Bolton: We Should Carry Out Regime Change In Iran Because ‘It Did Work In Iraq’

The Jerusalem Post reported yesterday that former U.N. ambassador John Bolton advised Tory delegates in Britain this weekend that they should press for “pre-emptive strike on suspected nuclear facilities” in Iran.

“Because life is about choices, I think we have to consider the use of military force,” Bolton said. He added that any strike “should be followed by an attempt to remove” the “source of the problem,” Iranian President Ahmadinejad.

Fleshing out his hawkish dreams on British television, Bolton suggested that the U.S. overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq was a model for the “policy of regime change” he would like to see done in Iran:

Q: It’s not of the course the policy that worked in Iraq though, did it? I mean, that was the policy of regime change.

BOLTON: No, but I think it did work in Iraq. … Knowing everything we know today, I think it’s unquestionably the case that we were right to overthrow Saddam. We achieved our strategic objective. I think the world is better off for it. […]

I don’t think you should conflate what happened in the post-Saddam period. And whatever happened and however bad it’s been, doesn’t change the fundamental analytical point that we’re better off without Saddam.

Watch it:

There is no “strategic objective” that has been gained through the Iraq war. Rather, it has fueled the spread of terrorism, overstretched our ground forces, caused the unnecessary death of thousands of soldiers and Iraqi civilians, and fundamentally made the world a more dangerous place for the United States.

A military conflict in Iraq is likely to produce the same effects as the Iraq war. Moreover, a military attack on Iran “would not, as is often said, delay the Iranian program. It would almost certainly speed it up.”

Bolton’s unquenchable appetite for war is easy to espouse given that he seems to care little about the disastrous consequences that follow.

تجزیه عراق؟

از وبلاگ سید عطاء الله مهاجرانی

آن همه وعده های شیرین در باره دموکراسی و آزادی در عراق به ثمر رسید! سنای آمریکا با 75 رای موافق(23 رای مخالف) به تجزیه عراق رای داد.یک کشور ویران، یک ملت آواره، دومیلیون عراقی پناهنده در سوریه و اردن و ... و 5/2 میلیون آواره در درون کشور،برافروخته شدن کینه های قومی و طایفه ای و مذهبی در میان مردم.زندگانی سخت و پرمشقت. این ها همه دستاورد آزاد سازی عراق است.
همین خواب را برای ایران هم دیده اند.تقریبا همان سناریو دارد تکرار می شود.سلاح کشتار جمعی جایش را به پرونده هسته ای داده است.به جای القاعده هم در تحلیل ها از حزب الله و حماس و جهاد اسلامی سخن گفته می شود.
سخن بر سر این نیست که ما از رییس جمهور ایران خوشمان می آید یا نه .
طرفدار ولایت فقیه هستیم یا نیستیم.سخن بر سر این است که امریکا کشور ایران را می خواهد.آرزوی بر پایی همان سفارتخانه ای که سایروس ونس در خاطراتش نوشته است؛ سفارت آمریکا در تهران از وزارت خارجه امریکا در واشنگتن بزرگتر بود.با بیش از 1600 کارمند.لابد مثل سفارتی که آمریکایی ها در بغداد می سازند.
به گمانم در تحلیل مسایل ایران نمی توان به این نکته کلیدی توجه نداشت.که آقای احمدی نژاد بهانه اهانت و ناسزاگویی ست.نه این که امریکا با احمدی نژاد مشکل دارد.البته احمدی نژاد با صبوری آمریکا را در موضع ضعف برهان و منطق قرار داده است.برای بوش نامه می نویسد. بوش جواب نمی دهد.دعوت به مذاکره و مناظره می کند، بوش جواب نمی دهد.می خواهد در محل قربانیان فاجعه 11 سپتامبر گل بگذارد و ادای احترام کند.نمی پذیرند.آخر سر هم در اجلاس مجمع عمومی در جلسه سخنرانی بوش می نشیند و با حضور خود ضعف منطق آمریکا را نشان می دهد.و حضور خویش را به رخ آمریکا می کشد.
تمامی این مواضع جهتگیری درستی است که نشان می دهد،کشور و ملت ایران آماده گفتگو و رفع مشکلات است.یادمان باشد که قطع رابطه ی سیاسی با ایران هم یک طرفه از سوی آمریکا انجام شد.
به گمانم موضوع و بحث فراتر از اصلاح طلب یا اصول گراست.در دفاع از ملت ایران و ایران و نظام جمهوری اسلامی که این مجموعه ها با یکدیگر اختلاف اصولی ندارند.حد اکثر بحث در مورد تفسیر و تاویل قانون اساسی و شیوه های اجرایی مبتنی بر همان تفاسیر ست.
اگر می خواهیم به سرنوشت عراق دچار نشویم.کشور ویران و تجزیه نشود.بیش از همیشه ی تاریخ-این نکته را به دلیل این که تاریخ خوانده ام می گویم-نیازمند انسجام ملی هستیم. حتی اگر با انواع بداخلاقی ها رویارو شویم. نبایستی موقعیت خطیر در پیش رو را دست کم بگیریم.به رغم انتقاد ها؛ بایستی دندان روی جگر گذاشت و از آقای احمدی نژاد هم دفاع کرد.تا طمع آمریکا نسبت به کشور و ملت ایران از بن برکنده شود.
تردیدی نیست، مفسران خبری که از واشنگتن و صدای آمریکا بوی کباب به مشام جانشان رسیده است.و برای فرو پاشی جمهوری اسلامی روزشماری می کنند.نمی توانند.افق پیش رو را درست ببینند.بوی کباب و مهمتر از آن دود کباب راه دل و دیده را بر آنان بسته است.ندیده اند که چگونه عراق بر بنیاد دو دروغ اشغال شد؟

A letter to Mr. Lee Bollinger

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:53:52

M. J. A. Larijani, President OF THE Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics (IPM)

I wish to register my deepest regret in regard to your remarkably discourteous introductory remarks to President Ahmadinejad.

Your class act as an arbiter at the University of Columbia was nothing short of disgrace. It lacked professionalism especially given the fact that Mr. Ahmadinejad had not even been given the chance to speak. And it clearly undermined your repeatedly made claim that the event upheld free speech. Fortunately, this age, despite all its cruelty and barbarity, is an age of transparency, which is why not even liberals can hide themselves behind their usual covers these days.

What happened yesterday merely displayed utter conceit and petty politics showing who it was that really lacked civility. Trying to humiliate an invited guest, an elected President of a sovereign country, before an international media only reflects the culture of an insular and bigoted society. One wonders if your reaction had anything to do with donors threatening to withdraw funds from Columbia. It is incredulous that a respected American university chose to turn this meeting into a show trial of Iranian policies. So much for academic integrity and intellectual honesty.

Your crass, ill-mannered and duplicitous greeting of President Ahmadinejad amounted to a crude planned ambush. It is just unbelievable that someone who is simply questioning elements of the US foreign policy and refuses to be a US client should be submitted to such a systematic harassment.

If anybody wanted any proof that Israeli lobby controls US foreign policy, media, academic, etc., he has found plenty of evidence today. It has been noted that the protests against Iran at the UN and at Columbia were primarily made up of Israeli advocacy groups. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with that, but it highlights, among other things, AIPAC's influence not only on US foreign policy but also in the mainstream academia.

One could be forgiven for thinking that what happened yesterday at Columbia University represents the typical mindset of the present American ruling elite: delusionally arrogant, insolent and insensitive to the rest of the world. A sad spectacle since they have become so politically isolated that they are even incapable of learning from their past experiences.

It is extremely dishonest and manipulative to call into question the Iranian President's integrity when in reality it is the USA that is responsible for the misery and death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and total destruction of their country. America is the same country that installed a medieval Shah with its secret SAVAK police after removing the democratically government of Dr Mosaddeq which in turn led to the hundreds of thousands of Iranians being killed and tortured by an Israeli trained police force. Ever since its inception, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been subject to countless destabilizing attempts by the US. But it has thwarted them all. The 8-year old war with Iraq, when all Western countries were helping their then good old chum Saddam, failed to bring this country to its knees. We do not think that the current drive towards waging a new war on Iran will stand a better chance of success.

In any case, yesterday was an opportunity to show the world that the USA is an open country that will challenge its opponents with appropriate compassion and honest debate. Instead, your decision to gather all Zionist-manufactured anti-Iranian appellations, pile them up on the stage, and throw them shamelessly at your invited guest, will become the black page of ignominy in Columbia University's history.


With regards,

M. J. A. Larijani
President
Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics (IPM)