Rice Ratchets Up the Rhetoric On Iran

Iran human rights record 'to be loathed': Rice

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stepped up Washington's verbal assault on Iran, saying the hardline Islamic regime's treatment of its people was "something to be loathed."

And human rights violations by the US in the war on terror is any different?
Rice is preparing the public and the world governments for an increased confrontation with Iran. First comes the black Special Ops incursion, then the aircraft overflights. Now the rhetoric is turned up leading to a military confrontation. Clearly, they have their sights on bombing the nuclear production facilities in Iran and destabilizing the government by stirring up rebellion among the disaffected youth and moderates. They have about up to a year to turn up the wick until they have to commit to some sort of action. But given the condition of our troops in Iraq, I doubt they want to do anything until there is more stability on the ground. But then, they going to do something.
They've made a mess in Iraq and lost any military or diplomatic advantage. To protect their investment they have to neutralize any effect of an alliance between Iraq and Iran. These guys can't think any other way. They think they've learned their lesson. A limited incursion of Special Forces to stir rebellion supported by air power they think will do the trick.
Bush's intent is to stir up civil war in Iran. Remember their intent to stabilize the Middle East? Their strategy is playing out like a bad lie. The more they try to fix it, the worse it gets.


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Iran human rights record 'to be loathed': Rice
02-03-2005, 22h42
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Luke Frazza - (AFP/File)
LONDON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stepped up Washington's verbal assault on Iran, saying the hardline Islamic regime's treatment of its people was "something to be loathed."
"I don't think anybody thinks that the unelected mullahs who run that regime are a good thing for either the Iranian people or for the region," Rice told reporters accompanying her to Europe and the Middle East.
"I think our European allies agree that the Iranian regime's human rights behaviour and its behaviour towards its own population is something to be loathed," she said.
Rice arrived in London on Thursday evening to start a week-long tour of Europe and the Middle East, her first trip abroad since replacing Colin Powell last week.
Rice picked up on President George W. Bush's State of the Union address in Washington on Wednesday, branding Tehran "the world's primary state sponsor of terror" and pledging solidarity with Iranians' desire for freedom.
She came close to advocating outright regime change in the clergy-ruled Islamic republic, which Bush famously included in his "axis of evil" three years ago alongside North Korea and Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
"What we support is that the Iranian people should have a chance to determine their own future, and right now under this regime they have no opportunity to determine their own future," she said.
Iran and its suspected nuclear arms programme were likely to figure prominently during Rice's trip, which precedes a trip to Europe later this month by Bush.
Her itinerary includes Britain, Germany and France, which are involved in a halting effort to persuade the Iranians to renounce their suspected nuclear ambitions.
Some European officials have called for more direct US involvement in the negotiations, but Rice demurred.
"The Iranians know what they need to do," she said. "It's not the absence of anybody's involvement that is keeping the Iranians from knowing what they need to do."
AFP
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