Melanie Phillips: “The Iranian dance of death continues as time progressively runs out.”
Melanie Phillips: “Iran upped the ante today for the second day running by test-firing missiles capable of hitting not just Israel but southern Europe — having apparently doctored the pictures of yesterday’s firing to conceal the fact that one of its missiles didn’t work (the picture above showing the photoshopping of this image is from LITTLE GREEN FOOTBALLS). Israel has responded by warning it will strike Iran if it feels directly threatened and has shown off a spyplane that it says can spy on Iran. Condi Rice says America will protect its allies if Iran attacks. REALLY? HOW? AT WHAT STAGE? AFTER TEL AVIV LIES IN FLAMES?”
“There are faint noises off from both presidential candidates. McCain says tougher sanctions are needed. Obama says more talking is needed. Every time he [Obama] says this — not to mention the fact that if this man becomes US President American military power will almost certainly be neutralised — Iran draws greater strength. We’ve been talking to Iran AND imposing sanctions on it for years and all that’s happened is that we have given it the one thing it needs above all else — time to build its nuclear weapons.”
“The fact is that even now, with some experts believing that Iran will go nuclear in under a year, this situation is STILL not being taken seriously. Earlier this week, it was reported that American exports to Iran actually rose more than tenfold under President Bush. So much for sanctions. The decision by the French oil company Total to postpone plans to invest in an Iranian gas project is a rare exception to the rule that nothing, not even threatened genocide, can be allowed to get in the way of making money.”
“War must only ever be a last resort, but on Iran the west has signally failed to take the necessary intermediate steps that might have defanged it and thus prevent war. Indeed, even though Iran has been at war with us since 1979, attacking western interests and killing our troops in Iraq, the west has studiously refused to fight back…” — Melanie Phillips.