Closing Velocity

Iran To Russia: Don't Welch On Those S-300 Missiles

S-300 on parade in Red Square

As the chances for an Israeli airstrike on its burgeoning nuclear weapons program increase, Iran's leaders are getting antsy:

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A senior Iranian military official complained publicly on Friday over Russia's failure to deliver a missile defence system that Washington does not want Iran to have.

Moscow, which is under Western pressure to distance itself from Tehran, has not followed through on proposals to supply high-grade S300 air defence missiles to the Islamic state.

"We are unhappy with the Russian friends up north," said Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces and a member of Iran's Supreme National Security Council in comments carried on state news agency IRNA.

"Why don't the defensive S300 missiles get permission to be sent for the purpose of Iran's defence, as agreed between the two countries? It has been more than six months since they should have been delivered to Iran by Russia."

He added: "Won't the Russian strategists take into consideration Iran's geopolitical importance in the security of this country?"

In Iranian state media, Firouzabadi goes further in castigating the Russians:

Firouzabadi questioned Moscow's motivation for the delay, adding that under a contract signed between the two countries, the Russian government was expected to supply Iran with the system aimed at boosting the country's defensive capabilities.

"The delivery is more than six months overdue," the top general said, urging Russia to expedite the process of delivery.

Iran's Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Wednesday that Russia had a 'contractual obligation' to provide Iran with the system.

"We have made a deal with the Kremlin to buy S-300 defense missiles," he said, referring to a contract signed between Tehran and Moscow in 2007.

"We don't think Russian officials would want to be seen in the world as contract violators," he added.

Awwww, that's cute --- Islamofascist Iran lecturing Putin's Russia on the finer points of contract law and capitalism.

Meanwhile as Iran screeches about its right to defend itself against Israeli aggression, its terrorist proxy Hezbollah complains about Israel's own defensive posture:

Nasrallah also lashed out at a major missile defense exercise staged recently by American and Israeli forces to test technology that would protect Israel from a missile attack. U.S. military officials have described it as the most complete air missile defense system done anywhere in the world.

"The Americans are coming, for the first time in decades and perhaps the first time since Israel's existence, to be a field partner in any confrontation that Israel might impose on Gaza, Lebanon, Syria or Iran," he said.

Recap:

Russian missile defense systems in Iran? Awesome.

American-Israeli missile defense systems in Israel? How dare they.

Missile Defense Agency's New Obamanized Logo?

One of the signature accomplishments of the Obama '08 campaign was its deployment of an excellent logo. My dark little businessman's heart actually admits a measure of admiration for his ubiquitous campaign brand:

Its effectiveness became so popular that even a master of consumer products marketing, Pepsi, was accused of rolling out a new marketing camapign and logo based on Obama's. Contrast Obama's pithy-yet-powerful badge with some of the snoozers from the somnolent world of missile defense:

 
Strategic Defense Initiave Organization: Reagan Era

Ballistic Missile Defense Organization: Bush-Clinton Era

Missile Defense Agency: Bush Era now in TechniColor

Which brings me to the jarring discovery I made while visiting the Missile Defense Agency's new website. As many of you know, I am an MDA contractor and I check their site frequently. So imagine my surprise when the one department in Obama's Pentagon that has been targeted for the most massive budget cuts apparently has a new, suspiciously familiar logo:

 

A few things jump out that give me, er, Hope, that Obama's narcissism has not reached such literal heights. First, there has been no formal announcement from the MDA that it has indeed adopted a new logo. Second, the "old" one still appears on letterhead --- even co-existing in cyberspace with the "new" one on press releases (like this recent one).

So, I have to believe this "new" logo is the work of a zealous MDA bureaucrat eager to quickly bank some brownie points with some world class O-bsequiousness. Anything to save a budget, I guess.