The above actions are the basis for the efforts of the USA to attract Russia and China, as well as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt to its side, and for commenting that a military intervention is always on the table. These actions are also the basis for Israel’s overt preparation for a possible offensive action and for making authoritative announcements that it “will not permit Iran” to proceed with its nuclear plans. Suddenly, all these activities have created a renewed global atmosphere of war. They are spreading anxiety and paranoia.

Israel is the only nuclear power in the Middle East. It has never accepted any international agreement on nuclear weapons, and has never allowed inspections of its nuclear facilities. Yet, it is aggressively beating the war drums as if Iran is the country involved in nuclear development in the area. What kind of innocence is this?

Attacks to selected centers in Iran are foreseen to take place sometime in March-June.

Even the Pope called upon Russia and China, requesting that they reconsider the subject of Iran. Iran can do what the Arab countries cannot: withdrawing its funds deposited at Western banks and moving them to Asian banks.

Somehow, big steps are seemingly being taken toward a war. According to them, just two months remain. Within the next two months, confusing allegations will resonate as to how much of a threat Iran has become.

So, why was the month of March chosen? What is behind the prediction that Iran will carry out a nuclear experiment in March? In other words, why are the USA and Israel drawing global attention to the month of March? Why are Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia being pushed into a race of weapons build-up by bringing up the possibility that they may also acquire nuclear weapons?

Because, there is another event expected to occur in March, which could have an impact on the economy of the USA equivalent to a nuclear attack: in March, Teheran will implement its 2004 decision that it will start using the Euro instead of the Dollar in its petroleum trade, establishing a petroleum market, and breaking the “petrodollar” monopoly. Iran will open its petroleum market in March. Euro will replace Dollar in the petroleum trade. This will constitute a major attack on a vital component of the American Empire. Once the decision is implemented, a real debate will start on this doomsday scenario for the American economy.

Thereafter, the monopoly of USA/United Kingdom in international petroleum trade will collapse. The petroleum markets in New York and London will receive a heavy blow. The International Petroleum Market in London and the New York Mercantile Exchange controlled by the Americans are in a state of panic.

The Iranian position is being supported by the Chinese. The Japanese are also inclined to switch to Euro; this way, they could lower their Dollar reserves.

What are the implications of the widespread switch to the Euro, and the preference of Russia, European Union, Japan and some of the Arab countries to use the Euro in petroleum trade? What would happen if Russia that has major trade relations with Europe, China and Japan were to start using the Euro in the energy market? What would happen if the petroleum-producing Arab countries would also see the Euro as the alternative to compensate for the loss of Dollar’s value? Indeed, loss of Dollar’s value will force many countries to prefer the Euro.

This scenario will progressively lead to a profitable business.

If these issues were to lead to an escape from the Dollar, and dramatically reduce the flow of money to the USA, what will be the shape of the American economy?

There lies the wisdom of the month of March. This danger hides behind the hullabaloo that Iran will conduct a nuclear experiment in March. An Iranian petroleum market that is indexed on the Euro is more dangerous for the USA than any nuclear weapon.

The USA, which is working on controlling global petroleum markets under the label of “fighting terrorism” is actually fighting an economic war. However, as it becomes more and more aggressive, it is sinking deeper and deeper...

Avi Dichter, who used to head the Shin Bet security agency and is seen as a frontrunner for a top security post after Israel's March 28 general election, said he doubted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would remain in power, except as a "puppet leader", following Hamas's election victory.

"(Abbas) knows very well that he's going to find himself in a high-noon situation, and I'm sure that he is fully aware of the fact that he is not going to be the last man standing," said Dichter.

He said Abbas may resign, or Hamas leaders could replace him with one of their own or another figurehead.

Dichter no longer holds a policy-making position but he wields clout within the centrist Kadima party, founded by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon before his Jan. 4 stroke.

Speaking to reporters at Kadima's campaign headquarters in the city of Petach Tikva, Dichter said Hamas's crushing victory over Abbas's long-dominant Fatah party in Wednesday's parliamentary election amounted to a "revolution" that caught everyone by surprise.

Dichter warned that violence between Hamas and Fatah gunmen could spread, and said Israel should wait and see what unfolds before deciding how to proceed.

Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday Israel would boycott a Palestinian government that includes Hamas, whose charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state. The militant group was propelled to victory by its anti-corruption platform, charity network and nearly 60 suicide bombings in Israel since a Palestinian uprising began in 2000.

Dichter singled out by name senior Hamas leader Ismael Haniyeh when asked whether Hamas leaders-turned-ministers would be targeted for assassination despite their possible new roles in a democratically-elected government.

"If tomorrow Ismail Haniyeh will become the minister of whatever, of health, he'll continue to be the generator of terror attacks from the Gaza Strip," Dichter said.

"If we'll come to arrest him, terrorists will not get any immunity just because he is a minister. It's not going to be a shelter," Dichter said.

Under Dichter's leadership, Israel expanded a policy of assassinating Palestinian militants as a key strategy against an uprising that erupted in September 2000 after failed peace talks.

The killings were widely supported by Israelis. But Palestinians and world leaders condemned the killings, saying they have fuelled violence and undermined peace efforts.

Merkel's 24-hour trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories makes her the first world leader to visit the region since Hamas won an overwhelming victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections last week.

She has refused to meet Hamas officials and has expressed similar concerns to those of other world leaders regarding the Islamic militant group, which has carried out scores of suicide bombings against Israel and does not recognize the Jewish state's right to exist.

The Merkel visit to Israel is also the first by a major world leader since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was incapacitated following a massive stroke on Jan. 4.

At a joint news conference after their talk, Merkel and acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert took a tough line against Hamas.

Olmert said they agreed that "there should be no negotiations with a government that consists of terror groups and bodies that deal with terror and do not accept the existence of Israel."

Merkel said Germany would study Hamas' behavior, but she added that it was "unthinkable" for Germany and the European Union to give financial support to a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority that does not recognize Israel or renounce violence.

Merkel also said Iran is a threat not just to Israel, but to democracies across the world, referring to its nuclear programs and its leader's statements calling for destruction of Israel. "We have the common task to make clear to Iran that it has crossed a red line that we will not accept," she said.

She said a broad alliance of countries has to be formed to "reject what Iran does and says."

A wide range of Israeli-German bilateral issues are on the table, including Israel's purchase of two more Dolphin submarines. Israel's navy already has three such submarines, which have the capability of being armed with nuclear weapons. Israel sought the extra submarines due to fears that Iran will soon become a nuclear power. The deal, worth $1.4 billion, was finalized in November with Merkel's predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder.

On Monday, Merkel is to meet other Israeli leaders, including Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu before visiting Yad Vashem, Israel's memorial to the Holocaust, as German leaders traditionally do on visits to Israel.

Later, she will cross over to the Palestinian territories and meet with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the
West Bank city of Ramallah.

The reaction was reportedly given to the Norwegian embassy in Washington DC, and it was made clear that the statements came from the top level of the US State Department, newspaper VG reports.

VG claims that two classified reports promised a "tougher climate" between the USA and Norway if Halvorsen's remarks represented the foreign policy of the new red-green alliance of the Labor, Socialist Left and Center parties.

Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jonas Gahr Støre, responded immediately with written explanations to both Israel and the USA, clarifying the government's stance, while Halvorsen distanced her party's policy from that of the government's.