MIDDLE EAST: Cheney makes Iran bomb allegation

Certainly high oil prices, the state of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Arab-Israeli conflict were high on the agenda of Vice President Dick Cheney's recent tour of the Middle East. But the subject of Iran was never far from the surface of the trip, which is now wrapping up.

Cheney alleged in an interview Monday that Iran was trying to develop weapons-grade uranium, even though international inspectors have never found such evidence.

According to a White House transcript of an interview with ABC's Martha Raddatz, Cheney said:

Obviously, they're also heavily involved in trying to develop nuclear weapons enrichment, the enrichment of uranium to weapons grade levels.

Iran is currently enriching uranium at its plant in Natanz in central Iran. Weapons-grade uranium is enriched or concentrated at 80% or 90%. According to the latest International Atomic Energy Agency report, Iran currently enriches uranium at concentrations of less than 3.8%, which is the amount necessary for creating fuel for a reactor. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful energy production, but the U.S. and other Western countries have cast suspicion.

Nevertheless, Cheney's comments contradict both U.S. intelligence agencies' assessments of Iran's nuclear program and the findings of the IAEA. Both say, and Iranians admit, that Iran is trying to master the enrichment of uranium. But no one has yet come up with proof that Iran is now actively trying to produce weapons-grade nuclear material.

It was the second time in a week that a White House official has made an allegation regarding Iran's nuclear program and intentions that did not square with publicly known facts.

President Bush said last week that Iran's leaders had "declared" that they were seeking nuclear weapons. Iran has always denied it was seeking nuclear weapons, and the White House later retracted the statement somewhat, calling his remarks "shorthand."

In any case, Cheney's recent trip around the Middle East had a curious arc. He all but encircled the country that has become the greatest U.S. rival in the region.

At almost every stop on his trip, Cheney brought up the subject of Iran and its role in upending U.S. plans for the region.

Before the first stop of his visit to Oman, a Cheney aide told Agence France-Presse that Iran "has got to be very high" on the agenda for the talks:

The Omanis, like a lot of other people, are concerned by the escalating tensions between the rest of the world community and Iran, by some of Iran's activities, particularly in the nuclear field, but outside its borders as well.

In Saudi Arabia, Cheney also raised the Iran issue. According to the Jeddah-based, English-language Arab News, the Saudis oppose any war with Iran. Saudi King Abdullah also raised the issue of Israel's undeclared nuclear program:

[T]he king confirmed his opposition to any US military strike, sources said. Saudi Arabia, along with other Gulf Arab countries, sees negotiations as the best way to ease tension between the US and Iran. According to sources, the king also told Cheney that the Middle East should be free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.

In Jerusalem on Monday, Cheney accused Iran and and its partner Syria of "doing everything they can to torpedo the peace process," the teetering talks between Israel and the Palestinians on establishing a lasting peace.

— Borzou Daragahi in Beirut

Graphic: The red countries are ones Vice President Dick Cheney visited during his recent tour of the Middle East; the blue is Iran. Credit: Borzou Daragahi / L.A. Times. Photo: AFP

Comments

[Eftekhar Ali]

When the UNSC is lead into a third round of sanctions on Iran, for NOT being guilty of breaching the NPT; when the international community doesn't commemorate the fact that in addition to the lives of soldiers, the lives of over a million Iraqis have also been lost in a war over the past five years; as terrifying as it may be, one can appreciate the logic behind Mr. Cheney's comments: That for him, WINNING takes priority over truth, justice, faith, God, freedom, democracy and ultimately international peace and security.
Therefore, please Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney and Mr. McCain, what do you hope to accomplish by winning?

[Alon]

If you tell a lie enough it becomes the truth.....

Cheney started this 'talk' long ago with his appearance on a US battleship performing military maneuvers in the Gulf sometime last year, if memory serves. His people in the Administration are frothing at the mouth to go to war in Iran.

It will be incumbent on those of us who wish to avert such a disaster to become increasingly vocal in our communities and be ready to take to the streets should this criminal group push Congress to move us towards war again.

[SGV]

As everyone else has said, if that crooked, sneering mouth of his is moving...he's lying.

Why are not the American people outraged at his callous comments regarding American troop deaths and casualties ("So? They volunteered." 3/23/08)??!!

And he had the gall to say that, ''...the biggest burden is carried by President George W. Bush, who made the decision to commit US troops to war..."

NO, you draft-deferring coward, the burden lies on the FAMILIES of the dead who believed you when you repeated the lie that Iraq had WMD's and was involved with 9/11!!!

Good gawd, America....WAKE UP!!!! We will be paying for decades with seething anger from generations of potential terrorists so that Cheney's oil company/Halliburton chronies could make billions off this war!

[David Crosby]

I just had a revelation from God. Cheney should change his name to Goebbels. And Americans can be the Germans in the 1930's that never saw anything and just went along because they too were blindly patriotic and following orders.
Everyone gets a von too. von Cheney, von Rumsfeldt, von Rove, von Bush. Hey thats kinda catchy. These neo colonials may succeed in killing all of us with the Global war they are determined to leave us. Shoot, they're all German anyway. It makes sense. Hitler threw his people to the dogs once he knew they didn't share his insanity. 67% of Americans do have German blood. May be time to emigrate. heil Bush!

[Cynthia Papermaster]

Help impeach Cheney before he leads an attack on Iran. Congress, the citizens, the press, the courts-- all are powerless to prevent the attack. Call John Conyers, head of the Judiciary Committee, and beseech him to start impeachment hearings IMMEDIATELY for Dick Cheney. Call your Rep. too and ask them to file their own House resolution to start hearings.
Congressional switchboard: 800-828-0498 or 800-614-2803; ask for Conyers, ask for your Rep. Make sure whoever answers writes your comment down.

[simon]

i thought the reason he was in the middle east was to plan the war on iran in the first place.

[cindy]

Cheney has lost touch with reality. Does he feel no remorse for having gotten us into this mess in Iraq? The American people (or at least President Bush) trusted him once. Let's not go down taht road again!

[Donna Simpson]

Ask Mr. Cheney: Why are we sending our military to fly "practice missions" along the Iranian border? We did that starting in 2000 before we invaded Iraq, remember? How would you like me to start flying "practice missions" around the edge of your bunker in Bahrain or Dubai or wherever you're parking the Halliburton Mother Ship these days? Huh, huh -- well, hurry up, answer -- oh glurb,blubb,ing -- What? Speak up--you're not drowning!

[Mike]

Is anybody in this country dumb enough to believe anything Dick Cheney says regarding foreign issues in the middle east? I'm not even sure if George still does. If we can just survive another year with those two we may be able to turn our foreign (as well as domestic) policy around.

[cdl]

Is there truth to the statements made by some that, if the current administration starts a war for what they deem a national emergency, that our elections could be forestalled as an emergency measure?? I hear this a lot, and now would like us to have this dialogue highlighted in the American Press because it seems, that thiis is about to happen.

[JJ]

How do you know when Cheney is lying? His lips are moving. Old joke but true in his case. This man should be going to jail for all the laws he has broken as VP.

[Ali Isfahani]

Ayatollah Khomeini's advice (English subtitles) to Saddam at time of Iran-Iraq War.

http://irannegah.com/Video.aspx?id=552

Cheney and these guys just dont get it. Khomeinis movement is whats influencing the people of region. You can kill the revolutionary, but you cant kill the revolution.

[Anthony Monaghan]

Engaging executive office function to cause war to invade and occupy a country and thereby occasion human deaths for reasons which are false: this is international war crime, and that is the pending charge against Richard Cheney. That Mr Cheney has profited personally by war contracts directed to his shareholding companies merely aggravates the seriousness of the crime of which he appears guilty. The challenge for the USA is to bring these pirates to justice, before the rest of the world does.

[RL Giarrusso Virginia]

EVIDENCE? We don't need no steenkin' EVIDENCE!
Real macho men like the cowardly chickenhawk VP make up their own evidence!

[Whitesox1967]

I think that it is funny on the whole trip that our VP never talked about the capturing Bin Laden and Al Qaeda.
This should of been done years ago after 9/11. If he feels we won the war in Iraq, you have not won anything until you catch Al Qaeda.
Mr.Chenny can say whatever he wants since he dodged the Vietnam War himself and helped pardon Nixon.

[D.]

Cheney, the fear/war-mongering liar has absolutely ZERO credibility.

His treasonous traitor ass should be thrown into Gitmo.

[broadsword]

At what point does it stop being 'shorhand' or 'misspeaking', and start becoming what it looks like:

A bald-faced, warmongering lie.

[jr]

he's said this before about Iraq and it was untrue. The drumbeat for war needs to be stifled by the press reporting the doubts and contrary opinions of the intelligence community. Keep it up.

[BiBiJon]

Thank you LA Times for holding public officials accountable for the accuracy of what they say. While some may worry about what will happen to Iran if VP's falsehoods are believed, the real worry is the US fast diminishing credibility.

On an issue where there are no competing interests -- there can be only one national interest -- on a matter which is the most solemn of this government's duties -- war and peace -- it is incredible that other media outlets give this administration a free pass.

www.bibijon.org

[St Michael Traveler]

Vice Presisent and Iran

The US Vice President, Dick Cheney, has accused Iran of developing a uranium enrichment program that aims at producing nuclear weapons. But, Iran has offered a mechanism to remove his mistrust.

Iranians have offered a consortium mode of operation and we are invited. Let us accept their invitation and start talking on the basis of complete transparency from mining to the final fuel fabrication. Unless we talk together, we are not going to remove the mutual distrust! Without a bridge, we can not cross the "mistrust" river.

We do not want any further development of nuclear bombs by any other nation. Any fuel production activity which could lead to developing bomb would not be small scale. To produce enough highly enriched U-235 that could be used in making several nuclear bombs, would require diversion of large amount of uranium milled and converted prior to enrichment. It would demand large amount of electricity. The enrichment facility would be large and comparable to our own facilities. None of these activities can be hidden from our remote space monitoring and IAEA inspections.

The US government talked with the Soviet Russia. We are partners in trade with the Communist China. Iran wants an invitation to the calm waters of international trades and exchanges; that is the biggest bargaining chips we have.

Democracy in Iran only would flourish if we remove the stain of our ill advised labeling of the nation (the axis of evil) and open an all none exclusive dialogue. I think majority of our Americans, and those who are knowledgeable about Iran are suggesting that our government to take the route of diplomacy and remove the threat of aggression. We desire the Iranian friendly population to stay friendly.