And urges punishment for the "invaders." The Thug-In-Chief didn't even offer a word of thanks to Washington for all that the U.S. has done for Iran in Iraq. "Iran welcomes US pullout, urges punishment for Iraq invaders," from AFP, September 1:
TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad welcomed the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq but called for punishment of the invaders, state television's Arabic-language Al-Alam channel said on Wednesday.Ahmadinejad "welcomed the pullout of US forces from Iraq but said that those behind the invasion of this country should be put on trial and punished before an international court," the channel reported.
If US President Barack "Obama wants to do something useful, he should pledge not to interfere in Iraq, take his forces out of Iraq and recognise Iraq's independence and punish criminals," the channel quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in an interview.
"The terrorists use the presence of US forces and their crimes as a pretext. If there are no crimes, they will not have any excuses for extremism and terrorism," the hardline president added....
Ahmadinejad "welcomed the pullout of US forces from Iraq but said that those behind the invasion of this country should be put on trial and punished before an international court," the channel reported.
Sounds a lot like US leftist/liberals...He must have been reading the Huffington post...
The Iran-Iraq War went on for eight years. It should have gone on forever. If things proceed as I have suggested, since early 2004, they will necessarily proceed, and if the Shi'a Arabs refuse to give up any of the political (and consequently economic power) that they now possess for the first time in the history of modern Iraq, and if the Sunni Arabs inside Iraq, supported by the Sunni Arabs outside Iraq, refuse to acquiesce in their loss of political (and economic) power, then conflict, low or high level, will go on. And even though there are now three times as many Shi'a Arabs as Sunni Arabs in Iraq, the Sunni Arabs can count on support from other Sunni Arabs, in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the Gulf sheikdoms, for volunteers, for weapons, for moral support, and above all, for money. And the Sunni Arabs are more aggressive, and have a habit of rule, of lording it over the Shi'a, that will not be easily changed. We'll see what happens, and what the effect of a Sunni-Shi'a conflict, which is likely to occur because the spirit of sweet reason and compromise requires a different mental makeup than that which Islam instills and promotes -- that is, aggression, violence, and no compromise save for the cosmetic live-to-fight-another-day kind, as exemplified by Muhammad in his agreement, and subsequent violation of that agreement, made with the Meccans in 628 A.D., at Hudaibiyya, and the model of all subsequent Muslim treaty-making, especially with Infidels. And since, to many Sunnis the Shi'a are Infidels, or as some Saudi clerics suggest, the "worst Infidels" of all, it is likely that any agreement reached will be violated.
The only "victory" that makes sense, the only one that would justify the grotesque squandering of men, money, materiel in Iraq, would be an outcome that weakens the Camp of Islam. That will happen only when the Americans are no longer there, ready to step in to prevent intra-Muslim conflict. That is the very thing we should welcome, and not worry about, and instead of repeating unexamined phrases such as "we must avoid instability" in the Middle East, we should welcome such insetability all over the Muslim lands, and as much internecine conflict as they are likely, on their own, to engage in.
If a Sunni-Shi'a clash in Iraq leads to more Sunni-Shi'a trouble in Bahrain, Kuwait, the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Lebanon, Pakistan, is that for us a good thing or a bad thing? It's a very good thing.
Additional News regarding Iraq ...
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"What the U.S. Leaves Behind: An Unstable, Vulnerable Iraq"
By Tony Karon Wednesday, Sep. 01, 2010
When President Obama announced on Tuesday night that "Operation Iraqi Freedom is over and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country," he was signaling an end to the U.S. military's effort to remake Iraq — "nation building," as it's sometimes known. "As our military draws down," he explained, "our dedicated civilians — diplomats, aid workers and advisers — are moving into the lead to support Iraq as it strengthens its government, resolves political disputes, resettles those displaced by war and builds ties with the region and the world."
But the fact that no government in Iraq has been formed almost six months after national elections, despite the increasingly urgent cajoling of U.S. officials, is but the latest indication of just how limited U.S. political leverage in Iraq has become. Politically and geopolitically, Iraq is no longer a work in progress; Iraq is what it is. And that is a weak state beset by a long-term pattern of political crisis and vulnerable to the machinations of outsiders. The U.S. — whose remaining 50,000 troops are still by far the strongest armed force in the country — maintains a veto over military events in Iraq, but Washington's political influence is marginal. Iran, however, retains effective political veto power via its allies among the Shi'ite majority. It may not be influential enough to impose a client regime of its own in Baghdad, but Tehran can prevent the formation of any government that is aligned with Iran's adversaries, including the U.S.
(See pictures of an American unit's last days in Iraq.)
The U.S. military remains responsible for defending Iraq's airspace and borders, and Iraq's chief of staff has admitted that his forces will need to have Americans around for at least another decade.
Excerpt:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2015277,00.html
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*Sorry OT, but here is more shocking news out of Tehran ...
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"Iran calls on Muslim nations to isolate Israel"
TEHRAN, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast on Tuesday called on the Muslim nations in the world to isolate Israel.
Talking to reporters in his weekly press briefing, Mehmanparast said that all the Islamic countries should isolate Israel politically and economically.
He said people around the world will participate in the International Quds Day rallies, slated for Sept. 3, for announcing their support for the Palestinian people and their hatred towards Israeli atrocities.
Quds Day is an annual event on the last Friday of Ramadan, expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people and opposing Zionism as well as Israel's control of Jerusalem.
On Monday, Iran's Vice-President Mohammad-Reza Mir-Tajeddini said that Iran will publish a list of Israeli-linked companies by next week to impose sanctions against them.
Mir-Tajeddini said that Israel has an influential economic cartel across the world and it is constantly establishing new companies under new brands and Iran will expose them, the local satellite Press TV reported.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-08/31/c_13471878.htm
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Nothing achieved in that hell but nine years of Americans' money poured down a sewer line and thousands of our boys' and young women's lives wasted.
If Ahmadinejad were in my class at school I would give him a fat lip for being such a braggart and big mouthed buffoon.
Sooner, rather than later, someone (not too many with the balls to do it, or incentive to survive) is going to shut this guy up and put him and his 12th Imam back in the box. Big mouth Mullahs will also be sent back to their back-street mosques where they can continue to indoctrinate the naive and stupid.
But, someone please shut this guy up. Never do I want to see this guy addressing the UN or anything that has some semblance of sanity. Idiots like this one deserve only ridicule and sarcasm.
The more he sticks his jaw out the sooner someone will give him a right hook and humble the guy. For now he thinks he is invincible...Don't allow his delusions to continue much longer or he will be able to prove himself right.
I suspect the solution is not military, but (I don't know the term for it) cut them off. Isolate Islamic regimes. As Reagan did with USSR. Let them collapse and then we can set our terms for aid. No point pouring aid into nasty regimes and thereby supporting them. Let them experience the catastrophe of Islam so they will ask for help. We will then be in a barganing position. The West needs to have the courage of its convictions. Democracy and freedom of religion are better than Shariah. Islam will destroy itself if the West stops supporting it.
I like Gerard's solution to Islamic regimes. OPne problem though: in the meantime these fruit cakes may get their hands on a nuclear weapon and decide to avenge all what they perceive is wrong with the world i.e. us infidels. The other issue is that the innocent in these regimes suffer too. Hard to call ourselves humanitarian while innocent people suffer. It is damn hard to know exactly what to do. At least there is a consensus that something needs to happen to bring these morons to heal.
I know for sure that if I were living next door to Alice aka Iran (in Wonderland), I would not like to see them waving a big fat nuclear bomb in my face, especially when they continuously threaten to annihilate me. At what point do I believe them?
And how did they get nuclear capability? They didn't devolop it. All their techhnology is imported. And to be honest so is any know-how that they have. That could be interprated as racism. It is not. My argumement is with Islam. Not with the wonderful people of Iran or any other muslim country. I do not know enough to be able to make specific recommendations. But there are people who do know what could be done. Governments could call on such experts to recommend measures which would stifle military ambitions without harming the general populace. A solution IS possible. Only the will is lacking, for whatever reason(s).
Gerard, you are quite right. Iranians are lovely people, who are unfortunately controlled by a dangerous theocracy of fanatical mullahs hell bent on converting the world to their version of Islam - the one that stones woman, encourages child marriages, suppresses free speech and basically stifles freedom as we know it.
Hopefully the people will rise and topple these fanatics.
Agrand prize for Iran.
Ruslan Tokhchukov, EnragedSince1999.