Blair refuses to back Iran strike - Scotsman

[rndmprsn]

looks like the brits will sit this one out...ugh

http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=577092006

TONY Blair has told George Bush that Britain cannot offer military support to any strike on Iran, regardless of whether the move wins the backing of the international community, government sources claimed yesterday.

Amid increasing tension over Tehran's attempts to develop a military nuclear capacity, the Prime Minister has laid bare the limits of his support for President Bush, who is believed to be considering an assault on Iran, Foreign Office sources revealed.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is calling on the United Nations to consider new sanctions against Tehran when the Security Council meets next week to discuss the developing crisis. Blair is expected to support the call for a "Chapter 7" resolution, which could effectively isolate Iran from the international community.

But, in the midst of international opposition to a pre-emptive strike on Tehran, and Britain's military commitments around the world, the government maintains it cannot contribute to a military assault. "We will support the diplomatic moves, at best," a Foreign Office source told Scotland on Sunday. "But we cannot commit our own resources to a military strike."

Meanwhile, a new report on the Iran crisis has warned that neo-conservatives in the Bush administration are on "collision course" with Tehran...

[mdmc]

1. you either wid us or agin us

!

[AlCzervik]

2. Striking Iran would be a total disaster and even attempting to put troops

on the ground there would be a suicide mission plain and simple.

[saltpoint]

3. Probably sometime after Dubya did his "Rummy stays on the job" thing

for the press, his staff must have told him that Tony Blair was definitely NOT on board for the Iran thing.

Which probably makes the Iraq thing even more problematic.

And it probably sent Dubya to the kitchen at Camp David lunging for the booze.

It just wasn't a real good week for the Republicans.

[raysr]

4. Maybe if * would

quit threatening these countries they wouldn't feel the need to develop nukes!

[saltpoint]

5. It's a possibility. BushCo is so bellicose and stubborn.

They're still in the smoke-em-out phase of foreign policy, long after it's been proven a bloody failure.