[R-G] 'No green light' for Iran attack

[Suzanne de Kuyper]

On Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 7:36 PM, Sid Shniad <shniad at sfu.ca> wrote:

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> http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/8139655.stm
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> BBC News 8 July 2009
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> 'No green light' for Iran attack
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> The US has "absolutely not" given Israel a green light to attack Iran over
> its nuclear programme, President Barack Obama has said.
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> His remarks followed weekend comments by Vice-President Joe Biden that the
> US would not stand in the way of Israel 's response to Iran 's nuclear
> ambitions.
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> Meanwhile, US military chief Adm Mike Mullen said Washington should keep
> military options on the table.
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> But he said he hoped dialogue with Tehran would prove productive.
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> Clarification
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> Speaking to CNN while on a visit to Russia , President Obama said the US
> would to try to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue "in a peaceful way through
> diplomatic channels."
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> Vice-President Joe Biden had said in an interview with ABC TV on Sunday
> that " Israel can determine for itself... what's in their interest and what
> they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else".
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> Asked whether the comment meant that Washington had given Israel the
> go-ahead for an attack, Mr Obama said: "Absolutely not."
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> “ I worry a great deal about the response of a country that gets struck. It
> is a really important place to not go, if we can not go there in any way,
> shape or form ”
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> Adm Mike Mullen Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
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> However, he did defend his deputy, who was accused of being gaffe-prone by
> rivals during the 2008 presidential election campaign.
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> "I think Vice-President Biden stated a categorical fact which is we can't
> dictate to other countries what their security interests are," Mr Obama
> added.
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> He added that the US also reserved the right to take "whatever actions"
> were necessary to protect itself, without elaborating what those were.
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> At an event in Washington Adm Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs
> of Staff, echoed the president's comments.
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> "There is a great deal that certainly depends on the dialogue and the
> engagement, and I think we need to do that with all options remaining on the
> table, including certainly military options," he said.
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> The US military chief said Tehran could have an atomic bomb within one to
> three years, which "would be potentially very destabilising" to the Middle
> East .
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> But he said the potential consequences of an attack on Iran were of great
> concern and weighed heavily against launching any strike.
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> "I worry a great deal about the response of a country that gets struck."
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