WASHINGTON - February 16 -

DAVID BARSAMIAN, barsamian@riseup.net, http://www.alternativeradio.org
Barsamian has just returned from Iran and is author of the forthcoming book "Targeting Iran." He said today: "Virtually everything the Bush administration has done has made things more difficult for Iranian reformers. The moderate Khatami government helped the U.S. oust the Taliban in 2001; in return Bush called Iran part of the 'axis of evil.' Khatami's 2003 offer to negotiate all differences between the two countries was rebuffed, setting the stage for Ahmadinejad becoming president. Virtually every Iranian I met with is embarrassed by his actions, especially the 'holocaust conference.' ... Now, the U.S. has two aircraft carrier groups near Iran and the threat of an attack looms."

DAVID LINDORFF, dlindorff@yahoo.com, http://www.ThisCantBeHappening.net
Lindorff wrote the piece "A word of caution on U.S. claims of Iranian weapons killing GIs." He said today: "Why do those bombs that they displayed as 'evidence' of Iranian perfidy have U.S. English words and dates on them? ... Newspapers were reporting as much as two years ago that insurgents had figured out how to make such devices themselves (the technology was invented by a U.S. naval engineer in 1888!). The BBC reported in 2005: 'According to defense sources, basic armor-piercing weapons are easy to manufacture, drawing on principles discovered more than a century ago and in use since World War Two.'" http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2005/051010-shaped-bombs.htm Lindorff is co-author of the book "The Case for Impeachment: The Legal Argument for Removing President George W. Bush from Office."

STEPHEN ZUNES, zunes@usfca.edu, http://www.stephenzunes.org
Professor of politics at the University of San Francisco, Zunes just wrote the piece "Iran in Iraq?" which states: "Faced with growing public opposition to the U.S. war in Iraq, the Bush administration has been desperately trying to divert attention to Iran. Washington has gone so far as to make a series of dubious and unfounded charges that blame the Iranian government for the difficulties facing American forces fighting the Iraqi insurgency." http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/3996 Zunes is author of the book "Tinderbox: U.S. Middle East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism" and is Middle East editor for Foreign Policy in Focus.

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