IRAN THREATENS - WHO WOULD HAVE THUNK

[THE KOD]

Iran Threatens Israel if U.S. Attacks
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI

Associated Press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran ? Iran's first target would be Israel in any response to a U.S. attack, a Revolutionary Guards commander said Tuesday, reinforcing the Iranian president's past call for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

"We have announced that wherever (in Iran) America does make any mischief, the first place we target will be Israel," the Iranian Student News Agency quoted Gen. Mohammad Ebrahim Dehghani as saying.

an Iranian technician explains to a clergyman and university students about an argon ion laser machine, bottom, during an exhibition of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, at the Qom University in the city of Qom 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, May 2, 2006. Iran has discovered new deposits of uranium and is continuing its nuclear enrichment program despite international protests, a top nuclear official said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Dehghani, a top commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, also said Israel was not prepared to go to war against Iran.

"We will definitely resist ... U.S. B-52 (bombers)," Dehghani was quoted as saying.

On Tuesday, Israeli elder statesman Shimon Peres called on Iran to scrap its nuclear program and warned: "Remember that Israel is exceptionally strong and knows how to defend itself."

President Bush has said a military option remains on the table if Iran does not agree to international demands for it to stop enriching uranium and open its nuclear program to inspections. However, Bush said he wants to solve the dispute through diplomacy.

Dehghani, who served as a spokesman during Revolutionary Guards war games last month, said the exercises were held ahead of schedule to send a message to the U.S. and its allies against any plans for a military strike.

"We were due to organize the maneuvers in May but because of timing conditions and issues related to nuclear energy and upon the recommendation of Mr. Larijani, it was held 40 days sooner than planned," he said. Ali Larijani is Iran's top nuclear negotiator.

Friday marked the deadline set by the U.N. Security Council for Iran to freeze its uranium enrichment program. Council members are now considering the next steps, which could include punishing sanctions though Russia and China are on record as opposing that option.

The semiofficial student news agency gave no further details on Dehghani's remarks or where he made them.

Israel's army chief, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, said in an interview published Tuesday that the world has the military might to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. He also said that if Iran does obtain nuclear capability, it will constitute a threat to Israel's existence.

When asked if the world can, militarily, stop Iran's nuclear program, Halutz told the Maariv newspaper "Yes, yes. Regarding whether or not the world can, the answer is yes."

Questioned on whether Israel would be involved in such a military operation against its top enemy, Halutz said "We are part of the world."
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I just wont put it past George W to try something in Iran in the next year or so.

Iran playing the same Saddam game. Oh yes we will not consider doing this and that , all the while months and months are ticking by.

So what ever happened to North Korea when they were doing the same thing. Did they stop their nuclear ambitions ? I dont remember reading about that. Or did US just back off after we knew that N Korea had the bomb ?

Well I guarantee you that Iran will make provisions to keep their word and if any bombs fall on their lands, then Isreal will take a hit also.

But isnt this what the whole thing is about anyway. So if Iran is going to do that anyway , then when they get the bomb they will do it.
So we minds well hit Iran where it hurts now, before they get a chance to do bad things.

Damn, George W may go out with a flash yet.

 

[DOGS THAT BARK]

Yep reminds me off Bahgdad Bob telling them they were kicking ass and simultaniously getting ready to haul ass as troops were within less than 1/4 mile.

My fav Muslim line--"Allah willing"--seems to me Allah will is that they are confined to caves and hinding like **** roaches --and they lost power in every country in mid east except Syria and Iran.

 

[AR182]

my money will be on israel.....pretty quickly too.

 

[djv]

Iran can't touch Israel it's all BS. So now they have the bomb just like that. And missiles that go that far and are accurate. The same Iran that could not even win against the third rate Iraq army 18/20 years ago.

 

[gardenweasel]

look at how iran is behaving before(allegedly) they even have a bomb.....

do you think for one minute the world's most dangerous weapons are going to suddenly infuse these barbarians with the sweet light of reason?...if so,i hope you`re correct...

personally,not sure it`s sound policy to neuter ourselves and smile meekly at all direct war threats.....

ahmadinnerjacket and the imams have openly and quite belligerently threatened war if we try to stop the first-ever development of nuclear weapons by a terrorist state that is avowedly preparing to proliferate said nukes among other unstable belligerent states....

anybody have any ideas on how to "dissuade" them?...


-""When the situation was manageable it was neglected, and now that it is thoroughly out of hand we apply too late the remedies which then might have effected a cure. There is nothing new in the story. It is as old as the sibylline books. It falls into that long, dismal catalogue of the fruitlessness of experience and the confirmed unteachability of mankind. Want of foresight, unwillingness to act when action would be simple and effective, lack of clear thinking, confusion of counsel until the emergency comes, until self-preservation strikes its jarring gong, these are the features which constitute the endless repetition of history.""

winston churchill...

 

[Spytheweb]

Iran can't touch Israel it's all BS. So now they have the bomb just like that. And missiles that go that far and are accurate. The same Iran that could not even win against the third rate Iraq army 18/20 years ago.

That's funny, The US can't win against a 3rd rate Iraqi freedom fighters. If it's so much of a slam dunk, why don't Israel take care of them before the week's out and be finish with it.

 

[djv]

This is much different then Iraq. Iran is to close, to many countries that will not stand for it. Not just Israel. When time comes those with better intelligences then we have there will show there hand. You may even see some up rising in Iran.

 

[gardenweasel]

because ,the 5th column(spy the web and his ilk)would be screaming like their hair was on fire....

and nations with veto power at the u.n....china and russia...are more interested in trading with despots...and helping them undermine the u.s....than ensuring a safer world...

it`s high time that we start delineating who is an ally...and who isn`t...and react accordingly with as much economic influence as we can bring to bear...

"""Hundreds of combat support items were found Tuesday morning in a shipping container sent from China to the Gaza Strip. Customs officers at the Ashdod Port made the discovery while scanning the container.

The container’s importers said their shipment includes sewing notions, hats and clocks. Customs officers however confiscated 300 telescopes, some of which have sights and infrared markers for long-range targets.

Security officials said the items are of good quality and had they reached the Gaza Strip they would have certainly improved terror groups’ ability to hit IDF targets.

“We are speaking of a quantity that could upgrade the fighting capability of a whole brigade in the Palestinian Authority security forces. A telescope of this kind, fitted on an M-16 rifle, for example, improves the death ability of the weapon,” customs officials said.

china now has the o.k. from cuba to drill for oil off the florida coast....

and democrats keep blocking our own country from drilling off the carolina,california and florida coasts....not to mention anwar...

this is a crisis...

we need to get tough economically..internally and externally....with those that obviously don`t have our best interests in mind..

we are not using our full power of influence against those that would harm us(and i`m not talking military influence)

 

[kosar]

and democrats keep blocking our own country from drilling off the carolina,california and florida coasts....not to mention anwar...

Did Jeb Bush switch parties and I somehow missed it?

 

[gardenweasel]

no...you`re 100% right on that one....but,make no mistake...the dems are the stumbling block...

harry reid was just on the news stating,:...""the republican`s answer is always "drill,drill,drill"".....

well,guess what harry,last time i checked,you have to drill for oil(unless yuri geller has graduated from bending spoons).....

the bush`s are personna non grata in my book...

if jeb is the republican nominee in `08,i may either not vote.....or even vote dem if the party divests itself of some of it`s far left leadership...

we have to start digging deeper into our playbook...i don`t like the idea of having china drilling off baja....while the environmentalists tie our hands...

we`d better wake up...right and left...because while we`re tearing one another a new one,third world countries,despots and enemies are busy undermining our economy,our sovereignty....and our security...

 

[Nosigar]

Did Jeb Bush switch parties and I somehow missed it?

Yeah, he went with his brother to the GOP-A (Grand Ole Panderers and Appeasers).

 

[Nosigar]

well,guess what harry,last time i checked,you have to drill for oil(unless yuri geller has graduated from bending spoons).....

:142smilie :mj07:

BTW, I think it's URI.

 

[djv]

So Bush said to his brother he would stop pushing for drilling off Florida while he was governor. But it's the Dem's fault?
Were still speaking out both side of our mouths. We say things like we need to get away from oil. As Bush said were addicted to oil.
Next words from there mouths is we need to dill drill and drill. Billions set aside to help big oil find more of the same. This is more important about our security then Iraq is. So they put millions in funds for research other then oil. Lets see billions for oil millions for other. Maybe we should learn how to conserve a little. I mean all of us. Stop being our own worst enemy.

 

[THE KOD]

Military action not an option, Villepin says

Thursday, May 4, 2006 Posted: 1129 GMT (1929 HKT)


PARIS, France (AP) -- French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has said that military action is not the solution to the international standoff over Iran's nuclear program.

"My conviction is that military action is certainly not the solution," Villepin said at a monthly news conference. "We have already lived through this type of scenario and we know that not only does it settle nothing, but it can raise risks. We have seen this in the most clear way with Iraq."

Villepin -- who made a famed speech at the United Nations against the war in Iraq in 2003 when he was French foreign minister -- urged "unity" and "firmness" within the international community in dealing with Iran.

Saying Iranian statements about its growing nuclear capabilities were "worrying," Villepin said Russian and Chinese support for any U.N. resolution was necessary "for the credibility of our action, the pressure on Iran."

France and other western nations circulated a U.N. Security Council resolution Wednesday that would demand Iran abandon uranium enrichment or face the threat of unspecified further measures -- a possible reference to sanctions. China and Russia oppose the measure.

The resolution is the latest effort to pressure Iran to stop what the United States, France and others say is a clandestine nuclear weapons program. Iran says it is developing nuclear technology purely for energy
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[THE KOD]

PARIS, France (AP) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has encouraged the United States to hold direct talks with Iran and expressed hope that an agreement can be reached to settle the nuclear dispute with Tehran without resorting to violence.

The U.N. chief called for intensified diplomatic efforts to press the Iranians to suspend uranium enrichment while putting something on the table for Tehran, possibly technology or security assurances that nobody is going to blow up their nuclear facilities.

"It would also be good if the U.S. were to be at the table with the Europeans, the Iranians, the Russians, to try and work this out," Annan said in an interview Thursday on "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" on PBS television.

"I think it would be a good idea because the Iranians give you the impression that ... whatever they discuss with the Europeans had to be checked with the U.S. and come back," he added.

The secretary-general spoke as the U.N. Security Council started discussing a Western-backed resolution that would make mandatory an earlier council demand that Iran stop uranium enrichment or face the threat of "further measures."

While pledging to let diplomacy run its course, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she did not see the need for direct talks now between Washington and Tehran, as favored by the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, and other lawmakers.

Britain, France and Germany have been leading negotiations to try to get Iran to give up its enrichment program, but Tehran has refused and is pressing ahead, insisting it is legally entitled to produce nuclear energy for electricity under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The three European nations, backed by the U.S., want the program stopped because they believe Iran's real goal is to use the enriched uranium to produce nuclear weapons.

Iran said this week it is now enriching uranium to 4.8 percent, the level required for fueling nuclear power reactors. That level is far below the enrichment of more than 90 percent that is required for making nuclear weapons.
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Uh one problem with Iran being able to enrich the uranium to 4.8 percent, is that if they can do that then it wont be long before they can enrich it to produce weapons.

Stall , Stall , Stall.

George W. will know what to do.

I wonder what Hillary would do if she was President.

 

[THE KOD]

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Russia and China insisted that a Security Council resolution on Iran stress diplomacy and oversight of Tehran's nuclear program instead of raising the threat of possible future action.

Those demands made during meetings on Friday kept Russia and China at odds with the United States, Britain and France over a proposed draft resolution.

The three Western nations had been hoping the council would adopt the resolution before foreign ministers of six key nations meet in New York on Monday to try to negotiate with Iran.

But it was clear after Friday's meetings that council members remain divided on two key issues and bridging the divide will be difficult.

The council agreed to hold an informal meeting on Saturday afternoon to go over members' concerns about the text. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said he was ready to work around the clock, but other members were less enthusiastic.

Under the proposed draft, the Security Council's demand in late March for Iran to stop enrichment would be made mandatory, and Tehran would be given a short period to comply. If it refuses, the resolution says the council intends to consider "further measures" to ensure compliance.

The sponsors, who believe Iran's goal is to produce nuclear weapons, want the resolution adopted under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter which can be enforced by sanctions -- or if necessary -- military action. The draft also includes a declaration that the "proliferation risk" posed by Iran constitutes a threat to international peace and security.

Both China and Russia have said they oppose putting the resolution under Chapter 7 or referring to Iran as a threat to international peace and security.

China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya was asked whether he believed Chapter 7 could open the way to the use of military force against Iran, as happened in Iraq.

"That is the concern, not only of China, but of others," he said.

"We are looking for a diplomatic solution -- what is the best language for a diplomatic solution," he said.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said "when people assert that the only way for this resolution to serve its purpose is to put some big statements in it, like Chapter 7, "threats to peace", etcetera etcetera, -- when they assert that this is strengthening the resolution, this is not necessarily the case."

Bolton said he had told the Russians and Chinese to come up with some creative way to make the resolution mandatory without Chapter 7.