--- Begin Message ---
-Caveat Lector-
Bush warns Putin:
'World War Three'
By Matthew Moore and Adrian Blomfield
The Telegraph (UK), 6:57pm BST 17/10/2007
_http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/17/wwar117.xml_
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/17/wwar117.xml)
President George W Bush today warned that world leaders risk helping bring
about "World War Three" unless they do more to prevent Iran developing nuclear
weapons.
In remarks timed to coincide with _Russian president Vladimir Putin's visit
to Teheran_
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=0IBVFXWWRKGU1QFIQMGCFFWAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/10/17/wputin117.xml)
, Mr Bush said the
Islamic republic must remain isolated until it drops its nuclear ambitions.
New best friends: Vladimir Putin and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after their meeting
in Teheran
"We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy
Israel," Mr Bush told a White House press conference.
"So I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding World War Three,
it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the
knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
Mr Bush's pointed statement follows the warm words exchanged by Mr Putin and
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, at an historic summit in Teheran
this week.
After their meeting Mr Putin repeated Moscow's line that there is no evidence
to suggest Iran wants to build a nuclear bomb, and pledged to continue
helping the country develop its civil nuclear technology.
As the _first Kremlin leader to visit Iran since Josef Stalin in 1943_
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=0IBVFXWWRKGU1QFIQMGCFFWAVCBQUI
V0?xml=/news/2007/10/15/wputin415.xml) , he also secured the vital backing of
Azerbaijan in a five-nation pact by the Caspian states to prevent the US from
using the region as a staging ground for military action against Iran.
Mr Bush added today that he had no doubts that Russia appreciated the dangers
of a nuclear Iran.
But he said that he wished to speak to Mr Putin about his meeting with
Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme Iranian leader, during which he is said to have
suggested a new proposal to end the nuclear stand-off.
"I'm looking forward to getting President Putin's read-out from the meeting,"
Mr Bush said.
"The thing I'm interested in is whether or not he continues to harbour the
same concerns that I do.
"I will continue to work with Russia as well as other nations to keep a
focused effort on sending Iran a message that you will remain isolated if you
continue your nuclear weapons ambitions."
Although Russia lent its reluctant backing to two United Nations resolutions
imposing sanctions on Iran, it has been stridently opposed to escalating the
penalties after Teheran refused to stop its uranium enrichment programme.
Among Western diplomats, opinion is divided as to whether Russia — which has
little to gain from a nuclear Iran — w_ill eventually acquiesce_
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=0IBVFXWWRKGU1QFIQMGCFFWAVCBQUIV0?xml=
/news/2007/07/03/wbush103.xml) .
Emboldened by its vast energy resources and desperate to reclaim its status
as a global power, Russia could also stand to gain by seeing the United States
dragged into a new, controversial and potentially debilitating Middle East
conflict.
The United States has said it is pursuing a diplomatic approach to Iran,
including the threat of a new round of United Nations sanctions, but has
refused
to rule out military action to halt Iran's nuclear program, which it believes
might be used covertly to develop nuclear weapons.
(http://ad.fr.doubleclick.net/jump/americas.iht.com/article;cat=article;sz=190x90;ord=123456789?)
But in Tehran on Tuesday, Putin said, "Not only should we reject the use of
force, but also the mention of force as a possibility."
Asked Wednesday about photos that showed a seemingly cordial meeting in
Tehran between Putin and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Bush said he was loath
to
read too much into photographs and wanted to hear Putin's own "readout" of the
meeting.
Proposed new UN sanctions against Iran, pressed in particular by the United
States and France, have so far been blocked by Russia, which holds a veto on
the Security Council and wants further dialogue with Tehran.
But Putin has gone further, questioning what evidence the Americans and
French have for asserting that Iran intends to make nuclear weapons.
When President Nicolas Sarkozy of France visited Putin in Moscow early this
month, Putin said: "We don't have information showing that Iran is striving to
produce nuclear weapons. That's why we're proceeding on the basis that Iran
does not have such plans."
Sarkozy said the two might "not have quite the same analysis of the
situation."
France has argued that aggressive moves toward multilateral sanctions against
Iran are the best way to avoid military against Iran.
And while Putin says that Russia is taking Iran's descriptions of its program
at face value, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently asserted that
Iran was lying to UN inspectors.
Bush, seeking to explain his relationship with a man whom he once said he
viewed as a trusted ally against terrorism - but who has since led his country
in
steadily more authoritarian directions - said that he and Putin "don't agree
on a lot of issues."
Still, he said, it was vital to maintain an open and candid relationship that
allowed each man to speak his mind.
The president nonetheless acknowledged American frustrations at trying to
influence Russia.
"In terms of whether or not it's possible to reprogram the kind of basic
Russian DNA, which is a centralized authority," Bush said, "that's hard to do."
The best he could do, the president said, was to try to make it clear that it
is in Moscow's interests to have good relations with the West, and an open
and democratic government.
-------------------------
It may have been Putin himself who warned Iran that the U.S. would attack
Iran on or about October 15 -- at the same time when, allegedly "at great
personal risk" (interpreted as being an assassination plot), he showed up in
Teheran.
Was the "rumor" based on inside knowledge or just a self-serving ploy? Did
Putin manage to avert "World War III" by boldly standing at Ground Zero,
daring the U.S. to kill a foreign head of state as "collateral damage," turning
the
world community against madman Bush, triggering a World War in which the U.S.
was everyone's enemy, as reviled as Hitler's Germany?
Vladimir Putin arrives
in Iran despite 'plot'
Adrian Blomfield in Moscow
_http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=0IBVFXWWRKGU1QFIQMGCFFW
AVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/10/15/wputin415.xml_
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=0IBVFXWWRKGU1QFIQMGCFFWAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/10/15/w
putin415.xml)
Last Updated: 1:30pm BST 16/10/2007
Vladimir Putin has arrived in Iran for talks with President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad despite an alleged plot to kill him. Russian media reports
say
Putin faces assassination
The Russian president has won plaudits from an enraptured nation for
heroically brushing off the alleged threat to his safety in order to discuss
Iran's
nuclear programme.
In what is the first visit by a Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin's in 1943,
he was welcomed by Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian Foreign Minister at Teheran
airport for a summit on oil and gas resources.
Mr Putin swept aside suggestions that he should postpone his trip with the
kind of defiance that, duly exploited by state television, has seen his
popularity soar.
"Of course I am going to Iran," he told reporters in Wiesbaden following a
meeting with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor.
"If you react to various threats and the recommendations of the security
services, then you should sit at home."
Details of the purported threat, which emerged on Sunday night, were scant.
Russian news agencies said that suicide bombers were planning to kill or kidnap
Mr Putin during the visit.
Ordinary Russians were indignant, mystified that anyone would want to kill a
leader who is both the self-styled world's "last true democrat" and the
greatest man of peace since Mahatma Gandhi.
Although neither the identity nor the motive of the plotters has been
revealed, the men drinking in a Moscow café had their own ideas as to who the
perpetrators might be.
"USA," said Vitaly, a construction worker. "No, it's Britain," replied
Anatoly, his line-manager. "Didn’t you watch TV last night?"
State-controlled Russian TV broadcast a documentary on Sunday evening
alleging that British foreign policy had been influenced by hatred and fear of
Russia
since the 18th century - the latest in a series of such programmes.
With many Russians, agitated by over a decade of conflict in Chechnya,
believing that "Muslims" were the true culprits, Iran was quick to describe the
plot
as "baseless."
A foreign ministry spokesman, Muhammad Ali Hosseini, suggested that western
agencies may have planted the story in order to damage relations between Iran
and Moscow, a vehement opponent of stronger UN sanctions against Teheran.
Analysts, too, were dubious, suggesting that the Kremlin was attempting to
milk a non-existent or flimsy threat of the kind frequently made against world
leaders for political gain.
"It's possible there was a plot," said Alexey Malashenko, a security expert
at the Moscow Carnegie Centre. "Putin is not as popular in Iran as he might
think.
"But it’s equally possible that it was a PR stunt designed to make Putin look
the hero for daring to go to Iran."
If that was the strategy, it appeared to be working.
Mr Putin may increasingly be viewed in the West as closer to autocrat than
democrat but in Russia his popularity ratings remain close to 80 per cent.
A recent publicity campaign to extol his virtues - including a series of
holiday snaps revealing his rippling torso - has helped to ensure that Mr
Putin's
halo glows ever brighter even as he plots to retain power by possibly becoming
prime minister after his final presidential term expires next spring.
For many ordinary people, Mr Putin is already regarded is the epitome of what
a Russian man should be: teetotal, steely and - if you believe Russian girls
- handsome.
Now, by going to Iran, he has the added quality of being courageous.
"I think he's so brave," said Tatyana Konchina, a 22-year-old receptionist,
as she sipped an early evening latte.
************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com
www.ctrl.org
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/
<A HREF="http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
--- End Message ---
