Posted on 02/01/2010 12:16:13 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
World leaders might have to go to war to stop Iran developing its weapons programme, Tony Blair suggested yesterday.
The former Prime Minister, who is now a Middle East peace envoy, said that Tehran’s actions had made him more afraid today that a rogue state could supply weapons of mass destruction to terrorists than he was when he took Britain to war with Iraq in 2003.
He warned that world leaders, including the British Prime Minister, now faced the same kinds of decision about the dangers posed by repressive regimes as he did seven years ago.
“My judgment — and it may be other people don’t take this view, and that’s for the leaders of today to make their judgment — is we don’t take any risks with this issue,” he said.
The former Prime Minister raised concerns about Tehran’s links with terrorist organisations.
Mr Blair said: “My fear was — and I would say I hold this fear stronger today than I did back then as a result of what Iran particularly today is doing — my fear is that states that are highly repressive or failed, the danger of a WMD link is that they become porous, they construct all sorts of different alliances with people.”
Mr Blair said that there had been extensive planning for the aftermath of the invasion, but said that there had been a failure to foresee the role played by al-Qaeda and Iran in fomenting the insurgency that broke out.
“The real problem is that our focus was on the issues that in the end were not the issues that caused us the difficulty,” he said.
“People didn’t think that al-Qaeda and Iran would play the role that they did. It was really the external elements of al-Qaeda and Iran that really caused this mission very nearly to fail.”
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
That's always the way. Its always the things you dont forsee that trip you up.
Ahmedi-nut-job says something big is going to happen Feb. 11
Obama needs to get the defenses in place in a hurry!
Not to put too fine a point on it, but Bolshevik Hussein Obama Junior loathes and despises an America which is Christian and free, and has more affection for Rat Boy than the victims at Ft. Hood.
Does anyone here honestly believe Obama will take two minutes from a golf game to stop Rat Boy's getting the Imam Bomb.
Obama is so vain, he probably thinks this song is about him, too.
Great stuff,...thanks!
Standing by. Something’s going to pop and soon. Do you make anything of GHWB’s drop-in visit at the WH last Saturday?
Do you make anything of GHWB’s drop-in visit at the WH last Saturday?
I have seen comments about that on some threads but I haven't seen an article posted...
It may relate to this in some way...just speculating...FR Thread Jan 25:
The Secret Nuclear Dossier : Intelligence from Tehran Elevates Concern in the West
Article is from Spiegel Online ( Germany )...
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Bibi was in Germany middle of last week - not sure if that would be enough time to vett any info passed along. Who knows though . . . Bibi “dropped off” some damning intel to the Russians regarding Iran not too long ago
I will give you this - that was an odd house call by the Bushs’
One could only speculate, but perhaps BO wants to utilize their extensive contacts in the Saudia Kingdom and elsewhere in the Gulf
“Iran developing its weapons programme,” Tony Blair suggested yesterday. ... His next utterance, “Am I bovvered? Does this face look bovvered? ... Iran, nukes, missles, oil, I ain’t bovvered”, left little doubt that being out of Parliament exchanges has left its mark on his psyche.
My prayers remain with Bibi and Israel.
Blair warns that world faces decision to halt Iran’s nuclear programme
Source for the thread was Times Online (UK) ^ | January 30, 2010 | Philip Webster
And Gen Patraeus had some bellicose comments ....mentioned on one article....
Still looking for where I saw that.
Dropping this here also:
US boosts missile presence in Gulf as warning to Iran
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The Obama administration is intensifying pressure on Iran by increasing its missile defences in the Middle East to defend against potential missile strikes in the region by Tehran, it emerged today.
The US military has boosted the capability of land-based Patriot defensive missiles in several Arab nations in the Gulf, and one official told the Associated Press the navy was also increasing the presence of ships capable of knocking out hostile missiles in flight.
The move – reported in several US newspapers this morning – appears to be a deliberate attempt by the White House to ratchet up pressure on Iran ahead of attempts to increase sanctions against the country.
The US is reappraising its Iran policy after months of unsuccessful diplomatic moves, and is attempting to win broad international consensus for sanctions against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, believed to control a covert nuclear arms programme, the New York Times reported.
Last week, in his state of the union speech, Barack Obama spoke of "consequences" if Iran failed to comply with UN demands to stop nuclear fuel production.
The move is also an attempt to dissuade Israel from unilateral strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, the New York Times said.
Whoops...lost track of what thread I was on....First link comes back to this thread...
From Hot Air:
Ahmadinejad: Iran will deliver a telling blow on February 11
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posted at 7:40 am on February 1, 2010 by Cassy Fiano
Considering all the action the UN — action being nothing but UN sanctions and letters saying to stop, pretty please — has taken against Iran, shouldn’t have been taken care of already? Shockingly, it looks like the all-talk-no-action approach is failing.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the nation will deliver a harsh blow to the “global arrogance” on this year’s anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.
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Obama has no understanding of the gravity of this situation, yet he’s our Commander in Chief. He holds the security of our nation in his hands. And when we are getting threatened by Iran over and over and over again, his response has been to basically do nothing each time. He’s got no courage whatsoever, and while Iran might not make us first on their list of countries to attack (I believe that would be Israel), they will attack somewhere and people will be killed that didn’t need to die. It might not necessarily happen on February 11th, but if Obama doesn’t start taking Ahmadinejad seriously and dealing with the situation now, then we’re going to have much bigger problems from Iran than stolen elections.
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AND:
Obama dispatches missile defenses to the Persian Gulf
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posted at 8:45 am on February 1, 2010 by Karl
The US is dispatching Patriot defensive missiles to four countries – Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait – and keeping two ships in the Gulf capable of shooting down Iranian missiles. Washington is also helping Saudi Arabia develop a force to protect its oil installations.
American officials said the move is aimed at deterring an attack by Iran and reassuring Gulf states fearful that Tehran might react to sanctions by striking at US allies in the region. Washington is also seeking to discourage Israel from a strike against Iran by demonstrating that the US is prepared to contain any threat.
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Apparently, not enough of the establishment media noticed that Gen. David H. Petraeus went public with most of this “news” back on Jan. 22. The timing is key, as the Senate passed an Iran sanctions bill Thursday night, with the aid of Joementum. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has responded with some sabre-rattling of his own, promising a harsh blow to the “global arrogance” next week, to mark the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.
Kudos to Julian Barnes of the L.A. Times for looking at the bigger picture:
Obama administration officials also hope to head off an expanded nuclear arms race in the region. If Tehran acquires a nuclear weapon, or is seen as making progress toward acquiring one, wealthy Arab Gulf governments could seek their own weapons, a scenario Washington views as potentially volatile.
That is an understatement, given that Iran’s nuclear ambition already has the Gulf states looking at developing similarly “peaceful” nuclear programs.
Allahpundit/McLaughlin-esque exit question: Do these moves signal that Pres. Obama is taking the Iranian threat seriously, or are they another sign that he is planning for the day that the “international community” failed to stop Iran from getting the bomb?
Maybe Fiji...might be far enough away....
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