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POPSThe Iran Attack Plan Iran's acknowledgement that it is developing a second uranium-enrichment facility does little to dispel the view that the regime is developing a weapons program. Israel must consider not just whether to proceed with a strike against Iran"but how. By Anthony H. Cordesman
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POPS A Profoundly Dangerous Message
Because never at any time since the revolution has public criticism been as open and as bitter as now. The state television channel as the mouthpiece of the regime is increasingly mocked for its lies. We watched in disbelief as it broadcast cookery shows during the upheaval. Now we view staged confessions by some of the countless individuals rounded up after the election. A colleague quietly left a piece of paper on my desk tallying recent news items on IRIB. Neda Agha Soltan, the young woman shot dead during a street protest, was mentioned three times; Uighur Muslims in China eight times and the killing of an Egyptian-born Muslim woman by a racist in Germany 140 times. Until recently, it was almost unheard of to utter criticism and the name of the Supreme Leader in the same breath. But now, even Ayatollah Ali Khamenei does not escape, and I don't mean just in conversations between trusted friends. My own father, seriously mistrustful of talking about anything . . .
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POPSAhmadinejad or Mousavi? by Daniel Pipes In the words of Abbas Milani, my colleague at the Hoover Institution, "If Ahmadinejad survives, it will be on the back of a Tiananmen-style crackdown. If Mousavi prevails, it will be on a wave of reformist sentiment." While that reformist sentiment may not shake the regime and is unlikely to stop the nuclear weapons program, it does hold out hope for substantial change. Accordingly, I no longer want Ahmadinejad to serve as president for a second term but prefer Mousavi in that position. Better yet, of course, would be for neither of them to hold power but for the entire fetid Islamic Republic of Iran to collapse. While confident that process is underway. I have no idea if it is weeks or decades ahead. Whatever it requires, Mousavi as president hastens the process. (June 20, 2009) Daniel Pipes Blog http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2009/06/ahmadinejad-or-mousavi.html
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POPSJohn Bolton on Iran Bolten is echoing my sentiments. I agree that an attack on Iran is insane. I have found it very disheartening that the Bush administration has blown a prime opportunity to force Iran's hand. Three years ago Iran was primed for economic collapse and the Iranian people were on our side. It seems to me an opportunity has been wasted.
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POPSAhmadinejad: Israel Is Doomed Ahmadinejad used an Arabic word, ismihlal, that can also be translated as destruction, death and collapse. "Nations of the region hate this criminal fabricated regime (Israel) and will uproot this fabricated regime if the smallest and shortest opportunity is given to them," Ahmadinejad said Wednesday in an address broadcast live on state television. He spoke hours after President Bush arrived in Israel for the anniversary celebrations.
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