Bush's tough tactics are a 'declaration of war' on Iran

[cal04]

American forces stormed Iranian government offices in northern Iraq, hours after President George Bush issued a warning to Tehran that was described as a "declaration of war".

The soldiers detained six people, including diplomats, according to the Iranians, and seized documents and computers in the pre-dawn raid which was condemned by Iran. A leading UK-based Iran specialist, Ali Ansari, said the incident was an "extreme provocation". Dr Ansari said that Mr Bush's speech on future Iraq strategy amounted to "a declaration of war" on Iran.

"The risk is a wider war. Because of the underlying tensions, we are transferring from a 'cold war' into a 'hot war'," he said.

(snip)
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad Ali Hosseini, protested against the raid by US forces in Arbil, saying on Iranian state-run radio that it targeted a "diplomatic mission" since the "presence of Iranian staffers in Irbil was legal".

Ironically, Iran had been contained by Saddam Hussein, until his overthrow by the Americans in 2003. Obsessed by a threat from "Persian hordes", Saddam maintained ambiguity about his weapons of mass destruction so Iran would believe that it had reason to fear its western neighbour. So have the Americans made a strategic mistake by refusing to engage with Iran? "There's no doubt that nothing good will come of this," said Dr Ansari.

By Anne Penketh, Diplomatic Editor
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article2145136.ece

[MasonJar]

1. Impeach before he kills the whole world. It is amazing how one

arrogant idiot can endanger life on earth. The polar bears did nothing to deserve this.

[teryang]

2. dynamic hysteria policy will cause Iran to fold like cheap tent

...not likely. All this bluster and bluff, in its inherent ineffectiveness, is meant to change the image of a very weak US military and diplomatic situation which is subject to a strategic economic challenge for the first time since the end of the cold war.

At the end of 2005, it looked like the dollar would collapse below critical support. Now miraculously with the creation of Iraqi panic and Iranian crisis an intimidated Saudi Arabia breaks OPEC ranks and capitulates to Goldman Sachs demands on oil pricing.

Well, we may be losing soldiers and killing people every day, but we've got the sheiks eating out of our hands.

American bankers and creditors everywhere, very, very, happy. Hello Iraqi oil concessions, goodbye Iranian oil bourse. Hail to the almighty petrodollar, enforced at the point of gun, stealth bomber, aircraft carrier, and al CIAda.