America news vs. Russia news

[Good Doctor HST]

Story #1

Bush Says Diplomacy With Iran Is Best

By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration on Wednesday reaffirmed its commitment to diplomacy as the best way to stop Iran (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/ap/ap_on_re_mi_ea/bush_sharon/14869617/*http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&p=%22Iran%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw) from developing a nuclear weapon while Israel's leader ruled out a military strike to destroy Tehran's nuclear program.

http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20050413/thumb.jrl80404131402.mideast_israel_us_jrl804.jpg (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050413/481/jrl80404131402)
AP Photo (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050413/481/jrl80404131402)
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050419/t/r3536912311.jpg (javascript: rs()
Reuters (javascript: rs()


The White House also sought to play down differences with Israel over the urgency of the threat.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/ap/ap_on_re_mi_ea/bush_sharon/14869617/*http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&p=%22Ariel%20Sharon%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw) contended Iran was years away from possessing a nuclear weapon, but only months short of overcoming "technical problems" in building one.

"Once they will solve it, that will be the point of no return," Sharon told CNN two days after his meeting with President Bush (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/ap/ap_on_re_mi_ea/bush_sharon/14869617/*http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&p=%22President%20Bush%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw) and Vice President Dick Cheney (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/ap/ap_on_re_mi_ea/bush_sharon/14869617/*http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&p=%22Dick%20Cheney%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw) at Bush's Texas ranch.

That is a darker assessment of Iran's capabilities than U.S. officials have offered publicly. In addition, White House press secretary Scott McClellan gave no indication Wednesday that Bush was swayed by a presentation at the ranch from Sharon and his chief military adviser, who brought Israeli intelligence documents on Iran's nuclear reactor program.

Iran insists its nuclear program is strictly designed to produce only electrical power.

The Israelis argued that Iran is nearing a "point of no return" in developing a weapon that could be used against its declared enemy Israel, U.S. and Israeli officials said after the meeting.

Sharon, asked in the television interview if he has ruled out a unilateral military strike against Iran, said: "We don't think that's what we have to do. ... It's not that we are planning any military attack on Iran." He said Israel did not need to take a leading role in attempts to deny nuclear weapons to Iran and called again for an international coalition to deal with the issue.

Sharon had pressed the president to threaten Tehran with penalties, an approach Bush favored until recently.

As part of Bush's second-term effort to repair ties with European allies, the White House agreed last month to support arms control negotiations that three European countries have begun with Iran. Those talks have not moved quickly, and Sharon argued that European negotiators may be softening their stance.

"We want to see this resolved through the diplomatic efforts of the Europeans. We want to see it resolved in a peaceful way," McClellan told reporters on Wednesday.

At the State Department, spokesman Richard Boucher noted that U.S. intelligence agencies, in assessing Iran's nuclear program, have used "an estimate that said that Iran was not likely to acquire a nuclear weapon before the beginning of the next decade. That remains the case."

He added, "We certainly understand Israel — other governments — are concerned about nuclear developments in Iran, and we talk to many governments about it."

The latest U.S. assessment on Iran's nuclear program was laid out in March by the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

"Unless constrained by a nuclear nonproliferation agreement, Tehran probably will have the ability to produce nuclear weapons early in the next decade," Vice Adm. Lowell Jacoby told the Senate Armed Services Committee (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/ap/ap_on_re_mi_ea/bush_sharon/14869617/*http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&p=%22Senate%20Armed%20Services%20Committee%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw).

Jacoby told senators that Iran is probably "continuing nuclear weapon-related endeavors in an effort to become the dominant regional power and deter what it perceives as the potential for U.S. or Israeli attacks."

Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/ap/ap_on_re_mi_ea/bush_sharon/14869617/*http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&p=%22Condoleezza%20Rice%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw) have said the United States has no intention of attacking Iran, but have refused to take the option entirely off the table.

Cheney has raised the possibility that Israel might make the first military move if it became convinced that Iran had significant nuclear capability. "Given the fact that Iran has a stated policy that their objective is the destruction of Israel, the Israelis might well decide to act first, and let the rest of the world worry about cleaning up the diplomatic mess afterward," Cheney said in a January interview with MSNBC.

[Good Doctor HST]

And now, what the Russian papers say:

Story #2... From Pravda.com

USA plans to expand military presence in Azerbaijan to strike Iran

04/13/2005 13:07

The Pentagon wishes Russia shows no protest against the US military presence in Asian republics of the former USSR

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited Azerbaijan (an Asian republic of the former USSR) on Tuesday, April 12th. It became Rumsfeld's second visit to the republic in four months - that is why it can hardly be treated as a formal visit of no particular importance.http://english.pravda.ru/img/2005/04/usarmy.jpg

One may probably distinguish two major reasons, which make the US administration develop active cooperation with the regime of the incumbent Azeri President, Ilkham Aliyev. It is worth mentioning, though, that Mr. Aliyev does not match the "democratic standards" of the US Department of State. The first reason includes the transportation of the Caspian oil and the security of the Baku-Tbilisi- Ceyhan oil pipeline, which is directly connected with Mr. Rumsfeld's department. Secondly, the USA is interested in establishing mobile army bases on the territory of Azerbaijan, which is stipulated in the plan to re-deploy US troops in Europe and Asia.

As for the oil pipeline is concerned, there has been a certain plan elaborated for the implementation of security measures. The USA is ready to assign not less than $100 million during the coming ten years for the development of the so-called Caspian Guard (founded in the autumn of 2003). Guaranteeing security to the pipeline, which is currently undergoing the construction process, will be the prime goal of the Caspian Guard.

According to Wall Street Journal, the Caspian Guard will represent a network of police detachments and special military units in the Caspian region. These troops will be capable of showing efficient reaction to states of emergency, including attacks against oil objects. The European command of the Defense Department in Stuttgart, Germany, coordinates the efforts of various departments and provides the training for military men to defend the new pipeline. The pipeline system will enable the transportation of oil from the Caspian Sea via the Caucasus to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. The system is said to be put into operation during the current year. The radar-equipped command center in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, will also be included in the Caspian Guard. The center will give the Azeri government an opportunity to monitor sea traffic in oil areas of the Caspian Sea. The Guard will also assist in the struggle against the smuggling of arms and drugs, Colonel Mike Anderson, the European Division Chief of the Plans and Policy Directorate said.

Judging upon the views of the Azeri government, the second point of Rumsfeld's program in Azerbaijan (about the deployment of mobile army bases) will apparently lead to no problems either. According to the Echo newspaper (Baku), Donald Rumsfeld will coordinate certain dates for such mobile groups to appear in Azerbaijan. Rumsfeld will settle the time issue with the president and the defense minister of Azerbaijan. Azeri experts believe that the question will be solved within several weeks. It is noteworthy that spokespeople for the US Department of Defense say that the Pentagon apparently wishes to use only runways and sea ports, at which small groups of US military men will guard ammunition depots.

A lot of experts in Azerbaijan estimate the cooperation between Baku and Washington against the background of intense relations between the USA and Iran. The US government has supposedly been trying to talk the government of Azerbaijan into close cooperation on the matter. The USA is interested is airbases, from which it would be good to strike targets in Iran. Azerbaijan does not have anything against such cooperation: it is afraid of the Iranian ambition, especially when it comes to resources of the Caspian Sea.

All events, which happen in the Caspian region, touch upon Russia's interests directly. One has to acknowledge, though, that Moscow's position regarding the expanding military cooperation between the USA and Azerbaijan remains indistinct. On the one hand, Russia has always been against the US military presence in the Caucasus. On the other hand, such objections were generally made about Georgia. At any rate, Russia is not showing any vestiges of active resistance. Probably, there is nothing fatal about it. However, if Russia were tougher as far as the protection of its interests is concerned, US European Commande deputy commander Charles Wald would not release such statements, which he made at the end of February. Wald said that the Pentagon wished Russia did not protest against the US military presence in Azerbaijan and Georgia.

[danceyogamom]

I am always amazed at the difference in news when you look outside your own "four walls"

In the long run, it all seems like propaganda of some form.

[Gold9472]

I thought this was hysterical...

Rice Calls on Moscow for 'More Democracy'
By Mirza Cetinkaya

Published: Thursday 21, 2005
zaman.com

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on an official visit to Russian capital Moscow has called on the Kremlin administration to "reinforce democracy".
Rice met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday, April 20 and spoke about the Russian administration to the media. Before the Putin meeting, the US Secretary spoke to liberal Ekho Moskovy radio and said Russia should not hesitate to continue its democratic development. Russia is a stable country with improving democratic institutions she added. According to Rice, these sorts of developments should not be perceived as a revolution and gave assurances that the US is not trying to obstruct Russia's influence over former Soviet republics.

Moscow rebuffs U.S. sermon on democracy

Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW: Moscow has rebuffed Washington's attempts to preach Russia on democracy, foreign policy and nuclear security.

The visiting U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, was told in Moscow that Russia was just as concerned about democracy in the U.S. as Washington was concerned about democracy in Russia.

"Just as the U.S. wants to see a strong and democratic Russia, we want to see a strong and democratic U.S. that acts in the international arena jointly with other states and with respect for international law," said the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, after talks with Dr. Rice. He was commenting on Dr. Rice's interview to a Russian radio where she said U.S.-Russian relations would be better if Russia had more democracy.