Italy Nukes Up (Revelation 7:7)

Nuclear Bombs for Italy

“Thank you President Obama. Italy is fully determined to follow through with its commitment for nuclear security.” So tweets Prime Minister Renzi after participating in the Washington Summit on Nuclear Security in April [2016].

In his presentation at the Summit, President Obama writes “Proliferation and the potential use of nuclear weapons constitute the greatest threat to global security. This is why, seven years ago at Prague, I guaranteed that the United States stop exporting nuclear weapons”.

At the very moment he makes this declaration, the B 61-12, the new US nuclear bombs, are being developed. These are meant to replace the current B61 that the US has installed in Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Turkey. Tests are underway to fit out the B61-12 with anti-bunker capacity, that is, to penetrate the subsoil. The B61-12, steered to this end, explodes with far-reaching effects to destroy command centres and other subterranean structures. It is therefore a weapon for first strike that is, a nuclear attack by ambush.

To use these new nuclear bombs with precision guidance and variable power, Italy is providing not only bases at Aviano and Ghedi-Torre, but also pilots trained for US-led nuclear attacks. The [Federation of American Scientists] writes that this is proved by the presence at Ghedi of the 704th Munitions Support Squadron, one of four U.S. Air Force units deployed in the four European bases “where US nuclear weapons are programmed to launch from planes of host countries”.
Confirmation comes again from the US: the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (one of the most authoritative sources on nuclear weapons) writes that, on 2 March 2016: “Italian air forces (with Tornado PA-200 airplanes) are assigned missions to carry out a nuclear attack with US nuclear missiles, held under the control of the US Air Force personnel until the US President does not authorize their use”.

And so, in the nuclear race between the US/Nato and Russia, Italy, officially a non-nuclear country, is transformed. It is on the front line, and therefore, a potential target. A race that will become even more dangerous with new US nuclear bombs lining up in Europe that lower the nuclear threshold: “This type of nuclear weapons that are more precise – warn a range of experts interviewed by the New York Times –increase the temptation to use them, even to use them pre-emptively”.
Faced with the growing danger that looms over us, which due to the political and media black out, the clear majority did not warn us about, general appeals to nuclear disarmament are not enough; the terrain inclined to demagogy. Suffice to think that President Obama, after following through with nuclear development with 1,000 billion dollars, declares that he wants to “realize his vision of a world without nuclear weapons”.

It is necessary to denounce – as the Committee No to War, no to NATO are doing – the fact that, by hosting and getting ourselves ready to use nuclear weapons, Italy is violating the Treaty on the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, ratified in 1975. This treaty provides that: “each militarily non-nuclear state undertakes not to receive nuclear weapons from anyone whosoever, nor to control such weapons, directly or indirectly” (Article 2). In Italy, the only specific means we have to contribute to neutralizing nuclear escalation and to completely eliminating nuclear weapons, is to demand that Italy stops violating the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and on this basis, require the United States to remove any nuclear weapons from our national territory and not to install the new B61-12 bombs here.

Is anyone in Parliament prepared to ask for this without mincing words?

Small Horn Threatens The New City (Daniel 8:9)

New ISIS video threatens France, Italy, U.S.
By Catherine E. Shoichet, Shimon Prokupecz and Ed Payne, CNN

(CNN) A video released by ISIS on Thursday threatens new attacks in France, Italy, the United States and beyond.

The video features two suspected ISIS fighters threatening to blow up the White House and launch more attacks on Paris. One fighter mentions a “conquest of Rome.”

The Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square was recently featured on the cover of the terror group’s online magazine.

Italy has responded to the video and magazine by beefing up security in Rome and the Vatican, with 1,000 members of the army being deployed around the country.

The U.S. Embassy in Rome is urging Americans visiting Italy to remain vigilant and aware of their surroundings amid the latest ISIS threats. It warns that St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, as well as Milan’s Duomo and La Scala, could be terrorist targets.

The Embassy warns that “general” venues such as houses of worship, restaurants, theaters and hotels in Rome and Milan could be targeted.

The video is the latest to be released in what has become an almost daily occurrence for ISIS, which has taken responsibility for last week’s Paris terror attacks, the downing of a Russian passenger jet in Egypt and a pair of suicide bombings in Beirut.

Wednesday, the terror group released a video warning of an impending attack on New York City.
The video mentions Times Square and purports to show an explosive device being put together and a bomber zipping his jacket over a suicide belt.

The New York City Police Department said it was aware of the video and was deploying additional members of its new anti-terrorism squad out of an abundance of caution.

“While some of the video footage is not new, the video reaffirms the message that New York City remains a top terrorist target,” the statement said. “While there is no current or specific threat to the city at this time, we will remain at a heightened state of vigilance and will continue to work with the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the entire intelligence community to keep the city of New York safe.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio encouraged New Yorkers to go about their normal business.

“The people of New York City will not be intimidated,” he said late Wednesday. “We understand it is the goal of terrorists to intimidate and disrupt our democratic society. We will not submit to their wishes.”

A similar video was released in April, according to John Miller, the NYPD deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism.

“This is an old video that was kind of rehashed,” he said. “This is ISIS doing what ISIS and al Qaeda and terrorist groups do, which is propaganda.”

“When we see the video, we make note of it, but it’s like a lot of videos we’ve seen,” Miller said.
CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said authorities can’t ignore the video, whether or not it turns out to be a credible threat.

“I think they have to treat it quite seriously, because ISIS is the richest terrorist group in history. It has an extraordinary number of Western recruits. … One of its biggest ambitions right now is to a launch a terrorist attack inside the United States,” he said.

ISIS first drew international attention for taking over swaths of Iraq and Syria, leaving a trail of violence and destruction in its wake. Its efforts to bring terror to the global stage seem to be growing.
Earlier this week, another video released by ISIS threatened to strike Washington.

Authorities in the U.S. capital said they are stepping up security. The FBI said there was “no specific or credible threat to the United States.”

As Iran Is Scrutinized US Nukes Up Her Allies (Dan 7:7)

 

Iran nuclear-free, Italy nuclearized

by Manlio Dinucci

“Today is a historic day and it is a great honor for us to announce that we have reached an accord on the Iranian nuclear solution, to make our world safer.” Federica Mogherini, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said this in Vienna on July 14.

Almost simultaneously another announcement arrived from the United States: “The U.S. Air Force and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have conducted the first flight test of the jointly developed B61-12 guided nuclear bomb from a Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada.” (flightglobal.com, July 10) This weapon will soon replace the B61, the U.S. nuclear bomb, with 70-90 of them stored in Aviano and Ghedi Torre, part of an arsenal of at least 200 nuclear weapons stored in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Turkey.

The success of the test, “provides clear evidence of the nation’s continued commitment to maintain the B61,” says the NNSA, which then specifies that “the B61-12, with a tail kit assembly produced by Boeing, will replace the B61-3, -4, -7, -10 bombs in the current U.S. nuclear arsenal.” It is thus officially confirmed that the B61 bomb will be transformed from a free falling to a “smart” bomb, which can be dropped on the target from a great distance. The precision-guided B61-12, whose cost is estimated at 8 billion to 12 billion dollars for 400-500 bombs, is configured as multi-purpose weapon, with an average power of 50 kilotons (about four times the Hiroshima bomb). It will perform the function of many bombs, including those designed to “decapitate” the enemy country, destroying the bunker command centers and other underground structures in a nuclear first strike.

The replacement of the B61 with the B61-12, announces the NNSA, “provides assurance to our allies.” This is demonstrated by the fact that at Aviano and Ghedi, nuclear bombs are kept in special hangars with fighters ready for nuclear attack: U.S. F-15 and F-16 and Italian Tornado jets, whose pilots are trained for nuclear attack. In Italy, in 2013 and 2014, NATO held the nuclear war exercise Steadfast Noon, which Polish F-16s also participated in last year. Thus Italy is violating the Treaty on Non-proliferation, whose Article 2 states: “Each non-NWS party undertakes not to receive, from any source, nuclear weapons, or other nuclear explosive devices; not to manufacture or acquire such weapons or devices; and not to receive any assistance in their manufacture.”


The modernization of U.S. nuclear weapons deployed in Europe is part of the growing nuclear arms race. According to the Federation of American Scientists, the U.S. maintains 1,920 strategic nuclear warheads ready to launch (out of a total of 7,300), compared to 1,600 Russian ready to launch (out of 8,000). Including French and British weapons, NATO nuclear forces have some 8,000 nuclear warheads, of which 2,370 are ready to launch. Adding those of the Chinese, Pakistani, Indian, Israeli and North Korean weapons, the total number of nuclear warheads is estimated at 16,300, of which 4,350 are ready to launch. And the nuclear arms race continues the ongoing modernization of arsenals.
For this reason the big hand of “Apocalypse Watch,” the symbolic timepiece that the “Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists” uses to tell us how many minutes until the midnight of nuclear war, has been moved from five to midnight in 2012 to three to midnight in 2015, the same level as in 1984 in the midst of the Cold War [1].

The risk is particularly high that one day nuclear weapons will be used in the Middle East, where the only country to possess them is Israel, which unlike Iran has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. According to estimates, the Israeli armed forces have 100-400 nuclear warheads, including H-bombs, with a power equivalent to almost 4,000 Hiroshima bombs. Israeli delivery systems include over 300 U.S. F-16 and F-15 fighter-bombers, also armed with U.S.-Israeli Popeye missiles with nuclear warheads, and approximately 50 Jericho II ballistic missiles on mobile launching ramps. Israel also has four Dolphin submarines, modified for nuclear attack, provided by Germany, which last September delivered the fourth of the six planned.

In addition, the United States has signed agreements to supply, to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, nuclear technology and fissile material with which they can acquire nuclear weapons. Saudi Arabia has officially declared that does not prevent them from building or acquiring nuclear weapons with the help of Pakistan, whose nuclear weapons program they fund to the tune of 60 percent [2].

On this background the Vienna negotiation appears as a tragic melodrama. It put the spotlight on Iran, which does not possess nuclear weapons and whose civilian nuclear program is verifiable, but it leaves aside the dramatic reality of the nuclear arms race. This was done to convince the public that, with the Iranian nuclear agreement, “Our world is safer.”

Manlio Dinucci
Translation
John Catalinotto