Volgend doel: destabilizeren regering Iran

[Gatara]

Aj aj..... de geschiedenis van Iran bekeken heeft de VS dat al eens gedaan. En om nou te zeggen dat tot iets goeds heeft geleid?
Het model van democratie (VS) zoals ze zichzelf graag zien, ontpopt zich tot een wereldlijke dictator.
(Het land zit vol contradicties)

United States Cuts Off Contact with Iran-Report'

Sun May 25, 2003 01:24 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration has cut off contact with Iran, and Pentagon officials are pushing for action they believe could destabilize the government of the Islamic republic, The Washington Post reported in its Sunday edition.
The move follows intelligence reports suggesting al Qaeda operatives in Iran played a role in the May 12 suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia, according to the newspaper.

Citing administration officials, the newspaper said the White House "appears ready to embrace an aggressive policy of trying to destabilize the Iranian government."

Officials will meet Tuesday at the White House to discuss the Iran strategy, with Pentagon officials pressing for action that could lead to the toppling of the government through a popular uprising, the Post said.

A White House spokeswoman declined comment on Saturday.

The United States severed ties with Iran following the 1979 Islamic revolution. Last year, President Bush branded Iran as part of an "axis of evil" that was trying to develop banned nuclear weapons. The United States also has accused Iran of harboring members of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, which Washington blames for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

But since the U.S. campaign to topple the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, Iranian and U.S. officials have met from time to time to discuss a variety of issues.

After this month's suicide bombings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the Bush administration canceled the next planned meeting, according to the Post.

The newspaper said "very troubling intercepts" before and after the Saudi Arabia bombing played a major role in the administration's new stance toward Iran. The intelligence suggested al Qaeda operatives in Iran were involved in the planning of the bombings, which killed 34 people, the Post reported.

On Thursday, the official IRNA news agency of Iran said U.S. allegation that the Islamic nation harbored al Qaeda members were based on faulty intelligence, but officials vowed to arrest any militants who might have slipped into the country.

On Saturday, Iran's top diplomat told the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat that Iran sees no need to immediately revive a dialogue with the United States following talks on who should govern postwar Iraq.

"This dialogue has stopped now and we see no reason to revive it for the time being," Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told Al-Hayat.

"We entered into an honest dialogue with the Americans to create a government in Iraq that has popular support, but they kept on changing their minds and also changing their representatives in Iraq," he said without giving additional details.

The United States is trying to set up an interim Iraqi administration after U.S.-led forces invaded the country two months ago and ousted President Saddam Hussein.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=2812568

[Gatara]

Iemand op fok.nl:

"Iran mag behoren tot de as van het kwaad. Amerika is de motor die 'm aandrijft."

[Manus J. van Alles]

Gatara schreef op 25-05-2003 @ 15:50:
Iemand op fok.nl:

"Iran mag behoren tot de as van het kwaad. Amerika is de motor die 'm aandrijft."

Heel passend

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Het ligt nogal voor de hand dat Iran de volgende is. Kijk maar naar de wereldkaart, Iran ligt volledig geisoleerd tussen VS-gecontroleerde gebieden.

[Gatara]

Iranmania hierover (Bron):

"US has cut ties with Iran, may try to destabilize it"

Sunday, May 25, 2003 - ©2003 IranMania.com

WASHINGTON, May 25 (AFP) - Washington has cut off contacts with Iran and is considering "public and private actions" to destabilize the Iranian government, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

Top members of President George W. Bush's administration will meet Tuesday to discuss strategy toward the Islamic Republic, the report said.

Pentagon officials are advocating trying to foment a popular uprising to topple Iran's government, and the State Department may accept that approach if Iran does not take steps to crack down on al-Qaeda by Tuesday, the Post said.

Iran broke off relations with the United States after its 1979 Islamic Revolution, and Bush last year famously labelled it part of an "axis of evil" along with Iraq and North Korea. US officials have also been worried about Iran's nuclear program.

But the two sides made "discreet contacts" before and during this year's war on Iraq, most recently through a secret meeting in Geneva on May 3.

Washington cancelled a subsequent meeting after the May 12 bombings in Saudi Arabia, the Post said, after reviewing intelligence intercepts that reportedly show that al-Qaeda operatives hiding in Iran were involved in planning the attacks, which killed 34, including nine suicide bombers.

Iran has denied that it is harboring members of the network, but the Post cited an administration official as saying fewer than a dozen al-Qaeda operatives are hiding in an isolated part of northeastern Iran where the government has little control.

"I don't think the elected government knows much about it," the official told the Post.

-----------------------------


Blijkbaar realiseren de VS (met opzet of zonder opzet) zich niet dat er momenteel jongeren zijn in Iran die een democratisch systeem nastreven. Onlangs was er nog een documentaire op de VPRO (?) over lokale verkiezingen in de VS waarin het ging tussen een vrouw en haar man - beide kandidaten - en waarbij de vrouw het uiteindelijk won.

Klinkt behoorlijk democratisch...

En als het om de veiligheid zou gaan....
Nuja... zo'n idiote actie zal alleen maar de onveiligheid in de VS vergroten.

En ik kan daar maar 1 antwoord op geven:
<shrug>
Moet je maar geen olie bij de motor doen...

Ik begin toch echt visioenen van een Amerikaans Vierde Rijk te krijgen nu, bestaand uit:
- de VS zelf
- Cuba
- Irak
- Iran
- Afghanistan
- Noord-Korea (?)
- Columbia

[Gatara]

Che Guevara schreef op 25-05-2003 @ 16:39:
Ik begin toch echt visioenen van een Amerikaans Vierde Rijk te krijgen nu, bestaand uit:
- de VS zelf
- Cuba
- Irak
- Iran
- Afghanistan
- Noord-Korea (?)
- Columbia

Je vergeet:
- GB
- Spanje
- Italie
- Israel
- Australie
- India
- Pakistan
- geheel Latijns-Amerika (gebaseerd op het feit dat ze een Verenigd Latijns-Amerika alla EU in de soep hebben laten lopen door te dreigen alle dollars uit het rijkste land van Latijns-Amerika Chili te halen; waarmee ze dus stevige controle hebben op Latijns-Amerika)
- enkele Afrikaanse landen

Landen die zich duidelijk afzetten (n.a.v. laatste oorlog op Irak):
- Frankrijk
- Rusland
- China
- Duitsland
- Canada
- Mexico

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Che Guevara schreef op 25-05-2003 @ 16:39:
Ik begin toch echt visioenen van een Amerikaans Vierde Rijk te krijgen nu, bestaand uit:
- de VS zelf
- Cuba
- Irak
- Iran
- Afghanistan
- Noord-Korea (?)
- Columbia

Wat waren dan de eerste drie Amerikaanse Rijken?

[Gatara]

duyvel schreef op 25-05-2003 @ 16:57:
Wat waren dan de eerste drie Amerikaanse Rijken?

Historisch gezien, zou dat niet helemaal kloppen, nee.
Maar als zijnde een pardodie (als je het al zo kunt noemen) van Hitlers natte droom "das Dritte Reich".

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Gatara schreef op 25-05-2003 @ 17:03:
Historisch gezien, zou dat niet helemaal kloppen, nee.
Maar als zijnde een pardodie (als je het al zo kunt noemen) van Hitlers natte droom "das Dritte Reich".

dacht ik eigenlijk stiekem al...

Das Dritte Reich, ik ben nu in Mein Kampf aan het lezen, het boek schijnt in Nederland een verboden boek te zijn, maar in de VS is het gewoon te bestellen.

Tis trouwens absoluut niet te lezen, heel vaag en poetisch...

maar goed ontopic maar weer:
Ik denk dat de VS er met het geopolitiek isoleren van Iran er een beetje op hoopt dat het uit zichzelf hervormingen gaat doorvoeren. Iran aanvallen is geen optie denk ik voor de VS>

[Machiavelli]

Gatara schreef op 25-05-2003 @ 16:51:
Je vergeet:
- GB
- Spanje
- Italie
- Israel
- Australie
- India
- Pakistan
- geheel Latijns-Amerika (gebaseerd op het feit dat ze een Verenigd Latijns-Amerika alla EU in de soep hebben laten lopen door te dreigen alle dollars uit het rijkste land van Latijns-Amerika Chili te halen; waarmee ze dus stevige controle hebben op Latijns-Amerika)
- enkele Afrikaanse landen

Landen die zich duidelijk afzetten (n.a.v. laatste oorlog op Irak):
- Frankrijk
- Rusland
- China
- Duitsland
- Canada
- Mexico

Mooi, als je Nederland er nou ook bij zet ben ik ook weer tevreden.

[mleen]

Assasin schreef op 25-05-2003 @ 17:21:
Mooi, als je Nederland er nou ook bij zet ben ik ook weer tevreden.

bij welk rijtje moet nederland volgens jou?

[Atje85]

Duh, al die oorlogen worden gevoerd om uiteindelijk Iran te 'veroveren', das al heel lang erg duidelijk. Maar ze moeten natuurlijk eerst greep op Iran dr buurlanden hebben om vervolgens Iran in te nemen.

[Atje85]

mleen schreef op 25-05-2003 @ 18:10:
bij welk rijtje moet nederland volgens jou?

Ik denk de bovenste.

Had t zelf liever bij de onderste gezien.

[Anne]

Bedenk wel dat de mensen die nu in de VS aan de macht zijn, leiden aan het Wilsonianisme, een sterke drang om landen te bevrijden en in te richten op een manier die volgens de VS de beste is voor dat land.
Ook gaan deze mensen uit van de 'democratische domino-theorie': niet democratische landen worden vanzelf democratisch als de landen om hen heen dat ook zijn.
De zendingsdrang van de VS schijnt het grootste doel te zijn om landen als Irak, maar ook Iran, te 'bevrijden'. Maar er spelen ook de economische zaken mee (handel en olie). En natuurlijk het bestrijden van het terrorisme, hoewel ik zelf meen dat het door het bestrijden van terrorisme op de manier van de VS juist een voedingsbodem voor terroristen ontstaat, die dan uit woede en wraak zullen opereren, waardoor de VS ook weer reageert, enzovoorts...

[Machiavelli]

mleen schreef op 25-05-2003 @ 18:10:
bij welk rijtje moet nederland volgens jou?

Bij de landen die de USA onvoorwaardelijk steunen natuurlijk.

[Atje85]

Assasin schreef op 26-05-2003 @ 07:35:
onvoorwaardelijk

Staat me niet aan, bj geen 1 land dan.

[naam onbekend]

Assasin schreef op 26-05-2003 @ 07:35:
Bij de landen die de USA onvoorwaardelijk steunen natuurlijk.

Ach ja, natuurlijk. Dat ik dáár ooit aan heb kunnen twijfelen.

Laten we vooral blindelings achter Bush en consorten aan gaan lopen.

[Machiavelli]

naam onbekend schreef op 26-05-2003 @ 12:21:
Ach ja, natuurlijk. Dat ik dáár ooit aan heb kunnen twijfelen.

Laten we vooral blindelings achter Bush en consorten aan gaan lopen.

Beter dan hersenloos alles afwijzen dat een beetje naar de USA ruikt.

[naam onbekend]

Assasin schreef op 26-05-2003 @ 12:25:
Beter dan hersenloos alles afwijzen dat een beetje naar de USA ruikt.

Doet iemand dat hier dan?

Assasin schreef op 26-05-2003 @ 12:25:
Beter dan hersenloos alles afwijzen dat een beetje naar de USA ruikt.

Hersenloos? Het lijkt me dat er genoeg argumenten zijn tegen de huidige Amerikaanse koers.

[Unexplained]

Gatara,

Hoewel ik niet weet of de plannen die jij poneert over de VS waar zijn of niet, heb ik een vraag voor je:

Ben je blij met de huidige situatie in Iran? Zo nee, wat wil je hoe door wie gaan veranderen?

[Machiavelli]

naam onbekend schreef op 26-05-2003 @ 12:28:
Doet iemand dat hier dan?

Ja.

[Machiavelli]

Che Guevara schreef op 26-05-2003 @ 12:31:
Hersenloos? Het lijkt me dat er genoeg argumenten zijn tegen de huidige Amerikaanse koers.

Ja, want ze bevrijden mensen van een wrede dictator en dat is natuurlijk in de ogen van linkse salonrevolutionairen als jij ontzettend fout.

[Gatara]

Unexplained schreef op 26-05-2003 @ 12:31:

Ben je blij met de huidige situatie in Iran? Zo nee, wat wil je hoe door wie gaan veranderen?

Zoals ik al eerder zei:

De jongere populatie is het land langzaamaan aan het veranderen. Als de VS gaan aanvallen of op een andere manier Iran op de knieen te dwingen heb je een grotere kans dat de jonge Iraniers zich meer tegen het westen gaan keren en juist de kant kiezen van de extremisten.

[Gatara]

Assasin schreef op 26-05-2003 @ 12:44:
Ja, want ze bevrijden mensen van een wrede dictator en dat is natuurlijk in de ogen van linkse salonrevolutionairen als jij ontzettend fout.

Waarom iemand dwingen tot vrijheid?
Waarom dictatoriaal iemand dwingen tot democratie?

[geen punt.]

Destabilizeren, da's toch beter dan een oorlog, niet?

[Gatara]

En nog wat meer nieuws:


Iran serious about fighting Al Qaida
Tehran |Reuters | 26-05-2003

Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, his country under mounting pressure from Washington, called Osama bin Laden's Al Qaida network a "dangerous organisation" yesterday and said Iran was serious about combating it.

The Washington Post newspaper reported yesterday the United States had broken off all contact with Iran after intelligence reports suggested Al Qaida operatives in Iran played a role in the May 12 suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia.

Iran, which is on Washington's "axis of evil" list, says it has in the last year arrested and deported about 500 Al Qaida members who had slipped over its borders with Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq and is interrogating suspects.

"We have been serious about Al Qaida and we will remain serious about Al Qaida because it is a very dangerous organisation," Kharrazi told reporters after a meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.

"There is no way that Iranians would support Al Qaida because we have been fighting with Al Qaida since before even the Americans were engaged with (fighting) them," he said.

Downer said he had echoed U.S. concerns about Al Qaida in a series of meetings with top Iranian officials."I said I couldn't put it strongly enough that Iran took every step possible to apprehend any Al Qaida people in Iran," he told reporters.

Downer said he had raised the U.S. belief that some Al Qaida members in Iran had had prior knowledge of the Riyadh bombings. "They told me they had detained some people recently but that they have been detaining people for quite some period of time," he said.

Downer also said it would be "unacceptable if Iran were to move towards the establishment of a nuclear weapons capability".



Iranian foreign minister rejects US charges

Iran has rejected reports that it has been harbouring members of the al Qaeda terrorist network. The Sunday edition of the Washington Post reported that the U.S. government was breaking off all contact with Tehran, after intelligence reports suggested al Qaeda operatives based in Iran had played a role in this month's suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia. Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi though, told reporters that Tehran was cooperating in the war on terror. The Washington Post story said Pentagon officials advocated attempting to destablise Iran's government.
(Deutsche Welle)

U.S. Lawmakers Say Remove Iran's Rulers

By WILLIAM C. MANN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Iran's hard-line government, accused by the Bush administration of harboring top al-Qaida members, poses a big problem for the United States and should be replaced, lawmakers said Sunday.


Democrats and Republicans urged extreme care in working toward that end, in order to avoid fomenting an anti-American reaction among Iranians who admire the U.S. way of life.


In Tehran, Iran's foreign minister insisted his country does not and would not shelter al-Qaida terrorists, and even has jailed some members of Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s network and plans to prosecute them.


"Iran has been the pioneer in fighting al-Qaida terrorists, who have been posing threats to our national interests," Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told the government's Tehran Television. "Iran was al-Qaida's enemy before the U.S."


The Washington Post reported Sunday that the administration has cut off contacts with Iran and "appears ready to embrace an aggressive policy of trying to destabilize the Iranian government."


Asked about the report, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said: "No, our policy continues to be the same." The United States insists that Iran stop supporting terrorists and end illicit weapons programs, he said. "Iran knows what it needs to do," he said.


Worry about possible activities of senior al-Qaida operatives thought to be in Iran was a factor in raising the domestic terror alert level in the United States last week, officials have said. Those operatives are suspected of being connected to the recent bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco.


"There's no question but that there have been and are today senior al-Qaida leaders in Iran, and they are busy," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said last week.


Nonetheless, U.S. officials are finding ways of communicating with Iranian officials "on subjects that are important to us," the State Department said last week.


One issue is Iran's suspected development of nuclear weapons. Washington rejects Iran's contention that its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes.


Rep. Porter Goss (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Iran has shown some cooperation on terrorism, but not enough.


"The trick in Iran is this: The good guys are trying to bring some reform; the bad guys control the levers of power. Sorting the two apart and then isolating the bad guys and taking the levers of power away from them is what's got to happen," said Goss, R-Fla., on CBS' "Face the Nation."


"It's got to happen in a way that does not shut down the reformists or cause repercussions to the reformists. This is hard."


The United States has labeled Iran as an exporter of terrorism since Washington began drawing up such a list in 1979 — the year the Islamic republic was founded and then sponsored the seizure of the U.S. Embassy. Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days, and U.S.-Iran relations have remained severed.


Lawmakers in favor of a new government in Iran did not advocate a military solution.


Rep. Jane Harman (news, bio, voting record) of California, ranking Democrat on Goss' committee, said she considered Iran "more of a clear and present danger than Iraq (news - web sites) last year" but wants a diplomatic focus.


Sen. Joe Lieberman (news - web sites), D-Conn., a Democratic presidential hopeful who strongly backed the Iraq war, said "regime change" is the answer in Iran. He said he was not suggesting U.S. military action because of the pro-American attitudes of many Iranians.





The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee suggested without elaboration that Americans might expect "better cooperation from Iran once the strong signal has gone out" that the United States will not accept weapons of mass destruction there.

"There are efforts being made that would be very productive in regards to Iran and ourselves, with the understanding of the al-Qaida cell that allegedly came from Iran and had something to do with the Saudi Arabia attacks," Sen. Pat Roberts (news, bio, voting record), R-Kan., told NBC's "Meet the Press."

"I think we're going to make some progress on that."

On CNN's "Late Edition," Sen. Jay Rockefeller, vice chairman of that committee, said to expect good news soon from Iran, and that it would be "very foolhardy" to try to destabilize Tehran in expectation of a surge in pro-Americanism.

"I think we have to be a little bit cautious about ... tossing out that term `destabilize,' `take over,'" Rockefeller said. "We're getting to think that way too much because of — after Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq."

Sen. Joseph Biden (news, bio, voting record) of Delaware, ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, worried about taking on too much at once, citing the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I'd like to see us finish one job at a time," Biden said.

Iran's top diplomat in the United States, Javad Zarif, said on ABC's "This Week" that his government was interested in easing tensions with the United States.

"At the same time, if the United States only wants to speak through the language of pressure, then Iran will resist," said Zarif, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations
(Yahoo News)






With US pressure, political crisis edges to showdown


Monday, May 26, 2003 - ©2003 IranMania.com

TEHRAN, Iran, May 25 (AFP) - With the United States looking set on a concerted campaign to destabilise Iran's clerical regime, the Islamic republic's embattled reformist camp are edging closer to a major showdown with their hardline rivals.

Arguing that powerful conservatives have isolated Iran's voters by blocking President Mohammad Khatami's progressive agenda, reformists are warning that the only way to stave off the threat from Washington is for the hardliners to bend to their will.


No Iranian, Khatami's supporters reason, will fight to defend an unpopular regime -- a lesson clearly spelled out by the quick collapse of armed resistance during the invasion of Iraq.

On Saturday, a group of 127 reformist MPs launched a blistering attack on the layers of hardline-controlled institutions that have blocked their reform agenda, calling directly on supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to intervene or risk watching the Islamic republic crumble.

"Perhaps there has been no period in the recent history of Iran that was as sensitive as this one," warned the strongly-worded letter, citing "political and social gaps coupled with a clear US plan to change the geopolitical map of the region."

"If this is a glass of poison, it should be drunk before our country's independence and territorial integrity are put in danger," the letter said, in a reference to the expression used when revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was forced to sign a ceasefire with Iraq in 1988.

The openly-distributed message charged that since Khatami won his first term in office six years ago, his camp had been undermined by an orchestrated campaign including serial murders, arrests and crackdowns targetted at reformists, students, journalists and dissidents.

Singled out for attack were the Guardians Council, a conservative-controlled oversight body that vets all legislation, and the Judiciary -- a hardline bastion accused of waging a politically-motivated campaign against reformers.

Iran's political crisis has worsened in recent months, with Khatami's allies pushing through parliament twin bills that would strip the Guardians Council of its right to vet candidates for public office and enable the embattled president to challenge the judiciary.

Both bills have already been rejected by the Guardians Council, with reformists in turn calling for a referendum to be held on the issue. Several reformists have also advocated staging a mass walk-out from government.

But while the crisis had been simmering for several years, the war in Iraq -- which has left Iran effectively surrounded by US troops -- has injected a new sense of urgency for both sides to resolve the damaging impasse.

"Not much time is left," Khamenei was told in the letter. "Most people are dissatisfied and disappointed... (and) foreign forces have surrounded the country from all sides."

The reformists are well aware that the close ties they have built with US allies in Europe and Asia could come unstuck if the reform process ends -- therefore stripping Iran of any diplomatic support.

Furthermore, Iran is now facing the kinds of allegations levelled at Iraq before the US attacked. Washington has accused Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons and hosting al-Qaeda operatives.

Tentative contacts between Washington and Tehran -- who broke off ties after the 1979 Islamic revolution -- have also broken off, dashing any chance of detente.

On Sunday, The Washington Post reported that the US government had ended the discreet contacts with Iran and was considering "public and private actions" to destabilize the Iranian government -- a process that many Western diplomats here see as already underway.

According to the reformists' letter, "the destiny of our country can either be dictatorship, or the respect of democratic rules" -- an allusion to what analysts see as Khamenei's two main options, transforming Iran into a fortress or swallowing the bitter pill of reform.
(Iranmania.com)

[naam onbekend]

Assasin schreef op 26-05-2003 @ 12:44:
Ja, want ze bevrijden mensen van een wrede dictator en dat is natuurlijk in de ogen van linkse salonrevolutionairen als jij ontzettend fout.

Hier beschrijf je heel mooi de typische simplistische gedachtengang die op dit moment in het Witte Huis en het Pentagon ook zo populair is.

[Martian]

Assasin schreef op 26-05-2003 @ 12:43:
Ja.

Je argumentatie is van de bovenste plank

Assasin schreef op 26-05-2003 @ 12:43:
Ja, want ze bevrijden mensen van een wrede dictator en dat is natuurlijk in de ogen van linkse salonrevolutionairen als jij ontzettend fout.

eh Iran is geen wrede dictatuur maar een beginnende, hervormende democratie. De regering van de Sjah die daar lange tijd gezeten heeft daarentegen, was wel een wrede dictatuur. En raad eens welk land de Sjah aan de macht geholpen heeft?

Juist ja, de VS. Daarom zijn zij ook zo tegen de huidige regering, want die is het resultaat van de Islamitische revolutie van 1979.

Waarom dus de VS vertrouwen?
Ken je geschiedenis.

[Martian]

Overigens was de Islamitische overheid tot enige tijd geleden ook wel te vergelijken met een dictatuur, maar juist nu daar verandering in aan het komen is wil de VS ze ineens aanpakken.

Logica is ver te zoeken :/

[Gatara]

meelman schreef op 26-05-2003 @ 13:09:
Destabilizeren, da's toch beter dan een oorlog, niet?

Een land destabilizeren dat zich tussen al gedestabilizeerde landen en/of al door het westen beinvloed zijn, lijkt me even gevaarlijk als een oorlog.

Niet zozeer voor de regio.
Maar eerder voor extremistische groeperingen.
Zoals ik al zei:
"beter geen olie bij de motor doen"

Assasin schreef op 26-05-2003 @ 12:44:
Ja, want ze bevrijden mensen van een wrede dictator en dat is natuurlijk in de ogen van linkse salonrevolutionairen als jij ontzettend fout.

Wrede dictatoren die ze eerst aan de macht hebben geholpen, waarna ze die dictatoren weer afzetten omdat hij niet naar hen luistert. Dan zetten ze er een semi-democratische marionettenregering neer, die te zwak is om de echte problemen in het land aan te pakken waardoor extremistische groeperingen een kolfje naar hun hand hand hebben. Ja, dat is de juiste oplossing.
Je hanteert overigens de simplistische Bush-redenering 'If you're not with us, you're against us'. Bravo, over hersenloos gesproken...

[CraigDavid]

volgens mij ligt kimmie hier niet echt wakker van

[Gatara]

Vreemd, zou men OF Powell erbuiten houden OF dit een volgende strategische tactiek zijn om te doen alsof het niet zo extreem was gezien de kritiek die de VS kreeg OF is de Amerikaanse media of een andere groep (concurrerende conservatieven of democraten) bezig zijn met een lastercampagne?:

Powell unaware of tough new US policy on Iran

Wednesday, May28 , 2003 - © 2003IranMania.com

WASHINGTON, May 27 (AFP) - Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday that he was unaware of any tough new US policy on Iran and said that contacts with the Islamic republic would continue.

"Our policies with respect to Iran have not changed," he told reporters, adding quickly, however, that Washington still had serious concerns about Tehran's support for alleged terrorist groups and its nuclear program.

"We do not approve of their support of terrorist activity," Powell said. "We have made it clear over the years that we disapprove of their efforts to develop a nuclear capability.

"Our policies are well known and I am not aware of any changes in policy of the kind that have been speculated about," he said, referring to a flurry of reports in US media that have described a toughening of Washington's stance.

Those reports have said that President George W. Bush's administration has cut off a series of secret talks with Iran because of intelligence information pointing to the presence in the country of senior members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

Powell did not say specifically that direct talks between US and Iranian officials, held recently in Geneva, had been suspended, but indicated that Washington could continue to express its concerns in "contacts" with Tehran.

"We always have contacts with them," he said. "We have contacts.

"There is much in the news today that I have not been able to source," Powell said, referring to the reports, which have all quoted unidentified administration officials.

US officials said earlier that plans for a high-level interagency White House meeting to discuss policy on Iran, scheduled for Tuesday, had been postponed.

One official said he understood that the meeting might now take place on Thursday at the "principals" level and include Powell, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.

Bron

[Gatara]

Ik snap t nu echt niet meer (ik denk dat de Iraanse regering ook "puzzled" is.).
misschien dat de VS duidelijk laat merken dat dit tot een verbale dreiging blijft,... of is dit nu juist een tactiek om Iran te laten geloven dat het slechts verbaal blijft... ? Wie t weet mag t zeggen

US issues new warning to Iran, keeps contacts open

Wednesday, May28 , 2003 - © 2003IranMania.com

WASHINGTON, May 27 (AFP) - The United States warned Tuesday that Iran has "insufficiently" responded to demands it crack down on al-Qaeda and forsake nuclear arms, but said contacts with the Islamic republic would continue.

Top aides to President George W. Bush were expected to meet Thursday to review US policy towards Iran after the war to oust Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq, officials said.

The Iranian government has repeatedly denied supporting al-Qaeda and a Tehran government spokesman warned Tuesday that the United States should stay out of Iranian affairs.

In response to news reports describing a toughening of US policy towards Iran, the White House and US Secretary of State Colin Powell professed, however, not to know of any change in the administration's approach.


© 2001IranMania
Us Secretary of States, Colin Powell.

"Our policies with respect to Iran have not changed," Powell told reporters, adding that Washington still had serious concerns about Tehran's support for alleged terrorist groups and its nuclear program.

"We do not approve of their support of terrorist activity," Powell said. "We have made it clear over the years that we disapprove of their efforts to develop a nuclear capability."

Asked how Iran has responded to US pressure to end to its quest for nuclear weapons and crack down on Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer replied: "Insufficiently."

Fleischer would not say specifically that direct talks between US and Iranian officials, held recently in Geneva, had been suspended, but noted that US officials had not attended a meeting scheduled for last week.

Reports have said the Bush administration cut off secret talks with Iran because of intelligence information pointing to the presence in the country of senior al-Qaeda members.

"We will not miss important opportunities to state our case to Iranian authorities through whatever channels are appropriate because it represents important principles about not harboring terrorists, about not developing nuclear weapons," said Fleischer.

"These are important positions and we will not be shy about expressing them," said Fleischer, who confirmed that plans for a high-level, interagency White House meeting to discuss policy on Iran had been postponed from Tuesday.

A US official said he understood that the meeting might now take place on Thursday at the "principals" level and include Powell, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.


© 2001IranMania
National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice.

"Our policies are well known and I am not aware of any changes in policy of the kind that have been speculated about," Powell said of the media reports.

The New York Times reported Monday that the United States asked Iran to hand over al-Qaeda members operating in its territory, following May12 suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia that left 34 dead.

The request came after US officials reviewed intelligence indications that Iran-based al-Qaeda operatives were involved in the attacks, the Times said.

The Iranian goverenment said the United States should stay out of its internal affairs.

"We hope logic and reason will prevail in the Americans' debates and that they will avoid taking an interventionist stance," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told AFP in Tehran.

Asefi said the government did not know how true the reports were that the United States was preparing a new hardline policy against the Islamic government. "We do not know to what degree this information is true. But we have always told the Americans to avoid meddling in our internal affairs."

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America moet eens ophouden met het machtigste mannetje van de klas te spelen. Eerst was het inderdaad het verkondigen van de "as van het kwaad", daarna voorzichtig zeggen dat er misschien wel wapens zijn in Irak en daarna de oorlog, tis een soort patroon. Bij Iran zie ik het ook zo weer gebeuren... Nu dus zeggen dat ze de regering willen destabiliseren, en voor dat je het weet staan er weer honderdduizenden vrouwtjes hun "brave soldiers" uit te zwaaien voor hun zoveelste "freedom" operatie...

Misschien, met nadruk MISSCHIEN, bedoelen de amerikanen het allemaal wel best met hun democratiebrengen, maar het is zeker niet verstandig. Ook heb ik het gevoel dat Bush met zijn oorlog tegen het terrorisme zijn land juist meer in de schijnwerpers speelt van de wereldwijde terroristen.

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