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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| US official: Iran military strike 'off the table' |
| 2010-04-21 |
| The U.S. has ruled out a military strike against Iran's nuclear program any time soon, hoping instead negotiations and United Nations sanctions will prevent the Middle East nation from developing nuclear weapons, a top U.S. defense department official said Wednesday. "Military force is an option of last resort," Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy said during a press briefing in Singapore. "It's off the table in the near term." The U.S. and its allies fear Tehran is using its nuclear program to build arms. Iran denies the charges, and says its program only aims to generate electricity. "Right now the focus is a combination of engagement and pressure in the form of sanctions," Flournoy said. "We have not seen Iran engage productively in response." Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted Wednesday by Iran's state media saying the country won't give in to U.S. pressure. Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard is preparing to hold large-scale military maneuvers in the strategic Strait of Hormuz. "We've said time and again that we are not after weapons of mass destruction but the Iranian nation won't give in to such threats and will bring those threatening it to their knees," Khamenei said. Iran has rejected a 2009 U.N.-backed plan that offered nuclear fuel rods to Tehran in exchange for Iran's stock of lower-level enriched uranium. The swap would curb Tehran's capacity to make a nuclear bomb. But Iran has proposed variations on the deal, and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tuesday that a fuel agreement could be a chance to boost trust with the West. Earlier this week, he said Iran wants direct talks about the deal with all the U.N. Security Council members, except one with which it would have indirect talks — a reference to the United States, which with Tehran has no relations. The U.S. is lobbying heavily in the Security Council for sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. It need to be said loud and clear *now*, that if there is a nuclear exchange between Iran and Israel, it is officially Obama's fault for not acting. He needs to have his feet held to the fire, *now*, while it still matters. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #4 "The U.S. has ruled out a military strike against Iran's nuclear program any time soon, hoping instead negotiations and United Nations sanctions will prevent the Middle East nation from developing nuclear weapons" Didn't stop North Korea, did it? Won't stop Iran either. We have elected a pack of third-graders to the White House. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2010-04-21 22:57 |
| #3 And then there's ADM MIKE MULLEN... To wit, WAFF > WIRED NEWS > WILL THE US SHOOT DOWN AN ISRAELI JET, TOP OFFICER WON'T SAY!? | ADM. MULLEN WON'T RULE OUT US SHOOTING DOWN ISRAELI AIRCRAFT IFF THEY ATTACK IRAN. The sound you hear are whole generations of US COLD WAR-ERA AMERICANS INCLUD VETS + RETIREES SAYING "WHOA" ANDOR "WTF" IN RIGHTEOUS DISBELIEF. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-04-21 21:37 |
| #2 Insanity: Doing the exact same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Our Foreign Policy under OBumbles is insane. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2010-04-21 16:51 |
| #1 Stock up on iodine. |
| Posted by: Perfesser 2010-04-21 15:32 |