|
President Bush Gives Ultimatum(?) To Iran
President Bush charged Thursday that Iran continues to arm and train insurgents who are killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and he threatened action if that continues.At a news conference Thursday, Bush said Iran had been warned of unspecified consequences if it continued its alleged support for anti-American forces in Iraq. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker had conveyed the warning in meetings with his Iranian counterpart in Baghdad, the president said. Bush wasn't specific, and a State Department official refused to elaborate on the warning. Behind the scenes, however, the president's top aides have been engaged in an intensive internal debate over how to respond to Iran's nuclear program and its support for Shiite Muslim groups in Iraq. Vice President Dick Cheney several weeks ago proposed launching airstrikes at suspected training camps in Iraq run by the Quds force, a special unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to two U.S. officials who are involved in Iran policy. The debate has been accompanied by a growing drumbeat of allegations about Iranian meddling in Iraq from U.S. military officers, administration officials and administration allies outside government and in the news media. It isn't clear whether the media campaign is intended to build support for limited military action against Iran, to pressure the Iranians to curb their support for Shiite groups in Iraq or both. Nor is it clear from the evidence the administration has presented whether Iran is a major cause of the anti-American and sectarian violence in Iraq or merely one of many. Iran has long-standing ties to several Iraqi Shiite groups, including the Mahdi Army of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Badr Organization, which is allied with the U.S.-backed government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. At other times, administration officials have blamed the Sunni Muslim group al-Qaida in Iraq for much of the violence. For now, however, the president appears to have settled on a policy of stepped-up military operations in Iraq aimed at the suspected Iranian networks there, combined with direct American-Iranian talks in Baghdad to try to persuade Tehran to halt its alleged meddling. Cheney, who's long been skeptical of diplomacy with Iran, argued for military action if hard new evidence emerges of Iran's complicity in supporting anti-American forces in Iraq; for example, catching a truckload of fighters or weapons crossing into Iraq from Iran, one official said. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk publicly about internal government deliberations. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice opposes this idea, the officials said. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has stated publicly that "we think we can handle this inside the borders of Iraq." Bush left no doubt at his news conference that he intended to get tough with Iran. He also appeared to call on the Iranian people to change their government. "My message to the Iranian people is, you can do better than this current government," he said. Bush's efforts to pressure Iran are complicated by the fact that the leaders of U.S.-supported governments in Iraq and Afghanistan have a more nuanced view of their neighbor. Al-Maliki is on a three-day visit to Tehran, during which he was photographed Wednesday hand in hand with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Media reports said al-Maliki had told Iranian officials they'd played a constructive role in the region. Asked about that, Bush said he hadn't been briefed on the meeting. "Now if the signal is that Iran is constructive, I will have to have a heart-to-heart with my friend the prime minister, because I don't believe they are constructive. I don't think he in his heart of hearts thinks they're constructive, either," he said. Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai differed on Iran's role when they met last weekend, with Karzai saying in a TV interview that Iran was "a helper" and Bush challenging that view. The toughening U.S. position on Iran puts Karzai and Iraqi leaders such as al-Maliki in a difficult spot between Iran, their longtime ally, and the United States, which is spending lives and treasure to secure their newly formed government. Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-08-10 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=195827 |