Posted on 10/17/2007 2:00:08 PM PDT by 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)
Russia would not accept? Why the hell do we care what Russia would accept? Russia, under the KGB of which good ole Prez Putt-hen was a member, murdered, butchered, made to disappear, beat, and all means of things to people who did not believe as they believed. This was their citizens, their countrymen and women, yet they brutalized them. So, He endorses murder as the Izz-lums do. Plus he sells them millions of dollars worth of nuke stuff.
Yes, Israel will not wait to build popular opinion or gather UN votes. If they feel threatened, they will act on their own.
We'll do it by proxy using Israel. Screw Russia.
Wasn’t it Nostradamus who said/wrote something to that effect (WW4 - Fought with Sticks and Stones)?
I think that calls for another Nobel Peace Prize, no?
[PDF] Senate to Probe Vice President’s Secret Deals on Russian Arms to Iran
102300Senate.pdf
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat
Secret Agreement May’Also Involve Nuclear Cooperation with Iran. Vice President Gore’s meetings with Chernomyrdin also may have involved Russia’s ...
rpc.senate.gov/_files/102300Senate.pdf
http://rpc.senate.gov/_files/102300Senate.pdf
Nitpick much?
Only in bizarroland does Bush get the blame for what’s been building in Iran for the last 28 years.
And, contrary to what your television tells you, the war in Iraq is going well. As well as a war can go, anyway... though, it wasn’t the theme-park ride America was hoping for.
Don’t know about that, but we are in for some rather interesting times.
You are a fool.
PrezDubya: "Jus' whaddaryeuw tryin' to say there, Pooty-poot, by usin' that phraseology, "wouldn't accept?" What in the world do you think you could possibly do again' it? Are you threatinin' to make your fancy-dan radars and SAMs hum, bleep, fizzle and go back to sleep one more time?
"Jus' so's we're on a level playin' field, arm-wrastlin'-like, US good-guys won' be accepin' your interference, which, if it raises its ugly, pip-squeaky little pus head, just may get samples from the same delivery Tehran gets. They don' call 'em MIRVs for nuttin'!
"That's Peace through Victory for you, too, Potty-poot!
"M I R - V
HF
And why should we care what he said or thought?
Probably. Will try and attend to it when I get home.
Very glad to see this part of the press conference is receiving attention. The American people need to wake-up and realize that there is a real threat here with Russia and Iran pairing up...
Why not just let Israel handle this? Oh right, we’re both members of the feckless United Nations, and all our wars belong to them. It’s no wonder we don’t have to declare war any more. We are all blue helmets now.
I think Israel may be the only sane country/military power left in our world today!!! We aren’t too far off, but our leaders needs to satisfy the public and not stand up to them and LEAD is getting us in a lot of trouble... and Iran and Russia KNOW this and WILL take advantage of our position if we let them... I think they are COUNTING on it, personally...
Are you counting the French and Indian War?
Do you even live on the same planet as us??? Iran is a REAL threat, and so was Iraq/Saddam... Take your anti-military propoganda elsewhere... The rest of us would like to live in a peaceful and SAFE world if at all possible, and that’s NOT possible with Iran possessing a nuclear weapon and being buddy-buddy with Putin!
Go ahead and laugh but you underestimate the cunning and deadly guile of both Putin and Ahmandinejad..They both know that whoever controls the oil supply controls the world. Both are power hungry and will stop at nothing.
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...
Why do you say that?
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