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Iran Could Strike U.S. by 2015, U.S. Officials Say (FOX News)
    Iranian technology is on pace to build a long-range missile that could strike the U.S. within a decade, a high-level Pentagon official said.
    "Most of the intelligence experts predict that sometime before 2015, or in that time frame, the Iranians will have developed the capabilities to threaten the United States, from a missile technology perspective," Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, chief of the U.S. missile defense program, said Tuesday in a Pentagon interview with FOX News.
    Of concern, Obering said, is Iran's ability to take shorter-range technology and improve it to longer and longer ranges.
    Right now, the administration is working on a plan to build a missile defense system to protect against Iranian weapons in friendly host countries in Europe.
    But those plans have been loudly criticized by Russia - which thinks the system could be used to attack their own missiles.

Report: Iran Worried Over Syrian Air Defense Failure - Yossi Melman (Ha'aretz)
    Iran is concerned over the failure of Syria's air defense systems to detect the Israel Air Force non-stealth aircraft that reportedly carried out an attack inside Syria last month, Aviation Week reported Wednesday.
    According to the report, Israel used highly advanced equipment to jam Syria's defenses, thus neutralizing the defense missile systems which rely on it.
    Iran is especially concerned over the failure of Syria's Russian-made radar systems. Iran is slated to purchase more Russian radar equipment to protect its nuclear facilities in a future deal worth $750 million.
    See also Why Syria's Air Defenses Failed to Detect Israelis - David A. Fulghum (Aviation Week)

Israeli Airport Communications Were Intentionally Jammed - Aaron Lerner (IMRA)
    Israel Radio correspondent Mickey Gurdis reported that on Thursday, during the Simhat Torah holiday, Israeli airport communication frequencies were frequently jammed, creating a very dangerous situation for planes landing and taking off.
    Only Israeli frequencies were being jammed and the phenomenon could not be attributed to illegal Israeli radio stations since they did not broadcast during the holiday.
    Gurdis suggested the jamming was an intentional act of sabotage by hostile elements.

Hamas Children's Magazine Glorifies Martyrdom - C. Jacob (MEMRI)
    The Hamas children's magazine Al-Fateh is published biweekly in London, and is posted online at www.al-fateh.net.
    In stories, poems, riddles, and puzzles, the magazine includes incitement to jihad and martyrdom and glorification of terrorist operations, as well as characterizations of Jews as "murderers of the prophets" and laudatory descriptions of parents who encourage their sons to kill Jews.
    In each issue, a regular feature titled "The Story of a Martyr" presents the "heroic deeds" of a mujahid who died in a suicide operation or who was killed by the IDF.
    The magazine includes illustrations of child warriors, presenting them as role models. The magazine's titular character, Al-Fateh ("The Conqueror"), is depicted as a small boy on a horse brandishing a drawn sword.

Ancient Documents Portend Major Earthquake (UPI/Science Daily)
    Tel Aviv University geologist Shmulik Marco said earthquake patterns along the Dead Sea fault recorded in historical documents indicate the region's next significant quake might be imminent.
    Major earthquakes were recorded along the Jordan Valley in 31 BCE, and in 363, 749 and 1033 CE. "So roughly we are talking about an interval of every 400 years," said Marco.
    "If we follow the patterns of nature, a major quake should be expected any time because almost a whole millennium has passed since the last strong earthquake of 1033."
    "When it strikes - and it will - this quake will affect Amman, Jordan, as well as Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jerusalem," he said.

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Muzzling in the Name of Islam - Paul Marshall (Washington Post)

• In August, Swedish artist Lars Vilks drew a cartoon with Mohammed's head on a dog's body. He is now in hiding after al-Qaeda in Iraq placed a bounty of $100,000 on his head (with a $50,000 bonus if his throat is slit).
• Some of the world's most repressive governments are attempting to use the controversy to provide legitimacy for their suppression of their critics in the name of respect for Islam. In particular, the Organization of the Islamic Conference is seeking to rewrite international human rights standards to curtail any freedom of expression that threatens their more authoritarian members.
• The issues here go beyond the right of cartoonists to offend people. They go to the heart of repression in much of the Muslim world. Islamists and authoritarian governments now routinely use accusations of blasphemy to repress writers, journalists, political dissidents, and religious reformers. Saudi teacher Mohammad al-Harbi was sentenced to 40 months in jail and 750 lashes for "mocking religion" after discussing the Bible in class and saying that the Jews were right.
• When politics and religion are intertwined, there can be no political freedom without religious freedom, including the right to criticize religious ideas. Hence, removing legal bans on blasphemy and "insulting Islam" is vital to protecting an open debate that could lead to other reforms.
• If, in the name of false toleration and religious sensitivity, free nations do not firmly condemn and resist these totalitarian strictures, we will abet the isolation of reformist Muslims and condemn them to silence.

  The writer is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom.