If you had read Bin Laden's declaration of war on America ...you would then know he specifically said he felt emboldened to do so because of Clinton's lack of backbone in Somalia.
@)
Invitation to Appease
Will the Obama administration talk to Iran while it persecutes Americans and libels Israel?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/21/AR2009042103515.html
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
LAST WEEK, the Iranian regime brought American journalist Roxana Saberi before a closed court and in a one-hour trial convicted her of espionage -- a blatantly bogus charge. She was sentenced to eight years in prison. On Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was last seen inaugurating a new facility for Iran's nuclear program, appeared at the U.N. conference on racism in Geneva to deliver a speech seemingly calculated to cause maximum outrage in the United States and other Western countries. They had, he said, "resorted to military aggression" in order to create Israel "on the pretext of Jewish sufferings and the ambiguous and dubious question of the Holocaust."
Thus has Iran answered President Obama's offer of dialogue and the decision by his administration to join talks on Tehran's nuclear program. To the consternation of some European officials, Washington has insisted on dropping a long-standing demand that Iran obey U.N. resolutions ordering it to suspend uranium enrichment before negotiations begin. Iran could have responded to this concession by releasing Ms. Saberi, who holds U.S. and Iranian citizenship, and ex-FBI agent Robert Levinson, as the administration asked it to do in a State Department letter last month. Instead the charges against Ms. Saberi were ramped up, from practicing journalism without a credential and buying wine, to espionage; the regime does not even admit that it is holding Mr. Levinson.
Then came Mr. Ahmadinejad's speech, which repeated the numerous anti-Israel and anti-Semitic libels that have made the Iranian president a pariah in the West. Western delegates walked out on the address, which the State Department rightly called "vile and hateful." Yet Mr. Ahmadinejad had accomplished his aim: advancing Iran's claim to represent radical Arab and Islamic opinion, along with his own campaign for reelection in June.
Iran watchers point out that Mr. Ahmadinejad has sent other messages recently. He said he would welcome direct talks with Washington, and over the weekend he dispatched a letter to Ms. Saberi's prosecutor urging that she be allowed to defend herself. These are not necessarily contradictions. What Iran is doing is inviting Mr. Obama to humiliate his new administration by launching talks with the regime even while it is conspicuously expanding its nuclear program, campaigning to delegitimize and destroy Israel and imprisoning innocent Americans. Mr. Ahmadinejad's unlikely concern for Ms. Saberi's defense, along with other regime statements suggesting her sentence could be reduced, sound like an offer to make her a bargaining chip -- to be exchanged, perhaps, for members of the Revolutionary Guard Corps who are in U.S. custody in Iraq.
Mr. Obama has always said that talks with Iran must be conducted under the right circumstances and in a way that advances U.S. interests. The administration won't meet that test if it allows negotiations to become a means of vindicating Mr. Ahmadinejad's radical agenda. It should postpone any contact until after the Iranian election in June -- and it should look for clear signs that Iran is acting in good faith before talks begin. The unconditional release of Ms. Saberi and Mr. Levinson would be one.
Will the Obama administration talk to Iran while it persecutes Americans and libels Israel?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/21/AR2009042103515.html
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
LAST WEEK, the Iranian regime brought American journalist Roxana Saberi before a closed court and in a one-hour trial convicted her of espionage -- a blatantly bogus charge. She was sentenced to eight years in prison. On Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was last seen inaugurating a new facility for Iran's nuclear program, appeared at the U.N. conference on racism in Geneva to deliver a speech seemingly calculated to cause maximum outrage in the United States and other Western countries. They had, he said, "resorted to military aggression" in order to create Israel "on the pretext of Jewish sufferings and the ambiguous and dubious question of the Holocaust."
Thus has Iran answered President Obama's offer of dialogue and the decision by his administration to join talks on Tehran's nuclear program. To the consternation of some European officials, Washington has insisted on dropping a long-standing demand that Iran obey U.N. resolutions ordering it to suspend uranium enrichment before negotiations begin. Iran could have responded to this concession by releasing Ms. Saberi, who holds U.S. and Iranian citizenship, and ex-FBI agent Robert Levinson, as the administration asked it to do in a State Department letter last month. Instead the charges against Ms. Saberi were ramped up, from practicing journalism without a credential and buying wine, to espionage; the regime does not even admit that it is holding Mr. Levinson.
Then came Mr. Ahmadinejad's speech, which repeated the numerous anti-Israel and anti-Semitic libels that have made the Iranian president a pariah in the West. Western delegates walked out on the address, which the State Department rightly called "vile and hateful." Yet Mr. Ahmadinejad had accomplished his aim: advancing Iran's claim to represent radical Arab and Islamic opinion, along with his own campaign for reelection in June.
Iran watchers point out that Mr. Ahmadinejad has sent other messages recently. He said he would welcome direct talks with Washington, and over the weekend he dispatched a letter to Ms. Saberi's prosecutor urging that she be allowed to defend herself. These are not necessarily contradictions. What Iran is doing is inviting Mr. Obama to humiliate his new administration by launching talks with the regime even while it is conspicuously expanding its nuclear program, campaigning to delegitimize and destroy Israel and imprisoning innocent Americans. Mr. Ahmadinejad's unlikely concern for Ms. Saberi's defense, along with other regime statements suggesting her sentence could be reduced, sound like an offer to make her a bargaining chip -- to be exchanged, perhaps, for members of the Revolutionary Guard Corps who are in U.S. custody in Iraq.
Mr. Obama has always said that talks with Iran must be conducted under the right circumstances and in a way that advances U.S. interests. The administration won't meet that test if it allows negotiations to become a means of vindicating Mr. Ahmadinejad's radical agenda. It should postpone any contact until after the Iranian election in June -- and it should look for clear signs that Iran is acting in good faith before talks begin. The unconditional release of Ms. Saberi and Mr. Levinson would be one.
So Tizdoom sees an unstable government in an unstable region, a region I think he believes is ripe with terrorists, but he's OK with that country obtaining a nuke.
OK, keep laughing, I'm pretty sure they'll never be able to fly commercial jets into the WTC either.
Iran Test-Fires Missile with 1,200-Mile Range - David E. Sanger and Nazila Fathi
Iran test-fired a sophisticated solid-fuel Sejil-2 missile on Wednesday that was capable of striking Israel and parts of Western Europe, adding to concerns that Iran's weapons-development program is fast outpacing the American-led diplomacy that President Obama has said he will let play out through the end of the year. (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/world/middleeast/21iran.html
Ahmadinejad: "Today Iran Is Running the Show," Ties Missile Test to Nuclear Program - Thomas Erdbrink
In announcing the missile test, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a crowd of thousands in the city of Semnan: "In the nuclear case, we send them a message: Today the Islamic Republic of Iran is running the show....We say to the superpowers, 'Who of you dare to threaten the Iranian nation? Raise your hand!' But they all stand there with their hands behind their backs." The crowd repeatedly chanted, "Ahmadinejad, we love you!" (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/20/AR2009052000523.html
Iran test-fired a sophisticated solid-fuel Sejil-2 missile on Wednesday that was capable of striking Israel and parts of Western Europe, adding to concerns that Iran's weapons-development program is fast outpacing the American-led diplomacy that President Obama has said he will let play out through the end of the year. (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/world/middleeast/21iran.html
Ahmadinejad: "Today Iran Is Running the Show," Ties Missile Test to Nuclear Program - Thomas Erdbrink
In announcing the missile test, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a crowd of thousands in the city of Semnan: "In the nuclear case, we send them a message: Today the Islamic Republic of Iran is running the show....We say to the superpowers, 'Who of you dare to threaten the Iranian nation? Raise your hand!' But they all stand there with their hands behind their backs." The crowd repeatedly chanted, "Ahmadinejad, we love you!" (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/20/AR2009052000523.html
Iran Fires Missile, Tests U.S. - Farah Stockman
Charles Vick, a senior technical analyst at GlobalSecurity.org, said: "What it says is, 'Yeah, Mr. Obama, we will talk with you, but we are not changing our direction.'" "One way of looking at it is, they are trying to dictate to the world and make everybody kowtow to them."
The Sejil 2 is a significant advancement because it uses a solid propellant technology that takes only about 30 minutes to launch, rather than a liquid propellant system that takes several hours, making it more mobile and harder to defend against, Vick said. "With the liquid system you could go in and knock it over before it is launched. The solid propellant system is a whole different game."
Vick said Iran is also in the process of developing longer-range missiles with a range of 2,500 miles, putting most of Europe within reach. Iran is also trying to develop a space booster that can be used either to launch peaceful satellites or to make intercontinental missiles, he said, adding, "It is of the right size category to reach the U.S., if it does in fact become a reality." (Boston Globe)
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2009/05/21/iran_fires_missile_tests_us/
Charles Vick, a senior technical analyst at GlobalSecurity.org, said: "What it says is, 'Yeah, Mr. Obama, we will talk with you, but we are not changing our direction.'" "One way of looking at it is, they are trying to dictate to the world and make everybody kowtow to them."
The Sejil 2 is a significant advancement because it uses a solid propellant technology that takes only about 30 minutes to launch, rather than a liquid propellant system that takes several hours, making it more mobile and harder to defend against, Vick said. "With the liquid system you could go in and knock it over before it is launched. The solid propellant system is a whole different game."
Vick said Iran is also in the process of developing longer-range missiles with a range of 2,500 miles, putting most of Europe within reach. Iran is also trying to develop a space booster that can be used either to launch peaceful satellites or to make intercontinental missiles, he said, adding, "It is of the right size category to reach the U.S., if it does in fact become a reality." (Boston Globe)
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2009/05/21/iran_fires_missile_tests_us/
Cool.
How does one "test fire" a missile to verify it's potential range?
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Meanwhile, I remain confident that the moment Iran were to actually send one or more such missiles at a populated target, their country would be vaporized by a combination of Israeli and US-owned tactical nukes.
How does one "test fire" a missile to verify it's potential range?
----
Meanwhile, I remain confident that the moment Iran were to actually send one or more such missiles at a populated target, their country would be vaporized by a combination of Israeli and US-owned tactical nukes.
