Posted on 05/23/2006 8:51:53 AM PDT by presidio9
Iran has benefitted most from the US-led war in Iraq and would make further gains if the continuing violence ended up dividing the country, former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright has said.
As for the Iranian nuclear row, a "high level" member of the administration should respond to a letter from Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to US President George W. Bush and also engage in direct dialogue with Tehran, Albright told the BBC in an interview while on a visit to London.
The former top US diplomat welcomed the formation on Saturday of the first permanent government in Iraq since the ousting of Saddam Hussein, but reiterated her deep concerns about the volatile situation.
"The main problems that I see are the unintended consequences of this war, the biggest one frankly being at the moment is that the country that gained the most out of this war is Iran so I am very worried about it," she said Sunday.
Albright, who served under former president Bill Clinton between 1997 and 2001, highlighted the dangers of an internal conflict between Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority and the Sunni minority.
Asked what she thought about the risk of the country being divided into three parts -- the Kurdish north, the Sunni-dominated centre and the Shiite south -- Albright said this would be a dangerous development.
"It would have deep implications obviously on Turkey and the Kurdish issue. It would give additional power to Iran in the south with the Shia. Then the centre, which is primarily Sunni, is not homogeneous either, and one is unclear as to what role the Saudis might play or Jordanians," she said.
"I think it is better to keep it (Iraq) together, with some understanding that there needs to be local autonomy with some central control and distribution of oil revenues."
Albright, 69, has written a book about religion and politics in which she says the March 2003 Iraq invasion may turn out to be the greatest disaster in US foreign policy.
Ms. Former Secretary, STFU!
This woman disgusts me to no end. I'd gladly allow Iran to have nuclear bombs if they took this old hag, Susan Sarandon, Cindy Sheehan, etc as well.
What an idiot!
More B.S. from the Know-Nothing, Do-Nothing Slackers of Slick's "Don't do anything to rock the boat" administration.
Gosh is she disgusting or what?
things you don't read in the MSM:
"osama appoints albright press secretary of the terrorist movement"
She is free to write Amadinutjob if she wants.
Of course it would have to be as a common citizen.....
Iran will be the biggest beneficiary if the Dems' plan is cut and run is implemented and nothing is done to curtail Iran's nuke program.
Someone tell this no talent a$$ clown to look at a map. Iran faces a two front war against us (perhaps the biggest unmentionable reason to got to war in Iraq). We are now the dominant power in the Middle East. Try doing that 10-50 years ago.
Just another reason to glad these scumbags are out of power.
Every time Madeleine (or Kerry, Feinstein, Gore, Dean, Kennedy, Reid, Schumer, or Boxer) opens her mouth, the American people give a sigh of relief that the Democrats are not in charge of national security right now.
The fact that North Korea (and Libya...surprise!) went nuclear during Madeline's watch, and that AQ Khan became a billionaire consultant to Iranian developers of the next Islamic bombs...may turn out to be the US greatest foreign policy disaster.
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