'Trigger happy' US worries Putin
Pastor Dale Morgan
'Trigger happy' US worries Putin
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By Our Foreign Staff
Last Updated: 1:18am GMT 27/02/2007
The president of Russia expressed concern yesterday about a "trigger
happy" America as speculation mounted about the Bush administration's
plans to attack Iran's nuclear sites.
In a televised exchange during a cabinet meeting, Vladimir Putin was
told by his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, that "predictions that
strikes will be conducted against Iran have become more common, and this
causes concern".
"Those who are discussing this topic include the US vice president [Dick
Cheney] who said that he did not exclude such an option," he added.
In off-screen comments captured by the ITAR-Tass news agency, Mr Putin
later asked Mr Lavrov: "What kind of strikes are we talking about –
without UN Security Council sanctions?"
Mr Lavrov replied that "nobody who is discussing this is referring to
such sanctions" but added that Russia would "do everything it can to
achieve a negotiated solution".
On his trip to Australia last week, Mr Cheney said that the United
States believed "it would be a serious mistake if a nation such as Iran
became a nuclear power", and reaffirmed the Bush administration's policy
that "all options are on the table" to deter Teheran.
Seymour Hersh, an investigative journalist on the New York Times,
claimed on Sunday that the Pentagon had drawn up plans to attack Iran
within just 24 hours' notice and was considering sending special forces
into the country to conduct covert operations.
Mr Putin's remarks came as members of the UN Security Council agreed in
London to consider new sanctions against Teheran, which refused to heed
a UN deadline last week to stop enriching uranium.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran had instead installed
enriching equipment at its Natanz underground nuclear plant that would
eventually lead to an "industrial-scale" operation.