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| Iran |
| Rumsfeld: U.S. Won’t Let Iraq Be Made Into New Iran |
| 2003-05-27 |
| Rumsfeld giving some of the good old plaintalk to the mullahs The United States will not allow Iraq's neighbors to create an Iran-style Islamic republic there after the toppling of Saddam Hussein by U.S. forces, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in comments published on Tuesday. Rumsfeld's comments in an article for the Wall Street Journal Europe were published ahead of a meeting of senior U.S. officials to discuss Iran, branded by Washington as part of an "axis of evil" with Iraq and North Korea. "Assistance from Iraq's neighbors will be welcomed. Conversely, interference in Iraq by its neighbors or their proxies — including those whose objective is to remake Iraq in Iran's image — will not be accepted or permitted," he said. And I have just the stick to deal with that right handy One of the political forces competing for influence in postwar Iraq is the Iranian-backed Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), whose leader recently returned to Iraq after years of exile in Tehran. U.S. policymakers were due to gather at the White House later on Tuesday to discuss Iran, with the Pentagon reportedly pushing for a tougher stance including actions that could lead to toppling Iran's clerical leadership through popular uprisings. Washington, which broke diplomatic ties with Tehran shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution, has grown steadily more critical of Iran since the end of the Iraq war last month. U.S. officials have accused Iran of pursuing a secret nuclear weapons program, meddling in postwar Iraq and harboring members of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. Rumsfeld also said the United States would continue to play a role in assisting Iraq financially but should not be considered the "funder of first and last resort." He said the American people had already made a significant investment to liberate Iraq and were still ready to contribute to rebuilding efforts. "But when funds are needed, before turning to the U.S. taxpayers, the coalition will turn first to Iraqi regime assets in the U.S. and other countries and international donors from across the globe." |
| Posted by:Frank G |