The Building of the Great Pyramid - Finally Solved?

Jean-Pierre Houdin, a French architect may have finally answered how the Great Pyramid was built 4,500 years ago. He has introduced a radical new theory - an internal ramp - hidden inside the pyramid in an ancient mile long ramp, still waiting to be discovered in the pyramid. Along with Bob Brier, the legendary Egyptologist from LIU, they both helped to illustrate the idea to the mainstream, most notably in a Discovery Channel Documentary that chronicled the work of the French architect in creating his theory and Bob Brier`s expertise in Egyptology and pyramid building.

Houdin spent 10 hours a day constructing the pyramid block by block, getting a virtual view of the pyramid construction as it was happening year by year using a unique sophisticated 3D computer program from Dassault Systemes, a leading French computer software company.

Every Egyptologist may have missed this, Houdin says, where many have sad it was a single external ramp that went nearly 500 feet off the ground to explain how the nearly two million blocks were raised. But this is just not feasible in the sense of practicality - it would be enormous.

Some evidence shown by Houdin of internal ramps being used and employed in Ancient Egyptian construction are seen in the ruined temples of Abu Ghurab and Abusir, along with the art of corbeling, the Egyptians possessed the know how of erecting colossal monuments.

Houdin in his research has potentially unlocked not one but three secrets of the Great Pyramid. The first one was the internal ramp theory answering how the pyramid blocks were raised. The second is the function of the Grand Gallery - used to haul up the huge massive granite beams seen in the King`s chamber. At the top of the Grand Gallery, there is a large pink granite block (now repaired) that had a groove in it in the middle of the block(seen in a 1960`s photo) that was used as a part of the counter-weight system the Grand Gallery was used for which would have had the roof open when operational. And lastly, the third secret unlocked dealt with the cracks found in the granite beams seen in the King`s chamber. Using sophisticated computational analysis, Houdin concluded the cracks happened while the pyramid was under construction.

Now, Jean-Pierre Houdin, was presented conclusive evidence for the second and third unlocked secret of the pyramid, but there is a notch visibly seen now on the Khufu Pyramid that may give more weight to his internal ramp theory. To add, a French team in the 1980`s did a micro-gravametrics analysis on the Khufu Pyramid - which detects low gravity areas, meaning low density areas, meaning empty spaces - rooms. Their analysis showed a low-density spial shape mirroring an internal ramp that very closely resembled Houdin`s computer models. The French team found it but never realized what they were looking at so it never got published or garnered any attention. This is Houdin`s most strongest evidence to his internal ramp theory.

Houdin has applied for SCA (Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities) approval to do an infared survey of the pyramid but has been shunned by Secretary-General Zahi Hawass, who is like a modern-day pharaoh to say the least. Basically, the academic world concerning Egyptology considers him an outsider which may explain why his proposal keeps getting shunned. Hawass may have his own agenda or something but it shouldn`t get in the way of helping to unlock one of mankind`s greatest feats of engineering.

View these related links that contain more in depth analysis and info about Jean-Pierre`s theory and even an interview with him discussing the theory and challenges his theory faces with mainstream egyptologists, academics and even Zahi Hawass, Secretary-General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities:

-Building the Great Pyramid of Giza: Jean-Pierre Houdin`s Internal Ramp Theory

-Exclusive Interview: Jean-Pierre Houdin Defends His Internal Ramp Pyramid Theory

-Khufu Revealed: 3D Technology solves the Mystery of the Great Pyramid

-Book: The Secret of the Great Pyramid: How One Man`s Obsession Led to the Solution of Ancient Egypt`s Greatest Mystery by Bob Brier & Jean-Pierre Houdin

Below is the article Bob Brier wrote published in ARCHAEOLOGY, where he explains the internal-ramp theory of Jean-Pierre Houdin in much greater detail and helping to spread the theory to the mainstream:

How to Build a Pyramid

by Bob Brier

(ARCHAEOLOGY) Volume 60 Number 3 May/June 2007

Hidden ramps may solve the mystery of the Great Pyramid's construction.

Bob Brier writes about the new internal ramp theory to the construction of the Khufu Pyramid as presented by Jean-Pierre Houdin, a French architect who devoted the last seven years of his life to making detailed computer models of the Great Pyramid. Using start-of-the-art 3-D software developed by Dassault Systemes, combined with an initial suggestion of Henri Houdin, his engineer father, the architect has concluded that a ramp was indeed used to raise the blocks to the top, and that the ramp still exists--inside the pyramid!

View the National Geographic special documentary illustrating Jean-Pierre Houdin`s internal ramp theory along with legendary egyptologist Bob Brier:

Video Contains Content From: National Geographic

Great Pyramid of Giza Reexamined, New Theories

(contains content from NationalGeograhic, uploaded by dallywally72)

How was the Pyramid built? It takes an architect to understand an architect. A French architect dedicates his life and time to understand the making of this Ancient mystery. Are there hidden passage ways inside the Great Pyramid? Did the Egyptians use these hidden tunnels to move thousands of pounds of granite blocks? Watch and see how this French Architect uses computer software, and investigating the Pyramid itself to come to an agreeable conclusion. You'll learn more about this Pyramid through his findings!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Dassault Systemes Video on Virtual Khufu Pyramid construction w/ Jean-Pierre Houdin

Related material:

Khufu Revealed by Dassault Systemes

The secrets of the construction of the pyramid finally revealed in 3D.

A Dassaut Systemes 3D video on how the pyramid was constructed, illustrating Jean-Pierre

Houdin`s theory in real-time 3D - A MUST SEE!

A news clip of Houdin explaining his pyramid theory:

Breathtaking Close-up Views Ever of the Titanic Wreck in Great Detail

Nearly 20 years after first finding the sunken remains of the R.M.S. Titanic, marine explorer Robert Ballard returned in June 2004 helped by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office of Ocean Exploration to study the ship's rapid deterioration.

Video image is courtesy of the UK History Channel special: "Titanic: A Tale of Two Journeys" by Rob Goldsmith

The Titanic Wreck: History through the Ages

In its day, the Titanic was a technological wonder. People were so enthralled with the largest moving man-made object in the world that they truly believed it unsinkable. Until she slipped out of sight on April 15, 1912. This enthralling documentary, filled with spectacular footage of both recent and archival expeditions, explores the history of the ship and the technology that finally found it and enabled exploration and salvaging dives.

Tour Deep Inside the Titanic and Stories Behind It

A Discovery Channel special

2007 Documentary: Titanic`s Achilles Heel (HISTORY)

The History Channel special hinges on as to why Titanic broke apart as it did and essentially why….an engineering failure? The missing pieces that were discovered in 2005 essentially indicated that the Titanic broke apart in the water before sinking. The unsinkable ship that was built to serve as its own lifeboat until help arrived broke apart in a manner never imagined by its engineers. TITANIC'S ACHILLES HEEL aims to find out why the ship broke apart as it did, and why the "official" details of the sinking seemed to make the truth so elusive.

Was Titanic a doomed ship before it ever left port, plagued with structural problems? Would she have survived the unforgiving Atlantic Ocean even if she hadn't hit that iceberg? And even more disturbingly, were the ship's builders fully aware of these issues as thousands of civilians boarded the doomed ship?

This story has never before been told. Now, through technical and historical research, inquiry transcripts, survivor testimony, and the help of a modern-day whistleblower, the real truth about Titanic may finally be known.

Essentially the story comes down to Titanic`s expansion joints-which allowed it to bend and flex in the waves for a ship of its immense size. The expansion joints may have been a serious flaw in Titanic`s design-possibly explains as to why the hull broke into two pieces and sunk much faster than it should have for a ship of her size.

After the sinking, Titanic`s builder- Harland and Wolff, already may have known in advance about a flaw in Titanic`s design with the expansion joints. Titanic`s sister ship the Britannic, now sunk off the Greek coast in the Aegean Sea, was constructed right after Titanic, showed a newly designed expansion joint as confirmed by the dives of veteran wreck divers in this History Channel special. This gives evidence to the fact that Titanic had a flaw in its expansion joint and was revamped in Britannic.

Newly conducted research also shows, that Titanic for its size was actually built quite strong, not as weak as thought before to cause its demise. It is seen now that engineering flaws along with weak hull plates exacerbated the situation in the sinking of Titanic.

As an addendum to this, from the book Olympic & Titanic: The Truth Behind the Conspiracy, ...The Titanic did not break into two pieces while sinking, as was theorized for some years. She was broken into three sections. The middle section was found a distance from the two larger segments of the wreck, and had been overlooked for a long time. When the middle section was found, it was found upside down. The keel was exposed and found to be twisted at the breaking point. This indicates that the keel was one of the last things to break apart as the ship was foundering; in fact it was probably the last thing connecting the pieces together as the ship was falling to the bottom. The Titanic certainly did not break in two because of any inherent weakness in her keel...


New sinking theory:                              

               

Image above courtesy of The Telegraph

...A collaboration between the History Channel and Lone Wolf Documentary Group, an American film company, suggest that the Titanic broke in half when its stern had reached an angle of just 10 degrees - a scenario that could have occurred in heavy seas during any severe storm, never mind in the aftermath of hitting an iceberg.

Rushmore DeNooyer, who led the project, said: "Titanic broke at a very shallow angle, yet ships experience shallow angles like this in storms, when they are tilted up by large waves. So perhaps Titanic wasn't designed strongly enough. If the force that broke it was no greater than the force it would have faced in a hurricane, ergo, it could have been broken in a hurricane."
Clues to the fundamental weakness in the Titanic's design emerged after a submersible, sent to dive the wreck two years ago, discovered and filmed previously unlocated parts of the ship. Analysis of the footage allowed researchers to calculate the angle at which the Titanic was tilting when it broke up.

The team also found parts of the rearmost of the vessel's two "expansion joints" - fitted near the bow and the stern - which were supposed to allow the hull to flex in heavy seas. Analysis, however, suggests that they were poorly designed and may have contributed to the ship breaking up at the shallow 10 degree angle.

Roger Long, a naval architect who worked on the project, said: "The design of the expansion joints in the ship was so unimaginably crude."

To test their theory, the team also dived on the Britannic, the Titanic's sister ship, which was also built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast and sank in 1916 in the Mediterranean after hitting a mine.

They found that the builders had altered the design and fitted an extra expansion joint, prompting suspicions that the yard was aware of the faults with the Titanic.

The shallow angle at which the Titanic buckled is also believed to have contributed towards the 1,500 death toll.

The researchers believe that many, assuming the vessel would stay afloat for hours, remained on board in the warmth. However, the ship sank just two hours and 40 minutes after the collision. Less than two hours later, the Carpathia arrived on the scene and pulled 705 people in lifeboats to safety.

Mr Long said: "The Titanic would have continued to float for a finite period of time if it had not experienced this structural failure. So if the ship's sinking was hastened by the early breaking, then there are almost certainly people who died because it broke.

"It only needed to float for a few more hours before the Carpathia arrived and one more hour could have given the lifeboats time to go back and get more people, as they were half full."
(Jasper Copping, The Telegraph)

Last Mysteries of the Titanic

Last Mysteries of the Titanic...as uncovered by the legendary James Cameron on his latest and last dive to the wreck, yield`s one more of Titanic`s ever yet secrets.

Discovery Channel

Titanic holds such a fascination that no wonder its the world`s most famous shipwreck. The event and the story behind the doomed ocean liner makes it so compelling to the human mind and imagination. James Cameron, who holds the same fascination helps to uncover more the Titanic`s story, beauty and secrets on his last exploration of the Titanic.

Is There More to the Recent Oil Spill Than Meets the Eye?

The recent oil spill off the coast of Louisiana seems to ill timed just as the government lifted a decades ban on off-shore drilling. There seems to be more to this story than meets the eye. BP, an oil-industry stalwart, who has an impressive safety track record and touts itself among the cleanest and best in terms of environmental safety has just been a total disaster.

The political fallout will be huge, especially since there`s a considerable amount of voice and opposition to off-shore drilling. Its not conceivable to think a crippling "sabotage" took place at this specific time. Its well within the realm of possibility, not doubt about the it. Safety records and practices, equipment and training have vastly improved environment and personal safety in the oil business and the point well an entire oil platform would just caught on fire and get destroyed is just mind-boggling.

Now, last week's explosion on a deepwater rig finishing a well for BP left 11 workers missing, presumably dead, and a subsequent oil slick that now covers about 28,600 square miles (74,000 sq. km) and could not have come at a worse time for the oil industry. This is a PR nightmare for BP, especially since it touted itself for its impeccable safety track in the oil industry. This has smeared it`s image and must to restore it to begin anew.

After a decades-long moratorium on drilling in most areas outside the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama administration last month unveiled a limited expansion plan.

The Obama administration has stood by its proposal for new offshore oil drilling in the wake of the accident and seems unlikely to change course on the issue any time soon. The president's plan was already a fairly modest, opening only parts of the U.S. Atlantic coast and Alaska to drilling.

A lot will depend on the cause and severity of the oil spill, but the outcome could undermine supporters of more oil drilling and embolden lawmakers, particularly from Florida, who dislike the expansion plans.If the oil reaches land, damaging coastlines and disrupting sensitive ecosystems, public sentiment could turn against the offshore drilling and make it difficult for lawmakers to call for a significant increase in drilling.

Regardless of how quickly the spill is contained, it will undoubtedly add clout to the arguments of offshore drilling opponents. Lawmakers in coastal states dependent on tourism are already using the accident to question the safety of the offshore oil industry.

Titanic "did not send distress signal for 45 minutes", book claims

In a new book recently published, the author claims no distress signal was sent from the Titanic for three quarters of an hour after it struck ice.

Time was spent assessing the damage from the iceberg when nearby ships could have been steaming to the rescue, research from author Tim Maltin said.

His work - 101 Things You Thought You Knew About The Titanic... But Didn't - is published on claims no alert was sent from the ailing vessel for 47 minutes because the ships' officers wanted to keep the disaster quiet.The largest passenger steamship in the world collided with ice on her maiden voyage in April 1912 and sank with the loss of 1,517 lives.

Mr Maltin said: ''They (the ship's authorities) may have been considering the public relations aspect of it and was it going to sink or not because then they would have rather kept it quiet, there may have been a slight bit of delay.'' He said the order to go to the lifeboats was given at the same time as the distress signal. He said the order to go to the lifeboats was given at the same time as the distress signal. The writer added: ''It may be that it took them that long to look at the damage but it seems likely to me that they were unwilling to send out a distress message.''

He said it was a moot point whether lives could have been saved but added the relatively nearby Californian vessel could have been at the scene earlier had the alert gone out before midnight when key crew were awake. When it eventually received the alert it was after midnight and the Californian waited until 5.30am to respond.

He spent two years researching the book and studied the results of American and British inquiries into the disaster and worked with some of the main Titanic experts around the world.
It claimed Captain Edward Smith, despite being the most experienced seaman in the north Atlantic, was accident-prone and not used to that size of ship (50,000 tonnes).

The Titanic was doing around 22 knots at the time of the accident. At the time it was common but not universal practice to maintain normal speed in areas where icebergs were expected.
Relying on remarks from the captain overheard by a passenger the author said: ''They were trying to beat the Olympic's maiden voyage time. They were trying to surprise everyone and get in on Tuesday night.''

TITANIC AT HISTORY - Get the Full Story on the Titanic. Watch Exclusive Video Clips Online:
HISTORY.COM

India Beefing up its Military

What`s behind the sudden surge in India`s defense spending

India`s been making headlines recently as it openly signed deals and contracts to procure significant military hardware, namely for its navy and airforce. The deals announced between, now the primary arms supplier Russia and India are staggering and the pacts have been valued at more than $10 billion which on top of previous deals still on the books. The high profile deals were officially signed during Prime Minister Vladmir Putin`s visit to India on March 12, 2010. Military hardware aside, the recent pacts additionally call for more increased cooperation and partnership in areas of developing nuclear reactors, equipment for GPS systems and airplane and truck assembly plants.

Russia additionally wants to increase annual trade with India from the current level of about $8 billion to $20 billion by 2015. Russia now currently supplies 60-70% of India`s defense equipment. On the nuclear side, Russian deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said Russia will build up to 16 nuclear reactors for power stations in India. Russia nuclear reactors have been cited as one of the best and safest in the world.

Over the next 12 years, India is set to spend a whopping $200 billion on defence acquisitions to replace its outdated inventory. In this regard, on February 15, 2010, a report of the Indian strategic defense magazine (India Strategic’s DefExpo) revealed that 70% of the inventory of the Indian armed forces is 20-plus years old, and needs to be replaced with modern technology. It explained that nearly half of this funding ($100b) will go to the Indian Air Force (IAF), which would need to replace more than half of its combat jet fleet as well as the entire transport aircraft and helicopter fleet. The army needs new guns, tanks, rocket launchers, multi-terrain vehicles, while the navy needs ships, aircraft carriers and new range of nuclear submarines.

During a recent visit of the US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to New Delhi, American Defence officials, however, have said that US weapons sales to India would not be a focus of the trip. Regardless of such denials, the key reason for the Gates’ visit can be found in the fact that India is planning to raise its military budget by 50% to almost $40 billion, making military expenditure 3% of the annual GDP. In contrast to India’s planned defence expenditures, Pakistan’s entire 2009-10 budget amounts to little over $30 billion!

The fact of the matter is, India wants to become a mini-superpower of the region and hence it uses the pretext of deterrence against Pakistan and China. In this context, New Delhi with the dual support of the US and Israel has presumed peace-loving Pakistan and China as their arch enemies, but it does not admit it officially.

Recent major military acquisitions:

-Signed $1.5 bln contract on 29 additional MiG-29K Fulcrum carrier based fighter jets (this is in addition to a contract for 12 single-seat MiG-29k and 4 double-seat MiG-29KUB to India navy)

-Deal to upgrade the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier at a cost of $2.3 bln. (The Gorshkov is a Kiev-class carrier, displaces 45,000 tons, 32 knots and endurance of 13,500 nautical mi. The carrier will be rechristened the Vikramaditya)

- Deal to deliver 42 Su-30MKI jet fighters to Indian airforce, at a cost of $3 bln (This is in addition to 69 jets previously ordered by India and set to be delivered in 2011. The new air-superiority fighters will come on top of the 230 already contracted from Russia in three deals worth a total of $8.5 billion.)

-Joint venture to produce GPS equipment, the Glonass, for the use of defense needs (Glonass- the Global Navigation Satellite System is the Russian equivalent to the US Global Positioning System or GPS.

More to Dr. J. Allen Hynek and UFO`s

Above: Report cover for Project Grudge

This is in conjunction with an earlier post on Dr. J. Allen Hynek: http://rubaiatahmed.blogspot.com/2009/12/more-proof-to-ufo-and-alien-existence.html

To refresh your memory, Dr. Joseph Allen Hynek (5/1/1910 - 4/27/86) acted as a scientific advisor to UFO studies undertaken by the USAF under 3 consecutive names: Project Sign (1947-1949), Project Grudge (1949-1952) and Project BlueBook (1952-1969). For decades afterwards, he conducted his own independent UFO research - which began a turnaround on the UFO question. Only after Project BlueBook was finally dissolved did Hynek speak more openly about his "turnaround."

Project Grudge supposedly operated under a debunking directive. Dr. J. Allen Hynek debunked many legitimate UFO incidents while he functioned as a scientific advisor of Project BlueBook. Dr. Hynek is the man responsible for the infamous "it was only swamp gas" statement. The final report of Project Grudge, which was co-authored by Lt. Col. Friend and Dr. J. Allen Hynek was about 600 pages long.

The Grudge report (conclusions)

Project Grudge issued its only formal report in August 1949. Though over 600 pages long, the report's conclusions stated:

A. There is no evidence that objects reported upon are the result of an advanced scientific foreign development; and, therefore they constitute no direct threat to the national security. In view of this, it is recommended that the investigation and study of reports of unidentified flying objects be reduced in scope. Headquarters AMC [Air Materials Command] will continue to investigate reports in which realistic technical applications are clearly indicated.

NOTE: It is apparent that further study along present lines would only confirm the findings presented herein. It is further recommended that pertinent collection directives be revised to reflect the contemplated change in policy.

B. All evidence and analyses indicate that reports of unidentified flying objects are the result of:

1. Misinterpretation of various conventional objects.

2. A mild form of mass-hysteria and war nerves.

3. Individuals who fabricate such reports to perpetrate a hoax or to seek publicity.

4. Psychopathological persons.

Not long after this report was released, it was reported that Grudge would soon be dissolved. Despite this announcement, Grudge was not quite finished. A few personnel were still assigned to the project, and they aided the authors of a few more debunking mass media articles.

Turnaround

Hynek began occasionally disagreeing publicly with the conclusions of Blue Book. By the early 1960s—after about a decade and a half of study—Clark writes that "Hynek's apparent turnaround on the UFO question was an open secret."Only after Blue Book was formally dissolved did Hynek speak more openly about his "turnaround."

By his own admission, the soft-spoken Hynek was cautious and conservative by nature. He speculated that his personality was a factor in the Air Force keeping him on as a consultant for over two decades.

It was during the late stages of Blue Book in the 1960s that Hynek began speaking openly about his disagreements and disappointments with the Air Force. Among the cases where he openly dissented with the Air Force were the highly publicized Portage County UFO chase (where several police officers chased a UFO for half an hour), and the encounter of Lonnie Zamora. A police officer, Zamora reported an encounter with a metallic, egg-shaped aircraft near Socorro, New Mexico. Zamora witnessed two humanoid occupants of the craft, and in its apparently hasty departure, the craft left physical evidence of its presence. As of 2007, no entirely adequate explanation has been presented that would contradict Zamora's account—in fact, in a secret memo for the CIA, Blue Book's director at the time, Major Quintanilla, expressed his own bafflement at the case. Hynek described the case as a potential "Rosetta Stone" that might unlock the UFO mystery.

In a 1985 interview, when asked what caused his change of opinion, Hynek responded, "Two things, really. One was the completely negative and unyielding attitude of the Air Force. They wouldn't give UFOs the chance of existing, even if they were flying up and down the street in broad daylight. Everything had to have an explanation. I began to resent that, even though I basically felt the same way, because I still thought they weren't going about it in the right way. You can't assume that everything is black no matter what. Secondly, the caliber of the witnesses began to trouble me. Quite a few instances were reported by military pilots, for example, and I knew them to be fairly well-trained, so this is when I first began to think that, well, maybe there was something to all this."

Regardless of his own private views, Hynek was, by and large, still echoing the post-Ruppelt line of Project Blue Book: There are no UFOs, and reports can largely be explained as misidentifications. Ruppelt is Air Force Captain Edward J. Ruppelt who was Project Blue Book's first director.

Its been alleged in William Cooper`s book, Behold a Pale Horse, that Dr. Hynek was cited as a CIA asset attached to Project Grudge.

Additional Resources:

Project Grudge/Blue Book, William Cooper: http://think-aboutit.com/ufo/project_grudgeblue_book.htm

Project Grudge: http://home.comcast.net/~tprinty/UFO/Grudge.htm

Project Grudge: http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc1972.htm

The CIA in contact with Top Iraqi Baathists

The CIA apparently conducted secrets contacts in Yemen with Iraqi Baathist leader Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri(right), Saddam Hussien`s former Vice President, in a bid to reconcile a political accord between the Sunni-insurgents and the Shiite-led Iraqi government.
The Paris-based Intelligence Online Web site said other meetings were held with Baathist leaders in Damascus, where Douri and his associates reportedly live.

The objective is to reconcile the minority Sunnis, who were the backbone of Saddam's regime, and the majority Shiites, who were brutally suppressed by that regime, before crucial parliamentary elections scheduled for March 7.

There was no official confirmation of the Intelligence Online report by Washington or Baghdad. However, it coincided with reports that U.S. counter-terrorism agents were working with former Saddam-era Iraqi intelligence officers in Yemen to counter the growing al-Qaida threat there.

The regime of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was close to Saddam and has long employed Iraqi army officers to lead its 67,000-strong armed forces.
Since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, hundreds of former military and intelligence officers who served Saddam have flooded into Sanaa.

The CIA effort got under way early in the summer through the good offices of the head of Jordan's General Intelligence Department, Mohammed al-Raqqad, Intelligence Online said.

According to Intelligence Online, the CIA wants to reconcile Iraq's Sunnis and Shiites before the U.S. military withdrawal is completed by the end of next year so that the Americans can leave a stable, united state behind them.

The prospects of a deal appear to be slender though.

"Aware of their capacity to create mayhem in the run-up to the legislative elections, the Baath Party stalwarts are laying down draconian conditions for any halt to violence," the French Web site reported.

If the CIA's strategy fails, Intelligence Online warned, "The American military could well leave behind a country in the midst of a civil war."

Douri, the last high-ranking fugitive from Saddam's rule still at large with a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head, regularly exhorts Iraqis to topple the Baghdad government and restore the Baath to power. There were several speculations over the years as to whether he was dead or alive. In other reports, it was believed he fled and sought protection in Syria and Yemen and led the Baath party from there.

Douri, 65, last surfaced on an audiotape broadcast by al-Jazeera on April 9, the anniversary of the founding of the Baath, which ruled from 1968 until Saddam was toppled by the Americans in 2003.

Related Link:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/al-douri.htm

Another Iranian Nuclear Scientist making news

Here we go again, there are news reports about Iran and a nuclear physicist who apparently was murdered by a bomb outside his residence. Iran is saying the US and Israeli spy agencies in cohoots with dissident Iranians conspired the bomb attack that killed the nuclear physicist in Tehran.

On Jan. 12, 2010, Massoud Ali Mohammadi, professor of nuclear physics in Tehran University was killed with a remote controlled device which was planted on a motorcycle in front of his house in Qeytariah. The bomb attack left puzzling mix of clues as to why a 50-year old researcher would be targeted with no prominant political voice, no published work with military relevance and declared links to Iran`s nuclear program.

"Since Ali Mohammadi was one of the scientists of physics and nuclear energy, most probably intelligence services and elements of the Mossad and CIA had a hand in his assassination," the Web site of state television quoted Teheran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabad as saying. The accusation was echoed by the Foreign Ministry. State TV identified the CIA and Mossad has having possible involvement, along with dissident Iranians.

Iran`s Foreign Ministry said it had evidence that a bomb was planted by "Zionist & American" agents. The US State Department has rejected the Iranian`s claim and Israel had no comment.

A spokesman for Iran`s Atomic Energy - Ali Shirzadine, told AP that Ali Mohammadi had no link with the agency. "He was not involved in the country`s nuclear program" he said of the victim. And US experts in the same field said his work had no apparent connection to military uses of nuclear technology.

As I commented in an earlier blog post titled: Iranian Nuke Scientist - Abducted by the US?_12/08/09, this news comes on the heels of another Iranian nuclear scientist, Shahram Amiri, who disappeared in June while on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, raising questions about whether he defected and gave the West information on the country's nuclear program. Amiri worked at a university linked to the Revolutionary Guard and his wife said he was researching medical uses of nuclear technology at a university.

Iran's foreign minister accused the US of helping to kidnap him and demanded his return.

In 2007, state TV reported that another nuclear scientist, Ardeshir Hosseinpour, died from gas poisoning. A one-week delay in the reporting of his death prompted speculation about the causes, including that Israel's Mossad spy agency was to blame.

Ali Mohammadi wrote several articles on quantum and theoretical physics in scientific journals. He was a member of some academic associations focusing on experimental science. In 1992, he received the first doctorate in nuclear physics to be awarded in Iran, from Tehran's Sharif University of Technology.

Michio Kaku, a prominent high energy physics professor at City College of New York, said he had never heard of Ali Mohammadi or his work and a list of papers he published showed his study was clearly not related to making nuclear weapons.

"Nuclear physicists interested in bomb-making would have no interest in these papers," Kaku said. "These papers are highly abstract" with no buzzwords that indicate anything threatening, he added.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said the killing of nuclear scientists cannot thwart the country's scientific and technological progress.

Iran also directed suspicion at the exiled opposition group the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran. Tabnak, a conservative Iranian Web site close to the ruling establishment, said the group carried out the attack under direction of Israeli agents.

Sources: http://aljazeera.com/news/articles/34/Iran-accuses-US-Israel-in-nuclear-scientist-murde.html

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142079.html