Go ahead, make my day!
Posted on 08/19/2004 4:21:30 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's defense minister expressed his government's disquiet about the U.S. troop presence in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan, and hinted that some Iranian generals believe they should strike first if they sense an imminent U.S. threat.
In an interview with pan-Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera, Ali Shamkhani was asked how Iran would respond if America were to attack its nuclear facilities.
"We will not sit to wait for what others will do to us," he said. "There are differences of opinion among military commanders (in Iran). Some commanders believe preventive operations is not a model created by Americans ... or is not limited to Americans. Any nation, if it feels threatened, can resort to that."
Shamkhani spoke in Farsi with an Arabic voiceover. Al-Jazeera provided a transcript of Shamkhani's Farsi comments to The Associated Press on Thursday.
President Bush has labeled Iran part of an "axis of evil" along with North Korea and prewar Iraq, but U.S. officials have said recently they are sticking to diplomacy, not force, to try to end what they call Iran's drive for nuclear weapons. Iran, which says its nuclear ambitions are peaceful, has become more defensive about a U.S. campaign to get U.N. Security Council sanctions on Iran for its nuclear activities.
"The moment the great Satan (America) decides to take military action against us, that moment will be the end of all our nuclear obligations," Shamkhani said, referring to Iran's cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
Earlier this month, Iran confirmed it had resumed building nuclear centrifuges, which can be used to enrich uranium to weapons grade, and declared it should have the right to nuclear technology that has both peaceful and weapons uses.
On Tuesday, the deputy chief of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard said Iran would destroy Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor if the Jewish state were to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. Israel has not threatened to attack, but it has said it will not allow Iran to build a nuclear bomb. In 1981 Israeli fighters destroyed a nuclear reactor under construction outside Baghdad because it feared Iraq would acquire a nuclear weapon.
In his interview with Al-Jazeera, Shamkhani also spoke of Israel. "It's certain to us that Israel won't carry out any military action without a green light from America," he said. "So, you can't separate the two."
The nuclear issue is only one of many on which Iran and the United States are at odds. The two countries have not had diplomatic relations since the 1979 Islamic revolution toppled the U.S.-backed shah of Iran.
Iran opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq and now fears the United States is cementing its influence in Iraq. It also fears U.S. influence in Afghanistan, where another U.S.-led campaign ousted the Taliban after the Sept. 11 attacks.
"I say the presence of Americans is not a sign of strength. Americans are a hostage to their own presence," Defense Minister Shamkhani told Al-Jazeera.
The United States fears Iran wants to establish a fundamentalist Shiite regime in its own image in Iraq. U.S. and Iraqi officials have accused Iran of fomenting violence and instability in Iraq, charges Iran denies.
"The Iranian government will never pursue turmoil and unrest in Iraq," Shamkhani told Al-Jazeera.
Unless we fight at the Iranian government aggresively and set aside this petty talk of negotiations they will hit at us.
Faster, please...
Looks like we taught them a lesson....
Sounds like some Iranian generals don't want to live long.
They see what is happening in Najaf as a weakness.
Exactly. Which is one of the unspoken reasons why we invaded Iraq. It's obvious to anyone who knows how to read a map. It's strategery. Our military will be in Iraq for a long time.
Morons like sKerry and his advisors don't get it.
That sound you hear is an Iranian General crapping down both legs. BTW, I thought we were Israel's puppet, not the other way around!
Flypaper working. Troops leave Terhan, non-religious take over. Just as it was written.
"You feel lucky, punk?"
No, they saw what we did in Iraq - the Iraqi Air Force was a no-show, the Iraqi armor was easy destroyed and the Iraqi army either ran or was killed in place by our forces - all with absolutely minimal losses to us.
The Iranian generals' best chance might be to strike us by going into Iraq while our ground forces are still stretched thin and busy fighting the terrorists there.
Although I am sure our air forces (F-15 Strike Eagles, F-16s, A10 Warthogs, Apache attack helicopters, etc.) and armored forces (M1A1 Abrams tanks and Bradley Armored Fighting Vehicles with TOW missles, etc.) would be sure they go quite a warm welcome once they crossed the border into Iraq...
One last thing - I keep reading how the LARGE portion of young in Iran hate the mullahs and long for a secular democracy. They need to stir things up - we're right next door and have newly available troops from germany and korea to back them - not to mention a few aircraft carriers to make our point. :-)
Is it conceivable that with Kerry in the White House, Iran could see the invasion of Iraq as a replay of Vietnam, with them invading and the U.S. running? There's a reason our enemies want Kerry to win, and it's not to promote the interests of America.
They sure sound nervous, which means they're about to go nuclear, but not quite.
We live in interesting times.
Iran is getting a bit edgy with the US in not only Iraq and Afghanistan but Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and moving closer in Europe. Get over yourself already.
The US currently has 7 (count them 7) Carrier Strike Groups (Summer Pulse '04) in the world's oceans right now. Nearly 5 acres each, 21 ships, 900 planes and 45,000 sailors.
Keep talking pre-emptive strike, Iran, and you might just find out what that truly means. :-)
God bless our troops wherever they may be.
I'm reminded of Saddam's "Mother Of All Battles" ranting.
If they as a Sovereign Nation strike US they will cease exist!
I think a rather more selective strike, taking out the mullahs and their properties, would be preferred. The people would finish the job themselves.
OTOH, I have heard from a number of Iranians that Tehran is not the city my wife lived in in the 70s. The beautiful private gardens are gone, the buildings are ugly -- Iran and the Iranians have suffered much under the mullahs.
Can you say Iraq? :-p
It's no coincidence that they are racheting it up just as their boy Sadr is failing them.
Iran would have to move fast and strike hard, of which there is no evidence they can.
You live in Israel, right?
Do I Sense "Strategery" at Work???
Doc
Absolutely!
The Iranian camel-jocks are finally noticing the brilliance of W's strategy of isolating them. What with Afghanistan and Iraq showing signs of becoming democracies, Pakistan is isolated, Iran is isolated and Saudi Arabia is isolated. If Syria was added to the mix, the isolation would be complete.
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