A discussion about the new intelligence on Iran

with Vali Nasr and David Sanger
in Current Affairs
on Wednesday, December 5, 2007 * * * * *

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A discussion about the new intelligence on Iran with Vali Nasr, Professor of International Politics at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy of Tufts University and David Sanger, White House correspondent for The New York Times.

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Keywords:
David Sanger
Iran
George Bush
Vali Nasr

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    1. Dr. Murray M. Morgan  07/29/2008 04:51 AM Report

      [What\ A Nauseating Conversation [was conversation of Charlie Rose\ With Admiral Fallen [so low -- to make his "book bought" via appeasing rich-arrogant Arabs, via distorting [on the show\ the name for an old geographic water way's name [several thousands years old -- per King of Saudi Arabia known always\; calling it "Arabian Gulf" rather than [by its real name\ Persian-Gulf --just to have his book sold/just to make some buck -- It was very sad to see such a nauseating spectacle by a so called "Admiral". Rather than "admir"ing him I felt a kind pity for his "fall"ing so low. Shame on him. The English invented this "Arabian to "divide and conquer" that President Nasser of Egypt fall for the trap. You do NOT playing politics [as "negotiating tool/carrot\ with such an ancient name [Persian Gulf\ back fires. Because it shows that you are downlookingly making mocquery of them.

      I speak frankly. I do not BS. I express and state what I feel in the hope to awake those (we the Westerners)who think have more rights than others (people of the rest of the world).

      Of what right, have we [the Westerners\ become the "Guardian" [like parents to under-age child/retards\ of the non-Westerners? Of what right, dare we (from 11000 miles bully/intrude on others)to tell them what is good for them AND dare to ILLEGITIMATELY [through abuse of UNSC\ demand them to do what WE [the fallen from Ass-holes\ we want them to do OR we "bombard them".

      This pas de tous-nonAdmired "Admiral' Fallon [better suits him being called ; "FallEn"\, after having INVADED/Ruined Iraq [and have become extortionist Pirate-States Of America\ dares to say that Iran [conveniencingly forgotting that, culturally/emotionally, Iraq, Afghanestan, Pakistan, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenestan, Uzbakestan, Kazakestan, Tajikestan, and even India are bond together throughout the history\ is meddling in the affairs of Iraq and Afghanestan!!! [which is a lie\.

      I hope the former=people-SERVANT-Admiral Fallon reads it.

      July 17, 2008

      Remember that on the Judgment day, in the presence of God, I will hold you responsible, and ask you if you conveyed these words to the People’s-SERVANTS in the legislative, judiciary, executive branches AND to the Press/Media.

      Please, tell them not act as if you are GUARDIAN of people. Act as SERVANT of people.

      I wish you well and a swift recovery SERVANT Ted Kennedy. Please convey this message to all other SERVANTS of people in Senate, Congress, White House, and other institutions of the government and Judiciary branch; to: a) start acting as being SERVANT of people, b)start earning their salary, c) stop acting as being the GUARDIAN of people -- as i.e. parents as the Guardian of their underage/retarded/incapacitated children/offspring.

      To everybody in the legislative, judiciary, executive branches AND to the Press/Media:

      Remember that on the Judgment day, you will be held responsible for your arrogant/cruel/unjust/rights-denying/exploitating/pirating actions towards others (all over the world -- the "better than others"-Westerners [due to the SPECIAL manner of their birth -- falling off the ASS's-HOLE/Vulva rather than the ORDINARY manner of the birth of the rest of the world -- exiting the vulva of their mothers\, and "subhuman"-non-Westerners). The reason for this way of my talking to power is to make it sink in the minds (of those who forget the fact that they are sent as the SERVANT of people to, without infringing on the RIGHTS of others, act on the business of people.

      July 16, 2008

      Servants of people, Servant Speaker Peloci and Servant Chairman John Conyers,

      You are there to, on behalf of people to legislate and watch for the interest of people NOT to act as if you are GUARDIAN of people (under-age children/retards).

      It is not up to you to veto the will of the people. It is NOT important that there is or there is not enough vote to convict President Bush and Vice-President Cheney. It is the desire of people to proceed-with/act-on the previous and the current impeachment proposals of Congressman Kucinich; regardless of the number of supporting votes. Impeachment matter is NOT a political issue that you weigh the gains or loss viz à vis the at issue political subject matter. Constitution of the USA allows people to impeach and remove a President who has committed high crimes.

      Because, President Bush has set numerous dangerous precedents which are harmful to the Rule By People, it is imperative to impeach him [before the end of his term\ regardless of the number of supporting votes in favor of the conviction. The fact that Congress has proceeded with bringing forward the subject matter of the impeachment, would remove the implied created power/authority effect, as a precedence, that another US-President might desire/decide to invoke. Power corrupts. Congress and Senate are there to, as one of the MOST important duties of legislative branch, watch for people so that the President does NOT act like a King.

      It is UNPRECEDENTED for Congress to ignore an impeachment request coming from a legislative body. It would be terrible for Congress to break this long-established precedent. When the Florida legislature requested the impeachment of Judge Swayne, Congress acted upon it. It came to the floor of the House as a highly privileged motion. The House required a committee to report on impeachment. When the committee reported it, impeachment was passed. When the Mississippi legislature requested the impeachment of Judge Bruin, Congress acted upon it. It came to the floor of the House as a highly privileged motion. The House required a committee to report on impeachment. Shortly later, a new judge was appointed, apparently after Judge Bruin died or resigned.

      So, I, Dr. Murray M. Morgan, as the soul of the humanity/people/nation, ORDER you [as the Servant of people\ to, immediately, bring forward the proposals of Congressman Kucinich to vote and send it to the Senate for the trial. You are, hereby, ordered to refrain from acting as if you are the GUARDIAN of people.

      So, I, as the soul of the people, order and urge all the Congressmen, congresswomen to, for the sake of upholding the Constitution/Constitutional RULE OF LAW, support the previously introduced Articles and the Article of Impeachment introduced by Re. Dennis Kucinich on July 10. President Bush deliberately lied to Congress and to the people about the "threat" coming from Iraq because of its so-called arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. He started the war to remove Saddam who had dared to put image of his father in the front-yard walkway of one of the governmental buildings/one of the Places in Iraq for the people to walk on (shown in CBS or ABC -- it is funny that nobody dares to talks about this uncontrollable motive of President GW Bush; which was the real reason behind the Iraq-war--this uncontrollable urge to punish Saddam was the reason that GW Bush was chosen/encouraged to run for Presidency – because he would do whatever he is told to do). The President lied and hundreds of thousands of people have died as the result of his vengeance-seeking. The Constitution is the law of the land and not a partisan political issue.

      There is danger of starting another act of aggression against the very peaceful nation of Iran. Warmongers/Military Industrial Complex (MIC)/illegitimate desire of Israel are after destroying what Iranians, on their own, have achieved in technological advances/military industry; to keep Iran from joining the developed countries. IAEA through more than 250 thorough/intruding inspections (that we will not tolerate a second of it -- despite of our annual manufacturing of 50 modern atomic bombs) has concluded that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful. But illegitimate power houses/MIT and the cancerous big corporations that are after exploitation of resources of Iran, want to bombard Iran anyway to keep Iran dependant so that she is forced to buy arms and goods from them at astronomical prices until she, due to no longer having OIL to sell, becomes poor like African countries that are left on their own to fend for themselves. These power house/MIT/Corporations do not want democracy for Iran.

      Since when the burden is on the accused? Iran is not making atomic bomb.

      SERVANT President/Senators and Congressmen/Congresswomen,

      I, as the soul of the nation/humanity, order you all [SERVANTS of people\, to stop bullying Iran. Who has given you the authority to pass sanctioning resolution against Iran -- to freeze assets, put blockade on Iranian ships in Persian Gulf; in their backyard waterways by our faraway [bully, coercing, extortionist, pirate\ country? You the SERVANTS of us, the people, have no right to order our forces to act as pirates in Persian Gulf for a spoiled country, the Israel (that has more than 200 atomic war-heads BUT dares to lecture the peaceful nation of Iran that has a peaceful nuclear program according to the NNPT guidelines/IAEA). I, Dr. Murray M. Morgam, as the soul of humanity/nation/people, order you to pass a resolution to pull out all our forces from Persian Gulf and vicinity and bring them back to home and start to make the military very small, to a size that is necessary to defend any attack on our country here in the USA.

      Who the hell you think are? Era of colonialism is passed. How dare you decide to dance to the lead of Senator Lieberman to block Iran’s ships/assets and dare to inspect their cargo. We have made mocquery of the UNSC. Iran is a peaceful country. I, Dr. Murray M. Morgam, as the soul of humanity/nation/people, order you to start EARNING your salary by spending your time on the issues that you have authority (according to the Constitution); on the domestic issues. Start earning your salary and act on people’s will; pass law to dismantle our atomic bombs and pass law to prohibit our country to make new/or upgrade our atomic bombs. That is what you have to spend your time on.

      We all, know it very well, that Iran is not, ever, going to make atomic bomb. The "burden of proof" is on the accusers not the accused.

      Time and time again, IAEA has concluded that Iran's nuclear program has been peaceful and that they have not found any clue to point to it having had been otherwise; that is, being a weapon-geared program.

      IAEA should ask Europe, USA, and Israel to prove their allegation (that Iran has weapon-geared nuclear program) NOT Iran to prove is not making atomic bomb.

      It is impossible to prove/show that you do not have something that you have never had it at all? The burden is on those who make the allegations. OR, because we (the blue-blooded, arrogant, savage-beast-bullies) consider ourselves "better than them" (because they are non-Westerners, and thusly/sub-humans with less RIGHTS than us), we want to prevent them from advancing in science and technology; that when they achieve it without our permission, we treat them with "Carrot/Stick" policy!!!. Is it logical to, instead of saying hello to the shopkeeper of a shop (that has something that we want to buy), threat him/her instead? If we treat Iran with respect, they would be more than happy to sell their oil to us with enthusiasm.

      We know that, within a millisecond of daring of the use of such policy ("Carrot/Stick" policy) by others, we would respond with: "Shove them both" and would leave the room immediately. How dare you treat people like that? They are not horse or donkey. I am amazed that Iran, despite of our savage treatment of them, has been able to show such admirable degree of patience and restraint towards our insulting attitude against them. I, as one of the Citizens of USA, am asking you to, immediately put stop into use of such a stupid "foreign Policy".

      We should treat the nations of the world as equals; with respect. Specially, a nation like Iran, that has more than 5000 years of glorious civilization, and contribution to the world in all fields; fields of art and science (physics, chemistry, medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and arts).

      A fair-minded person like I, acknowledges that, despite of our rude, arrogant, and bullish behavior of West, Iranians have been more than patient with the ILLEGITIMATE/ and UNJUST, RIGHTS-DENYING demand of West from them.

      Shame on you, Mr. President. Shame on Europe and shame on us all.

      Mr. President, our past interferences against the toppled democratic governments of Iran, demonstrates how in-genuine our “pro-freedom”/”pro-democracy” claims have been/are.

      Mr. "President", Please, do not BS people. Forgot our toppling of Mossadeq and our sabotaging of Iranian's beautiful 1979 revolution which lead to toppling of President Banisadr? Please refrain from making any sort of threat, AND any sort of manipulative pseudo-uprising fabrications against Iran; so that people, who had democracy/freedom (during the three year Prime-ministership of Mossadeq and the two year Presidency of Banisadr), on their own (without any sort of interference from outside), re-establish it again from inside; through peaceful and genuine uprising against their government (that is stolen from them). The only person who has authority to speak for people of Iran, is the first-President of Iran, the self-exiled former President Banisadr who, at the moment, lives in Versaille, France. He, truly/popularly, was elected by 70% of votes through a real election. Since then, he has been educating/informing people of Iran so that they, by themselves, stand up again to topple the current corrupt/illegitimate regime and re-establish a legitimate/people-representative government in its place. All these, including the nuclear-issue [that per IAEA is a peaceful program\, are INTERNAL affairs of Iran. How would we feel if a bully-nation [from across the Globe\ interferes in such internal affairs of ours –telling/deciding-for-us [as if we are under-age/retards\ as to what is good or not-good [in our interest\? AND through imposition of various sanction regimes [via abuse of UNSC or outside of it\ coerce us to do what we THINK is RESPONSIBLE-behavior/good for us? Neither our Senate [or any other institutions of our country\ nor those of the other parasitic/arrogant/pirate/thieves [other blue-blooded Western countries across the Atlantic\ have ANY right to meddle into the internal affairs of other nations of the world.

      De quelle droit we dare to DICTATE to other nations what to do or not to do?

      Without regard to the nature of the government, people of Iran tend to wrap around their government when they perceive outside-danger/threat against their country; no matter how brutal and oppressive it is. So please,stop/refrain from making/imposing any degree and sort of threats, sanctions or manipulations against Iran.

      Do not pay attention to Mojahedin-e Khalgh or ex-kicked-out blue-blooded pro-Shah individuals who, in order to continue their parasitic way of life, bark and wag their tails to us so that we throw them some money (bone). These kicked out corrupt people, who do not respect any degree of human rights for the people of Iran, are against democracy and freedom for their homeland.

      Please, I, as the soul of humanity, HEREBY order you to cease/stop assets-freezing [pirating\/bullying/coercing Iran. Anything/any-treaty that the current-illegitimate government in Iran signs and agree to, would be illegal and illegitimate.

      Sincerely,

      Dr. Murray M. Morgan

    2. Alex  12/15/2007 08:35 AM Report

      And what do you think of Obadiah Shoher's arguments against the peace process ( samsonblinded.org/blog/we-need-a-respite-from-peace.htm )?

    3. Leslie Provatas  12/11/2007 04:25 AM Report

      Charlie:

      I just watched the interview with the Coen brothers and actors. It was really interesting. I am currently writing a feature screenplay and I can relate to many things that were said. There were some very funny moments and comments. I love a dog story!

      When are you going to interview Barack??? It's diologue that will save this planet and its people. You are the best at the art of diologue, for me.

      Take care of yourself and don't catch cold.

      Regards,

      Leslie Provatas

    4. sentamu  12/11/2007 12:34 AM Report

      i am left wondering to what extent is the current "regime ideology" noted by shalom Freedman, a product of the president himself than the whole country? that said, is it safe to say that when the current president steps down, we should see a change in both ideology and policy regarding nuclear ambition in iraq change?

    5. Ed  12/10/2007 05:20 AM Report

      Iran is a player and investor in the region and has a right to be included in security issues for that region...From what I have heard Iran is only thought to have been working on nuke weapons and use for power...without firm intel no one should be assuming other wise..many also say their religion has no use for nuclear weapons or is allowed to be used...many have said they helped the US in Afghan. and may have in Iraq if US had not turned their offers down to help..so much seems to be needed in order not to get into another war for no reason...or when it can be avoided....

    6. Shalom Freedman  12/09/2007 01:02 AM Report

      Vali Nasr in urging the U.S. invite Iran to the table wholly ignores the openly declared ideology and intent of the Iranian regime- which is to further its own brand of Islamic regime throughout the world- this includes defeating the Great Satan and leading to the demise of the West. Ahmadinejad is not alone in these aims although he at present is their most forthright spokesman.

      But Nasr is probably right in suggesting the NIE report will make Iran even bolder in their pursuit of nuclear weapons.

      I question strongly the confidence with which the NIE concludes that Iran has halted its weapons-program. Iran is a vast country and they certainly know how to build underground facilities. Do the Intelligence agencies really know what is happening in Iran? Only a short time ago there was revealed a secret nuclear facility in Iraq's ally Syria's territory. North Koreans were working at that site. Why shouldn't they be working with the Iranians on weapons there?

      The NIE report means no US military action against Iran will come during the time of the Bush Administration .

      This means abandoning the US allies in the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia to the possibility of a nuclear Iran. It also means that Israeli military action to stop Iran is far less likely, and would have to take place under almost impossible military and political circumstances.

      The NIE report is good for Iran. That is bad news for the West and for everyone who cares about the freedom and well- being of mankind.

    7. Addition  12/07/2007 05:55 PM Report

      Ali Larijani, and, not Ahmadinejad, recently lectured @ Shariff University , provoking students, about how WEST is against Iran to advance in this area of Nuke.

    8. James Gallaway  12/07/2007 05:34 PM Report

      A very informative segment and very balanced. Sanger and Nasr hit all the right issues. I found Nasr's insights very interesting and quite thought-provoking. it would be good if as he suggests this whole thing turns the tables on Ahmadinejad.

    9. Nevvy Chamberlin  12/06/2007 09:13 PM Report

      "I hold here in my hand a treaty signed by herr hitler, insureing peace in our time. it states in it that we shall have peace in our time. and that our people shall never have war."Neville Chamberlin 9/30/1938 neville Chamberlin Dead on 11/8/1940 "Oh, what men dare do!What men may do!What men daily do,

      not knowing what they do. World War II 1939-1945 Total dead 75 million people. Thank god for George W Bush for saving us form another such catastrophe. even if it is just untill a democrate gets elected in 08 :)

    10. David B.  12/06/2007 05:27 PM Report

      Excellent! (Though the last few minutes seemed cut-off too early.) Mr Nasr makes several insightful remarks.

    11. Marc Peterson  12/06/2007 04:51 PM Report

      It's my impression that this surprise revelation is indicative of a shift in the on-going tug-of-war occurring between many in the intelligence community and hawks in the Bush administration (and elswhere). The eroding influence of the administration's hard-liners has permittid reality to take the upper hand, at least for the moment. But if there's one thing we know about the hawks, it's their persistence...

    12. Carol J  12/06/2007 02:50 PM Report

      Sam Madino try again it is on the home page and I clicked on it. It seems to be running okay.

    13. Lee Virnelson  12/06/2007 10:20 AM Report

      Insightful, I wish Vali Nasr had a spot in the Bush Adm. things would be different.