Posted on 10/17/2007 2:00:08 PM PDT by 300magnum
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush warned on Wednesday a nuclear-armed Iran could lead to World War III as he tried to shore up international opposition to Tehran amid Russian skepticism over its nuclear ambitions.
Bush was speaking a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has resisted Western pressure to toughen his stance over Iran's nuclear program, made clear on a visit to Tehran that Russia would not accept any military action against Iran.
At a White House news conference, Bush expressed hope Putin would brief him on his talks in Tehran and said he would ask him to clarify recent remarks on Iran's nuclear activities.
Putin said last week that Russia, which is building Iran's first atomic power plant, would "proceed from the position" that Tehran had no plans to develop nuclear weapons but he shared international concerns that its nuclear programs "should be as transparent as possible."
"The thing I'm interested in is whether or not he continues to harbor the same concerns that I do," Bush said. "When we were in Australia (in September), he reconfirmed to me that he recognizes it's not in the world's interest for Iran to have the capacity to make a nuclear weapon."
Bush, who has insisted he wants a diplomatic solution to the Iranian issue, is pushing for a third round of U.N. sanctions against Iran.
Russia, a veto-holding member of the Security Council, backed two sets of limited U.N. sanctions against Iran but has resisted any tough new measures.
Stepping up his rhetoric, Bush said a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a "dangerous threat to world peace."
"We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel," he said. "So I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
PUTIN'S "SPECIAL MESSAGE"
Iran rejects accusations it is seeking to develop a nuclear bomb, saying it wants nuclear technology for peaceful civilian purposes such as power generation, and has refused to heed U.N. Security Council demands to halt sensitive uranium enrichment.
Chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani was quoted by Iran's official IRNA news agency on Wednesday as saying that Putin had delivered a "special message" on its atomic program and other issues. No other details were given.
Putin's visit on Tuesday was watched closely because of Moscow's possible leverage in the Islamic Republic's nuclear standoff with the West. It was the first time a Kremlin chief went to Iran since Josef Stalin in 1943.
Asked about Putin's "special message," U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said he was not aware of any deal or offer put forward by Moscow to Tehran over the nuclear program.
On Russian opposition to Caspian Sea states being used to launch attacks against Iran, Casey reiterated that Bush kept all his options on the table but that the United States was committed to the diplomatic path with Tehran.
(Additional reporting by Frederick Dahl in Tehran and Sue Pleming in Washington)
The difference is that in this the foothills of war casualties are in the thousands per month. When the real deal starts up causalties will be thousands per hour.
This is only the opening skirmishes of the looming war front..
Could be. We of the ‘duck and cover’ generation have been living with this since Russia detonated their H-bomb.
No, they will continue to hope that we do to ourselves what they could not do in 50 years of the cold war. They will let us self destruct and destroy ourselves from within and we are doing a damned good, top notched, fantastic job of doing just that. America will not fall to a foreign enemy. We are too strong from that. NO, AMERICA WILL FALL FROM SELF INFLICTED, SELF INFLUENCED, DOING IT TO OURSELVES, JUST AS WE ARE DOING RIGHT THIS DAMNED MINUTE, DAY BY DAY, MINUTE BY MINUTE, WEEK BY WEEK. America is fat, happy, over indulged with self righteous leftists whose main goal in life is to destroy this Republic and build a murdering style soviet state of socialism, as they, they liberal slime of mankind are our leaders and we are suppose to worship THEM. Not our God, but worship them. FAITH is believing in something that you cannot see with your very eyes. If you believe in GOD, then you have FAITH. You have the faith that He is there, that he will deliver us. Only God has that power. Not a mere blood flowing human. But, again, try telling that to a liberal. They believe they were put on the green, enviro wacko world, to lead us. No, Amerika is destroying itself within, one reality show at a time, one pizza at a time, one liar at a time, one cheater, one thief, one adulterer, one slime ball at a time. People of Faith are out numbered. In the end, we win, even if we are the few. Our God will deliver us. While in the end, liberals, leftists, and socialists will burn in hell. Right where they belong.
From the little I have read, Nostradamus did not even attempt to predict the distant future like his followers believe he was. He was commenting on currents events of his time and the outcomes of those of which had already happened by the time he wrote what he did.
It looks like some zealous people have replaced some of the original wording in his writings to make his look like some amazing prophet, but even then they don’t have their facts straight. Funnier still is the fact that he was pictured with a telescope in a supposed portrait of himself. The telescope had still not been invented in 1566, the year he died.
Thanks. As with most hoaxes, a little time and information proves them to be nonsense.
Then we can say in a sense that liberals are people of faith, because they don't believe in facts and reality.
God bless.
What I see is a strengthend and emboldened Iran; a fundamental Islamist region around Basra that is essentially an Iranian colony and which is almost as bad a the Taliban; the remainder of the supposed coaltion (the UK, Italy, Spain, Poland, Japan and now, Australia) heading for the doors; a military that is overcommitted; nearly 4,000 of our finest dead and tens of thousands with life-limiting injuries; the expenditure of at least $1.4 TRILLION, and a dollar that has been rendered near-worthless. If you call THAT sticking my head in the sand over this unnecessary war, I’m quite content to do so. I wish I were wrong; the facts indicate otherwise.
The least I can say is, I wish we in fact used the Nuclear option this time. It would have saved American lives and dollars.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.