Thursday, December 06, 2007
Bush says Iran a 'danger' despite intelligence report (extracted from: http://news.sg.msn.com/topstories/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1131004)President George W. Bush said Tuesday that Iran remains a danger and refused to rule out a military attack, despite a US intelligence report saying Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003.
"The best diplomacy, effective diplomacy, is one in which all options are on the table," Bush said a day after the new intelligence assessment stoked the controversy over Iran's disputed program.
Input: =.=
Bush was adamant. "Iran was dangerous, Iran is dangerous and Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon," he told a White House press conference.
The president called on US allies to step up pressure on Iran. "The best way to ensure that the world is peaceful in the future is for the international community to continue to work together to say to the Iranians we are going to isolate you."
Input: i suppose there is a better way than isolation.. heard of NEGOTIATION?
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head ElBaradei, whose inspectors have been investigating Iran's nuclear drive for four years, called for immediate negotiations between Iran and its western critics.
"This new assessment by the US should help to defuse the current crisis," he said in a statement. "At the same time, it should prompt Iran to work actively with the IAEA."
But US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice vowed to press ahead with tougher UN sanctions against Iran, saying the United States and the five other powers dealing with Iran must maintain their diplomatic pressure.
"There is time for diplomacy to work, but there isn't time to stop and say 'we don't need the diplomacy,'" Rice said.
Input: in my personal opinion, this is not diplomacy.. this is pressurizing Iran to stop watever they are doing which may lead to adverse consequences. who knows, maybe there's going to be another Iraq saga.. *shrugs*
Clinton's top rival Senator Barack Obama warned that despite the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran released Monday, the Bush administration would not modify its tough line on Iran.
"It is absolutely clear that this administration and President Bush continues to not let facts get in the way of his ideology."
"Let's get this straight, in 2003 (Iran) stopped their program, you cannot trust this president, he is not trustworthy," said Senator Joseph Biden.
"It is outrageous, intolerable and it must stop ... the president of the United States -- it's like watching a rerun of his statements on Iraq five years earlier."
Input: only one word to describe. STUBBORN
*note that the inputs here are ENTIRELY the PERSONAL opinions of the author's and should NOT be taken seriously. the author would NOT be held liable for any displeasure caused.*