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News Articles
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"Folks, We Are Being Set Up Again!" |
By Juan Cole
Counterpunch
Iran's Nuclear "Threat"
Here is what the professionals are saying about the Republican-dominated Subcommittee on Intelligence Policy report on Iran that slams US intelligence professionals for poor intelligence on Iran: The report demonstrates that these Republicans have poor intelligence . . . on Iran. What follows is summaries of things I've seen from other experts but I can't identify them without permission..
First of all, former CIA professionals Larry Johnson and Jim Marcinkowski point out that the Republicans have a lot of damn gall. It was high members of this Republican administration who leaked to the Iranians and the whole world the name of Valerie Plame, an undercover CIA operative who spent her professional career combatting the proliferation of WMD and was, at the time she was betrayed by Traitor Rove and his merry band, working on Iran. Had it not been for these Republican figures, none of whom has yet been punished in any way for endangering US national security, we might know more about Iran.
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Bush Must Negotiate to Make America Safer, Say Former Generals |
By Aaron Glantz
Common Dreams
Twenty-one former generals and high ranking national security officials have called on United States President George W. Bush to reverse course and embrace a new area of negotiation with Iran, Iraq, and North Korea. In a letter released Thursday, the group told reporters Bush's 'hard line' policies have undermined national security and made America less safe.
Of particular concern for the generals was increased saber rattling between Washington and Tehran over the development of an Iranian nuclear program.
"We call on the administration to engage immediately in direct talks with the government of Iran without preconditions to help resolve the current crisis in the Middle East and to settle differences over an Iranian nuclear program," their letter read.
"An attack on Iran would have disastrous consequences for security in the region and U.S. forces in Iraq," they argued. "It would inflame hatred and violence in the Middle East and among Muslims everywhere."
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Following intellectuals' letter, Prof. Noam Chomsky explains his doctrine, discusses danger of Israel's nukes compared to 'Iranian threat,' global media's role in escalating Mideast conflict and US's place in picture
By Merav Yudilovitch ~ Ynet Last week, a group of renowned intellectuals published an open letter blaming Israel for escalating the conflict in the Middle East. The letter, which mainly referred to the alignment of forces between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, caused a lot of anger among Ynet and Ynetnews readers, particularly due to its claim that the Israeli policy's political aim is to eliminate the Palestinian nation. The letter was formulated by art critic and author John Berger and among its signatories were Nobel Prize winner, playwright Harold Pinter, linguist and theoretician Noam Chomsly, Nobel Prize laureate Jos é Saramago, Booker Prize laureate Arundhati Roy, American author Russell Banks, author and playwright Gore Vidal, and historian Howard Zinn. |
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Nonaligned Nations Prepare to Back Iran |
The Associated Press
Western countries at a 35-nation U.N. meeting pushed Tuesday for consensus on the need for Iran to freeze uranium enrichment, but diplomats said that most nonaligned countries were preparing to endorse Tehran's right to continue the work.
The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were divulging confidential information, said the 16 International Atomic Energy Agency board members from the Nonaligned Movement were likely to issue a joint statement at odds with Western efforts on enrichment.
The language would be similar to a statement issued last month by foreign ministers of nonaligned nations in Malaysia, the diplomats told The Associated Press.
That declaration "reaffirmed the basic and inalienable right" of all countries to develop, produce and use atomic energy "for peaceful purposes, without any discrimination and in conformity with their respective legal obligations."
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Iran to make nuclear counter-offer |
Aljazeera
Iran will make a counter-offer in response to a Western incentive package aimed at persuading Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, according to the Iranian foreign minister.
The counter-offer may be a variation of the proposal made by Europe, the US, China and Russia or could be an entirely new package, the state-run Irna news agency quoted Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian foreign minister, as saying on Saturday.
"We hope that Iran's real proposal, which might come within a modified or new package, will be examined carefully by Europe," he said.
Mottaki did not elaborate on how the Iranian proposal may differ from the Western package.
"We intend to take steps towards a comprehensive understanding that considers the rights of one side, Iran, and resolves the concerns of the other side at the same time," Mottaki said.
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Kerry Attacks Bush Over Iraq Policies |
By Ashraf Khalil
The Los Angeles Times
The administration's choice of confrontation instead of diplomacy has harmed the US, the senator says in a speech in Los Angeles.
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) harshly criticized the Bush administration for "disdaining diplomacy" in favor of a confrontational and unilateral foreign policy that has hurt the United States' standing around the world and made it less safe.
In a speech Thursday in Los Angeles, the former (and perhaps future) Democratic Party presidential candidate warned that the mistakes of Iraq must not be repeated in the current standoff with Iran.
"War is the ultimate failure of diplomacy," Kerry told a gathering of the Pacific Council on International Policy. "Yet our current leadership has arrogantly discarded this basic principle…. All too often they disdained diplomacy as little more than an inconvenient detour on the chosen path to armed conflict."
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Neocons Call for Washington to Support Revolution in Iran |
The heat is on with U.S.-Iran policy. International Relations Center's Right Web initiative profiles some of the leading figures who are turning up the heat with their regime change agenda.
“Empowering Iranians for Regime Change” The Iran Policy Committee (IPC) is a policy institute that has taken the lead in pressuring the Bush administration and Congress to support a regime change strategy in Iran involving the People's Freedom Fighters (MEK). See Right Web Profile: Iran Policy Committee Immigration Activist is Clash of Civilization Crusader Rep. Tom Tancredo, a social conservative from Colorado with close ties to the Christian Right and nativist groups, is co-chair of the House Iran Human Rights and Democracy Caucus and a strong advocate of a regime change strategy in Iran that involves aiding the MEK, a cult-like opposition group that is on the State Department's list of international terrorist organizations and is criticized for its human rights abuses. See Right Web Profile: Tom Tancredo |
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Bolton: ‘This is Put Up or Shut Up Time For Iran,’ |
By Laura Rozen
Transcript: BOLTON: And I think when the President says it’s unacceptable, I think what he means by that is that it’s unacceptable. So it’s important…
CAVUTO: But unacceptable means that if it keeps going on you’re going to do something about it…
BOLTON: That no option is taken off the table. And Secretary…
CAVUTO: Military as well?
BOLTON: Exactly. Secretary Rice…
CAVUTO: Unilateral military action?
BOLTON: Secretary Rice made that point again today. But that’s why I think…
CAVUTO: That we would, I’m sorry Ambassador, that we would act alone if we had to?
BOLTON: That’s why he says no option is taken off the table. But it’s also why he has, the President, has reached out President Putin and other leaders in the past couple of days to say, “We’re making a significant step here,” that will be criticized by many of the president’s staunchest supporters here at home. But he’s taking this step to show strength and American leadership and to say he’s willing to do something that may be unpopular even with some of his supporters, to remove all excuses from Iran and its supporters to say, “We went the extra mile. We gave Iran really, this last chance to show that they are serious when they say they don’t want nuclear weapons.” This is put or shut up time for Iran.
To see the video of theis interview (1 Minute 4 Seconds) Click Here
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GOP Heavy Hitters Pressuring White House to Talk With Iran |
By Laura Rozen
The Los Angeles Times
Amid concern that the US is drifting toward eventual confrontation with Iran, a growing number of influential statesmen, Republican senators and foreign policy experts are stepping up pressure on the Bush administration to consider doing what no US administration has done in 27 years: talk directly with Iran. In recent congressional hearings, think-tank conferences, op-ed essays and media appearances, Republican heavyweights - including former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) and Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) - have publicly urged the administration to leave the current path of escalation and join European allies in direct talks with Tehran.
The public campaign parallels private efforts by GOP insiders, foreign policy specialists and US allies abroad to influence the thinking of key administration officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Elliott Abrams, who oversees Iran policy at the National Security Council. Both have met recently with foreign diplomats and outside experts and have discussed US diplomacy with Iran.
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Iran Requests Direct Talks on Nuclear Program |
By Karl Vick and Dafna Linzer
Washington Post
Iran has followed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent letter to President Bush with explicit requests for direct talks on its nuclear program, according to U.S. officials, Iranian analysts and foreign diplomats. The eagerness for talks demonstrates a profound change in Iran's political orthodoxy, emphatically erasing a taboo against contact with Washington that has both defined and confined Tehran's public foreign policy for more than a quarter-century, they said.
Though the Tehran government in the past has routinely jailed its citizens on charges of contact with the country it calls the "Great Satan," Ahmadinejad's May 8 letter was implicitly endorsed by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and lavished with praise by perhaps the most conservative ayatollah in the theocratic government.
"You know, two months ago nobody would believe that Mr. Khamenei and Mr. Ahmadinejad together would be trying to get George W. Bush to begin negotiations," said Saeed Laylaz, a former government official and prominent analyst in Tehran. "This is a sign of changing strategy. They realize the situation is dangerous and they should not waste time, that they should reach out."
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