Iran Complains To UN About Clinton Comment
Iran complained to the United Nations on Wednesday about U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s comment the United States could “totally obliterate” Iran in retaliation for a nuclear strike against Israel.
Iran’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations sent a letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the president of the Security Council expressing Iran’s condemnation of “such a provocative, unwarranted and irresponsible statement.”
Clinton made the remarks last week while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination. The New York senator said she wanted to make clear to Tehran what she was prepared to do if she becomes president in the hope that this warning would deter any Iranian nuclear attack against the Jewish state.
“I want the Iranians to know that if I’m the president, we will attack Iran (if it attacks Israel),” Clinton said in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
“In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them,” she said.
“That’s a terrible thing to say but those people who run Iran need to understand that because that perhaps will deter them from doing something that would be reckless, foolish and tragic,” Clinton said.
Iran, which Washington and its allies charge is seeking nuclear arms, has voiced war-like rhetoric in recent years amid speculation its nuclear facilities could face U.S. or Israeli military action.
Tehran denies it is trying to acquire nuclear weapons and says it needs nuclear technology to generate electricity.
Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons but, as part of a policy of “strategic ambiguity,” has not confirmed or denied the nature of its arsenal.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad outraged the international community in 2005 by saying “Israel should be wiped off the map.”
In the letter dated April 30, Deputy Ambassador Mehdi Danesh-Yazdi said he wanted to reiterate Iran’s rejection of all weapons of mass destruction including nuclear weapons.
“Moreover, I wish to reiterate my government’s position that the Islamic Republic of Iran has no intention to attack any other nations,” he said. “Nonetheless …. Iran would not hesitate to act in self-defense to respond to any attack against the Iranian nation and to take appropriate defensive measures to protect itself.”
Editing by Chris Wilson
© 2008 Reuters
Actually, he did not say “Israel should be wiped off the map”. His exact words were “The Zionist regime should disappear from the pages of history”. Thank you Reuters, for more propaganda.
Clinton once again show her irresponsible thinking at any price to gain the American nomination to continue to lead the world to oblivion. I read with interest the comments of Americans. I consider myself a humanist and not one that has the USA tattooed to my backside although I gave three years to the military and so have a right to speak. Nationalism, is always based in me-firstism, let the rest of the world be damned mentality.
The economic system that determines all peoples survival regardless of where they exist, also determines what a country will become, much of it the result of chance. In that regard the USA has been lucky, with well-worn imperialist ideas brought over with the Pilgrims. America has taken this country from the people who were here, the European model, without paying them. Some of us here know the story. The so called, “free market market system”, formerly American capitalism, and now globalization into which it has now morphed. the US with its European allies has created the current means of controlling everything for the few. The G 8 has developed ever-greater means to develop these ideas and to take what it wants from the rest of the world and its own population.
The African Americans, the Africans, the Hispanics, Asians and Indians have been the slave classes that have built the white European and American wealth. The historic exploitation of the working classes of America brought from the world into its “melting pot” with the so-called freedoms and democratic ideals built from the blood spilled to form, compared to the European monarchies and divine kingship, so called Democracy unique in the world. The freedoms bought so dearly, were the first “Divine Kingship” of the “Robber Baron” and now, corporate power elitism.
To keep the masses quiet and to build the lives of Americans, consumer ideology supplanted education, the study human purpose, as a goal in itself. The economic forces, which have built their power, care little for human development and survival. They care largely for their continued power as an end in itself and for the few who have the most based on its protection with a huge military force, hence the oil wars in Iraq, this to support an auto centered disposable consumer society.
The expense of privilege in the community of nations may become the death of the globe and its entire people as a result of the American and European economic system, now out of control. Many American economists, Jeffrey Sachs, Joe Stiglitz, and others view these historical developments as a threat to global harmony and survival.
American wealth once had an altruistic quality about it. The post-World War II USA, developed the Marshal Plan and cared about the condition of the world. Now the top one percent, those who have taken so much, continue to be supported by the thirty percent of Americans who still believe George Bush, and his myth of global superiority at the expense of the rest of the world. It is clare that to many of Clinton’s opinions continue the Bush doctrine, of unilateralism.
We sit on the edge of an environmental and economic disaster. This American system is out of control and the economic meltdown will continue regardless of who occupies the Oval office. The only difference is that Obama is intelligent enough to know that there are fundamental change needed in the way America and the so-called “free world” do business.
Rev Wright, simply addresses continued black slavery in a world of exploitation of all people led by the US and now the power elite in collusion with the government to continue the “American Dream” mentality, represented now by corporate multilateralism and their wealth and power. Corporate elitism cares for itself alone at the expense of all people, the environment, the human experiment, its freedoms, and so called democratic ideals which has become nothing more than an oligarchy.
We should not be too pejorative about Rev Wright who simply rails against the exploitive aspects of the Western mentality and points out the deficiency in the USA of evolved thinking toward the slave classes and the human species. He, having been able to experience directly because of his skin color these abuses is perhaps too angry which limits his effectiveness. His experience in seeing the wreckage of black America and his intelligence, has caused him to take up the defense of the disenfranchised.
America has a history of caring about others, once a genuine American direction, led by people, despite their failings like: The Kennedy’s, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and so many others who died for their belief in a better America and a better world, caring about humanity.
The media who carries their continued assault against those, who would in any way, attempt to include different thinking to bear on the so called “American Dream” which has become the world’s nightmare must be seen by the masses for what it has become. The media must begin to understand its roll as an objective commentator to the necessary changes that must be made to the USA and the world if humanity is to survive.
The media above all must be changed once again to give democratic exposure to all important ideas. It must present an understanding of the complex thought needed to be brought to bear on global complex issues of survival. A departure from the simplistic superficial treatment ad-nauseam we witness each day which passes for news presented by the Barby-Doll class of newsreader called journalist.
Arise is correct about Ahmadinejad’s statement. How come he knows this and Reuters doesn’t?
Hoa binh
A good article on translating Ahmadinejad’s statement here:
http://democracyrising.us/content/view/736/164/
A good discussion here:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2007/260107offthemap.htm
I only hope that the Persian-media translation of Clinton’s statement into Farsi is not as willful.
It sickens me to read the lies which our media propagate. Everyone knows the translation of Ahmadinejad’s speech by now, but it seems the media are only interested in inflaming the situation.
Why is no-one challenging them when they print this rubbish?
With regard to the above comments, they are quite correct of course.
But unfortunately, there seems to be a principle that when the powerful and their ass-kissing media stooges say something enough, it becomes the truth, and as time passes, only a few obscure historians will ever know the true statement.
Well, I know it is getting repetetive, but let’s all send a note to Ms. Parsons of Reuters and demand a correction.
Americans tend to vote for the real republican, not the democrat trying to show that they are more republican than the republican candidate.
Althoughy Hillary may win the battle (nomination), it is unlikely that she will win the war (general election).
Voters will favor the real republican (McClone) over the pseudo republican (Clinclone).
No one challenges as everyone in Congress wants Iran’s oil. They are all on the same page. Barrel prices are going up and they don’t want Iran getting rich. It doesn’t take rocket science to see what the real objective is. Israel is an excuse to go after the Oil in Iran, and the water for Israel.
Resources are all the US is interested in and unfortunately the giant nest egg of oil is mostly in the Middle east. The war propaganda lying machine continues to brain wash dumb Americans that don’t Critically think.
so it goes..
The MSM rather than mention / or correct the mis - interpretation (or intentional mis - quoting), of the Iranian quotes, are more determined to be the FIRST to disclose the heinous doings of a 15 yr old “media cloned” millionaires daughter, who showed a little skin in a magazine .. my goodness how the worlds issues pail in comparison to the doings of these Hollywood generated clones….
jim
canada
jim_murray@jdz.ca
criticalthinktank
Sorry the vast majority of our oil comes from Venezuela, Mexico, and Canada and thanks to the corn lobby now ethanol fuel from Iowa. This is not about oil at all this is all about PNAC/NEOCON/MIC/AIPAC hegemony over the region. Oil is just a nice door prize for these people. They can get at the oil far cheaper with buying it direct (which can’t be done now thanks to AIPAC’s lobbying for the Iran-Libyan sanctions act) then waging a far more costly expensive and dangerous nuclear war.
Reuters IS THE MAIN purveyor of misinformation. EVERY Reuters article about Iran MUST contain the following 3 lies.
1)Iran is seeking nuclear arms
2)has voiced war-like rhetoric
3)“Israel should be wiped off the map.”
Guess who owns Reuters?
What a combo Hellary displays - extreme greed and mindlessness - two unfortunate tendencies of human nature deliberately cultivated into dominance over reason, cooperation, solidarity and compassion, in the characters of tens of millions of Americans, by their Likud masters with designs to enslave them to the Zionist project.
I just talked to someone who is a member of a church, he’s also a high-school drop-out (if he got that far, probably more like a junior-high dropout).
He told me that it says in the Bible to kill our enemies, and it doesn’t matter if they’re women and children. He said because of 9/11 we are “killing Arabs.” He forgot to say Persians I guess, that’s if he even knows the difference between Arabs and Persians.
I tried to tell him that not all Muslims are terrorists, but he preferred his own version in order to justify the attack on and occupation of Iraq.
Dumbed-down country? You bet.
Lillulu - the most worrying thing about this, is if you realise that there are probably 100 million like him in the US.
Following the London bombings a few years ago, I had just returned from London, where I worked (only half a mile from one of the stations and the bus which was blown up), and my neighbour went into a rant about Islamic extremism. Before I could answer, she said “I suppose you are on their side, because of your wife”. I was shocked, because we had previously got on fine, BBQs in the Summer, New Years parties etc. However, because my wife is originally from Iran (she came here just after the revolution), she thought we were “fair game” for her anger.
The UK is a dumbed down country as well, I know people who think that Jean Charles Menezes, the Brazilian man shot by Police, because they mistook him for a terrorist, deserved to die because he had overstayed his visa.
We live in dangerous times, when the general public are easily frightened by those in charge, and can make decisions, and say things which leave the intelligent person angry and speechless.
AndyUK wrote: … the general public are easily frightened.. and say things which leave the intelligent person angry and speechless.
Agreed. And unfortunately, I DO get bloody angry as some CD readers can attest to some of my rants here at CD (for which I apologize).
From the article:
“Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons but, as part of a policy of “strategic ambiguity,” has not confirmed or denied the nature of its arsenal.”
Interesting how this (”strategic ambiguity”) is presented as a perfectly reasonable stance by Israel. Think about that for a second.
EVERYONE knows that Israel has nuclear weapons. In addition, Israel regularly launches attacks on other countries, and is presently in violation of a great number of UN resolutions. Meanwhile, there is NO evidence (according to the IAEA) that Iran either has or is pursuing nuclear weapons.
Yet somehow it is considered beyond the pale (even by the perpetually misqoted Ahmadinejad) to threaten to “obliterate” Israel for ACTUALLY doing the things Iran is groundlessly accused of doing.
Reuters, you suck.
Annie Oakley, the Great Obiliterator!
Hillary is a loose cannon. In a prepared statement, she urged President Bush to break his solemn oath to China’s Premier that he would attend the Beijing Olympics’ opening ceremonies. In this one swell foop, she managed not only to pander opportunistically to a xenophobic American public and carelessly mirror Bush’s light-weight cowboy-style diplomacy, but also offended one-fifth of the world’s population, permanently alienated Chinese leadership (as she recently insulted and dismissed Russian leadership off-handedly, saying Putin was a soul-less KGB agent), and displayed a profound probity-deficit shocking for a Senator, let alone a Presidential candidate.
Barack Obama, on the other hand, responded to an audience question on the same topic by respectfully highlighting a brief list of legitimate U.S. trade, intellectual property and human rights concerns (including Tibet and Sudan) while diplomatically offering measured support for China’s most-cherished long-term project, and reminding Americans, in his trademark non-polarizing way, that Olympic ideals bring the world closer together. He may even, in those few sentences, have brought his own adopted city of Chicago’s dream of hosting a 2016 Olympics one step nearer to reality.
Now that is political genius.
Another example: Hillary used her brief opportunity to question General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker, to deliver a confrontational speech intimidating her perceived political opponents—Republicans of all stripes, war supporters, and others opposed to her Iraq agendas. Obama, on the other hand, listened to the answers to his questions, and then led Petraeus and Crocker so expertly to points of commonality that they were smiling and nodding like bobble-heads in Obama’s direction. Barack concluded by thoughtfully challenging everyone at the hearing to work diligently together to clearly define “success” in Iraq, so that the war could be ended quickly and positively, as desired by all.
Hillary is a famously tenacious in-fighter, which is exactly what we don’t need today or tomorrow. Barack Obama’s whole life has also been about taking on huge challenges, persevering, thriving and prevailing against great odds, but his consensus-building problem-solving approaches to meeting those challenges don’t create the blowback that Hillary’s belligerance does. The last thing we need is a paranoid President who bristles at perceived slights, sees enemies on every side, and creates new ones at every turn of events.
We need a President capable of vanquishing America’s enemies via the best (and only) permanent approach to conquest, by turning them into friends. Barack knows well that the best way to befriend anyone, whether Iraqi, Chinese, Republican or any other, is to generously support their most cherished projects and goals, and to always treat them with understanding and respect. Hillary knows how to talk tough, but we should all know by now where that will get us.
Americans and others throughout the world need Obama’s statesmanlike vision, his wonderful people-skills and many leadership abilities, so that we can all come together to solve our common pressing global problems—disease, injustice, hopelessness, hunger, greed, environmental degradation, natural disasters, ignorance, addiction, prejudice, nuclear proliferation, crime, poverty, war, terrorism, and yes, violence itself.
Hillary’s down-and-dirty-roll-up-your-sleeves-and-mud-wrestle approaches to resolving conflicts may have served in her old world, but in the new world of tomorrow, such competitive models will be sadly deficient. Unfortunately for Hillary, her street-fighting instincts so overwhelm her peacemaking ones that she can’t even enter the brave new world of tomorrow–Barack’s world–not even in her dreams.
(Nancy Pace blogs on breaking news at the intersection of politics, peace, culture and spirituality at www.epharmony.com.)
The fact that a US presidential candidate would contemplate the obliteration of a Nation of 76 Million on National TV is bad enough, but, the fact this actually helps to get votes is the really sick part.
Most of us know by now that HC would suck a golf ball through a garden hose to get back in the White House, but what does this really say about us as a Nation? Who are these numnuts who would vote for a candidate just because he/she threatens to obliterate a Nation.
My uneducated guess would be the Jewish organizations and small town rednecks are always in the mood for some Muslim blood….but i digress!
Doctor Ahmadinejad did not say “Israel should be wiped off the map.” Even if he did say this statement - so what? It is not as if Israel has shown any gratitude for having the gift of Palestine bestowed upon them anyhow.
Clinton is playing very dirty and I believe she has made a very ignorant statement regarding Iran just to score political points. I cannot say that I blame her though. I mean…she has lived in the White House for eight years. I can understand her doing anything in her power to be elected. She is being sleazy with her campaign in my opinion.
For Clinton to threaten using nukes against Iran is foolish. The surprise approach is much better. Again, what does most of the world know about the arsenal of Iran. Do Iran really have nukes? Honestly I really do not know and quite frankly I do not care one way or the other. What I DO care about though is the possibility that the USA may use nuclear weapons against Iran - all over total misunderstandings.
Why would ANY nation want to nuke Israel? This place is the origins of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; so I seriously doubt Iran would fire nuclear weapons at Israel, assuming Iran does have nuclear weapons - on the grounds of its religious significance. The Iranians simply are not that foolish.
Ahmadinejad was quoting the Ayatollah Khomeini when he made that statement. The statement, as translated by a Farsi scholar, reads: “The imam(Khomeini) said the regime occupying Jerusalem must disappear from the page of history.”
It’s unfortunate, but the Zionists have so inculcated into the popular idiom that it has entered the realm of mythology.
There once was a pol named Hillary
Who eschewed all feminine frillery.
It wasn’t enough
To act like a tough,
She had to fire artillery.
To further her cause did our Hillary,
Competitors demean and pillory.
Her greatest of joys
Was to drink with the boys
At any convenient distillery.
by Hersch S.
Great limerick! Is that Seymour Hersch?
“Great limerick! Is that Seymour Hersch?”
No, a friend of mine - but I’d love to read one by Seymour Hersch!
….congratulations, Hilary!…way to show Iran just how much more sophisticated, righteous, and rational we are compared to them with your recent comment:…”I want the Iranians to know that if I’m the president, we will attack Iran…“In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them,” versus Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s comment uttered awhile ago….“Israel should be wiped off the map.”…hmmmmm….these two comments pretty much sound the same to me when it’s all said and done, however, because Clinton uttered her comment and happens to be a white American in the corporate elite class,it is o.k., justified, and even respected among the American masses on the whole; whereas Ahmadinejad’s comment is just seen as wholly reckless, outrageous, and speaks of pure evil from the American point of view…..This is just another classic example how short-sighted people can become when aligning themselves to one flag over another…ethnocentrism here at its finniest, eh?!….We good; them bad!…(but why are “we” good??….”ummm, well…ah because we are us and ah, that means ah…we are holy, righteous, and just!!….we stand for freedom, democracy and equal rights, and they stand for nothing but hate, oppression, and evil!!”….and why are they bad??…ah, because they are them, and ah…well…they are them!)….Come on now Americans….get a grip…..stop looking and judging things from your narrow-minded ethnocentric lens……to do so will most certainly lead to our ultimate doom and demise because the ‘crazy baldheads’ (our corporate elite-driven politicians)will most certainly drive us all over the edge with this collective short-sighted mentality that is seemingly so pervaisive throughout America…
“Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad outraged the international community in 2005 by saying ‘Israel should be wiped off the map.’”
“Iran, which Washington and its allies charge is seeking nuclear arms, has voiced war-like rhetoric in recent years amid speculation its nuclear facilities could face U.S. or Israeli military action.”
_________________________
Reuters has previously printed the Big Lie about Ahmadinejad threatening to wipe Israel off the map and I’ve written them about it. Probably many others have as well. They’re still repeating it like a mantra, obviously to provoke war with Iran and murder millions of innocents. The MSM strictly enforce their quota of at least one Big Lie per article.
Claudia Parsons managed to sneak in two. Bucking for a raise, I guess. Interesting how when Iran threatens to defend itself against US/Israeli attack, they’re voicing “war-like rhetoric.” Doesn’t pass the straight-face test, does it? But it’s for US consumption, so it doesn’t have to be fair or even semi-rational.
Parsons somehow forgot to mention that Clinton has threatened to obliterate Israel if it attacks Iran. Just kidding, of course. Hillary would never threaten to do anything so obscene.
It’s late in the thread, but Military or Market-Driven Empire Building: 1950-2008 must be read.
What is clear is that HillBilly will ‘obliterate’ the hopes and dreams of progressives, liberals, moveoners, left-wingers, freedom-lovers, peace-lovers, communitarians, socialists, and others that have opposed her candidacy… if she wins office and thus can get even with them.
Because she is clearly a revengeful, self-serving, phoney, mean-spirited person, of just the sort that we do not need holding a nuclear world-ending button right now. But she still has women who are voting for a(ny) woman president. Oh, and those who won’t vote for a black dude.
She is really her own Party for One. A definitely Right-Wing Party for One. And supermillionaire-sellout lobbyist, serial-adulterer, first hubby Bill is twisting every arm he can behind the scenes, so the ultimate power-lust couple can get that power-juice fix again.
They will use every dirty trick, false issue and low blow they can, as they have already made clear in their ‘if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen’ phrase - and they are the heat, ready to burn any one and any thing (ethics, morals, beliefs, truths) standing in their way to power. They are NeoClintonistaCons.
She would rather ‘obliterate’ the Democratic Party than see it nominate any other than herself. Please, no more triagulators with cynical intent. Please, no more Bushes, no more Clintons, no more McCains. No more No change at all. America can’t take it anymore.
“Please, no more Bushes, no more Clintons, no more McCains.”
Right, and that is why I can’t vote for Clinton in the general election. Dynasties are bad for democracy, especially democracies that are still in their infancy - like ours.
Hillary has evolved into a nonsensical pandering clown. And so the corporate media is swooning over her. However, if she does capture the nomination, the members of the corporate media will no doubt shake off their fantasies about her and again fawn over the more insane and shameless panderer, Madman McCain.
To the Blog community. . it i good to hear very relevant comments about Clinton. Yes she is bringing America down in the foreign press and continues the disaster in the making with her Hilary first comments. look for a McCain/ Clinton ticket if she loses. they simply follow the Bush-whacked country. Welcome to America.