Bush: Threat of World War III if Iran goes nuclear

Reuters ^ | Matt Spetalnick

[300magnum]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush warned on Wednesday a nuclear-armed Iran could lead to World War III as he tried to shore up international opposition to Tehran amid Russian skepticism over its nuclear ambitions.

Bush was speaking a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has resisted Western pressure to toughen his stance over Iran's nuclear program, made clear on a visit to Tehran that Russia would not accept any military action against Iran.

At a White House news conference, Bush expressed hope Putin would brief him on his talks in Tehran and said he would ask him to clarify recent remarks on Iran's nuclear activities.

Putin said last week that Russia, which is building Iran's first atomic power plant, would "proceed from the position" that Tehran had no plans to develop nuclear weapons but he shared international concerns that its nuclear programs "should be as transparent as possible."

"The thing I'm interested in is whether or not he continues to harbor the same concerns that I do," Bush said. "When we were in Australia (in September), he reconfirmed to me that he recognizes it's not in the world's interest for Iran to have the capacity to make a nuclear weapon."

Bush, who has insisted he wants a diplomatic solution to the Iranian issue, is pushing for a third round of U.N. sanctions against Iran.

Russia, a veto-holding member of the Security Council, backed two sets of limited U.N. sanctions against Iran but has resisted any tough new measures.

Stepping up his rhetoric, Bush said a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a "dangerous threat to world peace."

"We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel," he said. "So I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."

PUTIN'S "SPECIAL MESSAGE"

Iran rejects accusations it is seeking to develop a nuclear bomb, saying it wants nuclear technology for peaceful civilian purposes such as power generation, and has refused to heed U.N. Security Council demands to halt sensitive uranium enrichment.

Chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani was quoted by Iran's official IRNA news agency on Wednesday as saying that Putin had delivered a "special message" on its atomic program and other issues. No other details were given.

Putin's visit on Tuesday was watched closely because of Moscow's possible leverage in the Islamic Republic's nuclear standoff with the West. It was the first time a Kremlin chief went to Iran since Josef Stalin in 1943.

Asked about Putin's "special message," U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said he was not aware of any deal or offer put forward by Moscow to Tehran over the nuclear program.

On Russian opposition to Caspian Sea states being used to launch attacks against Iran, Casey reiterated that Bush kept all his options on the table but that the United States was committed to the diplomatic path with Tehran.

(Additional reporting by Frederick Dahl in Tehran and Sue Pleming in Washington)

[muawiyah]

You have to count F&I since it’s the first World War.

[GregoryFul]

Your point of view is so delusional, I don’t know where to begin.

[bigheadfred]

Iran says they need a nuclear power plant for energy production?

I guess they can’t afford oil at today’s prices.

The plus side with the Russians building it is that when it melts down they will have effectivley shat in their own nest.

And Iranian President Tom (Much easier to pronounce) says when, not if, he gets a nuke he will use it on Israel.

So yeah, why wait, Turn him to glass.

[o_zarkman44]

Now aren’t we really cute! hahahaha duh.........

[ken21]

may your poodle go to heaven.

[LifeOrGoods?]

IF they go nuclear?

[LifeOrGoods?]

If we do it, the Russians will step in.

I doubt the Russians will want any after they see what happens to Iran.

[LifeOrGoods?]

The Iraq war has gone just so well that our “conservative” President can’t wait to start another meaningless, incredibly wasteful and goal-less war in the Mideast over Iran.

Get your head out of the sand. The last thing we need in the world is a coalition of powerful oil-rich dictators who want us dead. Or would you rather be speaking Arabic, riding a donkey instead of a car to work, bowing down to an Allah you don't believe in, and having no choice in who runs your country because you are not allowed to vote? I'd rather take my chances with the evil Halliburton and an ignorant Christian from Texas.

[LifeOrGoods?]

Russia is jealous of the U.S., but not stupid enough to tell us to our face.

[LifeOrGoods?]

The day may come when Iran launches simultaneous missiles against Israel, London, Paris and Washington which will be the real start of WW III, total chaos...with their armies already in place they may try to swiftly overrun the smaller countries around them and gain control of the Middle East’s oil supply..every day we are getting closer to this nightmare scenario the way things are going in the world...

If that happened you know China and North Korea would jump in for their own piece of the American pie. And I don't me stocks and bonds.

[LifeOrGoods?]

In Revelation 1/3 of the earth's population is destroyed before the battle of Armageddon:

Rev 9:18 By these three plagues-the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came out of their mouths-one-third of humanity was killed.

So until that happens and a lot of other things, there will be no battle of Armageddon. But still, the near future may hold the end of the U.S. or at least the U.S. as we know it as a some-what God-fearing nation, because all the nations of the earth will rise against Israel and will be destroyed.

[LifeOrGoods?]

Nostradamus - a heretic ex-catholic who plagiarized most of his true predictions from the bible. And why should we care what he said or thought?

Interesting that you should say that. I don't know much about him, and I don't think he's the real deal, but a few people I have run into think he's some super prophet or something. I wonder if there is any information that you know of that refutes these false beliefs?

[Polybius]

Its going to be the Israelis who ultimately take out Iran. If we do it, the Russians will step in.

The Russians will sit by while Israel "takes out" Iran but will "step in" and go head to head with the U.S.?

If so, the Russians will do what to the U.S.? Pit a Russian conventional expeditionary force against the U.S. forces already in theater? Go the Mutually Assured Destruction route against the U.S. for the sake of Iran?

From a purely logistical perspective, how will the IDF carry out the sustained conventional air campaign necessary to "take out" Iran's hardened sites?

The U.S. has the miliatary assets necessary for such a task right across the borders from Iran. Israel does not.

Short of a first use nuclear strike against Iran, the task of "taking out" Iran is beyond Israel's military capabilities. The Israel of today is incapable of "taking out" Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

The only way that "Israel" will "take out" Iran is if the U.S. paints these

on our aircraft in theater, and, after the month-long air campaign to "take out" Iran, the U.S. says, "The Israelis did it. That's our story and we're stickin' to it!"

[LifeOrGoods?]

People, especially American people who are products of liberal public education, fail to recognize that, most of the time, the outcomes of wars cannot be predicted. And in fact, the true measure of victory is the apparent achieved closeness to reaching predefined goals rather than the amount of casualties suffered. Many Americans assume that no more than X amount of soldiers should be killed or injured, but that is not the true measurement of victory.

The reality is that that part of the world is a mess and has been a mess for a long time, and sorting out the mess will take an immeasurable amount of time and resources, but it is time to do something while something can be done.

God bless President George W. Bush for his efforts to make the world a safer place for true freedom.

[LifeOrGoods?]

Can you splain to me how the Armies of the world are going to fit into that very small valley?

A lot of the world's population will have been wiped out by then. If you read the book of Daniel, it explains that the world will be at war with each other. Throw that in with the fact that the world will be rife with plagues and judgements from God during the tribulation and you can see how no one would survive up until Armageddon except that God will spare a portion of the earth's population.

[LifeOrGoods?]

The cold war was a near miss...a world war avoided.

[KevinDavis]

Plus I like to have our wars being fought overseas...

[LifeOrGoods?]

To depose a worthless dictator who was no threat to the US and actually posed a bulwark to Iran?

We see a dictator hell-bent on taking over the middle east and it's oil. We see a ruthless dictator who's army has to be beaten back and beaten down by our troops and even after that still refused to cooperate with his terms of surrender. You wouldn't call that a threat to not only the U.S. and the middle east, but to the world?

A power-crazed dictator who called himself Nebuchadnezzar and modeled his regime after the third Reich. Can we say history repeating itself all over again? What more does a terrorist have to do before you silly leftist wimps feel the need to stand up for yourselves? At least I have enough sense to know the right side of a tank to stand on. Do you get all your talking points from CNN and Obama or have you ever actually taken the time to understand what universe you are from yet? Get a clue, bro.

[TMSuchman]

IMHO, we are already in WW III, just like in the one we [America] were slow to wake up to this fact untill we were hit on our homeland. But unlike the 1940’s there is now a will accomplus to the actions of putting our country back to “sleep”. The msm, and the liberals who say that we were to balme for all of the mess that the world is now in, just look att the decant ways that we live when most of the world has little to nothing of what we have. There fore we deserve what we get.

But when some country gets into trouble who do they call, they call US for help, and we go over there [where ever there is] and help not asking for anything in return.
So now it is time for us to establish a pax americana [peace from America], after all we have become the worlds policeman, and sometimes the cop on the beat has to be tough to put the bullies in place. So we must do so now.
I am sorry if I seem to be ranting, but this is how I feel!

[LifeOrGoods?]

You forgot your tax forms. Don’t your rations seized by the always helpful and relevant IRS.