smacks of thriller
marika
-----Original Message-----
From: marika <marik...@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.europe,soc.culture.usa,soc.culture.japan,soc.culture.australian,alt.usenet.legends.lester-mosley
Date: Monday, October 08, 2007 1:22 PM
Subject: Re: INTERNATIONAL STUFF - Hopeless Heirs | Anti-Axis | EU Reform Progress | Moving & Paradise
>
>marika wrote in message ...
>>
>>Frank Kalder wrote in message <1191401538.4...@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>...
>>
>>
>>
>>JK: "That's nonsense!"
>>
>>Former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer discusses opposition
>>against the Iraq war that threatened to put Berlin in the same camp as
>>Syria, the threat of a Tehran-led arms race in one of the world's most
>>unstable regions and the mixed legacy of former Chancellor Gerhard
>>Schröder. ... http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,509072,00.html
>>
>>
>
>2 weeks old but an interesting relevant article, that also suggests a Putin trip
>
>" Monday, 17 September 2007, 17:24 GMT 18:24 UK
>
>Iran convinced West will not attack
>By Jon Leyne
>BBC News, Tehran
>
>
>
>Iranian leaders believe the warnings are psychological warfare
>It is always difficult to spot the difference between bluster and
>genuine defiance.
>
>But Iran's response to the recent threats of war seems to mix real
>defiance with a degree, almost, of complacency.
>
>There is a firm belief here in Tehran that the United States is simply
>not in a position to attack Iran.
>
>"I don't think anyone in Iran has taken these threats seriously. They
>think that it's more rhetoric and for putting extra psychological
>pressure on Iran," says Sadegh Zibakalam of Tehran University.
>
>Difficult cliche
>
>As the newspaper Jomhuri-ye Islami put it on Monday morning: "Iranians
>are deeply aware of the fact that America is so busy in Iraq and
>Afghanistan that it cannot do anything against Iran."
>
> The US is simply trying to wage a psychological war against Iran...
>we must not show them that we have been frightened and we are going to
>back down
>
>Sadegh Zibakalam,
>Tehran University
>
>Whether most Iranians truly believe that, it is impossible to tell.
>
>But it is certainly the accepted wisdom among those close to President
>Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
>
>It is repeated so often in the media - at least the media close to the
>leadership - it has become a cliche difficult to debate or question.
>
>In fact President Ahmadinejad is increasingly confident there will not
>even be fresh UN sanctions over Iran's controversial nuclear
>programme.
>
>As he has put it several times recently: "The nuclear issue as a
>political issue is closed... the Iranian file is finished with."
>
>'Be resolute'
>
>The Iranian leadership believes the current warnings, from both
>Washington and Paris, are just psychological warfare. So the response
>has been to increase the volume in return.
>
>
>Mr Ahmadinejad is to visit the UN General Assembly this month
>At Friday prayers last week, Ayatollah Khamenei was particularly
>blunt.
>
>He accused US President George W Bush of being a war criminal, and
>said the US plans for the Middle East had been comprehensively
>defeated.
>
>"As far as the president is concerned, as far as the supreme leader is
>concerned, the United States is simply trying to wage a psychological
>war against Iran and we must be strong enough, we must be resolute
>enough," said Dr Zibakalam.
>
>"We must not show them that we have been frightened and we are going
>to back down."
>
>Ayatollah Khamenei has told those around him that there are only two
>countries truly opposed to the Iranian nuclear programme: the United
>States and Great Britain. (Iran does not recognise the existence of
>Israel as a country.)
>
>There even seems to be a belief that Washington can somehow be
>overwhelmed by international opinion.
>
>So President Ahmadinejad is on a public relations campaign to convince
>the world of Iran's peaceful intentions - culminating in a visit to
>the UN General Assembly in New York this month.
>
>How wars start
>
>An anti-war protest in Washington at the weekend was given major
>coverage in the Iranian press - all evidence for Tehran that US public
>opinion simply will not allow an attack on Iran.
>
>It is certainly true that Washington faces a struggle to win approval
>for new UN sanctions against Iran.
>
>By agreeing to talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran
>has won the grudging support of Russia and China, at least for the
>moment.
>
>Tehran says President Vladimir Putin of Russia is even going to visit
>Iran next month.
>
>So the next two or three months could well be a time of plenty of
>talk, and little movement over Iran's nuclear programme.
>
>But all the while, Washington's list of grievances against Tehran
>grows. Iran is blamed (or made a scapegoat) for violence in Iraq and
>Afghanistan.
>
>The idea that, given enough time, Washington will somehow forget about
>Iran is wishful thinking in the extreme.
>
>The worrying thing is not just that Washington and Tehran disagree.
>More fundamentally, they completely misunderstand each others'
>intentions. And that is how wars start. "