Internet Undersea Cable Cut - Targeting of Iran?
Politics / Iran Feb 03, 2008 - 03:28 AM GMT
There has been some concern that the undersea internet cables, that have been cut recently, are perhaps no accident?
The first incident happened 8km from Alexandria in Egypt, which involved 2 cables apparently alongside each other. According to initial reports, the cables may have been "snapped" by a ship´s anchor.
Whilst this explanation is certainly a possibility, it seems a strange coincidence that barely two days later another cable is cut, this time 56km from Dubai in the Persian Gulf. There is even rumor of a fourth cable being damaged, but this has not been confirmed.
The countries most affected by the damaged cables are Egypt, India and the Middle East (in particular Iran). Israel and Iraq, as far as we can tell, were not affected by this problem as they use an alternative route for this service.
Cables involved in the "breaks" belong to companies connected to Reliance Communication Ventures, where Anil Ambani has a 66.75% interest. His father (Dhirubhai Ambani) originally founded the company and it is a classical rags to riches story.
Dhirubhai Ambani started with absolutely nothing, but developed a company that was a huge success. Questions were raised about how Dhirubhai managed to raise so much cash to do this, and this appears to be the result of a "Non-Resident Indian" investing Rs. 220 million in Reliance during 1982-1983. Dhirubhai has been accused of "manipulating" government policies and was known to be a "king-maker" in government elections (enjoying a certain amount of media protection). He was also involved in other business interests, including the oil industry.
Following Dhirubhai´s death in 2002, the company was split between the Ambani brothers, with the youngest (Anil Ambani) taking control of Reliance. Anil, born June 4 1959, is the 6th richest person in the world (worth $45 billion).
On the assumption that the cables cut were no accident, we must ask ourselves who would do such a thing and why. Clearly Iran, who were most affected, would gain nothing from such an action and are perhaps the target of those responsible?
But why would anyone want to disrupt communications in Iran (and other countries)? Could this be some subtle message to Iran, an example of how their communications can be affected by outside forces? Maybe this is a prelude to an attack, or perhaps a test run for a future one?
Communication has always been an important factor in military action, and cutting these cables might affect Iran´s ability to defend itself. But even if that were not the case, it would certainly make it difficult for them to report any events to the outside world. So, if they were attacked, we would have to rely on news reports from the usual sources (the Mainstream Media), and we all know where their loyalties lie.
Oddly enough, Russia also experienced some "internet problems" during this same period, but that may be another coincidence?
By Ian Brockwell
http://www.Profindsearch.com
Ian Brockwell is the creator of Profindsearch.com and interests include writing, teaching, politics, climate change, UFO reports, businesses of all descriptions, medicine and generally trying to enjoy life. Profindsearch is a very small search engine, which hopes to be a Google one day! (We can all dream)
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