sources and see if we can come up with a real name on this guy and where he is.'

"And the less traditional and perhaps the more interesting way is the data crunching piece where you take what you do know about him and then what you know about the geography, and then you use supercomputers to crunch through those records and say 'How do we narrow this pool down and then how do we look for further connections?'