Roadmap to war against Iran #11

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Panel 'to urge Iraq policy shift'

A panel of White House advisers is said to be ready to call for a major shift in Washington's policy on Iraq, the Los Angeles Times has reported.

Members of the panel, which is led by former US Secretary of State James Baker, told the newspaper that this could include large troop withdrawals.

The White House has not commented on the newspaper report.

Violence in Iraq and rising American casualties are emerging as key issues for November's US mid-term elections.

"There's got to be another way," is how one member of the Iraq panel summed up their views on the situation in Iraq and the failure of current US policy, according to the LA Times.

Mr Baker's commission, which is due to report in the next few months, is set to recommend significant change, and will advise against "staying the course".

The bipartisan task force, which was asked by the US Congress to examine the effectiveness of American policy in Iraq, has reportedly been looking at two options, both of which would amount to a reversal of the Bush administration's stance.

One is the phased withdrawal of US troops - the other is to invite Syria and Iran to come into Iraq to help stop the fighting.

Mr Baker, who was Secretary of State under President George HW Bush, the current president's father, has so far stressed that the panel has not come to a definitive conclusion.

But he has indicated the direction of the panel's thinking in recent television interviews.

"Our commission believes that there are alternatives between the stated alternatives, the ones that are out there in the political debate of 'stay the course' and 'cut and run'", he told ABC News recently.

He has also said there would probably be some things in the report that the administration might not like.

'No deadline'

On Monday, President Bush called Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki to reaffirm his full support for the Iraqi government.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said that Mr Bush urged Mr Maliki to ignore rumours that Washington has set a deadline for the Iraqi government to control the activities of insurgents.

But as the key 7 November mid-term elections near, opinion polls have indicated growing public discontent with the Iraq war, a discontent that could have a significant impact on the election outcomes.

BBC News website's world affairs correspondent Paul Reynolds says the panel's findings could be the peg on which a shift of approach is hung.

LA Times reporter Doyle McManus, who was spoke to panel members, said the view emerging is that Mr Bush's strategy of keeping a large US military presence in Iraq until the violence stops is difficult to maintain.

As for working with Syria and Iran, that would be a radical move for President Bush, he says, but coming from James Baker, a close friend of the Bush family, it may be acceptable.

Since 2003, some 2, 761 US military personnel have died in Iraq.

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Op vrijdag 20 oktober 2006 12:42 schreef -scorpione- het volgende:
Ah, Amhemdinejad heeft weer wat van zich laten horen, interessante spreker is het toch. Nu bedreigt hij Europa en wil dat ze Israel niet meer steunen, anders kan Europa nog wel eens gewond raken. Hahaha, wat een kerel is het toch ook.

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Op vrijdag 20 oktober 2006 12:46 schreef Bombardier het volgende:

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Zéér onderschat staatsman.

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Op vrijdag 20 oktober 2006 13:28 schreef Frutsel het volgende:


Ahmadinejad said Israel Iran no longer had any reason to exist and would soon disappear.

"This regime, thanks to God, has lost the reason for its existence," he said.

"Efforts to stabilize this fake (Israeli) (Iran) regime, by the grace of God, have completely failed... You should believe that this regime is disappearing," he said.

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Iranian president says Europe may be hurt by backing Israel
By Reuters

TEHRAN - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Europe on Friday it was stirring up hatred in the Middle East by supporting Israel and said it "may get hurt" if anger in the region boils over.

"You should believe that this regime [Israel] cannot last and has no more benefit to you. What benefit have you got in supporting this regime, except the hatred of the nations?" he said in a speech to mark Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, when Iranians are officially encouraged to demonstrate in support of the Palestinians.

"We have advised the Europeans that the Americans are far away, but you are the neighbors of the nations in this region. We inform you that the nations are like an ocean that is welling up, and if a storm begins, the dimensions will not stay limited to Palestine, and you may get hurt," he said. The remarks were broadcast on state radio.

Ahmadinejad caused outrage in the West last year by calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map," echoing comments by the Islamic Republic's late founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

He has not since repeated that phrase, but regularly launches verbal attacks on Israel, whose right to exist Iran has not recognized since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Iran is accused of seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

"Today, with the grace of God, the efforts to establish this fake regime have failed totally," Ahmadinejad said.

Although Ahmadinejad has called for Israel's destruction, he said in August Iran was not a threat to any country "not even to the Zionist regime" - a term Iranian officials use for Israel.

State television showed crowds in Iranian towns and cities on Friday waving banners with pictures of Khomeini, and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Iran described Israel's war with Lebanon in the summer as a victory for Hezbollah and has also praised Palestinians who resist Israeli occupation.

"The false myth [of Israel being invincible] has fallen by the will of the Palestinian youth and the faithful warriors of Hezbollah," Ahmadinejad said.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in May that Iran's leaders had turned Israel "into a target for annihilation."

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The American Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group joins US build-up opposite Iran

Tuesday, Oct. 17, the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group steamed into the Persian Gulf to join the US naval, air and marine concentration piling up opposite Iran’s shores. It consists of the amphibious transport dock USS Nashville, the guided-missile destroyers USS Cole and USS Bulkeley, the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea, the attack submarine USS Albuquerque, and the dock landing ship USS Whidbey Island.

The Iwo Jima group is now cruising 60 km from Kuwait off Iran’s coast. As DEBKAfile and DEBKA-Net-Weekly reported exclusively two weeks ago, three US naval task forces will be in place opposite Iran in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea by October 21. The other two are the USS Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group and the USS Enterprise Strike Group.

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US-Led Military Thrust Focuses Heavily on Broad Naval Deployment

DEBKAfile Exclusive Military Report

October 30, 2006, 11:53 AM (GMT+02:00)





Hundreds of US and allied war ships foregathered in the strategic seas of the Middle East and India in the last days of October 2006 for two primary missions: To prepare for a US-led military strike against Iran which has stepped up its uranium enrichment program with a second centrifuge project - undeterred by the prospect of UN sanctions; and measures to fend off palpable al Qaeda threats to oil targets.

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Op maandag 30 oktober 2006 14:29 schreef -skippybal- het volgende:

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Complete artikel

In Iran gaan ze dus gewoon van uit dat het Nog voor de verkiezingen gebeurt van volgende week

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Op maandag 30 oktober 2006 15:20 schreef icecreamfarmer_NL het volgende:

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het is power projection doet de VS wel vaker 2 jaar geleden toen het met china wat hoog opliep hebben ze
7!!! cbg`s voor de kust geknalt.

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Op dinsdag 3 oktober 2006 15:28 schreef MuKe het volgende:
Het stukje tekst dat jij quote is gewoon hoe elk bedrijf die telefonische enquetes uitvoert te werk gaat... dat dat "er keurig eruitziet" is a given...

Je mag er grappig over proberen te doen, maar het is nog steeds een slecht uitgevoerd onderzoek... Als jij denkt dat iemand in Iran een beller zomaar gaat vertrouwen en zijn/haar echte mening gaat geven over zulke zaken dan weet je helemaal niks van de situatie in Iran af.

Iran is geen Nederland waar je zomaar alles kunt zeggen wat je wilt zonder consequenties. Bij het minste of geringste valt de militaire politie bij mensen hun huizen binnen. Ik ken persoonlijk mensen waarbij in hun huis wapens werden GEPLAATST door de militaire politie om ze zo op te kunnen pakken voor verhoor. En dan denk jij dat mensen zomaar iemand die ze opbelt vertrouwen?? Wie is er hier de grapjas...?

Ken je de demonstraties tegen Amerika en de "viering" van de Iraanse revolutie? Mensen worden door de Iraanse regering zowat gedwongen om hierbij de straten op te gaan, omdat ze bang zijn hun banen te verliezen als ze het niet doen. Ze moeten wel. Of dacht je dat de mensen uit vrije wil zo'n regering steunen? Het is allemaal uit angst.

Zogby mag dan een gerenomeerd bedrijf zijn, dit onderzoek is gewoon slecht gedaan. En dat Readers Digest dit zomaar overneemt is al helemaal schandelijk.

En ja, het kan zijn dat er wat mensen zijn die hun echte mening hebben gegeven, maar de meeste mensen zullen zo'n telefoontje niet zomaar vertrouwen.

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Op vrijdag 3 november 2006 12:02 schreef -scorpione- het volgende:
Veel belangrijker, volgens mij kunnen die dingen Israel halen.

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Op vrijdag 3 november 2006 13:00 schreef SeLang het volgende:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTiLtrW3mv0

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Op vrijdag 3 november 2006 15:09 schreef icecreamfarmer_NL het volgende:

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en allemaal australie aanwijzen

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In a recent poll, 22% of Americans were in favor of escalating the airstrikes against Sweden, but only if current economic sanctions aren't working. I'm not sure which is the stronger factor, sheer ingnorance and indifference to European geography, or an overwhelming desire to bomb Europe until there is no geography.

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Op vrijdag 3 november 2006 13:00 schreef SeLang het volgende:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTiLtrW3mv0

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Op vrijdag 3 november 2006 15:09 schreef icecreamfarmer_NL het volgende:

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en allemaal australie aanwijzen