U.S. aims to "unite the world" against Iran
U.S. officials uncovered a plot to bomb the Saudi Ambassador to the United States allegedly launched by a special operations unit inside the Iranian military.
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration was taking its case against Iran to the world Wednesday, trying to stir up an international response to charges that the Islamic republic plotted to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the U.S.
"It's critically important that we unite the world in the isolation of and dealing with the Iranians," Vice President Joe Biden said on "The Early Show" Wednesday. "That's the surest way to be able to get results."
Mr. Obama's top national security aides have said the administration will lobby for the imposition of new international sanctions as well as for individual nations to expand their own penalties against Iran.
The State Department sent a cable to all American embassies and consulates around the world telling them to put the Iran case before their host governments. The officials said the cable, sent late Tuesday by Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and classified secret, tells them to detail the evidence against Iran as presented by federal prosecutors.
Clinton: Iranian plot "dangerous escalation"
Iran rejects U.S. plot claim as "childish"
Read the criminal complaint (PDF)
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the classified cable, said the document instructs diplomats to ask nations to consider appropriate steps in response to the alleged scheme. The cable does not suggest any specific measures against Iran, the officials said.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice is to individually brief members of the U.N. Security Council on the foiled plot Wednesday, the officials said.
Biden said that U.S. action against Iran could go beyond sanctions, but added that "we're not going there yet."
Biden said the Iranians "have not only decided to assassinate someone, they have taken on the basis in which ... nations deal with one another." However, he refused to speculate on whether the alleged plot was undertaken at the behest of the upper reaches of Iran's government
U.S. issues terror alert after foiled Iran plot
The Quds: Iran's shadowy terrorist trainers
In other broadcast interviews Wednesday, Biden called the purported plot "really over the top."
Other top administration officials expressed similar sentiments.
In comments Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the plot signaled a "dangerous escalation" of Iran's support for terrorism.
In an Associated Press interview Tuesday, Clinton said "this really, in the minds of many diplomats and government officials, crosses a line that Iran needs to be held to account for."
She said she and President Barack Obama want to "enlist more countries in working together against what is becoming a clearer and clearer threat" from Iran.
"The U.S. began to brief individual members of the Security Council on Tuesday about the Iranian plot, diplomats on the council said, anticipating support for a council meeting and a new round of tougher sanctions on Iran," said CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst Pamela Falk, from the U.N.
"Although China initially opposed a new round of sanctions on Iran, they have formed a closer trade relationship with Saudi Arabia in recent years and if they are forced to chose between their dislike for sanctions and their relationship with the Saudis, their support for a resolution might be in play," Falk reports.
Britain's government said Wednesday it was consulting with the U.S. and others over new international sanctions against Iran. "We would support any measures that help hold Iran accountable for its actions," said Steve Field, spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Clinton and other U.S. officials said the alleged plot is a gross violation of international law and further proof that Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, a label Washington has for decades applied to the Iranian government. The officials said it also underscores concerns that despite its denials Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian atomic energy program.
"The idea that they would attempt to go to a Mexican drug cartel to solicit murder-for-hire to kill the Saudi ambassador? Nobody could make that up, right?" Clinton said shortly after U.S. prosecutors accused two suspected Iranian agents of trying to murder Saudi envoy Adel Al-Jubeir. The purported plan was to carry out the assassination with a bomb attack while Al-Jubeir dined at his favorite restaurant.
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There was some talk yesterday about minor changes being made to the DOJ's method of character development used throughout the story, but rumors like this are often common! If the story's publisher would loosen up their strict requirement that facts remain at least 'seemingly realistic' in this genre, there would be fewer obstacles for upwardly moving authors getting their work to market.
The only thing I didn't like about this story was the 'virtual reality' cyber-themed environment used for the reading. Why use the stage in an augmented reality gaming-like environment for a story that should stand on its own without props? The marketing guys at the publisher obviously ended up with more budget than they needed this year! Besides, this type of story is best left on the pages. The idea of the US government training a violent foreign group at Fort Benning for counter-drug operations that later goes rogue by forming their own cartel and involving themselves in insurgency is a little too hard to swallow on its own. It starts to become absurd when the authors ask us to suspend judgement during the part when they supplied all of the automatic weapons to them later. And at such an affordable price! The surreal 'carnival-in-hell' atmosphere pushes it over the edge as we're told about the involvement of Iran. Totally non-sequiter lead into synchronicity postmodern yellow brick road. Who knew, a genre hopping horror that tosses boundaries to the wind! Makes me want to whistle that Scorpions song they had on repeat as the Berlin wall came down.
The authors initially included a rich plot development where cartel murders using the US supplied weapons were blamed on border town Southerners for justification while seizing of the us citizenry's weapons. In the end they decided instead to meet the UN small arms treaty requirements created by Hillary Clinton using a more challenging narrative. I won't ruin the plot for you, but it does include the excitement of war! Is war just a book-selling gimmick? Answer in our web poll. I think that it adds to the story, but somehow just doesn't fit. My favorite part is how the President in the story insists on going to war with Iran because of some kind of deal supposedly done between Iran and the US trained Los Zetas Cartel. Love it! Then they find out it wasn't a Mexican with the plan, but an Iranian! Could it get any more ZaNy? The absurdity of a president that gets caught supplying weapons to terrorists in Mexico who have murdered countless innocent people making accusations like this is just too much! Who expected such a lampoon!
Meanwhile after the reading - While fans may have heard that quilting is more the hobby of his affection, what's being characterized as the $1.5m "murder-story-for-hire" plan has Holder looking at doing more work with the US trained zeta creative writing cartel in the future. 'These guys have writing talent that spans the entire spectrum! FU Harry Potter!' says Holder in a furious fascion.
There was some talk yesterday about minor changes being made to the DOJ's method of character development used throughout the story, but rumors like this are often common! If the story's publisher would loosen up their strict requirement that facts remain at least 'seemingly realistic' in this genre, there would be fewer obstacles for upwardly moving authors getting their work to market.
The only thing I didn't like about this story was the 'virtual reality' cyber-themed environment used for the reading. Why use the stage in an augmented reality gaming-like environment for a story that should stand on its own without props? The marketing guys at the publisher obviously ended up with more budget than they needed this year! Besides, this type of story is best left on the pages. The idea of the US government training a violent foreign group at Fort Benning for counter-drug operations that later goes rogue by forming their own cartel and involving themselves in insurgency is a little too hard to swallow on its own. It starts to become absurd when the authors ask us to suspend judgement during the part when they supplied all of the automatic weapons to them later. And at such an affordable price! The surreal 'carnival-in-hell' atmosphere pushes it over the edge as we're told about the involvement of Iran. Totally non-sequiter lead into synchronicity postmodern yellow brick road. Who knew, a genre hopping horror that tosses boundaries to the wind! Makes me want to whistle that Scorpions song they had on repeat as the Berlin wall came down.
The authors initially included a rich plot development where cartel murders using the US supplied weapons were blamed on border town Southerners for justification while seizing of the us citizenry's weapons. In the end they decided instead to meet the UN small arms treaty requirements created by Hillary Clinton using a more challenging narrative. I won't ruin the plot for you, but it does include the excitement of war! Is war just a book-selling gimmick? Answer in our web poll. I think that it adds to the story, but somehow just doesn't fit. My favorite part is how the President in the story insists on going to war with Iran because of some kind of deal supposedly done between Iran and the US trained Los Zetas Cartel. Love it! The absurdity of a president that gets caught supplying weapons to terrorists in Mexico who have murdered countless innocent people making accusations like this is just too much! Who expected such a lampoon!
Meanwhile after the reading - While fans may have heard that quilting is more the hobby of his affection, what's being characterized as the $1.5m "murder-story-for-hire" plan has Holder looking at doing more work with the US trained zeta creative writing cartel in the future. 'These guys have writing talent that spans the entire spectrum! FU Harry Potter!' says Holder in a furious fascion.
Reminds me too much of the Gulf of Tonkin incident (where, we now know, we manufactured an incident to go to war with North Vietnam) and the, now we know as completely BS, proof of Weapons of Mass Destruction, which Secretary of State Powell presented (with a straight face)to the UN (to go to war with Iraq).
Jeez, are we now presenting a Keystone Kops plot as a prelude to declaring war against Iran?
It is clear that the Policy of the United States isn't policy but agenda. No reason or evidence required if they have decided to bomb the crap out of you it is just your turn.
As far as the mental midgets at the DEA and the FBI are concerned Both of these agencies if they were people would have a rap sheet a mile long. Why on this green Earth would I trust a word they say. This crap about tying This moron to the Iranian government, or working on the behest of is bull shat. The Iranians are not the antagonists here it is the US. How many more times are we going to find out after the fact who is doing whom. Setting up dufus's is easy. How much longer are we going to let the spooks and the kook's destroy the world for fun and profit. The merging of the CIA and the military was a real smart thing to do to. You know who will be doing whom in that relationship. The Iranians would never attack the United States. Not even with a Nuclear weapon. Bet on it. Not having Nuclear weapons is the only thing that is keeping them from being attacked by Israel and the United States. The Iranians aren't the idiots here. The last thing the Iranians want is to get a Nuclear weapon. It would unleash hell on them, and they aren't suicidal. Their policy is and has been for a Nuclear weapons free middle east. Israel isn't going to give up it's nukes and they are just looking for an excuse to use them. Isreal treats everyone as though they arejust like them. No lie too big or dirty deed to small. Victory through deception. That's what comes from thinking your something special. Really special alright. They have been a cancer on the butt of the world in the Middle East since the well before they became a Country. By the use of terrorism by the way. They haven't lost their touch either. Now that I have said that I'll probably get a visit from mossad in the middle of the night.
I don't think this assignation crap is going to stick. Americans aren't completely stupid. A little slow and dim, but not completely goofy. Assassination is a part of our new foreign and domestic policy. It's a twofer. You can get snuffed anytime and anywhere any president decides he doesn't like your haircut or he can make some political hay or create a diversion by just snuffing someone who irritates the crap out of him, or is handy.
However we all know how Saddam ran Iraq.
Now we also know how Iran is run, at the point of a gun, and the quran to supress democratic voices.
We in America have to feel some responsiblity for what is happening in Iran.
Our CIA, in all their wisdom decided to attack the democraticlly elected leader of Iran, and install a King (friendly towards the US and europe) called the Shah of Iran.
It was over the OIL issue....60 years ago....Shell Oil in Iran was about to be nationalized for the wealth of the people. There are some Christian elements from Texas who didn't or don't want their Islamic people to prosper.
That was before the terror leaders they have today.
Today, many of their own people want and thirst for freedom.
Many their know that government run by religion is not government at all.
Among them is the military, who really runs things in Iran...and are feared even by high officials.
So that's what we should strike. The Iranian military. Guess what?
The Iranian navy wants to harass the east and west coast of the USA.
I say, let them try. They might sink after being struck by whales or something.
PEACE OUT...ptv
Get ready for another war! Whether we can afford it or not. The Iranians and other countries whose leaders despise America know they can't beat us on the field of war so, they will break us at the bank.
American politicians need to realize that it is time to regroup and find some better approach to dealing with these people or they will lose in the end. We should close down our bases around the world and beef up our drones and launch them from Navy ships when needed. ISrael can handle the middle east all by themselves. They have the weaponery and highly skilled troops and lots of nukes. If Iran wants a fight, Israel will certainly give it to them.