A US “bipartisan think-tank” has urged President Obama to prepare sanctions against Iran and announce publicly that a military strike is likely.

“If biting sanctions do not persuade the Islamic Republic to… give up its enrichment activities, the White House will have to begin serious consideration of the option of a US-led military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities,” said the ‘Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington’.

The report was put together by Charles Robb, a former Democratic senator from Virginia, Daniel Coats, a former Republican senator from Indiana, and retired General Charles Wald, the former deputy commander of US European command.

It is worthy to note that Charles Robb and Daniel Coats, were both well known recipients of financial support from powerful Israeli lobby groups when they served in congress. General Wald has been quite outspoken in acting as a cheerleader for unlimited American support of Israel. He regularly travels to Israel and has also served in the boards of several Zionist “think tanks” and lobby groups in the US.

The group released its assessment as the US, along with other permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany, prepares to participate in preliminary talks with Iran on October 1.

The reports claims that by 2010, Iran will have enough enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon, “leaving little time for the United States to prevent both a nuclear- weapons capable Islamic Republic and an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.”

The authors, who support a bill that proposes sanctions against foreign companies that export gasoline to Iran, say the Obama administration should have put together a “sufficient financial, political and military pressure” before agreeing to negotiations.

They say a deadline of 60 days after the start of the negotiations should be set for Iran, adding that the US should adopt tougher sanctions and “prepare overtly for any military option” if it fails to persuade Tehran to bend in the talks.

The proposed preparations include deploying an additional aircraft carrier battle group to Iranian waters and carrying out joint exercises with US allies.

The group claims that in the absence of US military action Tel Aviv is more likely to carry out an attack against Iran, adding that an Israeli strike “entails more risks than a US strike.”

This is while Iran is entitled to continue its uranium enrichment activities based on international regulations as it is conducting the work under the supervision of the UN nuclear watchdog and for peaceful aims.

The ‘think thank’ is proposing the tough measures without considering a recent US spy report update which concluded that Iran has deliberately not taken the critical steps in making a bomb, despite having produced sufficient nuclear fuel for one.

The new information, collected by the Obama administration, once again confirmed the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate by asserting that there was no convincing evidence to prove Iran’s nuclear work had military implications.

Despite the deliberate use of classy, professional sounding terms for the name of the “bipartisan think tank,” it is quite evident that the members of the think tank, although from rival parties, have one basic interest in common and that is their unconditional support for Israel, which itself possesses nuclear warheads without being a signatory to any international atomic regulatory agency.

Press TV

As Iran was grappling with the post-election unrest, Israel was reportedly preparing to strike the country’s nuclear facilities, a US diplomatic source says.

According to the US diplomat who is based in Jerusalem (al Quds), Israel asked the US administration for a green light to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and its other vital structures in the aftermath of the country’s post-election turmoil.

The call for the military strike came after the official announcement of the poll result in Iran prompted widespread protests across the country as opposition supporters took to the streets to protest “fraud” in the June 12 election.

Kuwaiti newspaper al-Jarida cited the diplomatic source as saying that the request was put forward by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, bearing President Shimon Peres’s signature as well.

The administration of President Barack Obama, however, did not take any notice of the Israeli request and consequently the operation was called off.

Tel Aviv put forward the request as it accuses Tehran — a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) — of pursuing a nuclear program with military objectives and argues that the use of military force is a legitimate option in halting Iran’s nuclear progress.

Iran denies the Israeli claim, insisting that its nuclear enrichment program is solely directed at the civilian applications of the technology.

The US intelligence community, which issued a new assessment on Iran’s nuclear activities on Friday, believes that a political decision is yet to be made in Iran for building a nuclear bomb.

The review by the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research also contends that despite Iran’s progress toward producing enriched uranium, Tehran will not be technically capable of producing weapons-grade material before 2013.

http://waronyou.com/topics/israel-planned-iran-strike-during-unrest-report/

Dr. Paul has the cure for America’s ills By Eric S Margolis / Washington

Republican Congressman Ron Paul became a hero to many Americans last year when he ran for president against the political establishment.  The 11-term Texas congressman is the most respected and admired American politician around the world after Barack Obama.

Representative Paul is a vocal critic of America’s foreign wars; he sits on the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Dr Paul invited me to Washington to address his weekly luncheon in his office on Capitol Hill on the intensifying wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  A group of independent-minded Republican congressmen attended.

During last year’s presidential race, I called Paul, “the only candidate who is telling Americans the truth about foreign affairs”.  I came to respect and admire Paul’s courage, honesty, and refusal to accept special interest money.

Speaking of today’s US Congress, Dr Paul observes: “Special interests have replaced the concern the Founders had for the general welfare.”

In fact, Representative Paul has been a model of the legislators envisaged by America’s founding fathers: men of high moral standards and intellect dedicated to the nation’s wellbeing.

He reminds me in many ways of the fiercely upright senators of the early Roman Republic.  The Roman Senate served as the model for the United States Senate.

Paul, a physician, used to deliver babies on Mondays and Saturdays while serving in office.

The 74-year-old doctor from Texas electrified young Americans with his grassroots campaign, providing voters a real alternative to the Republicans and Democratic establishment which often appears to be one party with two factions.

Paul’s clear, cool voice challenged all the government and media propaganda about Afghanistan and Iraq. Dr Paul is also waging a  determined battle against the runaway spending and soaring national debt being promoted by the Obama White House and Congressional Democrats.

Paul and his fellow libertarian Republicans advocate individual rights, strict adherence to the US Constitution, limited government, and free enterprise. They oppose   American global domination, “nation-building”, and all foreign wars not waged in the direct defence of American territory.

Paul opposes US involvement in other nation’s internal affairs.  As anti-Iranian hysteria gripped the nation last month, Paul was the only House member who voted against a bill condemning Iran for its recent election.  That’s real courage.

“There is no area in which Republicans have further strayed from our traditions than in foreign affairs,” writes Paul. He dismisses claims by pro-Israel neoconservatives that “we have to either fight them over there or over here” as a “false choice”. America has no business policing the world.  US foreign policy is undermining America’s national security, says Dr Paul.

Only Congress, he insists, has the right to declare war, not the president.  Congress cravenly abandoned this right during the buildup to the Iraq War that was fuelled by the Bush administration’s shameless lies and  war-mongering by the US media.

Dr Paul’s amiable manner and lack of the bloated self-importance that so typifies Washington bigwigs conceals a very keen intellect and depth of knowledge.  He also has one of the capital’s sharpest foreign affairs staff chiefs, Daniel McAdams.  It is a relief to find key decision-makers in Washington who actually understand the outside world.

As I talked with Dr Paul, it occurred to me that he and his fellow libertarians are the potent remedy that the dreadfully sick Republican Party so desperately needs. Paul’s Liberty Caucus will hopefully form the core around which a vigorous, new party grows that addresses America’s real needs.

President George Bush and the neocons almost destroyed the Republican Party, as this columnist predicted before the  2003 invasion of Iraq.  What’s left of the Republicans has become a rump dominated by Christian religious fundamentalists, Southerners, and war-loving neoconservatives. No longer a place for a moderate, New York Republican like myself.

Republicans have also been suffering a series of lurid sex scandals that have made its members look both extremely hypocritical and awfully stupid.  Meanwhile, extreme right-wingers like the odious Rush Limbaugh and former speaker Newt Gingrich are vying to become the party’s voice.

Dr Paul and his fellow libertarians offer Republicans and Americans a real alternative to the dumbed-down Republicans and to the wildly spending Democrats whose expanded Afghanistan war and reckless economic policies are leading the nation into growing danger.

A crowd gathers outside the mosque in Zahedan where a bomb killed 25 people on Thursday, 28 May.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=96415&sectionid=3510203

Soros Confirms Lindsey William’s Assertion Oil is a Weapon

2009/02/14

US intel predicts Israel-Iran war in 2009