America shits pants as Iran gets aggressive

[tun_dr_m]

The Iranian nuclear warheads and missiles are obviously in ready status, as their openly bold moves clearly spelled out their confidence against the USA.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091221...Ec2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDbXVsbGVud29ycmll

Mullen worries about Iran running out clock on U.S.

By ANNE GEARAN, AP National Security Writer Anne Gearan, Ap National Security Writer – Sun Dec 20, 9:38 pm ET

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT – The top U.S. military officer said Sunday he does not assume Iran's brief seizure of an Iraqi oil well is part of an orchestrated plan in Tehran to threaten its neighbors.

Adm. Mike Mullen also said he's worried about "the clock now running" on the Obama administration's efforts at trying to keep the lines of communication open with Iran. The administration had given a rough deadline of the end of 2009 for Iran to respond to an offer of engagement and show that it would allay world concerns about its nuclear program.

Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, supports that offer, and has said any military strike on Iran, whether by Israel or the United States, should be a last resort.

The U.S. and others worry that Iran's program is intended to develop nuclear weapon. Iran says its work is peaceful and designed to generate electricity but has defied international demands to prove it is not trying to build an atomic bomb.

The administration is now beginning a push to get international support for additional penalties against Iran as a result, and Mullen suggested he thinks that backing was there.

"I think signals are very clearly in the air that another set of sanctions, another resolution, that that's coming," he said.

"I grow increasingly concerned that the Iranians have been non-responsive. I've said for a long time we don't need another conflict in that part of the world," he said. "I'm not predicting that would happen, but I think they've got to get to a position where they are a constructive force and not a destabilizing force."

The administration is concerned about Iran's refusal to carry through on a tentative deal struck in October that called for Iran to ship the majority of its low-enriched uranium out of the country in exchange for fuel to run a research reactor.

The deal was seen by the U.S. and its negotiating partners as a step toward building confidence in Iran's claim that its nuclear program is designed entirely to generate power, not weapons.

The administration also stepped up the momentum toward sanctions after the revelation in September that Iran was secretly building a second uranium-enrichment facility near the holy city of Qom.

Mullen, who spoke to reporters while flying from Germany back to the U.S., said the oil well incident adds to his concerns about Iran's intentions toward neighboring Iraq and the rest of the world.

"I worry a great deal about ... Iran and destabilizing as opposed to stabilizing," he said.

"And I worry about, you know, the clock now running on the dialogue and the engagement and sort of, where are we if that doesn't finish well? And certainly recent indications are ... they're not very responsive."

Meanwhile in Washington, senior Obama adviser David Axelrod said time was running out for Iran to cooperate.

"The international community is going to have to deal with that if they don't change their minds," he said. "I think that the world is united and is willing to take additional steps if the Iranians don't turn around. ... Plainly, there are going to be consequences if they don't turn around."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the administration should act on its own to punish Iran and demonstrate support for Iranian dissidents.

"The president should stand up for the people who are demonstrating and risking their very lives on behalf of freedom on the streets of Tehran," he said. "Let's make it very clear we are with these people who are struggling for freedom as we always have."

Axelrod spoke on ABC's "This Week," while McCain appeared on "Fox News Sunday."

 

[tun_dr_m]

Obama sinks faster with his Nobel Medal .

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_pl1033

'60 Minutes' exclusive: Obama Defends Afghanistan timetable plan

Tue Dec 15, 4:31 pm ET

As President Obama approaches his first anniversary in the White House, some of the public's enthusiasm for his ambitious agenda at home and abroad is on the wane.


While he helped avert a worldwide financial collapse, and may well achieve his goal of health care reform during his first year in office, the U.S. economy is still very weak with double digit unemployment, and his approval ratings are at the lowest point of his presidency.

This past week, before he left for Europe to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft sat down with the president in the Map Room at the White House for a wide ranging discussion, much of it focused on his decision to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan.

Steve Kroft: Was that the most difficult decision of your presidency so far?

President Barack Obama: Absolutely.

Kroft: Why?

Obama: Because when you go to Walter Reed and you travel to Dover and you visit Arlington and you see the sacrifices that young men and women and their families are making there is nothing more profound. And it is a solemn obligation on the part of me as commander in chief to get those decisions right.

Kroft: In your West Point speech, you seemed very analytical, detached, not emotional. The tone seemed to be, "I've studied this situation very hard. It's a real mess. The options aren't very good. But we need to go ahead and do this." There were no exhortations or promises of victory. Why? Why that tone?

Obama: You know, that was actually probably the most emotional speech that I've made, in terms of how I felt about it. Because I was looking out over a group of cadets, some of whom were gonna be deployed in Afghanistan. And potentially some might not come back. There is not a speech that I've made that hit me in the gut as much as that speech.

And one of the mistakes that was made over the last eight years is for us to have a triumphant sense about war.

There was a tendency to say, "We can go in. We can kick some tail. This is some glorious exercise." When in fact, this is a tough business.

 

[HTOLAS]

The best way to unite the opposition with the government in Iran is to talk tough to them. Better still, take military action against them and you will find Khatami standing shoulder to shoulder with Ahmedinejad.

Leaving the different factions alone deprives them of a common enemy and facilitates their turning against each other. It also encourages the regime to huff and puff and show off their latest hardware, in effect, allowing foes to measure their capabilites or lack thereof.