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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Bolton: Attack Iran, 'remove' its leader
2007-10-01
Former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton told Tory delegates in Britain Sunday that efforts by the UK and the EU to negotiate with Iran had failed and that he saw no alternative to a pre-emptive strike on suspected nuclear facilities in the country.

Bolton said that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was "pushing out" and "is not receiving adequate push-back" from the West. "I don't think the use of military force is an attractive option, but I would tell you I don't know what the alternative is. Because life is about choices, I think we have to consider the use of military force. I think we have to look at a limited strike against their nuclear facilities."

He added that any strike should be followed by an attempt to remove the "source of the problem", Ahmadinejad. "If we were to strike Iran it should be accompanied by an effort at regime change ... The US once had the capability to engineer the clandestine overthrow of governments. I wish we could get it back," he said.

Bolton said that the fact that only partial intelligence about Iran's nuclear activity existed should not be used as an excuse not to act. "Intelligence can be wrong in more than one direction... Responding after they (nuclear devices) are used is unacceptable."
Bolton also said the UN was "fundamentally irrelevant".

The former envoy criticized Britain's "softly softly" approach to Iran's imprisonment of 15 British sailors in April. They were released after Ahmadinejad announced he was making a "gift" to the British people. "They [Iran] got no response from the UK or the US. If you were the Iranian leader, what conclusion do you draw?"
Posted by:Fred

#14  I miss him, too, Barbara. I hope it's because he's too busy consulting with the German government and having the occasional visit with his old friend the pope.
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-10-01 22:52  

#13  IRANIAN.WS > HIZB AL TAHRIR GETTING STRONGER. Milyuhns and Zilyuhns of angry young Muslims, espec tweeny youths, DEMAND THE CALIPHATE AND ANTI-DEMOCRACY/CAPITALISM, i.e. "TRUE ISLAM".
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2007-10-01 22:51  

#12  IRANIAN.WS > US STRIKE ON IRAN article > IRAQ is now a STRATEGIC/DECISIVE BATTLE FOR CONTROL OF ME BWTN IRAN AND USA; + THE BACK DOOR TO TEHRAN artiiikle.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2007-10-01 22:48  

#11  Ahmadinejad isn't Iran's leader. He's like their hood ornament.If he gets whacked maybe the mullahs will install someone with a name that is easier to spell.
Posted by: Super Hose   2007-10-01 22:31  

#10  I strongly disagree with the statement on Iran, "Remove its leader." It should read: "Kill its leader."
Posted by: McZoid   2007-10-01 21:47  

#9  I miss TGA, tw. I hope he's OK.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2007-10-01 21:26  

#8  BOLTON 2008
Posted by: mcsegeek1   2007-10-01 21:16  

#7  You just never can tell who's reading, TomAnon. True German Ally told Secretary Rumsfeld about us years and years ago.
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-10-01 20:48  

#6  Bolton must be reading Rantburg.
Posted by: TomAnon   2007-10-01 19:55  

#5  I don't believe an attack can be a quickie. At a minimum Iran must be broken up and the Persians denied any coastline and oil fields. That means a minimum of 3 new countries and we would have to guarantee their independence from the Persians.
Posted by: ed   2007-10-01 18:27  

#4  Anyone else wondering if Russia and China would like us to attack so they could see exactly what sorts of bunker busting we can do?

Forewarned is forearmed and all that.
Posted by: AlanC   2007-10-01 17:45  

#3  ANY WAR in 2008 WILL HAVE TO BE A QUICKIE

Exactly. No nation building for Iran. Just bomb the hell of them and then leave them to their own devices. Let the Ruskies and/or Chicoms try to pick up the pieces if they are foolish enough. If troops are used at all it should be to verify the nuke sites are disabled and, if necessary, chase IRG back across Iran-Iraq border and punish them for any incursions they make.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305   2007-10-01 12:22  

#2  TOPIX NEWS > PACIFIC > TAIWAN - Local Govt. calling to renew issue of TAIWANESE INDEPENDENCE AND SOVEREIGNTY from CHINA, this time backed up by referendum. Lest we fergit, 900 Chicom missles are still pointed at Taiwan. SINGAPORE + HONGKONG also have issues wid BEIJING.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2007-10-01 01:06  

#1  In due time, Bolton, as both Moud + Dubya are in escalation mode. *Russia, China, Israel and assorted Euros are all in rough agreement that at 3000 centrifuges and counting, Iran will have "the Bomb" wid in a year [or less], a prospect that not even Russia-China, etal. US opponents is in favor of. FEW IFF ANY IN THE GOP-DEMS WANT A US-IRAN WAR [including insurgency] GOING INTO 2008 ELEX. ANY WAR in 2008 WILL HAVE TO BE A QUICKIE WITH NO CHANCE OF LONG-PERIOD INSURGENCY, FOREIGN INTERVENTION, OR PARALLEL WAR ala NK-TAIWAN, NOT IFF DUBYA-GOP WANT DEM SUPPORT. IMO, short of new 9-11's or worse Terror events inside the USA, the only way the Dems will suppor a Summer-Fall 2008 Iran conflict is iff the GOP agrees to "lose" the 2008 POTUS elex and give the Dems the WH. ELSE, the ideal time is now thru EOY 2007 [EOM Jan 2008?], and all camps including Moud-Iran know it.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2007-10-01 00:38  

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