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Bush's reason for war. Or is it a reason for confrontation that has yet to exacerbate?
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If somebody's trying to harm our troops, or stop us from achieving our goal, or killing innocent citizens in Iraq, that we will stop them.
To begin, Bush has never stopped anyone from doing anything in Iraq. The number of dead, as Bush would say it "innocent citizens in Iraq" is skyrocketing. There is absolutely no basis to his statement in that he says the USA military will STOP them. They have never stopped them, nor will they. Iraq is caught up in a civil war that needs to be resolved through political measures. If the war continues to escalate with a continued infusion of weapons to stop Americans there won't be any Iraqis left to call citizens.
HENRY (on camera): Top Democrats privately believe the president is prepping for war with Iran to divert attention from mistakes in Iraq. White House officials call that nonsense, and insist the president is committed to solving the Iranian crisis through diplomatic means.
No one I know believes Bush is doing anything except seeking means to invade Iran for it's oil. There is a lot of credence to that. Iraq has announced a policy that favors America for receiving it's oil reserves.
Iraq struggles to re-distribute oil wealth
Amidst criticism in the Middle Eastern press that Iraq's new oil policy overly favors America, an internal debate rages in Iraq over regional control of oil and its proceeds.
Foreign, most of which are American, are allowed 70 percent of oil revenues to recover their investment initially,...
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=64994
According to a debate I heard on the radio, this policy is not only volatile due to it's redistribution equitably throughout the ethnicities of Iraq but there is a ground swell against the sale of the majority of the oil to the USA. I am quite confident that Maliki sold his soul to Bush in where the oil is shipped and sold in order to faciliate the policy of provincial sharing of Iraq's oil wealth. Simply put, Bush and Cheney invaded Iraq with the military force of the USA, to take control of Iraqi oil. This is proof of same.
Bush Defends Moving Against Iranians Who Help Shiites Attack U.S.-Led Forces in Iraq
President Bush decided several months ago to allow American troops to make targets of select Iranian operatives inside Iraq whom military officials have accused of helping militants build sophisticated and powerful roadside bombs. He and other officials faced repeated questioning about the policy, which was disclosed in recent weeks, after The Washington Post published articles on Friday exploring Iran’s regional influence and the administration’s approaches to containing it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/27/world/middleeast/27policy.html?hp&ex=1169874000&en=2e7741b0c5372ee3&ei=5094&partner=homepage
This is simply creating tensions and reasons for escalation. Besides it is based in a FALSE premise in that the 'targeted' Iranians are some type of covert set of agents when in fact they were actually diplomats working out of the Iranian consulate in Kurdistan.
Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney are "W"rong.
There is no basis for war.
Arresting diplomats is an aggressive move by Mr. Bush and IF Iran were to move against USA forces, which I sincerely doubt they will, then they have the upper hand in an international court/venue. No one country can simply force their way into a consulate and take Iranians prisoner. He is simply trying to hold onto power inappropriately. Bush is ACTIVELY threatening the sovereignty of Iraq by taking this aggressive stance with diplomats from another country. By arresting Iranian diplomats who is to say Bush won't do the same to ANY country that wants to establish diplomatic relations with Iraq. It is an outrage.
What Bush is attempting to do is 'create' the 'idea' that Iran is on the verge of nuclear annihilation of the region. That is hideous. Iran is not even close to establishing a process to produce nuclear fuel.
Is it any wonder that the most inflammatory reports about Iran is coming from an 'oil industry' news rag?
Iranian legislator says Iran installing 3,000 centrifuges (Iran-Nuclear)
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) _ Iran is currently installing 3,000 centrifuges, a top legislator said Saturday in an announcement underlining the country will continue to develop its nuclear program despite UN sanctions.
Legislator Alaeddin Boroujerdi said the installation underway at an Iranian uranium-enrichment plant “stabilizes Iran‘s capability in the field of nuclear technology,‘‘ Iran‘s IRNA news agency reported.
Three inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency who arrived in Iran on Saturday are scheduled to visit the uranium-enrichment plant in Natanz, Iranian television reported.
Iran last week barred 38 inspectors from the United Nations nuclear watchdog because they come from countries that voted for sanctions on Iran. Iranian television did not give the nationalities of the three inspectors and the IAEA could not immediately confirm their arrival in Iran.
http://www.oilweek.com/news.asp?ID=7268
Let's just say for the sake of argument that all reports are true and Iran is barring inspectors (how convenient an excuse is that). None of this indicates Iran has the capacity for nukes. But. Yet, men like Gates, Rumsfeld and Cheney will advocate Israel to move against Iran and drop bombs on the facility.
Huh?
I have never witnessed such fear and war mongering in my life. And self righteous. This Oil Rag would like to take 'the lead' in promoting fear of Iran when they don't have the facts at all. If this is not a clear demonstration of the corruption that the Bush White House breeds then I don't know what is.
There is every indication other countries and primarily Russia is trying to quell the tensions between The West and Iran. To what avail is hard to say. Aladdin Broujerdi is not a spokesperson for the Iranian national government. He probably has more political aspirations in this to take leadership away from Ahmadinejad than actual facts to any event. In appearing 'tough on Bush' he gets attention he can snowball into political gain.
Security Counselor
// Igor Ivanov to Help Iran Avert War
Yesterday Russian national security council secretary Igor Ivanov arrived in Iran for another shot at convincing Tehran to make some concessions to the international community. Mr. Ivanov's visit coincided with another sharp spike in tension in the relations between Iran and the West and the beginning of clear preparations by the United States for a new war in the Persian Gulf.
The Russian Game
Last week marked the halfway point of the period in which the United Nations Security Council has decreed Iran must cease its enrichment of uranium. On December 23 of last year, the members of the Security Council voted unanimously in favor of a resolution threatening sanctions against Iran if Tehran does not agree to the international community's demands to cease its enrichment activities. The sixty days that the Security Council gave the Iranian authorities to consider the ultimatum will run out in February. It is already clear, however, that Iran will not fulfill the demands of the international community and that, in fact, Tehran intends to play the game of escalating tension for even higher stakes.
Last Saturday the head of the Iranian parliamentary commission on national security and foreign affairs, Aladdin Broujerdi, announced that the nuclear facility in Natanz is starting construction on 3,000 new centrifuges. The Iranian Atomic Energy Agency, however, preferred to deny the news from parliament: an official representative of the organization stated that "there will be no new centrifuges installed at Natanz." The Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry did not explain the apparent contradiction in the official versions of events, saying only that "technical problems" had something to do with it.
Most likely. both the announcement by Mr. Broujedri and the denial from Iran's Atomic Energy Agency are part of a premeditated political plan dreamed up by the Iranian government, which is continuing to taunt the West and to drop hints of the upheaval that will lie ahead if Iran succeeds in beefing up its nuclear capacity. Meanwhile, the Western media has recently reported more than once that Iran is planning to increase the number of working centrifuges to 54,000 and that the Iranian authorities intend to inaugurate them en masse to coincide with the 28th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, which will be celebrated in February.
The news of the 3,000 centrifuges is far from being the only example of Iran's provocative behavior. Out of a team of 41 inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that were supposed to visit Iran this weekend, only three arrived in Tehran on Saturday: the other 38, who represent countries that voted in favor of introducing sanctions against Iran in the Security Council session on December 23 of last year, were refused entry visas. Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, commenting on the incident, said that the last word on which inspectors would be allowed into the country and which would not rests solely with Tehran and that the decision did not in any way contradict the spirit of Iran's cooperation with the IAEA.
http://www.kommersant.com/p737640/Ivanov_Help_Iran/
THE ACTUAL truth lies with the UN and the IAEA.
Russia...
...At a joint press conference yesterday with his Russian colleagues, Iranian national security council secretary Ali Larijani said that Iran needs more time to consider what should be down with its nuclear program. As it has done before, Tehran is still trying to play for time – with Russia's help.
THE STRATEGY of the Bush White House is one of assassination which is long held as illegal on an international scale. When the White House states "...US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that President Bush has given orders that all Iranian agents discovered in Iraq are to be seized or killed...." that IS assassination or capture leading to torture. KILLED is dead. Iranians are actively being sought by the USA military against the will of the Iraqi Unity Government for death. That is assassination.
The American Battle
While Russia and Iran continue their long-standing game, in which each tries to use the other to amass more clout in the international arena, the United States is beginning to take a new line in relations with Iran. Since the beginning of this year, Washington has been giving signs that it wishes to deal decisively with the situation once and for all. At the beginning of January, US President George Bush openly accused Iran of supporting the Iraqi insurgency and declared that the United States would henceforth oppose not only the insurgents but also Tehran's influence in Iraq, which the US considers a key reason for the ongoing instability in the country. Though American soldiers detained six employees of the Iranian consulate in Irbil, Iraq on January 11, however, Tehran refused to take the bait and refrained from making a fuss over the incident.
At the end of last week, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that President Bush has given orders that all Iranian agents discovered in Iraq are to be seized or killed. Tehran officially condemned the order, calling it "an act of terrorism."
IN REGARD TO IRAQ
Asad Abu Ghalal, the governor of Najaf Province, said the fighters in the orchard were Iraqi and foreign, some wearing the brown, white and maroon regalia of Pakistani and Afghan fighters. He said they had come to assassinate Shiite clerics and attack religious convoys that were gathering in Najaf, one of Shiite Islam’s holiest cities, and other southern cities for Ashura, a Shiite holiday that starts Monday night.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/world/middleeast/29iraq.html?hp&ex=1170133200&en=c6a2cb7aaee532e0&ei=5094&partner=homepage
WHERE IN THIS DOES IT SAY IRANIANS ARE INVOLVED? Nowhere.
AND HOW BIZARRE IS THIS? Iran has Star Wars technology. I'll be darn. The USA doesn't even have Star Wars technology but Iran does.
Iran Set to Launch 'Star Wars' Satelllites, Systems
21:11 Jan 27, '07 / 8 Shevat 5767
(IsraelNN.com) Iran is poised to launch a satellite into space, a step that could herald a new dimension in Tehran's strategic capabilities, Aviation Week and Space Technology, a U.S. publication, said this week.
A recently assembled, 30-ton ballistic missile-turned space launcher could also be used for testing longer-range missile strike technologies, according to the report which the weekly magazine said would appear in its January 29 issue.
The Iranian space launcher "will liftoff soon" with an Iranian satellite, said Alaoddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, according to the weekly.
Boroujerdi made his announcement during a speech to students and clerics in Qom last month, where Iran has conducted some of its ballistic missile tests, said the magazine.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=120349
Everyone needs to stop wanting to kill Iranians for the pure pleasure of reducing fear.
The fact of the matter is that Iran has had this technology and has simply converted a POTENTIAL into a reality. Well, guess what? We all know about it now.
AND BACK TO Iraq according to Mr. King:
KING: At least 17 people were killed and dozens wounded today in attacks across Baghdad -- the deadliest, a bombing at a pet market in the center of the city.
A PET MARKET. Dear God not a pet market. Somehow that makes it so much worse than humans in a market place. Jeeze !
ANDERSON COOOPER seeks to make a star out of Michael Ware. Michael, as he reports, was 'caught' in a section of Baghdad now CONTROLLED by al Qaeda, according to Mr. Ware.
CNN's Michael Ware, of course, has been covering the war since it began, and has watched the city spin out of control. In September 2004, on Baghdad's Haifa Street, U.S. troops were battling supporters of Ayman al-Zarqawi, former leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. They captured a Bradley Fighting Vehicle during the battle. You can see them cheering on top of it in this photo.
When Michael heard that al Qaeda in Iraq had claimed the area as its own, even plastering its banners on the street, he went there to see for himself. And that's when he was caught by al Qaeda insurgents.
Michael was in New York this week. And Anderson talked to him about that terrifying day. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Al Qaeda in Iraq had actually put its banners on a street in Baghdad, in central Baghdad.
WARE: Yes, they did.
And this was a symbolic passing of power here in the center of the capital. These men intercepted my vehicle, and, with grenades with the pins pulled, so that they were live, pulled me from the car, and, with my own video camera, are preparing to film my execution.
So, as far as we're aware, after that day on Haifa Street, I'm the only Westerner that we know of who's been in the control of Zarqawi's organization, al Qaeda, and to have lived to tell the tale.
NEVER ONCE.
NOT ONE TIME.
Does this news team point to the FACT that the USA is defeated in Iraq by al Qaeda. They simply state, 'the fight must go on' and to make that point Cooper uses the dire experience of Mr. Ware as reason for war. The Mr.s Cooper and Ware go on and on about 'the good ole days' when Iranians were the enemy and war was war, NO MATTER WHAT. Kill, kill, kill is the cry of CNN's Anderson Cooper, the well paid puppet of a Neocon King in the Oval Office.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN ANCHOR: John, no complains here.
Search and rescue efforts are under way tonight in the waters off Southern California, where a U.S. Navy helicopter crashed today near San Clemente Island. At least one of the four people aboard was killed. A Navy spokesman said the chopper was on a routine training mission when it went down.
An update now on the story we brought you earlier this week. CNN has obtained exclusive video of a convicted Russian uranium smuggler. The video was taken by detectives in the nation of Georgia just moments after his arrest last year. Georgian authorities say the smuggler had just under 100 grams of weapons-grade uranium in his coat pocket, uranium they say he planned to sell it to a Middle Eastern buyer. They are now trying to figure out where the uranium came from.
LET ME GUESS. The Russian uranium smuggler shot down the helicopter near San Clemente Island and now we all have to fear the Russian smugglers among us that are more than likely raiding every uranium centrifuge in the USA today.
THEN there is that completely horrible attack by a mountain lion. It was definately horrible. And of course...
JEFF CORWIN, ANIMAL PLANET: Absolutely. If you're in a situation where your life is at stake, defend yourself.
You have to remember, this creature is a predator by nature. And if he feels that his meal is too much of a challenge or at a risk to its own life, he'll sort of set it free. And that's basically what happened.
The reason why that gentleman survived is because his wife was brave, she took action, and she drove that creature away.
KING: So running is wrong?
CORWIN: Running is wrong. If you run, you're basically a yarn ball. You don't want to -- you don't want to run from a creature like this.
Even in situations, for example, in zoos, in natural history centers, where they have large predatory cats that are conditioned to be with people and even like people, humans when they run very fast near a large cat like that, it automatically stimulates a predator response to chase. You never, ever, ever run from a bear, a mountain lion, or even a dog, for example.
Good advise from Mr. Corwin. A remarkably similar name to a crocodile man.
Steve Irwin's last documentary is screened
The final documentary made by the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin has been screened in Australia.
The film, entitled 'Ocean's Deadliest', was made in the days leading up to Irwin's death, after being stabbed in the chest by a stingray barb.
The television star's widow, Terri Irwin, introduced the programme, which was broadcast on the Channel 9 network in Australia.
'Ocean's Deadliest' is narrated by explorer Philippe Cousteau, who was part of the team that travelled with Irwin during the making of the documentary.
http://www.rte.ie/arts/2007/0129/irwins.html
THANKS TO Steve Irwin and his heroic daughter we have come to understand creatures of Earth at a time when we direly need connectedness between a planet, it's inhabitants and morality.
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