<strong>Written By:</strong> Ed Deak
<strong>Date:</strong> 2006-03-23 12:13:07
<a href="/article/81307761-britain-breaks-with-the-us-over-iran">Article Link</a>

There is a real fear that if Iran refuses to yield to pressure -- either by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or by the Security Council to which Iran was formally referred on March 8 -- then the United States would be left with no other option than to strike. The United States may indeed have boxed itself into a corner by its threats, which Iran has scornfully rejected.

The view in Whitehall is that if America attacks Iran, it will have to do so alone -- or with Israel. In private discussions, British officials have made clear that any sort of military campaign against Iran would be “madness.”

In spite of its close alliance with the United States, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has departed publicly from aggressive statements by senior American officials. He has ruled out military action by Britain against Iran as “inconceivable.” Last week, Britain announced it was pulling 800 men out of Iraq -- one tenth of its force there. This is seen as a signal that Britain is seeking to limit its involvement in America’s wars, rather than take on additional commitments.

<a href="http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2006/03/336002.shtml">http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2006/03/336002.shtml</a>





[Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on March 24, 2006]

   

Britain may be wisely extracting itself from its bed of thorn-roses with Amerika, but Canada is now getting IN. Our media, politicians, and functionaries just keep getting dumber, so the Canadian public will scarcely notice the "lateral handoff" now in progress. As prime beneficiaries of US "protection-racket" defence policies, we are now obliged to fulfil our blood vow. Will Canada stand "shoulder-to-shoulder" with them in Teheran? That's the big question.


Thursday, Mar 23, 2006
Canadian special forces "front and centre" in mission to free hostages

OTTAWA (CP) - Canada's elite JTF-2 special forces played a role in helping to rescue three western aid workers, including two Canadains, held captive in Baghdad.
The Defence Department refused Thursday to confirm Canadian military involvement, but a source said the elite squad was "instrumental" in the operation. Pentagon and British military officials also said that Canadian and British special forces took the reins of the ground operation.

"This was several weeks in the planning," said British Defence Secretary John Reid. "It was an operation that was rolling, in a sense that it went on for some time."

The Mounties were also involved in the rescue, said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, although an RCMP spokesman would not confirm that.

Straw also hinted that other organizations, including Canada's spy agency CSIS, along with civilians, played a role.

Defence Department officials stressed that they never comment on any operations involving JTF -2, claiming that any kind of confirmation of its activities could compromise future or ongoing hostage rescue situations.

   

it certainly is about time.

tony blair walked a lot of miles on hot coals for his actions with the AMERIKANS and i doubt if anyone is soon going to forget.

   

U.S. MADNESS - that's all it is, based on "sour grapes" as they have lost the world monopoly in the field of oil.

I am glad Great Britain has (at last) seen the light. So should Canada.

   

Both Britain and Iran know that the mighty USA cannot survive another self-initiated war. Even though Bush can strut a few more years yet, his country cannot. Britain cannot afford to go at it alone and it's likely the gauntlet would be passed to them by the US. At present, the American government is taking a slower approach then that of Iraq. They are spending millions on their propaganda machine knowing they have to convince others to abet them. They learned that the rush to Iraq did not bring the following they expected. They also realized their propaganda has to now expand to devalue those apposed to their plan. They have started with Russia so far. One can already read the cards as the US insinuates that Russia was feeding Sadam information. This of course can serve two fold. (1)Their invasion was unsuccessful and no WMD was found because the Russians warned Sadam of their plans (2) Because the Russians was willing to abet Sadam, they would be willing to abet Iran and it's leaders. Bush's plan is to turn the entire world against Iran. He still don't get it. Britain may have.

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