As Petraeus testifies, Baghdad teeters on edge of erupting9 Apr 2008Summary: BAGHDAD ? Army Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker were critical of Iran when they testified Tuesday before the Senate , barely giving credit for an Iranian-brokered cease-fire that curbed the killing after a week of Shiite-on-Shiite bloodshed in southern Iraq and Baghdad. source: McClatchy Newspapers read more
Obama calls for talks with Iran over Iraq9 Apr 2008Summary: WASHINGTON (AFP) ? Democratic 2008 hopeful Barack Obama Tuesday called for talks with Iran on stabilizing Iraq, hours after the top US war general said Tehran was the greatest threat to democracy in the war-torn nation. source: AFPread more
Endless Enemies9 Apr 2008Summary: First it was the ‘dead enders,’ then it was al-Qaeda in Iraq, now it’s the ‘Special Groups’ ? but when will it end? source: CASMIIread more
Tehran sends positive signals for talks with U.S.8 Apr 2008Summary: Commenting on the proposal of the US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, to Iran for talks with Washington, Hosseini said, “If the Americans take basic steps and change their Iran policies, a new opportunity will be created to think about reconsidering Tehran-Washington relations.” source: Payvandread more
The Iran boogeyman is back8 Apr 2008Summary: The Basra battle made it uncomfortably clear just how much Iraq resembles Lebanon—a Byzantine place of shifting alliances where there are no heroes and villains, and where you can’t even tell the players without a scorecard. If that truth sinks in, public support for the war will dry up. Which is why Iran, the convenient boogeyman, is suddenly coming up again. source: Salonread more
Iranians Oppose Producing Nuclear Weapons, Saying It Is Contrary to Islam8 Apr 2008Summary: While still distrustful of U.S. intentions, the Iranian public believes that the threat posed by Washington has diminished over the past year and favors increased exchanges between the two countries, including direct talks on stabilizing Iraq and other issues, according to a major new survey [.pdf] released here Monday by WorldPublicOpinion.org source: AntiWar.comread more
Petraeus Testimony to Defend False ‘Proxy War’ Line8 Apr 2008Summary: PorterA key objective of the congressional testimony by Gen. David Petraeus this week will be to defend the George W. Bush administration’s strategic political line that it is fighting an Iranian “proxy war” in Iraq. source: AntiWar.com read more
McCain’s “war on terror” remix7 Apr 2008Summary: Pepe Escobar: “The most important thing that’s happening is that Bush and Cheney are trying to do with Iran what they did with Iraq: they want to create a pattern of demonization of Iran. And what we see here is a pattern of deception as well, in the American public, of world global opinion. And that’s eerily familiar to the good old Axis of Evil.” source: ‘The Real Story’ on The Real Newsread more
McCain vs Obama on foreign policy7 Apr 2008Summary: Aijaz AhmadAijaz Ahmad discusses the differences between Obama’s and McCain’s foreign policy: Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Israel/Palestine, and China. source: The Real Newsread more
Iranian Physicians to Tour the United States7 Apr 2008Summary: Two prominent Iranian physicians, Dr. Shahriar Khateri and Dr. Mohammad Reza Soroush, and two Iranian patients will travel to the United States to communicate the medical consequences of chemical warfare. Touring through Cambridge, Boston, Hartford, New York City, Los Angeles and Washington, DC, Dr. Khateri and Dr. Soroush will share their expertise, gained through two decades of work with chemical weapons survivors of the Iran-Iraq war. source: CASMIIread more
Iran says US requests more Iraq talks7 Apr 2008Summary: Crocker and QomiTEHRAN (AFP) ? Iran announced on Monday that it had received a “request” from its arch-foe the United States to hold a fourth round of talks on security in Iraq. source: AFPread more
Petraeus Testimony May Signal Iran Attack7 Apr 2008Summary: On April 5, the London Telegraph reported that “British officials gave warning yesterday that America’s commander in Iraq will declare that Iran is waging war against the U.S.-backed Baghdad government. A strong statement from Gen. David Petraeus about Iran’s intervention in Iraq could set the stage for a U.S. attack on Iranian military facilities, according to a Whitehall assessment.” source: AntiWar.com read more
The US-NATO ‘Missile Shield’ Programme: Timeline and Bibliographical References (part II)6 Apr 2008Summary: Missile shields are now a major topic at the present NATO summit. Mr. Bush bangs on about a rogue nation,’ seemingly unaware that most of the world think that the United States is the real ‘rogue .’ Mr. Bush’s speech prior to the opening of the United Nations summit was a repeat not only of continued platitudes but also of many accusations made after 9/11 about Iraq – with Iran now the unjustified focus of “evil.” Are Mr. Cheney, and his very own ‘poodle,’ Mr. Bush, pathologically focused on matters ‘nuclear’, and intent on a forthcoming war? source: Index Researchread more
Gates says U.S. wants diplomacy to solve Iran disputes6 Apr 2008Summary: MUSCAT (Reuters) – Defense Secretary Robert Gates reaffirmed to the leader of Oman on Saturday that Washington wanted to resolve its disputes with Iran diplomatically, a senior U.S. defense official said. source: Reutersread more
Fabricating History5 Apr 2008Summary: Kimberly Kagan?s opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on April 3rd with the misleading title ?The Second Iran-Iraq war? presents a false depiction of the Islamic Republic?s current role in Iraq. source: CASMIIread more
Putin says Iran is no threat5 Apr 2008Summary: Russian president challenges US policy towards Iran, says Tehran should not be isolated. source: Middle East on Lineread more
Gen. Petraeus and a High-Level Suicide in Iraq5 Apr 2008Summary: Abu GharaibThe scourge of suicides among American troops in Iraq is a serious and seriously underreported problem. One of the few high-profile cases involves a much-admired Army colonel named Ted Westhusing—who, in his 2005 suicide note, pointed a finger at a then little-known U.S. general named David Petraeus. Westhusing’s widow, asked by a friend what killed this West Point scholar, had replied simply: “Iraq.” source: Huffington Postread more
Geflschte Ahmadinedschad-Zitate4 Apr 2008Summary: Es bleibt dabei: Ahmadinedschad hat billigend den Wunsch zitiert, das zionistische Regime mge verschwinden. Wer behauptet, Ahmadinedschad habe zur Vernichtung Israels oder gar der Juden aufgefordert, lgt um des Krieges willen. source: www.SteinbergRecherche.comread more
Summit of despair4 Apr 2008Summary: The sorry image that unfolded in the recent [Arab] summit will only tempt the Bush administration to try another adventure. The US, in alliance with Israel, may decide to act. They have been dying to strike at Iran’s nuclear programme. And they know they have the blessing of Germany, France and the rest of Europe. source: Al-Ahramread more
Al Qaeda #2: We’ll Attack Iran4 Apr 2008Summary: Recently, Senator John McCain has repeatedly indicated that Iran and al-Qaeda are in cahoots. The terror group’s number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, would beg to differ. In a long-promised online Q&A session, Zawahiri says it would be “in the interest” of Al-Qaeda to see Iran “sap[ped]” by a fight with the United States. Moreover, he seems to promise that the extremist collective will “battle” whoever wins that U.S.-Iran struggle. source: wired.comread more
Creating a US-Iran Bridge4 Apr 2008Summary: Grassroots movements in Iran all say that they don’t need outside help. Since the United States has allocated $75 million to an ?Iran Democracy Fund?, the life of grassroots movements has become more difficult. Any direct ? or indirect ? help to the democratic movement in Iran coming from this fund is seen as an attempt of external regime change, says Leila Zand. source: Middle-East on Lineread more
Ritter says White House preparing for war in Iran4 Apr 2008Summary: MIDDLEBURY ? Scott Ritter, former head of weapons inspection in Iraq who protested there were no weapons of mass destruction to justify an invasion, believes the same is true for Iran. source: Rutland Heraldread more
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII)