Bush breaks his silence on the the detained US citizens in Iran

[maddezmom]

Bush Calls on Iran to Release Detained U.S. Citizens
President Ends Silence in Response To Spying Charges Against Three

By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 2, 2007; Page A04

President Bush lashed out at Iran yesterday for detaining American citizens and called for them to be freed "immediately and unconditionally." White House aides said the president broke his silence because of Tehran's decision to charge three of the four detainees.

~snip~

The Bush administration has been reluctant to comment publicly about the quiet diplomatic efforts, in part because the main issue in the detentions appears to be a $75 million fund for democracy in Iran that was unveiled by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last year. Iranian media that reflect the regime's views have suggested the detained Americans are engaged in helping to foment a "soft revolution."

National security adviser Stephen J. Hadley said the White House had decided to speak out after almost a month because the detentions have now dragged on and because Iran this week charged Esfandiari, Tajbakhsh and Azima with espionage and endangering Iran's national security

~snip~

The detentions are particularly awkward for their timing -- just as the United States opened the first public bilateral talks with Tehran after almost three decades of a diplomatic deep freeze, following the 1979-81 takeover of the U.S. Embassy, in which 52 Americans were held for 444 days.

~snip~

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=post&forum=103


no mention of the Iranians the US military is holding in Iraq

[bemildred]

1. Just remember, this has NOTHING TO DO with the Iranians we are holding.

No connection whatsoever, uh uh, not, no ...