Posted on 12/09/2007 8:56:29 AM PST by KayEyeDoubleDee
ON a winter afternoon in February, Ali Reza Ashgari, a moustachioed Iranian general, checked into a hotel in Istanbul, booked for him by two Europeans. Several days earlier, his wife and children had slipped quietly out of Tehran, unlikely to return.
Ashgari has been in the hands of the CIA ever since, apparently a willing partner to its desperate and often futile attempt to learn just what Iran had in mind with its nuclear program and to glean the regional ambitions of its President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Ashgari was deputy defence minister in Tehran, as well as commander of the Revolutionary Guard, and keeper of many of the regime's secrets, including a detailed knowledge of its backing of the Shia militia in Lebanon, Hezbollah...
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.news.com.au ...
I guess we are going to have to trust Dubyah [what else can we do at this point?], but I'm worried.
"WHY INVEST ENORMOUS RESOURCES ON THE CENTRIFUGES FOR ENRICHMENT AND ON THE MISSLES FOR DELIVERY IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO WEAPONIZE THEM?"
That's the obvious conclusion.
But I can't believe that Dubyah would fall for it so easily.
Something is going on behind the scenes to which we are not privy.
I just hope that that "something" is not Robert Gates, Condoleezza Rice, and the pinkos at Foggy Bottom & Langley triumphing over Cheney and what few other conservatives still remain in this administration.
I think they’re betting that the Iranian regime will collapse internally if we back off. It’s the economy, stupid.
After reviewing my post, I realize I left out some quotes. The intent was to quote the Clinistas.
Hmmmmm ..?? Since it is our policy NOT TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE ENEMY .. what the heck is the CIA doing negotiating with this person ..??
Is he purportedly “defecting” to the west ..??
Is he renouncing Islam ..??
What are his plans now that he’s been outed ..?? He certainly cannot return to Iran .. and no other country would want him either (now that he’s a potential target).
This is true .. “the CIA is desperate” .. they are desperate to take Bush down and discredit him. This Iranian was a “willing” participant in their deceipt. And .. how do they know HE’S NOT A SPY IN OUR MIDST .. TRYING TO FIND OUT IF and WHEN WE’RE PLANNING TO ATTACK IRAN ..??
This certainly doesn’t look good for the CIA.
It’s all over for us. We are doing the Saudi’s bidding on Iran, and on Israel. The Arabs had to bail out Citibank to stop the market’s decline. We are sending $1 billion per DAY to the Saudis alone for oil. Sick and getting sicker.
Disastrous economies didn’t bring down Castro, Mugabe or the North Korean Ills. Disable their military and WMD capabilities and you have enough time for regime change without having to worry about survival.
The worst that could happen is that Iran could test a bomb. I think it would be very stupid for them to do so because unlike North Korea there is Israel which would most certainly attack Iran in that instance. Iran may not have such a death wish as we thought but I doubt it. There are things that have changed the dynamic.
Iraq is stabilizing and will provide a buffer as was intended against Iran. I’d still prefer we take action on the nuclear enrichment facilities and hasten the fall of the Tehran government but that appears unlikely to happen. The irony I think is that if Iraq had continued to fall into disarray I think an invasion of Iran would’ve been the last option to reshuffle the deck in the MiddleEast.
There is one thing that is certain the end of the Iranian Revolution is growing closer. Hopefully Someday whether internally or through force Iran’s chains will be broken.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMKtoU6TWwg
Wrong. The Saudis would be one of the greatest winners if Iran is knocked out. The Saudis are crapping their robes at the thought of a Iranian nuke.
Not even close.
Interesting “triangulation” dynamic, eh?
“I think they’re betting that the Iranian regime will collapse internally if we back off. It’s the economy, stupid.”
You are on the mark.
The Iranians are seeing what the Iraqi’s are getting.
They are no longer happy with being told they can’t have the same.
They are no longer happy with a leader that wants national suicide to raise an old geezer from the dead (12th Imam).
If Gore or Kerry had been elected President, they would have likely served just one term, with the next filled in by Hillary.
Imagine our nation under Hillary for the past eight years.
That is what the Iranians are living with now. Their version of Hillary.
Things are about to collapse for Ahm-a-nutjob.
IIRC, President Bush planned, and predicted this would be the case. Freedom/Liberation for Iraq, take out the organized crime syndicates (Al-Queda, etc), and the people of Iran would do the rest.
I'm not saying that I personally endorse this belief, however, I believe this is why Bush is changing tactics.
I think with this new info from the defector, verified as best we can, that the US is taking the long view with regard to Iran. It may also be that Iran has agreed to back off Iraq and Afghanistan (in terms of supporting insurgents) in exchange for US backing off the nuke rhetoric and allowing the General in Lebanon to become the new president. This is not, in the end, a win for Iran. As the Shia in Iraq blossom, more and more Iranians will see the difference between the two countries and want change. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians will be traveling to Najaf and Karbala for pilgrimages. They will be taking back attitudes by Iraqi Shia Ayatollahs which is anathema to the regime in Iran: Clerics should not be involved in politics. This is the traditional Shia perspective that Khomeini decided to violate. Iran’s political system will work fine if the clerics are sent back to the mosques and the system is opened up to the reformers and others who don’t share the conservatives viewpoint.
Rumors of Castro’s demise have been ongoing for years. Nutjob and co. will muddle through while the Persian people suffer. The mullahs don’t care about them. How long did it take for eastern urope to change? A long damn time.
That is the consensus of many.
About a billion a week, right?
I have tinfoil moments when I’d say this is what the President wants, so he won’t have to deal with Iran and he won’t have to lose face either.
But...today I’m feeling like I trust him. :)
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