http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_4228.shtml

Bush 'hell-bent' on war with Iran?
By Saeed Shabazz
Staff Writer
Updated Dec 23, 2007, 02:27 pm =C2=A0Email this article
=C2=A0Printable page

Intelligence report finding of no nukes doesn't dissuade U.S.
president's crusade

=C2=A0 =C2=A0 * Israel jawboning US into striking Iran (PRESS TV, 12-16-20=

=C2=A0 =C2=A0 * Israel and Iran Report (Arab News, 12-15-2007)
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 * Iran: NIE report's pre-Sept. 2003 allegation is a lie (Teh=

Times, 12-09-2007)
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 * Nuclear hypocrisy in Iran's treatment (FCN, 03-12-2006)
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 * Iranian Pres. Ahmadinejad's letter to President George W. =

(05-2006)
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 * Guidance to America and the world in a time of trouble (Mi=

Farrakhan, 05-03-2004)

Graphic: Ledelle Muhammad/MGN Online'Because you can see how dangerous
this administration is, Bush continues to threaten Iran, which is
prohibited under international law, which is covered in the UN Charter
and the Geneva Conventions. The facts don't matter to the president,
but it makes it more difficult for him to continue with his designs
against Iran.'
--Former U.S. Attorney General, Ramsey Clark
UNITED NATIONS (FinalCall.com) - A United States intelligence report
that concluded Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, and is
unlikely to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a bomb until at
least 2010, has seemingly not changed the position of leaders in the
West, certainly not the mind of President Bush.

Despite the report's conclusions, the U.S., Israel, Britain and France
have said more pressure must be put on Iran.

"We must keep up the pressure on Iran .... we will continue to work on
the introduction of restrictive measures in the framework of the
United Nations," a French foreign ministry spokeswoman told the
international media.

Sixteen U.S. intelligence agencies Dec. 3. released the National
Intelligence Estimate (NIE) for 2007, "Iran: Nuclear Intentions and
Capabilities." The report is consensus opinion on the situation in the
country, said William Scott Ritter, a former UN weapons inspector in
Iraq from 1991-1998 and very vocal critic of U.S. foreign policy.

"What the NIE does is force the administration to take a step back,
because the report says there is no 'smoking gun' in Iran's nuclear
program," Mr. Ritter said during an interview on radio station WBAI,
New York City's Pacifica Radio Network affiliate.

Unlike the NIE that led to war against Iraq, this one is good, because
"people put aside politics" in constructing the consensus, he said.
"This NIE is merely a copulation of the facts," Mr. Ritter stressed.

Iran hails report as victory

Critics of the Bush administration said the new NIE rewrites the
script on Iran's nuclear program, upending administration hawks and
complicating support for a new round of economic sanctions aimed at
pressuring Iran.

Iran has consistently denied working to produce nuclear weapons.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmandinejad hailed the report as a
"victory." The U.S. report supports Iran's assertion that its nuclear
program is for energy, not weapons, he said.

Mr. Bush maintains Iran still has a lot of explaining to do about the
scope of its nuclear program. While appearing in Omaha, Neb., the
president said Dec. 5 that though Iran's program is not currently in
operation, that fact is not as important as the disclosure that it
once existed and could be resumed.

"They can come clean with the international community about the scope
of their nuclear activities and fully accept the longstanding offer to
suspend their enrichment program and come to the table and negotiate,
or they can continue on a path of isolation that is not in the best
interest of the Iranian people," Mr. Bush said. U.S. allies,
particularly those on the UN Security Council, agree on the need for
continued vigilance, he added.

"These countries understand that the Iranian nuclear issue is a
problem and continues to be a problem that must be addressed by the
international community," the president said. A few weeks ago, Mr.
Bush gave a warning that "World War III" could erupt, if there was not
an intensified effort to prevent Iran from having the knowledge
necessary to make a nuclear weapon.

Over the past year, Washington has come to see the containment of Iran
as the "primary objective" of its Middle East policy, according to
Vali Nasr, professor of International Politics at the Fletcher School
of Law and Diplomacy and an adjunct senior fellow for the Middle East
at the Council for Foreign Relations. He offered the analysis in a
piece for Foreign Affairs magazine.

"The U.S. holds the Iranians responsible for the rising violence in
Afghanistan and Iraq; and senses that the balance of power in the
region is slipping towards Iran," Mr. Nasr said.

Mr. Nasr and Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow Ray Takeyh
noted that in May, Vice President ***** Cheney highlighted the focus on
Iran while standing on the deck of the U.S.S. John C. Stennis in the
Persian Gulf. "We'll stand with others to prevent Iran from gaining
nuclear weapons and dominating this region," said Mr. Cheney.

Why was report released?

Some analysts are even wondering how the report got released at all.
National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell told the Associated
Press Nov. 13 that the new Iran report would not be released publicly.
There hasn't been any explanation by Mr. McConnell on why the change
of heart.

The recent NIE has set off a round of assessments among officials,
policymakers, lawmakers, presidential candidates and foreign
governments.

Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Senate majority leader, argued publicly
that the assessment challenged "some of the administration's rhetoric
about the threat posed by Iran and called for enhanced diplomatic
efforts toward Tehran."

Syria's ambassador to the UN, Bashar Ja'afari, told The Final Call he
was "puzzled" by the timing of the release of the report. "Perhaps
this is a way for Bush to save face-to get attention away from his
failure in Iraq," said the Syrian diplomat.

China moved from clear support for new Iranian sanctions before the
NIE was released to a more cautious tone the day after it became
public. "I think we all start from the presumption that now things
have changed," Guangya Wang, the Chinese UN ambassador told reporters
Dec. 4.

Simon Tisdall, writing in The Guardian in the United Kingdom,
speculated that the CIA may have spearheaded a "pre-emptive strike
against the White House by intelligence agencies and military chiefs
determined not to be suckered, as they were before the Iraq war, into
producing intelligence to fit preordained policy."

"The only thing that comes to mind definitively, is if it wasn't
released it was going to be leaked," former U.S. attorney general
Ramsey Clark, a man who knows his way around Washington, told The
Final Call.

"Because you can see how dangerous this administration is, Bush
continues to threaten Iran, which is prohibited under international
law, which is covered in the UN Charter and the Geneva Conventions.
The facts don't matter to the president, but it makes it more
difficult for him to continue with his designs against Iran," said the
co-founder of the International Action Center.

The NIE report should transform U.S. policy toward Iran, said George
Friedman in a recent assessment for Strategic Forecasting Inc. =C2=A0"For
one thing, the probability of a unilateral strike against Iranian
nuclear targets is gone. Since there is no Iranian nuclear weapons
program, there is no rationale for a strike," Mr. Friedman said.

"We are struck by the suddenness of the NIE report. In any case, the
entire framework for U.S.-Iranian relations would appear to have
shifted, and with it the structure of geopolitical relations
throughout the region," he added.

Chris Toensing, executive director of Washington-based Middle East
Research and Information Project and editor of Middle East Report,
suspects the NIE came out now because the administration could not
delay it.

"The contents of the NIE are clearly embarrassing the administration.
I've really never believed that Bush wanted to attack Iran; and now he
can hand over the issue to the next administration," Mr. Toensing
said.

Russia may now become the power broker in the UN Security Council as
the Bush administration attempts to get the third round of sanctions
against Iran passed, he added. "Russia these days is willing to stand
against any U.S. position," Mr. Toensing said.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Itar-Tass Dec. 5 that Russia had
no information proving Iran had worked on any military nuclear program
before 2003. "That is why Russia will work out its approach towards a
new UN Security Council resolution on Iran in accordance with the
latest U.S. intelligence data saying Iran has no military nuclear
program," added Mr. Lavrov.

Deputy ambassador Konstantin K. Dolgov told The Final Call there has
been no Security Council discussion on a new round of sanctions
against Iran. "We have yet to be informed when such a discussion would
begin," the Russian official said.

The anti-war movement continues to eye Washington's reaction,
according to Dustin Langley, of the Troops Out Now Coalition and co-
founder of the Stop the War Against Iran campaign. "I watched Bush's
speech on Dec. 4, and I was amazed to see someone so steeped in
denial," he said. "I think we have to be on our toes, because this
crowd in Washington is definitely hell-bent on bringing Iran to heel,
and we have got to stop them."

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HOOROO

UNCLE WALLY

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