ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style3 { height: 68px; } .MsoNormal {} h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style4 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style6 { height: 69px; } h2 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style7 { font-size: small; font-weight: bold; } .style8 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> &nbsp;<table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140" class="style6"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" class="style6"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2"></td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style4">Iran Accuses U.S. of Psychological Warfare</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curt</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b>is<a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright July 1, 2010<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style8">A</span><span class="style7">c</span>cusing the U.S. of waging psychological warfare, Iran tried to undo the damage form the fourth round of Security Council sanctions for its uranium enrichment program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Western powers have grown increasingly suspicious of the Islamic Republic after finding Sept. 25, 2009 a new secret nuclear enrichment facility in the ancient city of Qom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Most of Iran s known enrichment work centers on its underground facility in Natanz, where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defiantly proclaimed that Iran would continue adding more sophisticated centrifuges, despite new U.N. sanctions and warnings from the U.S. and Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Calling the CIA a  fake report, Iran s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast blasted CIA Director Leon Panetta who claimed Sunday that Iran had enough low-grade fissile material for two bombs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Mehmanparast called the claim  psychological warfare. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Iran insists that its nuclear program is  peaceful, despite non-compliance with International Atomic Energy Agency inspections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>It s refusal to submit to routine inspections raises doubts in Western powers, concerned, as Panetta points out, that Iran could have a workable A-bomb by 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Such remarks fall with the framework of psychological warfare aimed at creating a negative perception about Iran s peaceful nuclear activities, said Mehmanparast, refuting Panetta s estimates of Iran s work on a nuclear bomb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Had Ahamdinejad not threatened to  wipe Israel off the map, no matter how metaphorical or figurative, there would be less alarm over Iran s nuclear program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Ahamadinejad and supreme religious leader Ayatollah Al Khanemei insist that Iran has a right to complete the nuclear fuel cycle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Iran, like Pakistan, believes that the bomb is the great equalizer.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Pakistan found out May 28, 1998 that detonating a nuclear bomb kept its archenemy India at bay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No matter how superior one s military, the fear of mutual assured destruction restrains otherwise aggressive adversaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Iran knows that its supremacy around the Persian Gulf is assured with an A-bomb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> The American officials, especially their intelligence apparatus, know that Iran s nuclear program is in not way a military one but is aimed at peaceful purposes, said Mehmanparast not denying Iran s interest in building a bomb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>All the spokesman said is that Iran s nuclear program is not military and for  peaceful purposes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Pakistan and India have kept their nuclear program  peaceful, to the extent that neither country has attacked the other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Iran wants the focus back on Israel that has an unofficial nuclear weapons program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Iran feels entitled to its nuclear program.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Iran blames the U.S. for distorting its nuclear intent and spreading unwarranted lies about its nuclear program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Those who bring up such false reports seek to deflect world public option from the main concern . . . the nuclear arsenals of several countries and a certain regime, said Mehmanparast, indirectly referring to Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>U.S. authorities have given Israel, for safekeeping, a stockpile of nuclear weapons for its own defense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>What many Middle Eastern countries don t get is that the U.S. has its own strategic interest in stockpiling nuclear weapons in the Middle East.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>After Israel was attacked in 1967 and 1973, it became clear to the U.S. that it needed something more than a conventional arsenal to stave off would-be enemies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Since 1973, Israel has encountered sporadic mini-wars and terrorist attacks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No collective attempt to wipeout Israel State has occurred since 1973 Yom Kippur War.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span> Panetta acknowledged on ABC s  This Week June 27 that Iran was around two years away from building a nuclear device with its stockpile of low-grade enriched uranium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Israel is very concerned about what s happening in Iran, said Panetta, putting the veiled threat of retaliation on the airwaves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Iran has been defiant about its nuclear enrichment program since the U.N. Security Council voted in a new round of sanctions June 9.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Few arms control experts expect Iran to curtail or abandon its nuclear enrichment program anytime soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Iran s nuclear program began during the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1975, under the administration of President Gerald R. Ford.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No country that s spent the last 35 years developing its nuclear program is going to buckle under international pressure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>It s going to take far more pressure among other things to get Tehran to back down.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>U.N. and U.S. officials are at their wit s end to reason with the current leadership in Tehran.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Iran s mullahs are 100% committed to taking the nuclear fuel cycle to its nth-degree, including building its first bomb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> It s unrealistic to expect Iran to abandon its great national goal of going nuclear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> This information has to be checked but such information is always worrying and all the more because the international community does not recognize the Iranian nuclear program as transparent, said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at a G20 economic forum in Toronto.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whether the U.N. Security Council recognizes Iran s nuclear program or not, Ahmadinejad shows no signs of backing down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> You will take the wish to stop Iran s nuclear activities to the grave, said conservative parliament speaker and former arms negotiator Ali Larijani, telling the U.S. and U.N. to jump in a lake<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>John M. Curtis </b>writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He&#x2019;s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>.</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Homecobolos> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>