Iran 51

De onafhankelijke Amerikaanse journalist Mike Whitney schrijft: ' “The US is updating contingency plans for a strike to cripple Iran’s atomic weapon program if international diplomacy fails….The plan calls for a rolling, five-day bombing campaign against 400 key targets, including 24 nuclear-related sites, 14 military airfields and radar installations, and Revolutionary Guard headquarters.” Ian Bruce, “US spells out plan to bomb Iran”, The UK Herald

The Bush administration has no intention of peacefully resolving the nuclear dispute with Iran. They have consistently blocked all attempts by Iran to negotiate in good faith or to establish diplomatic channels for discussion. The current offer by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to talk directly with Iran is less a departure from the normal US’ belligerence than it is a means of enlisting support from Russia and China for future punitive action. In one particularly ominous comment, Rice said that the negotiations would give Iran “one last excuse” to resist American demands. This tells us that US diplomacy is a just a smokescreen for the eventual hostilities.

It took the United States months of behind the scenes wrangling to persuade the UN Security Council to even consider Iran’s “alleged” nuclear weapons programs. Iran tried to prevent this by offering to allow surprise inspections on any facility suspected of covert nuclear activity. Iran is not required to do this under the terms of the NPT, but volunteered as a way of building confidence among the member states. The Bush administration, which made this a vital part of earlier demands, rejected the offer outright saying that Iran’s concession would not be enough to end the standoff.

A similar incident took place just weeks earlier when Iran was finalizing the details of an agreement with Russia to enrich uranium outside of the country. Iran figured that this would allay US fears that it was secretively developing nuclear weapons.

Again, the Bush administration rejected this “good will” gesture as insufficient, while Condi Rice scoffed at the idea as a trick. These are just latest examples of Iran’s efforts to find a peaceful way to placate Washington. The administration is not interested in concessions or settlements. It is simply building the case for punitive action or war.' Lees verder:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13458.htm