Iran top of "trouble spots" - Cheney
 

No surprises here.

I wonder if they're trying to scare Iran into the diplomatic solution. I've read that the Administration privately opposes the EU efforts here, but can't afford to be seen into publicly obstructing them. I have also read that they are willing to wait and see.

One last thing. I have to admit this actually made me laugh out loud.

"The administration has also accused Iran of interfering in the affairs of neighbouring Iraq, where US forces have been bogged down in an insurgency since the 2003 invasion."

Oh the irony! I wish I had the quote, as I should like to see exactly what he said.

Anyway, that's just an amused observation and doesn't really impact the core issue here.

Do we think the Bush Administration are:

a) preparing for an invasion
b) preparting for "surgical strikes"
c) preping Israel to carry out strikes
d) trying to scare Iran into compliance


Which do you think? Or perhaps another option?


Mr Mephisto

e) all of the above...


They are keeping all of their options open. Cheney is just greasing the skids for whatever comes. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the real reason Powell left was because he felt he couldn't support these plans...

D, and some sort of accident along the lines of "Oops, your uranium purification reactor blew up/suffered a debilitating accident. Who, us? No. It's dangerous stuff, you know. You should have been more careful."

I don't think that anyone within the administration has the political capital to spend gearing up for another full-blown war. If they do, and try to rope the us (UK) in alongside them again - forget it... I hope.

Whatever happens, it won't be obvious. Surely, surely they can't be that thick as to go in guns blazing yet again? And yet I wouldn't be surprised if the enrichment program suddenly suffers a few setbacks of a highly explosive nature.

I am highly interested in seeing how this would play out in an almost detached sort of way.
I want to see if Bush can convince congress go along with another war, if he could get any other countries behind him or if there would be any sort of domestic resistance to it.

It didn't happen last time when Bush/Cheney gave us "Iraq is pursuing "a fairly robust nuclear program" and has a history of sponsoring terrorism, he said. "That combination is of great concern." Cheney said the Bush administration might seek U.N. sanctions against Iraq over its nuclear program if necessary. The administration prefers to address the problem with diplomacy and doesn't want more war in the Middle East, he said."

Ooh wait that is what Cheney just said yesterday.... Just replace the q's with n's in the whole thing. It's the exact same script from pre-gulf war II.

Not that I don't believe them this time, but they really did lose their credibility shirt the last time they said this.

there's only one thing that i can think of that scares me more than the words "Iranian Nuclear Program."

Those words are: "Failed American Intervention in Iran."

lol, true, true.

in a way, i feel like saying "here we go again."

I don't understand much regarding the U.S. policy in that part of the world, just what I read in the papers, etc.. But it seemed to me from the first time we went into Afghanistan and then Iraq that Iran was going to be the ultimate target.

I imagine the reason (excuse) will be because they are supplying terrorists targeting the new Iraqi government. I would guess that the action will consist of surgical strikes of their nuclear facilities to start.

Personally, i am more worried about the possibility of a resurgence of bad "Flock of Seagulls" jokes than anything the bush administration attempts to claim as a credible threat.

I forsee a new color coded iranian threat level status system in the works.