Posted on 02/09/2005 2:53:30 PM PST by pissant
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former U.S. chief weapons inspector David Kay urged the United States on Wednesday not to make the same mistakes with Iran that he said it made with Iraq ahead of the second Persian Gulf War.
Former President Jimmy Carter, meanwhile, said that even a pre-emptive strike against Iran's nuclear facilities "would not be successful," but he agreed with U.S. officials who have demanded more transparency from the Islamic republic.
Kay told CNN he is worried because he's hearing some of the same signals about Iran and its nuclear program that were heard as the Bush administration made its case for the war in Iraq.
"It's deja vu all over again," Kay said. "You have the secretary of defense [Donald Rumsfeld] talking about the problems of a nuclear-armed Iran. You have the vice president [Dick Cheney] warning about a nuclear-armed Iran and terrorism; you have [Secretary of State] Condoleezza Rice saying, 'Force is not on the agenda -- yet.' "
In Belgium on Wednesday, Rice said Iran must live up to its international obligations to halt its nuclear program or "the next steps are in the offing." (Full story)
Kay said that much like what happened before the U.S.-invasion of Iraq in March 2003, most of the information concerning Iran's weapons program and capabilities is coming from dissidents who would like to see regime change.
As he put in a column in Monday's Washington Post, "There is an eerie similarity to the events preceding the Iraq war."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
If Jimmy Carter thinks it's a bad idea, then full speed ahead.
The only mistakes we made to the run-up to war on Saddam was diddling too long with the UN, giving Saddam time to cover his tracks.
Jimmy Carter...Jimmy Carter...
Didn't he used to work in some capacity in the federal government?
*spit*
"would not be successful,"
How the HELL would Jimmah know that? I'm amazed that anyone reports anything that man says on any page other than the funnies.
Jimmuh, along with the rest of the liberals, were urinating in their pants when Reagan confronted the Soviets head on. "WWIII" they would squawk.
"They were wrong."-- Zell
I hear ya......when he first took the job I thought he was loyal to the party......then he reported and actually though negative seemed thorough and balanced. He kept getting asked about fault and he wouldn't lay it on Bush but he was ticked off at the intelligence........Cant figure out where he is coming from.....I do believe he is more or less fair.....gotta admit he didn't find much
Does anyone think that if Neville Chamberlain had lived through World War II the British press would have constantly gone to him as a foreign policy expert?!
It was Eisenhower's policy in Iran that ultimately was the problem.
Peanut said it would fail because Peanut failed.
No. You've just had a very, very bad dream.
Yeah, a relatively mild problem. Until Jimmuh handed Khomeini the keys to the car.
Jimmy Carter must be senile and/or delusional. What makes him think he's suddenly an expert on Iran? Jimmy Carter partially lost the election to Reagan because of HIS screwups with Iran, and now he is attacking Bush? He needs to retire.
Yeah its almost exactly the same, except for the fact Saddam had refused to abide by 17 UN resolutions.
But hey why let facts get in the way when the MSM will put you on the front page for saying negative things about the Administration. David Kay is just another jerk in search of a camera.
Agreed. He badly handled the Iran hostage crisis and gave the Mullahs/Jihadis a blank check for mayhem. Carter did not have the spine to be President.
Jimmy Carter-Castro (by far the weakest, lamest, most incompetent failure of a president of the last century) talking about Iran is like the Traitor, John Kerry talking about supporting the troops.
As long as the Iranians see the similarity who cares what we actually do.
Why should we send signals that contain green lights? Let them sweat a little.
Most likely, W and Co. are smart enough to use the right tools at the right time, and the final solution to the Iran puzzle may not look anything like the one for Iraq. We made mistakes in Iraq and got some surprises, but getting rid of Saddam was still the best choice.
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