2007 Collection # 4
Middle East Sitemap Areas in focus Resources Columns and art Publications About TFF Support our work Search & services Contact us Military build-up against Iran
Features, analyses & news
Collected by TFF 2007
Collection 1 - 2004 onwards - basic sources
Analyses and comments from the world press about events in the Middle East - Iraq in particular - are found here.
Pepe Escobar on The Real News, December 23, 2007
Can the US accept Iran as a regional power
Based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Pepe Escobar writes The Roving Eye for Asia Times Online. He has reported from Iraq, Iran, Central Asia, US and China. He is the author of the recently published Red Zone Blues. Pepe is a regular analyst for The Real News.CNN - December 6, 2007
European back new Iran sanctions
Mark Mazetti, International Herald Tribune, December 3, 2007
U.S. report says Iran halted nuclear weapons program in 2003
The report seems likely to weaken international support for tougher sanctions against Iran and raise new questions about the credibility of the beleaguered American intelligence agencies, while reshaping the final year of the Bush administration, which has made halting Iran's nuclear program a cornerstone of its foreign policy.Reese Ehrlich, FPIF, November 28, 2007
U.S. tells Iran: Become a nuclear power
U.S. leaders are engaging in a massive case of collective amnesia, or perhaps more accurately, intentional misdirection. In the 1970s the United States encouraged Iran to develop nuclear power precisely because Iran will eventually run out of oil.Dan Murphy, Christian Science Monitor, November 1, 2007
Middle East racing to nuclear power
Shiite Iran's ambitions have spurred 13 Sunni states to declare atomic energy aims this year.Reuters, October 31, 2007
Iran warns U.S. of "quagmore" as Russia urges diplomacyIan Bruce, The Herald, October 29, 2007
Secret move to upgrade air base for Iran attacks
The US is secretly upgrading special stealth bomber hangars on the British island protectorate of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, according to military sources.Associated Press, October 28, 2007
No evidence iran building nuclear weapons:
Mohamed ElbaradeiFelicity Arbuthnot - Globalresearch.ca, October 27, 2007
Iran: The road to Armageddon?G. Weitz & Na'ama Lanski, Haaretz.com - October 26, 2007
Livni behind closed doors: Iranian nuclear arms pose little threat to Israel
Pepe Escobar, Asia Times online, October 26, 2007
Attack Iran and you attack RussiaScott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor, October 18, 2007
Russia, Iran harden against West
In a historic first visit to Iran, Russian President Putin affirmed support for Tehran's nuclear program and rebuffed any militarization in the Caspian region.John H. Richardson, Esquire, October 18, 2007
The secret history of the impending war with Iran that the White House doesn't want you to knowJohn Goetz, Spiegel Online, October 15, 2007
"Many in the US military think Bush and Cheney are out of control"
Interview with Gabriel Kolko: War against Iran is not likely as it is opposed by many in the US military, would produce economic chaos and increase the importance of Russia's and Venezuela's oil.Andrew G. Marshall, GlobalResearch.ca - October 13, 2007
The New World Order forged in the Gulf
Iran and America's imperial playground
Anthony Judge, Laetus in praesens, October 9, 2007
Just who is afraid of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad?
Commentary on speech by President of Iran to the UN General Assembly
In what follows the official Iranian version of Ahmadinejad's speech is reproduced with a series of comments interspersed in italics. The purpose of the exercise, in supplying the commentary, is to highlight issues raised by the leader of a country that may be shortly, and uniquely, subject to nuclear attack. As the commentary shows, this does not imply agreement with the points made in the address.Scott Ritter, Common Dreams, October 8, 2007
The big lie: "Iran is a threat"
A careful fact-based assessment of Iran clearly demonstrates that it poses no threat to the legitimate national security interests of the United States. However, if the United States chooses to implement its own unilateral national security objectives concerning regime change in Iran, there will most likely be a reaction from Iran...Phyllis Bennis, Transn ational Institute, October 5, 2007
Iran and Senator Clinton
Charles Goyette, DissentRadio-Antiwar.com, October 1, 2007
Interview with Chalmers Johnson
Listen to this Mp3 interview about the cost of empire and why Johnson thinks that the Bush Administration has decided against bombing Iran, on Iraq and on whether tyranny of the executive branch can be avoided. A clear voice, a crystalclear analysis! A must!!James Blitz & Roula Khalaf, Financial Times, October 2, 2007
ElBaradei warns on work plan
“I’ve told the Iranians: ‘This is your litmus test. You committed yourself to come clean. If you don’t, nobody will be able to come to your support’,” he said.Two marvellous link collections:
Project on Defense Alternatives, October 2, 2007
Confronting Iran. Critical perspectives on the current crisis, its origin and implications.
A huge data base of articles, absolutely superb for the concerned reader - many dimensions neatly organised...Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker, October 1, 2007
Shifting targets. The Administration's plan for Iran
The President’s position, and its corollary—that, if many of America’s problems in Iraq are the responsibility of Tehran, then the solution to them is to confront the Iranians—have taken firm hold in the Administration.
An extremely important article for understanding the current situation.Uri Avnery - Blog, September 29, 2007
So what about Iran?
Cheney's plan...Israel will start by bombing an Iranian nuclear installation, Iran will respond by launching missiles at Israel, and this will serve as a pretext for an American attack on Iran.Ali Quli Quarai, ICH, September 28, 2007
Lost in translation: Ahmadinejad and the media
What did he in fact say about homosexuals in Iran? What did he in fact say about Israel and about the Holocaust? He said something the vast majority of media and even intellectuals never bother to find out. Or were they knowingly just staying politically correct?Scott Ritter, TruthDig, September 27, 2007
Iraq will have to wait
Here’s the danger: While the antiwar movement focuses its limited resources on trying to leverage real congressional opposition to the war in Iraq, which simply will not happen before the 2008 election, the Bush administration and its Democratic opponents will outflank the antiwar movement on the issue of Iran, pushing forward an aggressive agenda in the face of light or nonexistent opposition.Simon Tisdall, The Guardian
Ahmadinejad on Israel: Global danger or political infighting?
Iran-watchers are divided over whether the president's statements mark a dangerous shift in Tehran's international outlook or form part of an internal power struggle. Article from Dec 20, 2005 and no less relevant today)Virginia Tilley, CounterPunch, August 28, 2007 - but more relevant than ever after President Ahmedinejad's visit to New York
Putting words in Ahmedinejad's mouth
This article documents that he has neiter denied the Holocaust nor stated that Israel should be wiped off the map. But do mainstream journalist bother?Daniel Ellsberg, ConsortiumNews.com, September 26, 2007
"A coup has occurred"
I think nothing has higher priority than averting an attack on Iran, which I think will be accompanied by a further change in our way of governing here that in effect will convert us into what I would call a police state.
Pepe Escobar, Asia Times, September 26, 2007
'Hitler' does New York
Articulate, evasive, manipulative, the Iranian president - even lost in translation - was especially skillful in turning US corporate media's hysteria upside down consistently to paint those in the administration of President George W Bush as incorrigible warmongers.Juan Cole, Salon, September 24, 2007
Turning Ahmadinejad into public enemy No. 1
Demonizing the Iranian president and making his visit to New York seem controversial are all part of the neoconservative push for yet another war.President Ahmedinejad, YouTube, September 24, 2007
Answering questions at Columbia University - Part 1-4Columbia University President Bollinger, YouTube, September 24, 2007
"Welcoming" President AhmadinejadPepe Escobar, Asia Times, September 26, 2007
'Hitler' does New York
Articulate, evasive, manipulative, the Iranian president - even lost in translation - was especially skillful in turning US corporate media's hysteria upside down consistently to paint those in the administration of President George W Bush as incorrigible warmongers.Sarah Baxter, The Sunday Times, September 23, 2007
Secret US air force team to perfect plan for Iran strike - "Checkmate"
It has set up, quietly in June, a highly confidential strategic planning group tasked with “fighting the next war” as tensions rise with Iran. Checkmate’s job is to add a dash of brilliance to Air Force thinking by countering the military’s tendency to “fight the last war” and by providing innovative strategies for warfighting and assessing future needs for air, space and cyberwarfare.Dan Pletsch & Martin Butcher, SOAS, Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy, September 20, 2007
Considering a war with Iran. A discussion paper on WMD in the Middle East (PDF)
One of the three substantial conclusions read:
"The US has made military preparations to destroy Iran’s WMD, nuclear energy, regime, armed forces, state apparatus and economic infrastructure within days, if not hours, of President George Bush giving the order. A “successful” US attack, without UN authorisation, would return the world to the state that existed in the period before the war of 1914-18, but with nuclear weapons.
The self-styled realists argue that this is an inevitable and manageable world,
the naivety of imagining a nuclear armed world without nuclear war is utopian
in the extreme."The Middle Powers Initiative, September 20, 2007
The US/Iran confrontation: Intensified diplomacy and adherence to international law
“To avoid unpredictable and extremely dangerous escalation arising both from the Iraq war and the nuclear dispute, the United States and Iran, bilaterally and with other concerned countries, must now negotiate on the range of issues dividing them,” said MPI. Following the precedent of the recent agreement with North Korea, MPI advocates “a maximum effort … to reach agreement over time with Iran on nuclear matters.” Very central, the IAEA's August report should be taken into account...Tthe United States and other nuclear weapon states can more credibly insist on Iranian compliance with its international obligations if they meet their own nuclear disarmament obligations..."Steven Clemons, Salon.com, September 20, 2007
Why Bush won't attack Iran
Despite saber-rattling, and the Washington buzz that a strike is coming, the president doesn't intend to bomb Iran. Cheney may have other ideas.Dan Lieberman, OpEdNews.com, September 19, 2007
The United States Administration's secret love for Iran
The U.S. poses the fundamentalist Iranian government, which is less fundamentalist and corrupt than the Saudi Arabian government, as a threat to Middle East peace and western civilization that must be countered, and the U.S. has volunteered to counter it. This altruism permits the U.S. to have a fleet in the Persian Gulf and burgeoning military bases in Iraq. The more the U.S. prods Iran, the more Iran retaliates..which translates into more evidence for the Administration that Iran is a threat...etc.
WorldPublicOpinion.org, September 19, 2007
Iranian public ready to deal on nuclear weapons, but not uranium enrichment
A new poll by sponsored by Terror Free Tomorrow and conducted by D3 Systems shows that a slight majority of Iranians (52%) believe their country should develop nuclear weapons. Nonetheless, overwhelming majorities support a deal under which Iran would provide “full inspections and a guarantee not to develop or possess nuclear weapons” in exchange for certain incentives.Pepe Escobar, AsiaTimes, September 19, 2007
French-kissing the war on Iran
The French rapprochement with the Bush administration - in both Iraq and Iran - could not but revolve around oil, what has been called "the entry of France into Mesopotamia and Persia". The huge Majnoun oilfield in southeast Iraq, near the Iranian border, the fourth-largest in the country with reserves of more than 12 billion barrels, had been awarded by Saddam Hussein to Elf of France. The US occupation obviously nullified all of Saddam's contracts.
Elegantly written, devastating about the real face of humanitarian concerns - oil for France too.
Robert Marquand, Christian Science Monitor, September 19, 2007
France' tough gambit on Iran
Ahead of key international meetings, foreign minister Kouchner shocked diplomats with talk of war.SOAS - Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy, September 17, 2007
Warning on Iran
ElBaradei, Bodman disavow Kouchner's warning on Iran.Katrin Bennhold, IHT, September 17, 2007
France seeks new set of sanctions on Iran
France sent another strong message to Iran on Monday, announcing that it would work to set up a European sanctions regime modeled on the one in place in the United States.BBC, September 17, 2007
France warning of war with Iran
French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner says the world should prepare for war over Iran's nuclear programme
France has changed its approach to world affairs under its new President Nicolas Sarkozy, adopting a harder line on several issues, and seeking to improve relations with the United States.Michel Chossudovsky, TFF Associate, GlobalResearch, ca, September 16, 2007
The Bush Administration war plans are directed against Iran
Diabolical statements about bombings come within a couple of weeks after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report. It confirms unequivocally that Iran's nuclear program is of a civilian nature and that Iran has neither the intention nor the capabilities to develop nuclear weapons. Thus the IAEA report is a slap in the face for Washington. And still the public outcry is nowhere to be found.Elaine Sciolino and William J. Broad, IHT, September 16, 2007
ElBaradei at center of standoff over Iran's nuclear program
Late in August, Mohamed ElBaradei put the finishing touches on a nuclear accord negotiated in secret with Iran. The next day top diplomats delivered a protest!
A facinating account of a peace worker where peace workers normally are not allowed in. Will he survive?Spengler, AsiaTimes, September 11, 2007
The discreet charm of US diplomacy
The chances of avoiding war with Iran are slim. It is evident from the past week's developments, though, that a West united around US leadership has a far greater chance of enforcing a peaceful solution than a gang of European spoilers.
UPI, September 10, 2007
Iran moves to ditch the U.S. dollar
Faced with U.S. economic sanctions and a weak dollar, Tehran is demanding foreign energy companies do business in yen and euros, despite increasingly desperate need for investment.Alexander Cockburn, CounterPunch, September 8-9m 2007
Will the US really bomb Iran?
The peace movement had better pull itself together, remembering that should the bombs start to fall on Tehran, most of the Democrats in Congress will be on their feet, cheeringGareth Porter, The Huffington Post, September 8, 2007
War against Iran and the Logic of Dominance
If the Bush administration launches an attack on Iran, the reason won't be that Iran was about to obtain a nuclear weapon. The real reason will be that United States, as the world's only superpower, wants to establish clearly that it -- not Iran -- is the dominant power in the Middle East.Jean Bricmont, CounterPunch, September 4, 2007
Why Bush can get away with attacking Iran
When wishful thinking replaces resistance...Nader Bagherzadeh & Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich, Information Clearing House, September 4, 2007
Iran's nuclear chess game
El Baradei’s recent balanced comments regarding Iran’s case to BBC and New York Times are truly exemplary of a Nobel Peace laureate and if his actions prevent another illegal and immoral attack by US, he should be fully recognized by UN for his efforts. But if Iran is attacked...Dante’s inferno will no longer be a work of imagination – for us, it will be our experience, our doom.Sarah Baxter, Times, September 2, 2007
Pentagon 'three-day blitz' plan for Iran
The Pentagon has drawn up plans for massive airstrikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, designed to annihilate the Iranians’ military capability in three days, according to a national security expert.Michael Slackman & Nazila Fathi, IHT, September 2, 2007
Iranian leaders show defiance on nuclear program and military force
Iran's leaders maintained their defiance of the West on Sunday, with the president announcing that Tehran had 3,000 active centrifuges to enrich uranium and the supreme leader appointing a war veteran and ideological hard-liner as the new commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards.
"Defiance" is never used about the US or anyone in the West...
Take a break and visit
kargah.com
Iranian Artists' site
...wonderful diversity, creativity and beauty
Paul Craig Roberts, Information Clearing House, August 31, 2007
The war criminal in the living room
The media is silent, Congress is absent, and Americans are distracted as George W. Bush openly prepares aggression against Iran.
This one puts all the Bush administration crimes and perversities into one text - by a former US Assistant Secretary..."For Bush, civilian casualties are a non-issue. Hegemony uber alles."
International Herald Tribune, August 23, 2007
US report see little progress in Iran
It is one of three reports the intelligence community is wrapping up on the Gulf. Another looks at Iran's nuclear program.PrisonPlanet.com, August 22, 2007
Fox News attacks Iran
Would you believe this propaganda..? If this is the free press som self-censorship would be nice...Joshua Frank, Counterpunch, July 19, 2007
Democrats as Leviathan
Another step toward war with Iran...Mehrnaz Shahabi, Information Clearing House, July 19, 2007
No Evidence of Iran’s role in violence and instability in Iraq – confirms British Foreign Minister
David Milliband, British foreign secretary, confirmed in an interview with the Financial times, 8th July, that there is no evidence of Iranian complicity in instability in Iraq or attacks on British troops.
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Ray McGovern, Consortiumnews.com, July 18, 2007
Bush's wooden-headedness kills
President George W. Bush is convinced, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, that he is on the right course in the war in Iraq and the struggle against terrorism. He says he will not change his mind.Ewen MacAskill in Washington and Julian Borger, The Guardian,
July 16, 2007
Cheney pushes Bus to act on Iran
Military solution back in favour as Rice loses out. President 'not prepared to leave conflict unresolved.Stephen Kinzer in The Guardian, July 11, 2007
The new drumbeat on Iran
Accusing Iran of deep involvement in the Iraq war is more than a way to lay the groundwork for a US attack. It also provides a scapegoat for America's looming defeat.Spengler, AsiaTimes, May 30, 2007
Why Iran will fight, not compromise
What can the West offer the Islamic Republic of Iran in return for giving up its nuclear ambitions and kenneling its puppies of war? There is nothing the West can give Iran to forestall an internal breakdown .
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