Posted on 08/13/2005 10:03:35 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
JERUSALEM - In a stern warning to Iran, President Bush said "all options are on the table" if the Iranians refuse to comply with international demands to halt their nuclear program, pointedly noting he has already used force to protect U.S. security.
Bush's statement during an interview on Israeli TV late Friday was unusually harsh. He previously said diplomacy should be used to persuade Iran to suspend its nuclear program and if that failed then the U.N. Security Council should impose sanctions.
The U.S. government and others fear Iran's nuclear work is secretly designed to produce nuclear weapons. Iran's leaders deny that, saying it is only for the generation of electricity.
In the interview, Bush said the United States and Israel "are united in our objective to make sure that Iran does not have a weapon."
But, he said, if diplomacy fails "all options are on the table."
"The use of force is the last option for any president. You know, we've used force in the recent past to secure our country," he said.
Iran's government resumed uranium conversion at its nuclear facility in Isfahan this past week. The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, responded by issuing a warning to Iran on Thursday that expressed "serious concern" about Iran's intentions.
Bush welcomed the warning, which signaled that the West wanted to give diplomacy time to ease the standoff.
In Vienna, Austria, where the IAEA is based, diplomats said Iran faced a Sept. 3 deadline to stop uranium conversion or face possible referral to the Security Council, which has the power to impose crippling sanctions. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the IAEA board's proceedings.
Iran, which insists its nuclear program is peaceful, responded with indignation to the IAEA warning.
U.S. President George W. Bush waves as he prepares to drive his pickup truck away after speaking to the press on his ranch in Crawford, Texas, August 11, 2005. Bush said on Israeli television he could consider using force as a last resort to press Iran to give up its nuclear programme. REUTERS/Jason Reed
Does that mean pushing Ted kennedy out of a plane over a nuclear site, aka Operation Dumbo Drop II?
An Iranian woman with the Koran in her hand shouts 'death to America' after Friday prayers at Tehran University August 12, 2005. Fromer Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said on Friday he was astonished at the unanimity of a call by the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog for Iran to halt enrichment activities, calling it a cruel decision. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi
Iran, which insists its nuclear program is peaceful, responded with indignation to the IAEA warning.
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"I did not have nuclear weapons with that woman, Monica Lewinski..."
Off-topic but has anybody else noticed Bush looks a bit different just over the past week? The hair seems a little more gray and he looked thinner to me. Not just this photo but on the tube as well.
He must have had another talk with his AIPAC contact.
BTTT.
Given the current situation in Iraq, good luck with getting the public to back using force in Iran.
Without a doubt! - CIC GWB is a serious man and I have never doubted for one moment that anything less than all options are on the table -
Having an overt declaration of this is always needed at certain times - These times being one of them -
Tell her to keep the head rag on.
The current situation in Iraq is that freedom and self-worth are spreading - We are winning -
For the past 3 1/2 years the terrorists have suffered one strategic defeat after another (we have not suffered one!).
The true majority of the American public are fully behind the GWOT (including Iraq) - Do not allow foolish and worthless MSM push-polls to try and convince you otherwise (simply look at the internals...they are having to weight DEM's at + 40% in their polls to get their skewed results!).
The WH and RNC obviously need to do a better job at telling of our successes and continuing to tell WHY we need to stay in this fight......but irregardless of that, when the American people pay attention for any short amount of time....they support the GWOT! - We just had a REAL poll less than 8 months ago - 62 + million swarmed the polls in support of the GWOT (the election was about national security more than anything else).
Amen to that. Nobody ever polls FR posters. The MSM polls are biased. Even Rasmussen has been infected with liberal bias. He's showing Bush under 48% for the past week, which is clearly a lie. Don't believe the MSM.
Yeah, I've made the same observation, though I don't know if the change seems so rapid to me.
5 years in the most stressful job on earth will tend to age a man though.
Except closing our borders of course.
"Given the current situation in Iraq, good luck with getting the public to back using force in Iran."
We are doing very well in Iraq: the MSM just ignores that fact, and is doing its very best to distort and lie because of its abject hatred of GWB. The MSM in this country was responsible for the loss in Vietnam, and it will be responsible for any other military (and political) loss in the future. The MSM are treasonous, to put it mildly.
For what it is worth, I was polled by Gallup in March during the Schiavo matter. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1368859/posts
Looks like we'll be invading Iran soon in order to steal their oil and enrich Halliburton. /Liberal Moonbat Mode
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