Condoleezza Rice calls easing of pressure on Iran a 'big mistake'
Bush: New data claiming Iran halted program won't prompt military action, but option still viable.
By The Associated Press Tags: George Bush Iran US Iran nuclearU.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Tuesday it would be a "big mistake" to ease world pressure on Iran just because a U.S. intelligence report said Tehran stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003.
Rice, who has spent years battling to get the backing of reluctant world powers such as Russia and China to punish Iran over its nuclear program, said she would continue to push for a third UN Security Council sanctions resolution against Tehran.
"The timing has got to be to continue to pursue the Security Council resolutions, to pursue the other pressures that we are bringing to bear, so that they don't acquire the fissile material [to build a bomb]," Rice told reporters traveling with her to Ethiopia.
"I continue to see Iran as a dangerous power in international politics," she added before a refueling stop in Rota, southern Spain.
Rice said she had called nearly all of her key counterparts dealing with the Iran issue since the National Intelligence Estimate was released on Monday, which contradicted the Bush administration's earlier assertion that Iran was intent on building a bomb and likely undermined U.S. efforts to isolate Tehran.
The intelligence assessment's finding that Iran had stopped its weapons program was "good news", Rice said, but Tehran was still continuing to develop the technical means that could ultimately be used to build a bomb.
"If it [new U.S. intelligence] causes people to say: 'Oh, then we don't need to worry about what the Iranians are doing,' I think then we will have made a big mistake," Rice said.
"What they are doing is continuing the enrichment and reprocessing activities - in fact as far as we can tell, trying to perfect them," she added.
United States President George W. Bush also said on Tuesday that the international community should continue to pressure Iran on its nuclear programs, saying the new U.S. intelligence report provides an opportunity.
"I view this report as a warning signal that they had the program, they halted the program," Bush said. "The reason why it's a warning signal is they could restart it."
The new intelligence pertaining to Iran's nuclear program stood in marked contrast to Bush's rhetoric on Iran. At his last news conference on October 17, for instance, he said that people interested in avoiding World War III should be working to prevent Iran from having the knowledge needed to make a nuclear weapon.
Bush said the findings of the National Intelligence Estimate would not prompt him to take a U.S. military action against Tehran off the table.
"The best diplomacy - effective diplomacy - is one in which all options are on the table," he said.
Bush said Tuesday that he only learned of the new intelligence assessment last week. But he portrayed it as valuable ammunition against Tehran, not as a reason to lessen diplomatic pressure.
"To me, the NIE provides an opportunity for us to rally the international community - to continue to rally the community - to pressure the Iranian regime to suspend its program," the president said. "What's to say they couldn't start another covert nuclear weapons program?"
He also asserted that the report means that nothing has changed, focusing on the previous existence of a weapons program and not addressing the discrepancy between his rhetoric and the disclosure that weapons program has been frozen for four years.
"I still feel strongly that Iran is a danger," he said. "I think the NIE makes it clear that Iran needs to be taken seriously as a threat to peace. My opinion hasn't changed."
In Kabul, Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates reinforced the U.S. position that the new U.S. intelligence assessment shows that Tehran remains a possible threat. He said it shows that Iran has had a nuclear weapons program and that as long as the country continues enriching uranium, Iran could always renew its weapons program.
"The U.S. intelligence assessment validated the administration's strategy of bringing diplomatic and economic efforts to bear on Iran," Gates said Tuesday, speaking at a news conference with Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai.
The president also said that the world would agree with his message that Iran shouldn't be let off the hook yet.
In fact, Europeans said the new information strengthens their argument for negotiations with Tehran, but they also said that sanctions are still an option to compel Iran to be fully transparent about its nuclear program. European officials insisted that the international community should not walk away from years of talks with an often defiant Tehran that is openly enriching uranium for uncertain ends. The report said Iran could still build a nuclear bomb by 2010-2015.
China, for its part, said on Tuesday it had no information to confirm the report, and urged further negotiations to resolve the continuing crisis.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said that the report had been noted, but that he cannot confirm the reality of this report.
"However China's position is quite consistent," Qin told reporters at a regular briefing. "I have nothing new to add."
Qin did not directly respond to questions about whether China would back new Security Council sanctions against Iran, or the significance of the report in the negotiating process.
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United States President George W. Bush. (Reuters) |
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"It would take them as much time as it will take Bush to pronounce the word nuclear correctly. Eight years maybe ten". LOL...I just love a sense of humour!
I find your responses to bashers like Amos, so simple, direct and to the point,and oh, so amusing. :) Keep posting, Johnboy. Regards.
It is amazing to see the delusional virus regarding Iranian intransigence of Bush/Cheney infect Secretary of State Rice. Time for her to make a stop onn her tours at Stanford for more intelligence. Bush/Cheney still must put "The Rapture" on hold. There are many nations that "could" build nuclear bombs. It would take them as much time as it will take Bush to pronounce the word nuclear correctly. Eight years maybe ten.
a: "Hey Johnboy, you post like a typical older girl." Well, that's rather odd, since that is not my gender. a: "Why would you try to pass as "Johnboy" here ?" It's the only moniker I ever use, amos. How many handles do you post under? a: "You do not believe in M/F equality among your native people, the Arabs ?" I believe in M/F equality, but the arabs are not my native people, amos. a: "How long ago was it since you lost your legal job working for the Rais Arafat in Ramallah ?" I have never studied law, nor have I ever spent a day doing any legal work, nor have I ever visited Ramallah. Basically, you have not got a single fact correct, amos. Ever considered that your lack of insight might indicate a lack of insight?
Condoleeza Rice and John McCain. President and Vice President or vice versa. Doesn't matter. Giuliani for Secretary of State. Democrats can't touch that.
I swear to you, my hunny bunch Condi, won't ever read it.
#29 "It`s supposed to be carrots and sticks, guys." Hey Johnboy, you post like a typical older girl. Why would you try to pass as "Johnboy" here ? You do not believe in M/F equality among your native people, the Arabs ? How long ago was it since you lost your legal job working for the Rais Arafat in Ramallah ?
TO VISIT THE UNDIVIDED CAPITOL OF ISRAEL- JERUSALEM
reuters reported that a key NIE finding was that "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program SUGGESTS it is LESS determined to develop nuclear weapons.." "Suggest" implies NOT CONCLUSIVE. It also quoted that "(NIE) also assess with MODEARTE-TO-HIGH confidence that Tehran at a minimum is keeping open the option to DEVELOP nuclear weapons." And it said the NIE concluded that "We DO NOT know whether (Iran) currently intends to develop nuclear weapons." In other words, Ruth is correct that the report says nothing - the NIE report basically has NOT ruled out TOTALLY that iran has STOPPED pursuing its clandestine nuclear weapons program.
"Piss off you total moron...Who gives a shit what you have to say? " clickfool did. He is only moron who answers his own question!
US intelligence said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction ...we still haven't found them...Now we believe the same intelligence (oxymoron) that Iran isn't trying to build a bomb? "Those that fail to learn from the past will be doomed to repeat it" Enough said!
pistachios in the world to all of the ME, then Europe, then California, in that order. California pistachios are their main competitors.
Well done to Clickfool and Co for their sudden and new-found trust in US intelligence services. Heart-warming indeed. However, the NIE report is far from conclusive. It postulates: --"In all cases, assessments and judgments are not intended to imply that we have 'proof' that shows something to be a fact" --"We assess with MODERATE CONFIDENCE Tehran had not restarted its nuclear weapons program as of mid-2007, but we do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons." Good luck takng that to the bank. Educate yourselves first. The full NIE report is here: http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/20071203_release.pdf
Indrajaya, -When will you stop putting pressure on Israel? You won't, until it becomes a MUSLIM PALESTINIAN state, right? -We should all be putting pressure on Indonesia until they Aceh and West Papua are independent states as well. Free from Indonesia!
the underground half-baked 5kT detonation in NK paid for by Iran. Iranians were known to work in both Syria and NK.
Only when security council forces israel to pay for its intrasingence will iranians backdown from NPT. In fact I wish all you dumb ass israel lovers all woke up. The world would be better without u. Iran is not a threat to anybody but the colonial powers. Israel is a colonial state, that not only colonizes but wants to be the lone industrial nation on the middleeast.
...destroyed by the supreme powers of the western world, including Israel.... I'm sad to realize that there is RAMBO in STOCKHOLM these days. Fortunately, Iran and all of us won't bow to such empty threats, like what happened to US's threat to Iran on nuclear programs. A laughable threat.
The US are failing to confront the challege of radical islam. Eventually, they won't a superpower in some decades. They are losing their credibility and their deterrence.
I just read the NIE Report. Here is a quote: "We assess with high confidence that Iran has the scientific, technical, and industrial capacity eventually to produce nuclear weapons if it decides to do so." So, Iran remains a threat to the world.
We need a Nuclear Warning System, like a Tsunami Warning system. Unfortunaltey we could not and cannot prevent a Tsunami! Have we become so naive. Have regimes and fanatics ever done good for mankind If we have decided to turn a blind eys to Iran's Nuke program, they may test it on the Sunnis first, from what I see happening in the ME
And it will not stop before that. The western world has a history of persuing it's goals, even though the road might be bumpy at times. As long as iran wants to be a threat to any part of the western world, it will be handled accordingly. If needed, it's nuclear installations will be destroyed by the supreme powers of the western world, including Israel.
chet, I think your post is pretty good, but I think we need to watch out about saying that the Oct. 2006 report said the same thing as this 2007 report. You might end up being right, but the evidence just isn't there yet. The questions of "Who Knew" and "When Did They Know It" have not been answered. Now, when is the US Congress going to take their oversight role seriously and demand answers to these questions? Then we can bash those who knew, and made deceptive statements anyways. And we'll have the proof to back up our bashing.
Does anybody really know anything for sure? Prior to the Iraq war the "intelligence" community was just as convinced that Saddam was cranking out WMD by the bushel and, boy, were they wrong. I can remember Colin Powell at the UN showing a picture of a truck parked next to a bunker and saying, "This is a mobile bio-weapons lab." Really? It looked like pizza-delivery truck to me. And now the "intelligence" community is saying that Iran halted their nuclear weapons program in 2003 and, insofar as anybody knows, she hasn't restarted it yet. On the other hand, Iran is working feverishly on Uranium enrichment (which could produce weapons-grade fissile material) and longer range guided missles (the delivery system). Well, I hope that the "intelligence" community is right this time and that the Iranian threat has shifted from the immediate to the remote. I just hope that this assessment is not based on satellite photos of pizza-delivery trucks.
IRAN HAS NOT HAD A NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM SINCE 2003!! And the Americans always knew it - this NIE report was available since October 2006 and Cheney and the AIPAC/neocon cabal suppressed it. Now that the cat's out of the bag, instead of suggesting diplomacy with Iran to possibly alleviate the tensions between the countries,this disgusting piece of offal who is the Sec'y of State presses for more sanctions to add to the tensions. Before concluding, I offer kudos to Livni who courageously stated several months ago that Iran did not pose a nuclear threat to Israel. In the political atmosphere of that time that took guts.
TO # 12 Bush would like to visit Israel,for the very same reason that you would like to breathe air!
One more big big lie. Report mention they stop nuclear bomb program in 2003, wait few years and you will know if Ron Paul or Dennis Kucinich get elected. They never has a nuclear bomb program, intelligence agency is laoded with false and lie you can not imagine. Simply usa can not attack Iran and Bush knows it, this report gives him the chance to Shut Up. I feel very sorry for Israel, for once it can proof it likes peace, impossible!. For more information try www.presstv.com.
That's how you are supposed to move a stubborn animal in the direction you want it to go. But, unfortunately, the dumb jackass appears to be the one riding in the cart not the one pulling the cart. This is pretty simple, Condi. So simple even Bush should be able to grasp the concept: IF you have evidence that Iran is pursuing an illegal nuclear weapons program then you sanction the shit outta her. IF you have evidence that Iran has abandoned an illegal nuclear weapons program then you EASE the sanctions. You punish the bad behavior, and you reward the good behavior. Sticks and carrots, guys. The one thing you DON'T do is follow the ol' Sharon thesis: 1) Threats have worked, therefore more threats will work even better! 2) Threats haven't worked, therefore more threats are required! It a loser strategy, because eventually the other side understands that there is no point playing this game any more - the game is rigged, and they can't ever win.
The diplomatic solutions are clear. The stakes have already been well established. Here is the deal: Full normalization of all EU/US relations with Iran, including most favored trading status, and an end to ALL sanctions. In exchange Iran halts enrichment and ratifies the NPT treaty expansion that allows expanded IAEA inspections. Iran gets their nuclear fuel from one (or more) agreed sources, including Russia, EU, and/or a mid-east consortium. Iran also agrees not interfere with US troops in Iraq. Issues related to Iran and Hamas, Hezb, and Syria are all off the table unless Israel reaches a point where peace negotiations with these people are nearing conclusion. That's where the deal stands. If Bush wants peace, this is the price. Bush is not going to get anywhere by demanding Iran completes it's side of the deal before the US will even sit down at the table. Bush, either get on with negotiations, or get out of the way and let a real leader close a deal.
1. The US owes trillions in national debt. 2. The responsibility for paying off that debt will fall on the American People. 3. The majority of the American People are Christians. 4. Those Christians, and their descendants, will be the slaves who have to pay off those trillions in national debt. 5. And one final thing. Isn't it always the violence-prone cretins who are quick to brand as "stupid" those of us who see peace as a virtue?
When will Israel realize (again) that they stand alone and will stand alone.. The Bible is always right (numbers 23:9).. when that will get into the head of the average Jew is when Israel and all Jews will have security etc..the sooner we get it the better it is for all mankind..
what you will do when the US do not keep Israel from squashing your " state " any more?
And Americans are more astute to this US warmongering on behalf of Israel. No more of our men and women should be dying for that little warmongering pariah state that the world has condemned repeatedly for its theft of Palestinian land, save for the US veto. Between Carter and Finkelstein and other truthtellers, Americans will get fully awake when we have no oil and no friends behind blind support for Israel's BS, which is simply a matter of land theft. Too many religious zealots here in the US support land theft. Well, they will have to wait to see if God defends this pariah nation. Regards.
Sanctions against Iran won't stop until Republic Islam Iran turns into A JEWISH STATE.
Come on guys! How many more years will it take for you to make peace around you? NIE said Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, but Bush & Israel only speak about he fact that "Iran was a danger, Iran is a danger and Iran will FOREVER be a danger"... How can you expect anything good with that kind of speech? If only you could fight as hard for peace as you do it for war then peace wouldn't be just an illusion in this region. I'm not saying Iran is acting like an angel but i guess it would be interesting for one time to spend some billions of dollars that are coming from USA to make peace and not for amercian military aircrafts...
Bush and his cronies are mad men who are more dangerous to this world than the Mullas of Iran. He gets his orders from the zionists and is selling out America for their interest.
The enslavement of the christian people...care to elaborate? No one is asking the US to bomb anyone. All Israel wants is security. Did anyone ask the US to join world war II? No but when there is an obvious threat (Iran does not even lie about its intentions), you have to deal with it. If you don't learn from history, you repeat it and are therefore, stupid!!!
After the Intelligence Report: ...if Iran uses an A-Bomb against Israel, we will defend Israel...
1. Not one of the people who are urging the US to bomb Iran has any love for the US. 2. Instead, those who encourage the US to bomb Iran only want the US to do their bidding, no matter the consequences to the US. 3. Those who truly love the US are interested in peace, stability, and in keeping US military forces intact for the real battles ahead. 4. Those who truly love the US understand that the real goal of those, who urge the bombing of Iran by the US, is the eventual collapse of the US economy, the break-up of the United States, and the enslavement of the Christian people.
They don't have a weapons program, period. There is nothing illegal about enriching uranium. I am going to write my congressmen right now telling them such.
Iran not having a nuclear weapons program has nothing to do with the true reason that George W Bush wants to attack Iran. Iran has oil. George Bush doesn't really give a damn if they have nuclear weapons or not. Iran is still going to be attacked by the USA. This war has been planned since 1996. It has absolutely nothing to do with terrorism, and everything to do with corporate greed. There is 30 trillion dollars worth of oil sitting under the ground in Iran. The corporate elite and private bankers that control the Bush administration want control of the tap for oil profits in Iran. Iran has recently switched over to the Euro as their form of petro-currency. The Dollars is getting weaker and weaker by the day. America is in a downward spiral. America has gained 6 trillion dollars of debt under the Bush administration, more than any 5 presidents in the history of the United States of America.
Bush is the craziest man ever. More crazy than hitler and Stalin combined. His war mongering will end the human race. The neocons and the zionists are trying to take over the world in order to bathe in the oil fields. Israel controls the us and has us soldiers die for its expansionist motives. Sounds ridiculous doesn't it? Some people are just plain ole retarded!!!
....a country to stop doing whatever is deemed inappropriate by the world bullies. So when the country complies the sanctions should be relaxed not increased or where is the incentive for a country to abide by the rules? If Iran is going to be pressured whether they build a bomb or don't build a bomb then it's reasonable to assume that they may as well build a bomb. The country most likely to take us all into WWIII already has enough nuclear weapons to kill every man, woman and child on earth 5 times over and his name is George W Bush.
Piss off you total moron, you jackass, you embarrassment to America, you wrecker of the American Constitution, you joke. Who gives a shit what you have to say?
Why would Bush go to Israel?
You are so right. Bush is foaming at the mouth about abortion rights, Zionism, and evangelical churches - meanwhile the dollar is dropping like a rock, the US military is stretched thin, the housing market implodes, the stock market is primed for a crash. He is the poster boy for idiocy and he is ruining the US. I wonder what Israel will do when the US no longer has the clout to shield Israel and fund it?
This guy needs help .
I have yet to see such a nice collection of idiots on one talkback. Your infatuation with Bush is ridiculous. You are the same loonies that will say Ahmadinejad is a better man than Bush, right? I don't even like Bush, but your level of hatred for the leader of the most free country in the world is asinine at best. It makes all of you look mentally ill. The fact still remains that Iran sponsors terror and yet you fools conveniently ignore this fact. Now if you put two and two together, you will see why people with brains have a problem with Iran acquiring nuclear knowhow.
Since the United States and Israel (bullies that they are) will only attack countries who DO NOT have the means to defend themselves, will do anything to try to keep Iran as defensless as possible. Will it work? I think not. If we can have nukes, so can they.
It just goes to show how insanely desperate and disenfranchised the "blue" voters are (and their kindred world-wide). In several threads following the publication of this report there have been celebrations of the imminent demise of the neocons, etc. Yet would anyone celebrating the demise of the neocons agree with this report that Iran did in fact have a nuclear bomb program? Nah. You just run around the streets with any scrap of paper that you half-wittedly interpret as a redemption of your "blueness" (liberalness). Even if that scrap of paper confirms what the neocons were saying all along! V. Lennon called your type: "useful idiots".
It is clear that George W. Bush is a mad man with his finger on the button. I do not feel that ANY of the other men with control of nuclear weapons are an immediate threat to humanity. Britain, China, France, India, Israel and Russia, these are all nations run by sane men without a record of starting totally unnecessary wars for personal gain. The case of the United States the finger on the button belongs to a man who lives in his own fantasy world, surrounded by sycophants, and in total denial of reality.
maybe just maybe, the US is going to let Iran get a nuke in exchange for Iran not sending weapons into Iraq? Could such a deal be made in secret???
America is in real danger of economic and political collapse as a super power while this man with his Zionist advisers remains in office. May god save America from all Zionist and neocon war mongers.
1. President Bush said, on December 4, 2007, that he was against Iran having the knowledge to enrich uranium. 2. For centuries, some countries and peoples were against people of African descent being educated. 3. Are we seeing a revival of those days when education was reserved for some while being denied to others who were only viewed as servants and slaves?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/world/europe/04react.html?_r=1&oref=slogin the world is already deciding otherwise. Iran has a lot of extra money and wants to spend it. Country's are queueing up to sell Iran everything from plastic keys, to nuclear power plants. Iran has won
Let's say a guy came out of prison on early release in 2003 and stayed straight ever since with his parole-officer acknowledging this. The D.A. then says: because he committed a crime once, we must put extra surveillance on hin, the fact he went straight since 2003 proves he once was a criminal before 2003. How long would this D.A. be in function?