Bush, Ahmadinejad Trade Barbs
Iranian Delegates Arrested, Released by US
First Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran was read to step into the vacuum when the US was forced out of Iraq. He oddly said that Iran's friends, including Saudi Arabia, would help in this task. The hyper-Sunni Saudi government is actually not very friendly with Shiite Iran at all.
Then Bush rattled sabers against Iran putting the regime in Tehran on the same level as al-Qaeda as a threat to US interests. That seems a bit shrill.
Then US troops arrested 7 Iranians, mostly part of a delegation of the electricity ministry, but swiftly later released them.
The problem with the two leaders talking big against one another is that the provocations might suddenly get out of hand and suddenly there would be a war.
Labels: Iran
posted by Juan Cole @ 8/29/2007 12:15:00 AM
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6 Comments:
Isn't there a decent map of the middle to far east somewhere in D.C.? Just a single look at Iran and its neighbors should explain why the Iranians speak and act the way they do.
In the west of Iran lies Iraq, in the east is Afghanistan. Image: Back in the Cold War era the Soviet Union invaded and occupied Mexico and Canada. How would the US feel, act and speak?
He oddly said that Iran's friends, including Saudi Arabia, would help in this task. The hyper-Sunni Saudi government is actually not very friendly with Shiite Iran at all.
Well, one can also imagine that the Saudi, above all, want stability. Having verified that the US isn't able to stabilize the situation in Iraq, they prefer to strike a deal with the Iranians : the Iranians for instance could promise to contain any unrest of Saudi Shiites and help stabilize Iraq; in exchange, the Saudi would accept that their influence grows in Iraq. Would that be such a bad deal for the Saudi ? The Saudi have already met with the Iranians some months ago and both said the results of their talks were positive.
Why are you so evenhanded with the two presidents?
How does stating Iran would step into the vacuum left by a US withdrawal count as "talking big?" It seems like an innocuous observation.
On the other hand our President's threats against Iran yesterday are bellicose and indicate he decided war with Iran is his next devinely inspired mission.
Bush is swaggering about Iran at the very same time that the IAEA has been reaching agreements and resolving conflicts with Iran - the justification of "Iranian nuclear threat" is losing its utility, and what promises to be a dismal September Pretaeus report is coming due. So, Bush has to find an excuse to misdirect public attention and sabre-rattling at Iran and equating it with Al-Qaeda is therefore just convenient politics.
ref : Then Bush rattled sabers against Iran : “I have authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran's murderous activities!”
If reading these words were not worrisome enough, actually seeing what appears to be a quite mad Mr. Bush scream them exclamation point! into a microphone before an audience of the American Legion yesterday was, to this writer, frightening.
fwiw, could someone here state by what legal authority does the American President have, or did the American Congress give to Mr. Bush ~ to launch an aerial bombardment of and/or armoured assault upon the sovereign nation of IRAN? thanks.
The curious thing was the dog who didn't bark in the night-time:
The curious thing about this exchange is that these two leaders HAVEN't been talking big aaginst one another for several weeks now.
Nor has Ahmadinejad been pouring out his regular anti Israeli invective. Nor has there been any activity at the UN since the last sanctions were imposed even though Iran is still supposedly continuing its uranianium enrichment program. And this at a time when US et al have been conducting naval war games in the Gulf. And at a time when US/Iran have opened a dialogue about Iraq.
Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, Sarkozy pulls out a big stick and the "war of words" break out between Bush and Ahmadinejad.
Wouldn't this perhaps suggest behind-the-scenes confidence building negotiations have been taking place over the past few weeks? And that these negotiations might have reached a sticking point, so US/France is ratcheting up the pressure?
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