Both administrations profit well from high oil prices. Potential conflict between them can be just as powerful as a real war.
"The primary aim of modern warfare in accordance with the principles of doublethink, this aim is simultaneously recognized and not recognized by the directing brains of the Inner Party is to use up the products of the machine without raising the general standard of living." George Orwell
It is difficult to know, this game is based on deception. Iran in helping itself inadvertently is helping the United States. Right now Iraq's puppet regime is Iran-friendly. At times even the objectives of non-friendly countries can align.
Not all of this is a smokescreen; we know this from following the pipelines. The United States means to control the flow of all oil.
Irregardless of what is going on with Iraq, Iran and the United States at present, Bush needs to get his hands on Iran as they are the key to unlocking the Caspian oil.
The U.S.--and specifically the Clinton White House--was determined to oppose any "north/south" pipelines. The White House adopted a plan, cooked up by long-time ruling class strategist Zbigniew Brzezinski, to create an "east-west" pipe which would bypass both Russia and Iran. #msg-3775550
That ‘east-west’ pipeline is the BTC which is scheduled to begin flowing now.
Most recently Bush has pressured Pakistan and India to pull out of a pipeline deal with Iran.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appears to have offered India an attractive incentive in the form of civilian nuclear technology in a bid to derail a planned gas pipeline from Iran to India. #msg-5890082
A smokescreen, war rhetoric or psychological warfare is present, but to what extent? However when judging by the pipelines, what is happening rather than macho blustering, Bush wants Iran.
The ultimate goal of the Game being world domination.
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Iran is circumventing international export bans on sensitive dual-use materials by smuggling graphite and a graphite compound that can be used to make conventional and nuclear weapons, an Iranian dissident and a senior diplomat said Friday.
Graphite has many peaceful uses, including steel manufacture, but also can be used as a casing for molten weapons-grade uranium to fit it to nuclear warheads or to shield the cones of conventional missiles from heat.
With most countries adhering to international agreements banning the sale of such "dual-use" materials to Tehran, Iran has been forced to buy it on the black market, Iranian exile Alireza Jafarzadeh told The Associated Press _ allegations confirmed by a senior diplomat familiar with Iran's covert nuclear activities.
"It is not clear how much governments are involved," Jafarzadeh said later in an interview with Associated Press Television News, adding that he believes Iran is "using front companies to deceive other companies, other entities in foreign countries, and they wouldn't know what the destination would be."
Phone calls to Iranian diplomats seeking comment were not answered.
While with the National Coalition of Resistance of Iran, Jafarzadeh disclosed information about two hidden nuclear sites in Iran in 2002 that helped uncover nearly two decades of covert Iranian atomic activity _ and sparked present fears Tehran wants to build the bomb.
Much of the equipment _ including centrifuges for uranium enrichment and other technology with possible weapons applications _ was acquired on the nuclear black market.
Those implicated include Henk Slebos, a Dutch businessman who is awaiting trial in the Netherlands on charges of importing banned material _ including 100 pieces of graphite _ as part of disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan's clandestine smuggling network.
Jafarzadeh, whose organization was banned in the United States for alleged terrorist activity and who now runs the Washington-based Strategic Policy Consulting think tank, said Iran was additionally smuggling and trying to manufacture a graphite-based substance called ceramic matrix composite. The highly heat resistance compound is also used in missile technology.
He said he learned this from sources of information within Iran.
The diplomat, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of his position, said Iran also may be interested in acquiring specially heat-resistant "nuclear-grade graphite" that can be used as moderators to slow down the fission process in reactors generating energy.
While Iran does not now have reactors using such moderators, it insists it has the future right to all aspects of peaceful nuclear technology.
Neither Jafarzadeh nor the diplomat could say how much graphite Iran had imported and over what period of time.
But the diplomat said a graphite-moderated nuclear plant would require a "huge amount" of graphite _ as many as 1,000 tons for a 250-megawatt reactor.
Crucibles to hold molten uranium metal would need much less graphite _ no more than about 2.2 pounds per nuclear weapon, the diplomat said. He said investigations by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency revealed laboratory experiments by Iran aimed at making nuclear-grade graphite, which later were abandoned.
Domestically manufactured Iranian conventional missiles would require dozens of pounds of graphite per missile cone, he said.
Jafarzadeh also said a plant now being built near the central town of Ardekan for what Iranian officials say is steel manufacturing will actually be a cover for mastering graphite technology.
The revelations came as Iran's top nuclear negotiators prepared to meet early next week with the foreign ministers of France, Britain and Germany, acting on behalf of the 25-nation European Union, for what could be a last-ditch attempt to convince Tehran to agree to a long-term freeze of uranium enrichment activities.
French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said Friday the talks were "very fragile." He said the talks range over issues including economic, technical and commercial cooperation, Iran's wish to join the World Trade Organization, and political dialogue.
The United States wants U.N. Security Council action against Iran for what it says are nuclear weapons ambitions, and the Europeans have threatened to support such U.S. calls if it resumes enrichment programs. Iran says those programs are needed to generate power, but Washington labels them as part of plans to make weapons-grade material.
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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