Americans, Europeans appear to drift apart on what to do about Iran

[UpInArms]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/09/14/international1630EDT0669.DTL

A U.S.-European rift surfaced Tuesday over how harshly to deal with Iran and its suspect nuclear program, with the Europeans ignoring American suggestions and circulating their own recommendations to other delegates at a key meeting of the U.N. atomic agency.

Diplomats at a board of governors meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency had suggested earlier that the United States and the European Union were making progress in drafting common language for a resolution that would set a deadline for Iran to meet demands designed to dispel fears it was trying to make nuclear arms.

But the latest draft, obtained by The Associated Press and being circulated informally Tuesday for reaction from other delegations, was nearly exactly the one that France, Britain and Germany came up with Friday -- a text that U.S. officials had said would be unacceptable.

The American suggestions also were made available to the AP. They demand Iran grant agency inspectors "complete, immediate and unrestricted access;" provide "full information" about past illegal nuclear activities; suspend "immediately and fully" uranium enrichment and related activities; and meet all agency demands to "resolve all outstanding issues" nurturing suspicions of a possible weapons program.

<snip>

"Not everybody is happy but not everybody is going to be happy" with the U.S. insistence on a harsh line on Iran, he told the AP. "I think things are moving in our direction."

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Oh my. Didn't we already hear this lousy tune? They just don't seem to know anything else - one trick ponies are just disgusting.

[pinto]

1. this dance highlights the danger of the Bush unilateralist doctrine. n/t

[2Design]

2. and will the usa allow inspections into the usa for WMD

[RoyGBiv]

3. I got an idea...

How about we leave them the fuck alone?

It's tragically ironic. A little over three years ago, I read a series of articles on Iran in a sociological journal. These weren't far-fetched "rose coloured glasses" articles in that they did not ignore or gloss over the problems presented by the nation. However, the conclusion reached by most of the authors was the Iran had entered a progressive stage in its culture, pushed largely by Iranian youth who were tired of the strictly fundamentalist regimes and attracted to various aspects of Western culture. The basic summary was that the more quiet approach of opening business and cultural doors between Iran and the rest of the world was working far better than the threats and dirty tactics of previous years. Iran was opening up.

And then there was Shrub. I'd like to see the same scholars do another series on the same topic, to see have far in reverse things have gone.

[sweetheart]

4. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me

The europeans have learned that americans lie, scream and bitch to
get things their way (read: WAR). Now, nobody's listening.

Hey chicken little bush, nobody believes the sky is falling, they
have WMD's, they are terrorists.. Bollocks! lies. Go home and learn
that civil society is based on truth, and your bush war diplomacy
will go nowhere until you ditch the bastard, or make war on your own
dollar (cleaning up on your own dollar).

Indeed it is rich to hear bush calling for international cooperation
regarding his mess in iraq and afganistan.... the world is waiting
for ameircan to put down their own asshole... no cooperation until then.