Re: Sabotaged undersea internet cables prevents opening of Iran's oil bourse.

snakehawk wrote:
> What a coincidence.  Just when Iran was set to open its new oil bourse
> on the Island of Kish in the Persiah Gulf, where Iran intended to
> trade oil in any currency other than the U.S. dollar, suddenly three
> (count 'em) undersea internet cables were "accidentally" severed
> effectively shutting off all of Iran from internet access.
>
> What a lucky break for those big oil companies and international
> financiers who depend on the hegemony of the U.S. dollar in
> international trade.  Some observers felt strongly that opening the
> bourse would significantly devalue the U.S. dollar.
>
> Lucky for the United States and Israel, the "accidental" cutting of
> all three cables supplying Iran with access to the internet will delay
> the opening indefinitely, or at least until the big money boys can
> divest themselves of dollar assets before the crash.
>
> We know it was all accidental because the United States is the only
> country with subsurface vessels and divers capable of deliberately
> severing the cables.  The vessels are part of the U.S. military, and
> only the president of the United States could order the U.S. Navy to
> deliberately sabotage international communications cables.  Therefore,
> it could only have been three lucky accidents.

Make that four?

http://tinyurl.com/36ztc7

When three undersea cables providing connectivity in the Middle East and
westward to Europe and North America were cut last week in the Middle
East, the impact was immediate — and significant — as many with
connections in the region were shut off from Internet communications.
That meantVoIP  service, IM, and email were suddenly unavailable.

Now, repair work has begun on one of the three severed cables, with a
second repair vessel expected to begin servicing a second line
imminently, with hopes that service to the Middle East and Asia would
soon be restored.

Sunday, however, a fourth cable connecting Qatar and the UAR has also
been cut, though apparently for a different reason. The first three, in
the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf, are said to have been severed by
dragging anchors — though various reports claim that explanation has
been retracted by the Egyptian Transport Ministry.

According to the Ministry’s official report, “The Ministry’s Maritime
Transport Committee reviewed footage covering the period of 12 hours
before and 12 hours after the cables were cut, and no ships sailed the
area The area is also marked on maps as a no-go zone, and it is,
therefore, ruled out that the damage to the cables was caused by shipping.”

The fourth cable has reportedly been shut down due to power issues,
which are expected to take several days to repair.

With four cables now having been damaged in a week in the region, and
particularly with the latest statement from the Ministry, speculation is
running rampant as to whether the damage is a result of international
sabotage. Reports claim a variety of sources that might have
incapacitated the cables, from the U.S. Secret Service, to Islamic
fundamentalists, or other military exercises. Others maintain the damage
signifies retribution for the impending opening of the Iranian Oil
Bourse, which will allow trading in currencies other than the U.S.
dollar, potentially diminishing the value of the dollar.

Clearly, the political impact, should the damage be attributed to
military or financially motivated activity, poses severe implications,
but apart from that, the mere impact on broadband connectivity within
the region, and communications capabilities with Europe and North
America have already been hampered, causing significant disruption to
workflows at many businesses.

“This has been an eye-opener for the telecom industry worldwide,” said
According to Colonel R.S. Parihar, Secretary of the Internet Service
Providers Association of India. “Today, the cause of the problem might
have been an anchor, but what if it is sabotage tomorrow? These are
owned by private operators, and there are no governments or armies
protecting these cables.”

Indeed, submarine cables carry nearly all global Internet and phone
traffic — largely because it is considerably cheaper that satellite
transmission — and further damage, or an inability to effectively repair
the already disabled lines, could pose a significant impact on not only
the global business community, which has come to rely heavily on
IP-based communications.

If the damage is, indeed, found to be accidental, the service
disruptions, if nothing else, underscore the need to carrier network
redundancies, which providers likeVSNL ( News - Alert) have already
taken to heart. VSNL was able to restore service to the majority of its
Middle Eastern customers by virtue of its bi-directional backbone, which
circles the globe, allowing eastward connectivity, should westward
connections go down, as they did this past week.
[ Auf dieses Posting antworten ]