On the US Policy of Dual Containment of Iran and Iraq17 Mar 2008Summary: If containment means the destruction of any country that stands in the way of US and Israel, the fate of Iran might be similar to that of Iraq; ultimately an excuse will be found to do to Iran what was done to Iraq. The advocates of the dual containment policy, particularly those who had argued that Iran should be contained before Iraq, have been relentless. They will not stop until they achieve the ultimate containment of Iran. source: Payvandread more
Calls for Admiral to ?blow whistle? on Iran strike16 Mar 2008Summary: Calls are growing on Admiral William Fallon and other senior military officers to make a public stand against the Bush administration?s alleged plans to attack Iran. Admiral Fallon?s resignation last week from his position as head of the US Central Command is seen as a blow for those seeking a diplomatic resolution to the current standoff with Iran. His resignation has drawn demands that he ?come clean? as to his reasons for stepping down and expose the true extent of the Bush administration?s plans for military intervention. source: Westminster Committee on Iranread more
The British Government runs scared of Israel16 Mar 2008Summary: On 18 February 2008, the British Government was forced to release a draft dossier on Iraq?s so-called ?weapons of mass destruction? under the Freedom of Information Act. But it succeeded in persuading a Freedom of Information Tribunal to allow a handwritten reference to Israel in the margin of the document to be suppressed. source: Spin Watchread more
Time to engage with Iran16 Mar 2008Summary: Iran-US meeting over IraqThe west?s confrontational policy towards Iran is both wrong and impractical, argues EER?s editor-in-chief Karel Beckman. Iran is what it is today largely as a result of historical wrongs committed by the west against Iran ? wrongs that are ignored in today?s discussions about the country and compounded by the west?s continuing policy of confrontation. The only way to effect positive changes in Iran, increase stability in the Middle East and improve oil and gas supplies, is to end all source: European Energy Reviewread more
Two decades on, war victims of Saddam Hussein’s gas attacks draw their last breath16 Mar 2008Summary: Hadi Khosorojerdi lies on his bed in a Tehran hospital, a drip in his arm. In a weak, breathless voice the former Revolutionary Guard recalls the day in August 1987 that he was hit by shrapnel on Majnoon island during the Iran-Iraq War. As he lay unconscious on the ground, the Iraqis unleashed mustard gas. source: Times on lineread more
Israel, the United States and Iran: the tipping-point15 Mar 2008Summary: From a neo-conservative perspective, the prospect of George W Bush leaving office in circumstances where Iran is a rising power with nuclear potential is just not acceptable. Admiral Fallon’s resignation does not make a huge difference, yet it removes one irritant from the scene. That alone makes a war with Iran marginally more likely. But the real determinant remains the Israeli government and what it chooses to do in the next six months. source: Open Democracyread more
Living the ‘Chemical Ali’ nightmare15 Mar 2008Summary: Sardasht and other affected areas in Iranian Kurdistan desperately need specialists in the treatment of ailments associated with long-term mustard gas poisoning, says Dr Khateri. source: ISN Security Watchread more
SCWVS participates in Chemical Weapons Convention conference15 Mar 2008Summary: chemical bombing of SardashtA delegation from the Society for Chemical Weapons Victims Support (SCWVS), including four Iranian survivors of the chemical weapons attacks of the 1980s by Saddam’s regime, will participate in the second review conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention. source: CASMIIread more
How the Forgotten City of Halabja became the Launch Pad for War on Iraq14 Mar 2008Summary: When Iraq first used chemical weapons against the Iranians, the world ignored it. When the chemical weapons attack on Halabja massacred as many as 5,000 people, the U.S. continued to ignore it. When the U.S. resumed its own advanced chemical weapons production, it wanted the world to ignore it. When Saddam Hussein became the demon after invading Kuwait in 1990, Iraqi chemical weapons would became an issue, but not yet Halabja. Only when it came to a desperate search for pretexts to invade Iraq in 2003 did Halabja become source: Global Researchread more
Fallon Leaves: Will Iran War Follow?14 Mar 2008Summary: BockEven if the sofa samurai in Dick Cheney’s office and the American Enterprise Institute (not to mention Norman Podhoretz) still think a splendid little war with Iran might be a lovely capstone to Bush’s time in office, most of the military ? the people who would have to draw up the plans and do the fighting and dying ? are convinced a war with Iran would be a huge mistake. source: AntiWar.com read more
Unwilling to Nuke?14 Mar 2008Summary: According to the Washington Times, a “former senior Defense official” (SecDef Cheney?) knows “for a fact” that Adm. William J. Fallon ? commander of all U.S. armed forces in the MidEast and Persian Gulf regions ? “was fired” last week because Iran and Syria were allegedly allowing “foreign fighters” to cross into Iraq and “kill our soldiers” and “Fallon was unwilling to do anything to hold those countries accountable.” source: AntiWar.com read more
Possible Solution for U.S.-Iran Nuclear Standoff13 Mar 2008Summary: The proposal we have, which is subject to negotiation with Iranians if we ever get to that point, is that the United States would work with several countries?possibly France, Germany, possibly the United Kingdom?and work with Iran to negotiate a consortium, or what is called a ?multilateral fuel-cycle facility,? on Iranian territory that would encompass the Iranians? existing work with their centrifuges to enrich uranium. source: Council of Foreign Relationsread more
Kissinger Backs Direct U.S. Negotiations With Iran13 Mar 2008Summary: ``If Iran wanted a settlement to be reached we would have an obligation on our part to come up with a reasonable position. I do not believe that regime change can be an objective of our foreign policy,’’ Kissinger said. source: bloomberg.comread more
Join the World Against the War this Saturday13 Mar 2008Summary: Demonstrations will be taking place in more than 50 cities
around the world on the anniversary of the invasion (see
www.theworldagainstwar.org). The London demonstration will
assemble at Trafalgar Square at 12am. It will surround
parliament and end in Parliament Square. source: Stop the War Coalitionread more
Golamreza Ansari, Iran’s Ambassador to Russia: “We don’t have such missiles”13 Mar 2008Summary: The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Russia Golamreza Ansari told our correspondent about the Iranian nuclear program, missile technologies, Russian-Iranian military cooperation, and the current political situation in Iran. Before his appointment to Moscow, Ansari worked in the Head office of the Foreign Ministry in Tehran and then as Iranian Ambassador in London. source: Moscow Newsread more
Petraeus Wins in Iraq Battle, Kills Iran War12 Mar 2008Summary: General PetraeusThe departure of Adm. William J. (“Fox”) Fallon gives us a rare insight into a secret world of relationships between the highest-ranking general officers and their civilian masters. This is a world in which only two dozen or so three-and four-star officers get regular face time with the civilian bosses in meetings and video-teleconferences. source: Washington Postread more
Fallon’s Resignation Is Not Seen as Step Toward Attack on Iran12 Mar 2008Summary: Admiral FallonThe abrupt resignation of the Pentagon’s top Middle East commander has silenced one of the Bush administration’s fiercest opponents of a unilateral military strike against Iran, yet top administration officials themselves do not see real prospects for military action before the end of President Bush’s term, current and former U.S. officials say. source: Washington Postread more
Rep. McDermott: The Folly of Attacking Iran12 Mar 2008Summary: It’s time for the most powerful nation on earth to recognize that holding a grudge against Iran, like the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s in a bad western movie, will not solve the problems of the world. In fact, I submit it will only inflame tensions. And that is exactly what our policy is today. source: Alternetread more
New U.N. Security Council Sanctions against Iran via Dubious Data and an Embedded Mainstream Media12 Mar 2008Summary: Bloggers are trying to explore the nature of not only the allegations against Iran, but perhaps as important, the form of journalism which will publish stories making serious allegations from anonymous sources and without having a means to evaluate the evidence. The mainstream media in this ways shows itself to be a pliant source of publicity in support of U.S. government policy aims. Instead of functioning as a watchdog, the mainstream media by publishing such stories, act as the ?mouthpiece? for the abuse of power. source: Netizen Journalism and the New Newsread more
Leading article: An admiral and a self-serving administration12 Mar 2008Summary: Admiral Fallon is not the first to fail to persuade the White House to adopt a more constructive approach to Iran. The 2006 Iraq Study Group recommended bringing neighbouring states, including Iran, on board to improve the security situation in the country. Yet despite commissioning the report, Mr Bush did exactly the opposite, seeking to isolate Iran and ordering the surge into Baghdad. source: The Independentread more
Israel raises the ante against Iran12 Mar 2008Summary: “We are in no danger at all of having an Iranian nuclear weapon dropped on us. We cannot say so too openly, however, because we have a history of using any threat in order to get weapons … thanks to the Iranian threat, we are getting weapons from the US and Germany.” – Israeli author, Martin van Crevled, June 2007. source: Asia Times Onlineread more
Iran still a target?12 Mar 2008Summary: KinzerWhy is the U.S., which maintains good relations with other odious regimes, unable to offer a hand of peace to Iran? The reasons are psychological as much as political. Powerful Americans have never forgiven Iran’s mullahs for overthrowing the shah in 1979, taking U.S. diplomats hostage and opposing Western interests in the Middle East and beyond. They feel the mullahs must be given the punishment they have thus far escaped. source: Baltimore Sunread more
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII)