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| Britain |
| It would be nuts to bomb Iran, says Britain |
| 2006-04-10 |
| BRITAIN has tried to silence renewed sabre-rattling from within the US administration for military action against Iran, saying the idea that the White House wants a nuclear strike is "completely nuts". Foreign Secretary Jack Straw insisted that Britain would not support pre-emptive military action against Tehran, adding: "I'm as certain as I can be sitting here that neither would the United States." Many analysts in the West suspect Tehran is attempting to build its own nuclear weapons. Over the weekend, Iran allowed UN inspectors to examine some of the atomic plants which, it maintains, are designed solely for production of electricity. Speaking to the BBC, Mr Straw said: "There is no smoking gun, there is no casus belli. We can't be certain about Iran's intentions and that is, therefore, not a basis on which anybody would gain authority to go for military action." The idea that the White House wanted a nuclear strike was "completely nuts", he said. Mr Straw was responding to an article by award-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, published in The New Yorker. It has been seized on as evidence that any hope of a diplomatic solution to the standoff is being swept aside by White House hawks. Hersh says US President George W.Bush now believes his historic purpose is to stop Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whom he is said to regard asa "new Hitler", acquiring nuclear weapons. The article suggests that Pentagon plans presented to the White House include the use of a "bunker-buster" tactical nuclear weapon against underground sites in Iran because of concerns that conventional strikes would not be "decisive". The Pentagon attempted to dismiss the report as being filled with "fantastical, wrong and unsubstantiated allegations". Hersh pointed out that the Pentagon had used similar language initially to describe his revelations about abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. His article says US troops have been ordered to infiltrate Iran to collect target data and to cultivate relationships with indigenous groups that oppose the Ahmadinejad Government. It also claims that US carrier attack jets have been flying simulated bombing runs within range of Iranian coastal radar. Pentagon officials denied this. They said war planners had routinely updated contingencies on Iran but this did not reflect any orders to prepare for a military confrontation. The US is thought to have taken limited steps that go beyond contingency planning, such as flying drones over Iran. The Iranian Foreign Ministry dismissed the US media reports as "psychological warfare" that stemmed "from America's anger and helplessness". Last month, the UN Security Council gave Iran 30 days to halt its nuclear research, or risk action such as sanctions. Joseph Cirincione, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said: "I previously dismissed talk about US military strikes as left-wing conspiracy theory ... but in just the past few weeks I've been convinced that at least some in the administration have already made up their minds that they would like to launch a military strike against Iran." Mr Straw acknowledged that the US administration uses "slightly different language" on the issue. "President Bush says (military action) is not on the agenda, but they don't rule out any option in theory. I believe it is not on the agenda and they are very committed indeed to resolving this issue by negotiation." Mr Straw said he was encouraged that Russia and China had joined the US and European Union powers to apply diplomatic pressure to Tehran. Kori Schake, a former staffer on Mr Bush's National Security Council, told The Washington Post talk of a military strike was a "diplomatic gambit to keep pressure on others". |
| Posted by:Oztralian |
| #5 Gasp, shock, horror, are the Brits trying to say that PRAVDA is wrong about Dubya's and America's insidious, malicious plan to nuke Iran wid bunker-busters, besides of course taking over the world by various false pretenses??? Iff PRAVDA is wrong, do Americans dare to dream that Pravda's claim of America's imminent collapse is also, gasp, wrong!? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-04-10 23:27 |
| #4 It would be nuts to bomb Iran, says Britain Let's go nuts!!! |
| Posted by: JDB 2006-04-10 23:13 |
| #3 It would be nuts not to. |
| Posted by: Chising Glurong5669 2006-04-10 21:11 |
| #2 Straw is an idiot. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-04-10 20:31 |
| #1 ... dismissed the US media reports as "psychological warfare" that stemmed "from America's anger and helplessness". For a minute there I thought Jack Straw was still talking. |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2006-04-10 19:37 |