In the OttawaCitizen, here with a comment from Col. Pat Lang, here
"The Bush Administration is dying, not listening. It does not seem to want anything more from Iran than continued belligerence that may contain an excuse for an "execute" order for existing plans. The Israeli right and its friends in the US continue to urge preventive war against Iran. They urge it every day. As I have written before, people must remember that there are no effective restraints in the US on short term presidential use of air and sea based power. If President Bush orders operations in Iran, the armed forces of the United States will not ask for a legal opinion as to whether or not he has the legal right. They will obey orders and let the lawyers and Congress sort out the niceties of constitutional authority after the fact.
I include the Iranians as "people" in this admonition. In the interest of keeping the peace I offer them the following unsolicited advice:
An excuse should not be provided to the Bush Administration if war is not the desired "end state."
Iran is still transmitting ambiguous messages to the United States. I presume that this is a matter of national pride. This kind of pride can be a deadly thing. Forget pride.
Send messages so unambiguous that your desire to work out a viable relationship with the US can not be distorted into something to be taken "with a grain of salt."
Find international mediators who are not "allies" of the US. Try the UN again. Try the Organization of Islamic Unity. Try Pope Benedict. Try." pl
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