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Iran continuing purges

Mycroft

High Priest of Ed
Mycroft
Joined
Sep 10, 2003
Messages
20,501
Iran Continuing Purge of Reformers

TEHRAN, Iran -
Iran's government announced Wednesday that 40 ambassadors and senior diplomats, including supporters of warmer ties with the West, will be fired, continuing a purge of reformers as the regime takes an increasingly tough stance at home and abroad.

The diplomatic changes are part of a government shake-up by ultraconservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that includes putting Islamic hard-liners in key posts at security agencies. Some Iranians worry the president will bring back strict social policies.

Ahmadinejad has steered the Persian state into a more confrontational stance in its dealings with other nations, particularly in facing suspicions about whether Iran's nuclear program is illicitly trying to develop nuclear weapons, a charge the regime denies.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051103/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_purge

I’m wracking my brains trying to remember who it was who told me not to be driven the “extremists” in Iran…

I forget, but whoever it was this is my way of telling you the moderates are going away, and the extremists are going to be all that’s left.
 
Mycroft said:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051103/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_purge

I’m wracking my brains trying to remember who it was who told me not to be driven the “extremists” in Iran…

I forget, but whoever it was this is my way of telling you the moderates are going away, and the extremists are going to be all that’s left.
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It was me. The advice still stands. I must say that this development, if true, is bloody deplorable. They've gone of the deep end. But still, this calls out for cool, not for "evil Iranians want to kill us all, must bomb" hysteria. As I said before, that kind of overreaction plays into the ands of the extremists.
 
Orwell said:
It was me. The advice still stands. I must say that this development, if true, is bloody deplorable. They've gone of the deep end. But still, this calls out for cool, not for "evil Iranians want to kill us all, must bomb" hysteria. As I said before, that kind of overreaction plays into the ands of the extremists.
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Part of being cool is making an accurate assessment of the situation with neither hysteria nor denial.

I certainly hope the situation can be resolved without going to war with Iran, but the terrible truth is there are worse possible outcomes, and there may come a time when a choice must be made.
 
Orwell said:
It was me. The advice still stands. I must say that this development, if true, is bloody deplorable. They've gone of the deep end. But still, this calls out for cool, not for "evil Iranians want to kill us all, must bomb" hysteria. As I said before, that kind of overreaction plays into the ands of the extremists.
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Part of being cool is making an accurate assessment of the situation with neither hysteria nor denial.

I certainly hope the situation can be resolved without going to war with Iran, but the terrible truth is there are worse possible outcomes, and there may come a time when a choice must be made.
 
Several years ago, I was on another forum where people were telling me that Iran was on the brink of democracy. I said that as long as unelected people had the final say, it was a tyranny. The elected president and parliament were powerless lapdogs that could be swatted down at an time and that eventually it would happen. Unfortunately, I was right.

Iran is run by a combination of religious zealots and power hungry tyrants. It is a very bad and unstable combination. Letting people who advocate suicide bombing develop nuclear weapons is a very scary thought.

Diplomacy is hopeless without the threat of sanctions or war. China and Russia will prevent the UN from imposing sanctions. The US is not capable of invading due to Iraq and Afghanistan and no other country is will to lead an invasion. Therefore diplomacy and war are not going to work.

The only option I see to bomb their nuclear sites. Otherwise, suicide nuclear bombing will be a constant threat to millions.

CBL
 
As far as I know, right now it is very unclear how far along the Iranian nuke program actually is, or what it consists of. Therefore, bombing of Iranian nuclear sites is premature, and will probably reenforce the power of the zealots.

If this possible bombing is to take place (I'm not excluding the possibility), much better intelligence is needed. Reliable intelligence, not speculation, half truths and hokum. If the US can provide reliable intelligence and concrete proof, and if the Iranian hard liners continue along these lines, I'm sure other countries will support strikes. Maybe not the chinese and the russians, but NATO nations will probably side with the US. The US can't afford to screw up again.
 
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Iran to process fresh batch of uranium

BERLIN (Reuters) - Iran will process a new batch of uranium at its Isfahan nuclear plant beginning next week, despite pressure from the United States and European Union to halt all sensitive nuclear work, diplomats said on Wednesday.

"Beginning next week, the Iranians will start a new phase of uranium conversion at Isfahan. They will begin feeding a new batch of uranium into the plant," a European diplomat familiar with the result of inspections by the U.N. nuclear watchdog told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Accused by Western nations of running a covert atomic weapons programme, Iran had frozen all work at Isfahan late last year under a deal with France, Britain and Germany. But it resumed work at the plant in August, prompting the EU's three biggest powers to suspend talks with the Islamic republic.

Iran denies wanting nuclear weapons, insisting its atomic ambitions are limited to the peaceful generation of electricity. However, it has acknowledged concealing many nuclear activities from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for 18 years.
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http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/new...2Z_01_YUE247294_RTRUKOC_0_UK-NUCLEAR-IRAN.xml
 
This looks like another one of those damned-if-you-do damned-if-you-don't situations. Letting Iran continue and develop something nasty and then use it will bring down such criticism on the US (and it will be our fault, even if they bombed Spain) that the world will be at our throats more than ever. Go in and invade or bomb and ... oh, what's the use.
 
From the last cited source:
Mr. Goss said intelligence shows that "several high-level al Qaeda" terrorists are in Iran, but it is not clear whether the Iranian government has them in custody or whether Tehran is harboring them.
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How telling about intelligence, and rhetorics...
 
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CBL4 said:
Several years ago, I was on another forum where people were telling me that Iran was on the brink of democracy.
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Feh. Try six months ago. There was lots of talk just last year about how Iraq was the first domino of tipping, and that Iran's moderates were gaining steam because of it, with college demonstrations in Iran and all sorts of things.

Maybe, as in China ten years ago, it got pushed too far, too fast.
 
peptoabysmal said:
I think we are already at war with Iran and Syria. It just hasn't escalated to the point where we are running missions across the border... yet. They sure as heck are giving the wink and nod to anyone who wants to pass through to fight the coalition forces.

http://washtimes.com/national/20050317-112954-7044r.htm
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Hmmm...and the US swore to never fight a half-assed war by again refusing to go across the border into North Vietnam or Cambodia or wherever.

Guess not!
 
Beerina said:
Hmmm...and the US swore to never fight a half-assed war by again refusing to go across the border into North Vietnam or Cambodia or wherever.

Guess not!
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This touches on an unspoken motive I've always believed to be behind the Iraq invasion (just a theory, impossible to prove, but logically sound IMHO)... establishing a presence in Iraq puts US troops on the border of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria... all the hot spots. It's the ideal muster point if you want to take action against any of them.

And if that was a reason - even the main reason - for the invasion, then I think it was a good one.
 
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