War On Iran : US Finds Ally In France
French Minister Says 'Prepare For War'
The United States under BushCo. and France under the control of NeoCons are firming up as allies in a growing state of near-war on Iran.
Many commentators in the US are now saying the American people are being prepared, through a co-ordinated and highly inflammatory media campaign running from vice president Dick Cheney's office, for a series of pre-emptive strikes on Iran's nuclear energy installations and facilities.
Israel says Iran is a greater threat than Iraq ever was, and so the United States must do as they're told.
Iran doesn't have nuclear weapons, hasn't invaded or directly attacked another country in centuries and has one of the most American-influenced cultures in the entire Middle East, particularly amongst its youth.
But if the US or Israel, or the US and Israel and France, go to war on Iran, it seems likely that most of the nation's youth will rise against the "infidels". They may enjoy American TV and music and fashion, but the deeply religious and nationalistic youth are unlikely to tolerate deadly acts of aggression from the NeoCons.
The idea that the US, or Israel, could fly in, hit a hundred targets and then everything would settle down is insanity.
If the US and/or Israel and/or France attack Iran in the coming year, you will no need no further proof that the NeoCon mission in the Middle East is to sew chaos, death and destruction rather than the spreading of liberty and democracy.
China and Russia, who both have hundreds of billions of dollars in business and state interests in Iran have threatened in the past to retaliate against any nation that attacks Iran.
From the UK Guardian :
The head of the UN's nuclear agency today warned against increasing "hype" towards war with Iran, saying countries should heed the lessons of the build-up to the Iraq conflict.The strongly worded comments by Mohamed ElBaradei, who leads the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), follow a warning by the French foreign minister that the world should brace itself for a possible war with Iran.
"We have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war," Bernard Kouchner told French TV and radio.
While talks over Iran's controversial nuclear programme should continue "right to the end", Mr Kouchner said, an Iranian nuclear weapon would pose "a real danger for the whole world". Under President Nicolas Sarkozy, France has taken a much harsher line towards Iran than under Jacques Chirac.
In a perceived riposte to the comments, Mr ElBaradei urged caution. "We need to be cool," he told reporters at the IAEA's annual conference in Vienna. "We need not to hype the issue".
"I would not talk about any use of force," he said. "There are rules on how to use force, and I would hope that everybody would have gotten the lesson after the Iraq situation, where 70,000 innocent civilians have lost their lives on the suspicion that a country has nuclear weapons."
The comments come at a time of heightened tension between Iran and the US, which has stepped up accusations of Iranian support for Shia militias targeting US forces in Iraq.
Washington is also seeking a third round of UN sanctions against Iran over its refusal to stop uranium enrichment, and has accused the country of secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran has rejected those charges, saying its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, including generating electricity.
At today's meeting in Vienna, Iran's vice-president warned the US and others against provoking a confrontation.
Western nations had "proved that you cannot tolerate the addition of independent states and developing countries to the ongoing movement of those seeking to achieve ownership of modern technology", said Reza Aghazadeh, who also heads Iran's nuclear agency.
"The great nation of Iran has recorded your discriminatory behaviour and performance in its memory and will not forget," he was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.
Separately, however, the country's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said he wanted peace and friendship with Washington, despite mounting speculation over possible US strikes.
"Our message to the American nation is a message of peace, friendship, brotherhood and respect for humans," the official IRNA news agency quoted Mr Ahmadinejad as saying on the state-owned Jame Jam television network yesterday.
There'll be no more snarky comments from hawkish Republicans about "freedom fries" and "surrender monkeys" when they start talking up the "bravery" and "support" France is now showing for BushCo.'s increasingly aggressive stance towards Iran :
Instead Of Coming Home, British Troops Told To Move To The Iranian BorderFrance followed up a warning that the Iran nuclear crisis could lead to war by calling on Monday for European sanctions against Tehran.
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said tensions with Iran are now "extreme", heightening a diplomatic storm caused by Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's warning on Sunday that the world should prepare for a conflict over Iran's alleged work on a nuclear weapon.
Kouchner met his Dutch counterpart Maxime Verhagen in Paris and said European countries should prepare their own non-UN sanctions.
"These would be European sanctions that each country, individually, must put in place with its own banking, commercial and industrial system. The English and the Germans are interested in talking about this. We will try to find a common European position," Kouchner said.
On Sunday, Kouchner used the toughest language to date from a French minister, warning that "we have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war." If Tehran possessed an atomic weapon, it would be a "real danger for the whole world," he said in an interview.
Speaking Monday, the French prime minister said: "The Iranians must understand that tension has reached an extreme point... in the relationship between Iran and its neighbours."
He added however that "a confrontation with Iran is the last option that any political leader would want."
Iran insists its nuclear work is peaceful and Vice President Reza Aghazadeh, who is also head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation (AEOI), warned the West against seeking a confrontation.
Western countries "have always chosen the path of confrontation instead of the path of understanding and cordial relations toward the great nation of Iran," he told the UN meeting in Vienna.
"The great nation of Iran has recorded your discriminatory behavior and performance in its memory and will not forget," Aghazadeh said.
In Tehran, foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said in a statement: "It seems that the French foreign minister has forgotten the policy of the European Union" with his war warning.
"The use of such words creates tensions and is contrary to the cultural history and civilisation of France," he added.
The IAEA director general also said that force should not be used yet to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis.
"We need always to remember that use of force could only be resorted to when ... every other option has been exhausted. I don't think we are at all there," ElBaradei told reporters on the sidelines of the conference, at which he expressed regret at Iran's refusal to fall in line with UN resolutions.
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