Is some sort of pincer movement on Iran coming?

[DanS]

"This gives Israel a casus belli for limited air strikes and whatnot, but doesn't justify a U.S. invasion."

You are mistaken. Fund or harbor international terrorism and you get the axe. I thought Bush made this point clearly enough.

That said, I'd bet we're already heavily involved in Iran. If I were able to invest from the US, I would be putting my money into cell phone providers and internet cafes.

[The diplomat]

Iran is cooperating with us against Al Queda. That is why the US is not going to attack them.

I bet that if they stopped cooperating, they would be on our hit list just as fast as Iraq.

[Sandman]

I wouldn't call the Palestinian terror organisations 'international'.

[Ned]

Originally posted by The diplomat
Iran is cooperating with us against Al Queda. That is why the US is not going to attack them.

I bet that if they stopped cooperating, they would be on our hit list just as fast as Iraq.

I agree. If Iraq falls, Iran will be surrounded by the U.S. military. They would think twice about defying the United States and beginning active support of al Qaida.

[Imran Siddiqui]

They would think twice about defying the United States and beginning active support of al Qaida

I doubt it. Iran is a different beast than Iraq, and I think, a tougher nut to crack.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by DanS
" And why has the media ignored this fact?"

And the media hasn't ignored this fact.

Maybe its just British media then, but reference to Iran has been such a non-issue compared to Iraq, Al Queda, Pakistan, Palestine, Indonesia it leads us to believe they are relatively well behaved. At no point have any articles on world terrorism mentioned Iran.

The only article I have seen on Iran in the past few months was a CNN report saying how Iran was only interested in self-defence (now self-sufficient in defence) and described how it was invaded by a US supported Iraq.

Is the media tack different in the US? How often does Iran feature in your media, because in ours it is almost non-existant.

[Ned]

Imran, Iran is also ripe for a revolution. We may need simply to light the fuse.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Ned
Imran, Iran is also ripe for a revolution. We may need simply to light the fuse.

The US record when it comes to "lighting fuses" does not fill me with confidence

[DanS]

"Maybe its just British media then, but reference to Iran has been such a non-issue compared to Iraq, Al Queda, Pakistan, Palestine, Indonesia it leads us to believe they are relatively well behaved. At no point have any articles on world terrorism mentioned Iran."

Hmmm... There's a long littany of terrorist orgs that Iran is supporting currently, including Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and Hamas. It didn't stop after 9/11--quite the contrary.

Don't know why your press would downplay these facts. Some of our better press have covered this story throughout the summer, including Iran's deliberations on the subject and Bush's response at the beginning of the summer.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/07/20020712-9.html

Re "fuses", both the Serbian elections and 80s Poland were excellent examples of the game going on here.

[Dauphin]

Jack Straw, the Foreign Minister, is in Iran. Even now Iran's terrorist links have not been mentioned in the media. Our foreign office has been very accomodating to Iran in the past few months, and relations are getting better (according to the media).

Perplexing.

I don't doubt Iran's shady dealings, but I thought they were more on a par with Pakistan's and far less overt (i.e not directed at the west as such).

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by DanS

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/07/20020712-9.html

Internal tyranny does not immediately lead to external terrorism. That link does not indicate their links to terrorism.

[Shi Huangdi]

Originally posted by Kyle
No invasion of Iran. The people have a taste of representative government, they should be able to affect the change needed to get rid of the Ayatollah.

The Fundamentalists will never give up power voluntarily. The only way they get kicked out is by a revolution or a foreign army.

[DanS]

Again, this seems like a no-brainer. Iran is thought to have had al Qaeda training in country as lately as August.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22339-2002Oct14.html

[DanS]

Sheltering Al Qaeda...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A8958-2002Aug28&notFound=true

[Dauphin]

That's better. Links that actually cover the subject you are talking about.

Irans harbouring of terrorists and sponsoring of terrorism now taken as read, riddle me this... why are these not being played up by the British Media/Government? I don't see an obvious reason.

I am discussing this from a genuine point of ignorance. As I say coverage on Iran is minimal.