[Powerbook]

Hmm... Doesn't sound too unreasonable to me:
CNN.com - Ex-Iranian leader blames Bush policies for�terrorism - Sep 4, 2006


Ex-Iranian leader blames Bush policies for terrorism
POSTED: 9:41 p.m. EDT, September 4, 2006

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- U.S. foreign policy is furthering terrorism in the Muslim world, and negotiations are the only way to resolve the impasse over Iran's nuclear ambitions, former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami told CNN while on a two-week visit to the United States.

The reformist leader is widely viewed as moderate compared with new President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. As president, Khatami favored stronger U.S. ties.

In an interview Sunday with CNN, Khatami said American policies have "only increased, and will only increase, extremism in our region." (Watch Khatami tie Bush's policies in the Mideast to a rise in terrorism -- 2:39)

In the interview, he also broke with his hard-line successor by saying he does not call for Israel's destruction.

But he defended Iran's support for Hezbollah, calling the Lebanon-based militant group a resistance organization. And though Hezbollah used Iranian weapons in its recent war with Israel, Khatami denied that Iran contributes to violence in the Middle East.

Asked what he would tell President Bush if he could speak with him, Khatami replied: "I would tell him that the United States, with all of its might and resources, can, side by side with the good people of the Middle East, bring about a new experience and the creation of democracy and the advancement of democracy, even though the way to democracy may have been slow originating in the Mideast. With a change of the language going from threats to ... mutual understanding, the United States can have a better position in the region.

"And, quite frankly, I would tell him that the policies that the United States has chosen unfortunately have brought about the wrong sentiment toward the United States and has only increased, and will only increase, extremism in our region."

He argued that the U.S. invasion of Iraq has increased hatred for the United States in the Mideast, leading more young people to join terrorist groups.

The United States has no diplomatic relations with Iran, which Bush branded as part of the "axis of evil" in his 2002 State of the Union address, along with North Korea and Iraq, then led by Saddam Hussein.
Denies Iran wants nuclear weapons

Though no longer in the Tehran government, the former president is the highest-ranking Iranian to visit the United States since the 1979 revolution, which brought the Islamic regime to power.

Khatami has not been invited to meet with any U.S. officials but is speaking at private engagements. He is scheduled to take part in a conference of the Alliance of Civilizations at the United Nations in New York, and he has been invited to speak at the National Cathedral in Washington.

His trip comes amid a stalemate over Iran's nuclear ambitions. Tehran last week refused a U.N. deadline to stop uranium enrichment despite a threat of possible sanctions. (Full story)

Khatami stood by his government's contention that Iran is not trying to build a nuclear weapon. U.S. and European leaders argue Tehran is trying to use a nuclear energy program as a guise to build an atomic weapon.

"It has never been the policy or the mind-set of any branch of the Iranian government to pursue atomic weapons, which can be the source of vast numerous killings in the world," Khatami said.

He admitted that Iranians "are definitely worried" that the United States could lead an attack against their country and "hopeful that such a thing would not take place."

The Bush administration has said the military option cannot be taken off the table.

"Quite frankly, I think the United States has caused itself enough problems in Iraq," Khatami added.

Iran has called for further talks on the issue, but John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Monday that Tehran will get nowhere in negotiations until it meets the U.N. demand.

"They don't want to talk about the fundamental precondition established by the Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and that is they must suspend their uranium enrichment activity," Bolton said.

Part of the concern over Iran's nuclear ambitions stems from Ahmadinejad's calls for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

"I personally never said that Israel should be wiped off the map," Khatami told CNN. "I always said and backed fair and equal peace in the region."

He declined to call for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, instead saying, "People there have to decide."
Objections to Khatami's trip to U.S.

Some have raised objections to the former Iranian leader's visit to the United States.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Jewish human rights group based in Los Angeles, California, fought the U.S. decision to grant Khatami a visa. The center said more than 14,000 people had signed its online petition before Khatami's arrival last week.

The group cited Khatami's past remarks calling Israel "a parasite in the heart of the Muslim world" and comparing Bush to Osama bin Laden.

Asked about drawing that comparison, Khatami told CNN, "I said those who bring about violence have a lot in common," and condemned leaders "who think of themselves as superior."

Terrorism and war "have one origin, one spark, one frame of mind, and we have to keep ourselves away from this," he said.

Khatami, in the CNN interview, also called on Muslim world leaders to show "the true face of the Islamic faith," which he said stands for "peace and equality."

[Sky Captain]

What about terrorism during Carter's term? During Clinton's?
Is that Bush's fault also?

What an idiot.

[Sayf-Allah]

Originally Posted by Sky Captain

What about terrorism during Carter's term? During Clinton's?
Is that Bush's fault also?

What an idiot.

From the OP:

"Khatami said American policies have "only increased, and will only increase, extremism in our region." "

Try to read more than the headline next time please.

[badidea]

Originally Posted by Sayf-Allah

Try to read more than the headline next time please.

Couldn't have said it better!

[Sky Captain]

Originally Posted by Sayf-Allah

From the OP:

"Khatami said American policies have "only increased, and will only increase, extremism in our region." "

Try to read more than the headline next time please.

Ex-Iranian leader blames Bush policies for terrorism
POSTED: 9:41 p.m. EDT, September 4, 2006

I did.

[Sky Captain]

Originally Posted by badidea

Couldn't have said it better!

Ex-Iranian leader blames Bush policies for terrorism
POSTED: 9:41 p.m. EDT, September 4, 2006

And one for you also.


And a second rolleyes for not reading.

I'll be here all day folks.(I have the FLU, can't fly.)

[Big Mac]

I'm surprised the Ayatollahs haven't silenced him for his comparative moderation.

[Sayf-Allah]

Originally Posted by Sky Captain

Ex-Iranian leader blames Bush policies for terrorism
POSTED: 9:41 p.m. EDT, September 4, 2006

I did.

So now you quote the headline to back up your statement?

[badidea]

Originally Posted by Sky Captain

Ex-Iranian leader blames Bush policies for terrorism
POSTED: 9:41 p.m. EDT, September 4, 2006

And one for you also.


And a second rolleyes for not reading.

I'll be here all day folks.(I have the FLU, can't fly.)

What do you mean?
You also read "POSTED: 9:41 p.m. EDT, September 4, 2006"???

[Sky Captain]

Ex-Iranian leader blames Bush policies for terrorism

And it's from the copy-paste from Powerbook's post.
Look carefully.

If that's all you have to do is critisize my post, find a new hobby.



There's 3 rolleyes.

[Sayf-Allah]

Nothing more to say really!

[badidea]

Originally Posted by Sky Captain

And it's from the copy-paste from Powerbook's post.
Look carefully.

If that's all you have to do is critisize my post, find a new hobby.



There's 3 rolleyes.

So I assume that the idiot is the CNN journalist, right?

Because all you quoted were (or was?) his words!



edit: I still cannot find your quote anywhere else than in the headline!!

[Sky Captain]

Read my signature.

[Powerbook]

Originally Posted by Sky Captain

What about terrorism during Carter's term? During Clinton's?
Is that Bush's fault also?

WTF cares??? Like to bring in Abraham Lincoln also? Khatami's observation were the same like anybody else's who looks into the current situtation in Iraq. Terrorism and blod-shed is on the rise there, by some 1000%. Which are a direct following of the Bush Administration's naive and inadequate post-war planning ("Dancing in the streets", "Bring it on" "Mission accomplished", anyone?)
What has to be discussed here?

[ebuddy]

Terrorism has increased US foreign policy.

[Doofy]

So what about all the terrorism in the ME in the 7th century? Is that due to American foreign policy?

[Millennium]

Blaming anyone but the direct perpetrators of terrorism for their acts is both misguided and harmful, because it creates an environment where the deliberate targeting of innocents can be seen as acceptable. The fact remains that terrorists could easily choose not to target noncombatants, and this fact makes them solely responsible, and their victims utterly blameless.

We already understand this for many other crimes. For example, most people would be horrified at the idea of blaming a victim of rape. Many would see no sense in blaming a victim of robbery or murder. Why, then, is it acceptable to blame the victims of terrorism?

[Sayf-Allah]

Originally Posted by Millennium

Blaming anyone but the direct perpetrators of terrorism for their acts is both misguided and harmful, because it creates an environment where the deliberate targeting of innocents can be seen as acceptable. The fact remains that terrorists could easily choose not to target noncombatants, and this fact makes them solely responsible, and their victims utterly blameless.

We already understand this for many other crimes. For example, most people would be horrified at the idea of blaming a victim of rape. Many would see no sense in blaming a victim of robbery or murder. Why, then, is it acceptable to blame the victims of terrorism?

No one is blaming the victims for anything. People are pointing out the only way to stop terrorism. And that is to understand why there is any terrorism at all.

And the US administrations throughout history have failed to do that.

[ebuddy]

Originally Posted by Sayf-Allah

No one is blaming the victims for anything. People are pointing out the only way to stop terrorism. And that is to understand why there is any terrorism at all.

And the US administrations throughout history have failed to do that.

Who then has it right? Anybody? Economic sanctions do not work. Peace talks do not work. UN resolutions do not work. Cease fires only work temporarily. "Understanding terrorism" means absolutely nothing and Inaction doesn't work.

What does?

[Spliffdaddy]

bombs have an excellent track record.

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by Sayf-Allah

People are pointing out the only way to stop terrorism. And that is to understand why there is any terrorism at all. And the US administrations throughout history have failed to do that.

Here are the top reasons why Islamic terror exists:

1. The world isn't currently oppressed by Islamic hegemony;
2. The Islamists are resentful of the vast power imbalance enjoyed by the West;
3. The Islamists cannot win by fighting like men in conventional wars, so they resort to cowardly and barbaric acts of terrorism while shielding themselves in civilian areas, so that just reprisals against them are often wrongly condemned;
4. The civilized world has failed to unite to unequivocally denounce and adequately punish acts of Islamic terrorism.

"Hostilities will continue until everyone believes in Allah." -Al Qaida Charter

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Big Mac

"Hostilities will continue until everyone believes in Allah." -Al Qaida Charter

...Or until nobody follows allah*.

(* That's "allah", the Arabian moon god. Or Ba'al. Or Hadad. Or Zeus. Or Satan. Whatever you want to call him)

[Spliffdaddy]

I think the world should convert to Methodist.

That way we can all meet and bring food.

I swear, my mom is always taking food to church.

Somebody died??? OK, who's gonna bring the chicken salad?

[Taliesin]

I think this is the main reason for the existence of islamistic terrorism:

The US' support, training, financing, educating/indoctrinating and equipping of hundreds of thousand young muslims from all over the islamic world for the purpose of defeating the Soviet-Union in Afghanistan and also for the purpose of keeping out communists from the rest of the middle-east. Pakistan and Saudi-Arabia were allied with the US in that Carter/Reagan-project.

This point and fact alone and its effects cannot be overestimated.

Basically what the US hand in hand with Saudi-Arabia did was taking an islamistic ideology and movement that started during european colonialism of the islamic world, but that was nearly dead during the sixties of last century, without direction... losing big time against the secular arabic regimes, and refreshing/reanimating it with new propaganda, money, school-textbooks and a new unifying enemy, namely the atheistic Soviet-empire. The US and Saudi-Arabia called the islamic world to gather in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where those following the call were trained in guerillia-warfare and terrorism in order to fight a jihad against the Soviet-Union, and on top of that the US developed, printed and delivered millions of text-schoolbooks, in which an ideology centered around warfare and martyrdom was expressed in easy to understand lectures, to Pakistan and Afghanistan's schools.

The US painted the picture of an atheistic Soviet-empire trying to infiltrate and transform the islamic world, without realizing that someday that same picture can be applied on the US. Naivity at its best.

Not only did this US-intervention give legitimacy to the islamistic movement, a new unifiying enemy and direction, not only training in guerillia-warfare and terrorism, not only setting an example for using Afghanistan's opium-fields and charities for raising money to fund the jihad, but also providing a success-story, that it is possible for guerillia-forces to defeat a mighty empire.

Taliesin

[yakkiebah]

Don't forget the Zionist Taliesin. They control the white house, remember? And therefore are ultimately to blame.

[ebuddy]

Originally Posted by Spliffdaddy

I think the world should convert to Methodist.

That way we can all meet and bring food.

I swear, my mom is always taking food to church.

Somebody died??? OK, who's gonna bring the chicken salad?

You have this knack for coming in out of nowhere to put me on the floor! I'm dyin' over here!