.
Where did you get the idea China is on the side of the US, the UNSC isn’t (yet) where the US is in enforcing sanctions.
Just for the record, the interpretation by the US and its MSM of the IAEA report is very similar to the Bush era and Iraq’s `hidden’ biological and chemical weapons.
Iranian dissident does not believe in ‘Saudi ambassador’ plot
Ms Ferdows Kazemi was born in Iran, in a Muslim family. However, as she grew up, she came to reject religion in all its forms and became an atheist. That meant she had to flee from the Iranian religious regime. As a refugee, she now lives in the Netherlands and is a columnist for Dutch daily De Volkskrant.
This is a translation about the alleged plot by the Iranian government to murder the Saudi ambassador in the United States, announced with much ballyhoo by the US government and corporate media:
‘I believe Iran, meaning the Iranian government’s denial of plotting to kill the Saudi ambassador in the USA for the first time ever’
By Ferdows Kazemi – 12/10/11, 15:57Why Iran assassination plot doesn’t add up for Iran experts: here. Saudi Arabia and the United States stepped up their threats of vengeance against Iran today over an alleged attempt to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the US:
Prince Turki Al Faisal said the evidence, disclosed by the United States late on Tuesday, was “overwhelming” and “clearly shows official Iranian responsibility”. “Somebody in Iran will have to pay the price,” said Prince Turki, who also served as his country’s envoy to Britain and the US.
The US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said there was a “clearer and clearer threat” from Iran, which had “crossed a line” and “needs to be held to account”. Ms Clinton said Washington was preparing new penalties against the Islamic Republic, which is already subject to a variety of international sanctions.
“This plot was a flagrant violation of international and US law and a dangerous escalation of the Iranian government’s long-standing use of political violence and sponsorship of terrorism.”
US officials said military action was not being considered, although Joe Biden, the US vice president, said “nothing has been taken off the table”. Iran would be held accountable for its “outrageous act”, Mr Biden said.
Much more below the fold …
Distrusting America, Saudi Arabia Embarks on More Assertive Role
(Arabia Today) May 19, 2011 – Saudi grievances were laid out in a Washington Post op-ed by Nawaf Obaid, a consummate insider and a senior fellow at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies. Describing a “tectonic shift” in the Saudi-U.S. relationship, he complained of an “ill-conceived response to the Arab protest movements and an unconscionable refusal to hold Israel accountable” for its settlement-building in Palestinian territories. On the latter issue, he said the U.S. “had lost all credibility.”
Obaid also echoed some of the criticisms made last year by Prince Turki al Faisal, a former ambassador to the United States who said that “negligence, ignorance and arrogance” had cost America the “moral high ground” it held after 9/11.
Saudi alienation from Washington predates the Obama administration. Riyadh saw the invasion of Iraq as a disaster because it unleashed Shiite influence in a country traditionally dominated by its Sunni minority. Several Saudi officials have described Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki — who leads a Shia-dominated government — as an “Iranian agent.”
Riverbend – last response as refugee in Syria
(Baghdad Burning) Oct. 22, 2007 – Syria is a beautiful country- at least I think it is. I say “I think” because while I perceive it to be beautiful, I sometimes wonder if I mistake safety, security and normalcy for `beauty’. In so many ways, Damascus is like Baghdad before the war- bustling streets, occasional traffic jams, markets seemingly always full of shoppers… And in so many ways it’s different. The buildings are higher, the streets are generally narrower and there’s a mountain, Qasiyoun, that looms in the distance.
The mountain distracts me, as it does many Iraqis- especially those from Baghdad. Northern Iraq is full of mountains, but the rest of Iraq is quite flat. At night, Qasiyoun blends into the black sky and the only indication of its presence is a multitude of little, glimmering spots of light- houses and restaurants built right up there on the mountain. Every time I take a picture, I try to work Qasiyoun into it- I try to position the person so that Qasiyoun is in the background.
The first weeks here were something of a cultural shock. It has taken me these last three months to work away certain habits I’d acquired in Iraq after the war. It’s funny how you learn to act a certain way and don’t even know you’re doing strange things- like avoiding people’s eyes in the street or crazily murmuring prayers to yourself when stuck in traffic. It took me at least three weeks to teach myself to walk properly again- with head lifted, not constantly looking behind me.
It is estimated that there are at least 1.5 million Iraqis in Syria today. I believe it. Walking down the streets of Damascus, you can hear the Iraqi accent everywhere. There are areas like Geramana and Qudsiya that are packed full of Iraqi refugees. Syrians are few and far between in these areas. Even the public schools in the areas are full of Iraqi children. A cousin of mine is now attending a school in Qudsiya and his class is composed of 26 Iraqi children, and 5 Syrian children. It’s beyond belief sometimes. Most of the families have nothing to live on beyond their savings which are quickly being depleted with rent and the costs of living.
It takes a lot to get the energy and resolution to blog lately. I guess it’s mainly because just thinking about the state of Iraq leaves me drained and depressed. But I had to write tonight.
As I write this, Oprah is on Channel 4 (one of the MBC channels we get on Nilesat), showing Americans how to get out of debt. Her guest speaker is telling a studio full of American women who seem to have over-shopped that they could probably do with fewer designer products. As they talk about increasing incomes and fortunes, Sabrine Al-Janabi, a young Iraqi woman, is on Al Jazeera telling how Iraqi security forces abducted her from her home and raped her. You can only see her eyes, her voice is hoarse and it keeps breaking as she speaks. In the end she tells the reporter that she can’t talk about it anymore and she covers her eyes with shame.
She might just be the bravest Iraqi woman ever. Everyone knows American forces and Iraqi security forces are raping women (and men), but this is possibly the first woman who publicly comes out and tells about it using her actual name. Hearing her tell her story physically makes my heart ache. Some people will call her a liar. Others (including pro-war Iraqis) will call her a prostitute- shame on you in advance.
I wonder what excuse they used when they took her. It’s most likely she’s one of the thousands of people they round up under the general headline of `terrorist suspect’. She might have been one of those subtitles you read on CNN or BBC or Arabiya, “13 insurgents captured by Iraqi security forces.” The men who raped her are those same security forces Bush and Condi are so proud of- you know- the ones the Americans trained. It’s a chapter right out of the book that documents American occupation in Iraq: the chapter that will tell the story of 14-year-old Abeer who was raped, killed and burned with her little sister and parents.
They abducted her from her house in an area in southern Baghdad called Hai Al Amil. No- it wasn’t a gang. It was Iraqi peace keeping or security forces- the ones trained by Americans? You know them. She was brutally gang-raped and is now telling the story. Half her face is covered for security reasons or reasons of privacy. I translated what she said below.
Re: Squeezing the Iranian Balloon
What an incoherent response, BooMan. What relevance does my – or my dear Riverbend’s – desires in Iraq have to your American exceptionalist arrogance in believing that you have the right, or even the ability, to determine for Iranians what is best for them, and what they do, or should, want? And what relevance do my, or Riverbend’s, or any other Iraqi’s desires have to your outrageous hubris is believing you have the right to use economic, political, or military violence to force Iranians to conduct their internal business in the way you decide is best?
And by the way, Riverbend and I are two voices only, and we do not determine what the Iraqi people or Iraq as a country want, need, or should have, though we are certainly orders of magnitude more qualified to speak on that question than you or any other American will ever be.I would also remind you that it was the kind of America-knows-best-for-everyobe hubris that you are exhibiting that has, in fact, resulted in the Shi`a elite taking over Iraq, and turning what was for centuries a prosperous, secular country with an extremely diverse and well-integrated population into what it is today.
It is also the kind of American exceptionalist arrogance you are exhibiting that put an abrupt end to Iran’s movement toward democracy, and ultimately led to its transformation into the Shi`a theocracy it has become.
And finally, are you really naive enough to believe that if this economic “squeezing” you are advocating will not harm the “ordinary” Iranian people most of all? And have you Americans learned nothing at all from all your other misdirected uses of economic, political, and military violence to force your will on other countries?
Get over yourself, BooMan.
by Hurria (Muslawia@gmail.com) on Sat Jan 7th, 2012 at 07:35:39 PM EST
My comment in Booman’s fp story …
Pushing Back Sh’ia Iran
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Always betting on the wrong horse and using an act of war to provoke a retaliatory attack. Downfall of Mussadeq in 1953, support of the Shah in 1979, support of Saddam Hussein in the Iraq-Iran War and a million deaths, support of Pakistan developing Islam atom bomb contrary to NPT treaty, support of Mujahideen and Arab Sunni mercenaries in Afghanistan, US military forces on Saudi soil, blowback Islamic extremists (Saudi/Sunni) in period 1993-2007, unlawful invasion of Iraq providing Iranian power surge in Middle East, extending stay in Afghanistan without sufficient ISAF forces and US assets thereby alienating Pakistan.Why continue doing the bidding for Saudi Arabia, Gulf States and Israel to provoke Iran. Excellent opportunity to supply modern fighter jets, intelligent bombs, missiles and anti-missile systems. Just waiting for the big-bang …
Ahmadinejad and Iranian people will most likely make the choice to risk a limited US bombing raid on the bunkers of their nuclear program, calculating the US and the West will suffer more from financial and economic havoc. Russia and China still offer backing of Iran in the UNSC. Europe in a cowardly way closes ranks with Obama on the Iranian boycott. Their choice is made out of domestic political gain and the uncontroled anti-muslim sentiment since 11/9.
Iraq may become a political ally of Iran due to Saudi Arabia funding Sunni insurgents and Maliki’s opposition to removal of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
Royal Navy sends HMS Daring type 45 destroyer as show of force in the Gulf
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
