Iran v Bush and the Press

President Bush at Press Conference 14/2/07

Full Transcript of Conference and Video

Iran in the Frame: At a Press Conference today the President stated that the government of Iran was behind the supply of deadly bombs in Iraq although the President did not blame the leadership in Iraq, the President stated the following on Iran actions in Iraq, ' What we do know is that the Quds force was instrumental in providing these deadly IEDs to networks inside of Iraq. We know that. And we also know that the Quds force is a part of the Iranian government. That's a known. What we don't know is whether or not the head leaders of Iran ordered the Quds force to do what they did. '. The New York Times stated the following ' President Bush said today he is certain that elements of the Iranian government are supplying deadly roadside bombs that kill American troops in Iraq, even if the innermost circle of the government is not involved. ' The Times could not help itself from the mention of the flawed information that lead to the War in Iraq in 2003. It has to be stated that history is littered with one arm of the government not telling the other what it is doing, so that Iran on one hand is taking action in Iraq the leadership might not have all the information on what all areas of government are doing as part of policy.

Wall Street Journal has a very interesting article on the threat from Iran, it stated the following, ' Pentagon sources have been saying for several years that Iranian-style munitions have been appearing in Iraq, and arms smugglers have been caught coming across the Iranian border. What's new is that the Iranian-marked weapons have actually been put on display and an estimate of their toll made public: more than 170 Americans killed in action and more than 600 wounded. ' This was Yesterday and today we have the the President putting Iran in the Frame for the havoc in Iraq, it would be more in Western interest if talks and diplomacy fail to attack Iran's Nuclear development before it becomes active or Israel will have to do the West's dirty work for it again as it did in the early 1980s in Iraq.

Time , More on Quds and Iran.

Obama's Train to the White House

Senator Barack Obama

Courtesy of Obama '08

Full Text of Senator Barack Obama's Announcement for President

Senator Obama has stated that he will run for President of the United States, the question is will his train get him to the Oval Office and the White House or will the Clinton Wall stop him in Iowa and other states.

Here are some of the American Video on the News:

Obama declares he's running for president - CNN

Senator on Sixty Minutes - CBS

A Year is a long time in Politics and in American Politics it can seem like forever. The Politico reports that political operators state that the raise of the Senator could be see with a sharp fall, and points out some of his problems he could face from other candidates in the Democratic Race for President. Howard Dean in 2004 was the Super Star then came Iowa, that's why the political process is fun, so ruthless but they do it with a smile on their faces, kind words then they dig the dirt up on each other, nothing quite like good old politics.

Margaret Thatcher Foundation

Views for the past few days has had a great time going through the archive on the Margaret Thatcher Foundation, if you have an interest in Foreign Affairs this is a Page you should visit, the Archive has links to Presidential Archives of Ford, Carter and Reagan. Views likes to read old NSC material and there is some great stuff on here, if you have the time, visit and understand the late 1970s through to the 1990s in more Detail, US Archives.

Iran and Iran again!!

A very interesting article in the Times by Gerard Baker, the articles looks at the prospects for another War in the Middle East this time between the USA and Iran. The article points out that oil is on the raise on the International Market and a Navy man has been sent to run Central Command. It has been argued in this blog if the UN cant get a deal that prevents Iran becoming a Nuclear Armed Country and we don't want Israel to take action and start a regional war, as the article points out the War in Iraq is not going that well but a ' targeted strikes against nuclear facilities are a different matter, however. ' After Lebanon bombings in the early 1980s, Reagan turned the ships around and invaded Grenada, is President Bush planning something similar from the Oval Office, he once stated that he wanted to be another Ronald Reagan not his father who lost to Bill Clinton 1992. And in a pure politics it will place Hillary Clinton is a no win position, if she opposed a war with Iran, and it was just air strikes she could not win in 2008 but if she supports such a war the left would never let her forget such a move, politics and international politics combined very interesting.

U.S. News & World Report A interesting article on Iraq and how American leaving would effect the region but also quite negative on the prospects for a Surge.

Senate and Iraq

Well the Republicans and Joe Lieberman haven't lost their nerve yet, they held the line and prevented a vote that a majority would have opposed a surge in Iraq. The Vote was 49 - 47, the Dems needed 60. The Democrats are in a majority by only a few votes, they seem to have fallen for their own message always a bad sign. The magic is 60 guys, if you don't have it don't waste your breath.

Washington Times on Senate Politics.

Slate also on Senate Politics, a fun read worth a look if you have a chance.

Rudy all the Way?

Saw Rudy Giuliani on Hannity and Colmes on Fox, Giuliani recalls Alan Alda from the last season of the West Wing, and Hillary Clinton is no Mat Santos. Giuliani is tough on Foreign Policy but a Social Liberal, a true classic Conservative. If both Giuliani and Clinton are the candidates who wins in New York, the Mayor of the World, or Hillary, I would go with Giuliani. Also this would place states that normally vote for the Democrats in to play, I wonder if the political minds behind Clinton have a worry that she could lose badly in a election if Giuliani is running, example, 1972 / 1984, would could argue it would be a new ball game, if the Conservative base can vote for him and he can get moderates and Liberals then Clinton has no chance, but we are long way to go yet. There are national polls already but VIEWS will not start to really read them till later in the year. A WEEK IS A LONG TIME IN POLITICS FOLKS.

Here is the Transcript of the talk on H&C on Fox.

Washington Post on Giuliani in the Race for 2008

More on Iran Part Two

An excellent article by Michael Barone on RealClearPolitics, Turning Toward Iran, Barone gets to the main point with the following, ' The critics ignore the fact that Iran has been making war against us for 27 years, since they violated the most fundamental law of diplomacy by taking our diplomats hostage. The critics seem more interested in seeing Bush lose than in seeing the United States win. Fortunately Bush still wants to prevail. ' The American Media Elite are still fighting the 2000 Election, they could never really get Reagan, the Great Communicator had a bond with the American people, Bush is not a great communicator but he can still be like the Gipper a great President.