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| Iran |
| U.S. Now Views Iran in More Favorable Light |
| 2003-02-16 |
| The administration now distinguishes between Iran and the other countries that President Bush lumped together last year in an "axis of evil" and does not plan to target the Islamic Republic after the increasingly likely war in Iraq, a senior U.S. official said. Despite growing concern about the regime's suspected nuclear weapons program, Iran's assistance in the war on terrorism, and the gradual evolution of liberal thought there puts it in a different category from Iraq or North Korea, Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage said in an interview. "The axis of evil was a valid comment, [but] I would note there's one dramatic difference between Iran and the other two axes of evil, and that would be its democracy. [And] you approach a democracy differently," Armitage said. "I wouldn't think they were next at all," he added. Let's hope this is just stopgap rhetoric to make nice with Iran while the war with Iraq is on. Democracy! Riiiiiight. |
| Posted by:Anonymous |
| #3 Iran definitely has more going for it in terms of student opposition, but from the perspective of the government, it's a much bigger sponsor of terrorism, with a more advanced nuclear program than Iraq's, and an ideological opposition to America that is unrivaled by Iraq. And even the student opposition is something that exists in spite of the government, not because of it. So I would say that it's completely false to say that Iran is the least of the three evils. |
| Posted by: Ben 2003-02-16 22:21:36 |
| #2 There aren't any tools available for Iraq and the Hermit Kingdom. In Iran there's something to work with. That's the difference. There's also the issue of what each has done since the original "Axis of Evil" speech. All three have made faces and spewed vitriol, which we expected. One's become more evil and less rational; one's continued right along as though nothing had changed; and one has seen increased pressure for change. Nothing was stopping any one of them from saying, "Evil? Really? Oh, I guess we are. We should stop that." Only one is working on doing it. |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-02-16 09:04:48 |
| #1 I think W is merely saying "nice doggy" until he is done using the rock elsewhere. At least, I hope so. There's also the matter of encouraging Iran's democrats to consider getting on with it themselves. I suspect there's some behind-the-scenes action going on on that front. |
| Posted by: jrosevear 2003-02-16 06:46:44 |