Mahmoud Ahmadinejad News Blog @newzblogz.com

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's top leader warned Wednesday his country will pursue "illegal actions" if the U.N. Security Council insists it halt uranium enrichment, an apparent reference to nuclear activities outside international regulations. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also warned the United States that Iran would fight back with "all its capacities" if attacked. "Until today, what we have done has been in accordance with international regulations," Khamenei said. "But if they take illegal action...

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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also warned the United States that Iran would fight back with "all its capacities" if attacked.

"Until today, what we have done has been in accordance with international regulations," Khamenei said. "But if they take illegal actions, we, too, can take illegal actions and will do so."

He did not elaborate on what the "illegal actions" could be, but Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the agreement under which the U.N. inspections are held.

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TEHRAN, Iran ? Iran's top leader warned Wednesday his country will pursue "illegal actions" if the U.N. Security Council insists it halt uranium enrichment, an apparent reference to nuclear activities outside international regulations.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also warned the United States that Iran would fight back with "all its capacities" if attacked.

"Until today, what we have done has been in accordance with international regulations," Khamenei said. "But if they take illegal actions, we too can take illegal actions and will do so."

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So often, when we read the paper or speak with friends, we hear the Jewish community described in singular form. Who will the Jews vote for? What issues are driving Jews? How does the Jewish community feel about ...?

To the outside world, the American Jewish community may seem monolithic. But increasingly, as our community becomes more economically and geographically diverse, we know that we do not speak with one voice. Our priorities are divergent, and the issues that resonate with us change as we grow, raise our children and retire.

But there are some issues about which we can and should speak as a united community, where our agreement is so strong, despite our diversity. On these occasions, it is essential for the entire American country to know that we are speaking together and for us to use our collective weight to our advantage. When we can unite around an issue and focus our attention on it, we have a better chance of effecting real change.

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Could the tides be changing in diplomacy with Iran?

In August 2006, the United Nations Security Council placed sanctions on Iran, demanding that it cease its uranium enrichment program.

Yet Iran has steadfastly retained development of the program, claiming the nation has the right to develop peaceful nuclear power under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

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The hit American movie "300" has angered Iranians who say the Greeks-vs-Persians action flick insults their ancient culture and provokes animosity against Iran.

"Hollywood declares war on Iranians," blared a headline in Tuesday's edition of the independent Ayende-No newspaper.

The movie, which raked in $70 million in its opening weekend, is based on a comic-book fantasy version of the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., in which a force of 300 Spartans held off a massive Persian army at a mountain pass in Greece for three days.

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Near the end of a recent edition of ABC's "World News With Charles Gibson," the slightly-worn-around-the-edges-looking anchor gazed out into TV land and, without introductory fanfare or snazzy graphics, launched into a story about Dr. Seuss.

For the next 24 seconds, Gibson recounted classroom events marking the birthday of the beloved children's author, who died in 1991, and the 50th anniversary of the publication of "The Cat in the Hat" ?- entirely in rhyme.

When it was over, Gibson, 63, flashed a sheepish grin at the camera and confessed, "I've been worried about getting that out right all day long."

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When Americans think of Iran, they think of 1979 and the embassy takeover, ayatollahs and their fatwas, animosity toward Israel, nuclear danger and the Axis of Evil.

When Iranians think of the United States, they think of the CIA's installation of the hated Shah, the backing of Saddam Hussein in the devastating war with Iraq, the humiliating ultimatums and sanctions and, of course, the implied threat behind the words Axis of Evil.Whatever the true nature of these nations and their governments might be, neither knows the other very well. That ignorance is a powder keg, says Joe Volk, and he's fervidly trying to shed his bit of light.Volk, executive secretar...

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EVER since he spoke at an anti-Zionism conference in Tehran last October, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has been known for one statement above all. As translated by news agencies at the time, it was that Israel "should be wiped off the map." Iran's nuclear program and sponsorship of militant Muslim groups are rarely mentioned without reference to the infamous map remark.

Here, for example, is R. Nicholas Burns, the under secretary of state for political affairs, recently: "Given the radical nature of Iran under Ahmadinejad and its stated wish to wipe Israel off the map of the world, it is entirely unconvincing that we could or should live with a nuclear Iran."

But is that what Mr. Ahmadinejad said? And if so, was it a threat of war? For months, a debate among Iran specialists over both questions has been intensifying. It starts as a dispute over translating Persian but quickly turns on whether the United States (with help from Israel) is doing to Iran what some believe it did to Iraq ? building a case for military action predicated on a faulty premise.

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GOSHEN -- Dick Lehman's lamps went to Iran as symbols of peace.

When a delegation of U.S. religious leaders traveled to Iran in February, members took along Lehman's ceramic oil lamps and presented them to church leaders and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the country's president.

"We were looking for something that symbolized what our delegation is all about," said Ron Flaming, the leader of the delegation and Mennonite Central Committee's director of international programs. "As Christians, we feel called to pray for the leaders and for all peoples of our world. We saw the oil lamp as a concrete symbol and reminder of our commitment to uphold both Americans and Iranians in our prayers at this time."

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PARIS, March 19 ? Russia has informed Iran that it will withhold nuclear fuel for Iran?s nearly completed Bushehr power plant unless Iran suspends its uranium enrichment as demanded by the United Nations Security Council, European, American and Iranian officials say.

The ultimatum was delivered in Moscow last week by Igor S. Ivanov, the secretary of the Russian National Security Council, to Ali Hosseini Tash, Iran?s deputy chief nuclear negotiator, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because a confidential diplomatic exchange between two governments was involved.

For years, President Bush has been pressing President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to cut off help to Iran on the nuclear power plant that Russia is building at Bushehr, in southern Iran. But Mr. Putin has resisted. The project is Tehran?s first serious effort to produce nuclear energy and has been very profitable for Russia.

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At the end of World War II, it was only natural that this country would be enthusiastic about hosting the new United Nations that was to emerge from the rubble of war.

New York became the home of the new international organization that was to provide a forum in which nations great and small would pursue peace, democracy and prosperity.

It hasn't quite played out that way. The same pressures, distrusts and rivalries that proved the undoing of the old League of Nations surfaced immediately at the U.N. While it has had its moments, the world forum has never lived up to the idealistic hopes invested in it.

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NEW YORK - Iraqi insurgents, guerrilla fighters and death squads are being trained in secret camps in Iran with the blessing of top Tehran leaders and at least three senior Iraqi political figures, an Iranian opposition figure said Tuesday.

Would-be Iraqi fighters are smuggled into Iran, schooled in everything from sniper techniques to explosive devices and sent back to Iraq to wage war on U.S.-led coalition forces, Alireza Jafarzadeh said at a news conference.

"The Iranian regime is secretly engaged in the organization and training of large Iraqi terrorist networks in Iran to heighten insecurity and instability and force the coalition forces to leave Iraq, which would in turn pave the way for establishment of an Islamic republic in Iraq," Jafarzadeh said.

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UNITED NATIONS - Indonesia, Qatar and South Africa have proposed amendments to a new U.N. resolution drafted by six world powers that would impose new sanctions on Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.

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Berkley business owner Rudy Simons returned from a peace mission to Iran with no doubt about the sentiment shared by students, professors and government leaders on one of the hottest topics in international affairs: They want nuclear power.

"With one exception, they all thought they needed nuclear power," said Simons, a Southfield resident who owns a music publishing company in Berkley. "They were all firm on that. They were not looking for the bomb, but nuclear energy. Some expressed the thought they would have nuclear energy whether anyone else liked it or not."

Simons, 78, was exhausted, and elated, from his two-week trip into a land few Americans see. He traveled with 23 people from across the country with the International Fellowship of Reconciliation.

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NEW YORK — Iraqi insurgents, guerrilla fighters and death squads are being trained in secret camps in Iran with the blessing of top Tehran leaders and at least three senior Iraqi political figures, an Iranian opposition figure said Tuesday.

Would-be Iraqi fighters are smuggled into Iran, schooled in everything from sniper techniques to explosive devices and sent back to Iraq to wage war on U.S.-led coalition forces, Alireza Jafarzadeh said at a news conference.

"The Iranian regime is secretly engaged in the organization and training of large Iraqi terrorist networks in Iran to heighten insecurity and instability and force the coalition forces to leave Iraq, which would in turn pave the way for establishment of an Islamic republic in Iraq," Jafarzadeh said.

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On Thursday the Security Council approved a draft resolution to impose a few more modest sanctions against Iran and individual Iranians who are members of the Revolutionary Guards. The new sanctions are because Iran has refused to freeze its enrichment of uranium as requested by the Security Council.

In response to sanctions imposed in December, Iran hurried up its enrichment program.

Increasing the economic pressure on Iran and its individual leaders is the best technique for dealing with the crisis. As we have seen with North Korea, international pressure is a long-term tactic that can work. By continuing to buck the U.N., the Iranian leadership is committing the Iranian population to years of hardship.

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RAMAT GAN, Israel - Air raid sirens wailed across Israel Tuesday and thousands of security forces and rescue crews were mobilized in a nationwide drill to prepare for possible chemical attacks or an Iranian missile strike.

The two-day exercise - the largest in the nation's history - was also meant to demonstrate the lessons learned from last summer's highly criticized war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

During the monthlong war, nearly 4,000 rockets fired by Hezbollah guerrillas rained down on Israel, and government services collapsed in many parts of the country's north, leaving tens of thousands of people trapped in bomb shelters without food, medicine or other basics.

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Ramat Gan, Israel ?- Air raid sirens wailed across Israel Tuesday, and thousands of security forces and rescue crews were mobilized in a nationwide drill to prepare for possible chemical attacks or an Iranian missile strike.

The two-day exercise ?- the largest in the nation's history ?- was also meant to demonstrate the lessons learned from last summer's highly criticized war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

During the monthlong war, nearly 4,000 rockets fired by Hezbollah guerrillas rained down on Israel, and government services collapsed in many parts of the country's north, leaving tens of thousands of people trapped in bomb shelters without food, medicine or other basics.

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So just how good is the draft package of sanctions against Iran that is now pending before the U.N. Security Council? Better than expected, actually, though not as tough as the United States would like.

The resolution was agreed on last week after a remarkably short negotiation — 20 days — among the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia. The full Security Council could adopt the resolution as early as this week. If Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad comes to New York to bully, hector and threaten the council before the vote, as now seems likely, he'll probably succeed in making the vote for sanctions unanimous.

But even more powerful is the private sector's reaction to the financial sanctions against Iran and its response to a global ban on giving Iran grants, loans or any financial assistance other than humanitarian aid. Already, some financial institutions are demurring about doing business with Iran, worrying about "reputational risk" and the need for greater "due diligence" before entering into any ventures. Some have declined to issue new letters of credit to Iranian companies. Capital flight from Iran to offshore Persian Gulf banks is reportedly under way.

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Russia has informed Iran that it will withhold nuclear fuel for Iran's

nearly completed Bushehr power plant unless Iran suspends its uranium

enrichment as demanded by the UN Security Council, according to European,

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As U.S. troops gathered on Iraq's borders for an imminent invasion, President Bush described what the country and the Middle East would look like once Saddam Hussein was deposed."A liberated Iraq can show the power of freedom to transform that vital region, by bringing hope and progress into the lives of millions," Bush said Feb. 26, 2003.

Iraq and its region have indeed been transformed by the U.S. invasion that began four years ago today and its aftermath but in ways far removed from what Bush envisioned.While Saddam is gone, Iraq has descended into deadly conflict. Sectarian murders rose last year to 1,200 in December from 200 in January before declining early this year, according to a U.S. Defense Department report. More than 140,000 American troops remain engaged, and more than 3,200 have died."Our expectations of what Ameri...

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The United States has granted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a visa, letting him travel to New York to address the U.N. Security Council as it considers sanctions against Iran.

The department has processed 39 visas for Ahmadinejad and his delegation.

The approvals were announced Monday after world powers agreed in principle to a new package of sanctions. Iran sought to speak to the council before members vote on a resolution for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment.

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LONDON - Being cultural adviser to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad must be one of the more thankless jobs on the planet, but Javad Shamghadri manages to keep busy. His latest foray is into the cultural space occupied by the teenage bloodlust demographic.

What bothers Mr. Shamghadri - and quite a lot of other people in Iran - is the new Hollywood hit 300, an animated comic-book of a film that shows impossibly buffed and noble Greeks seeing off an attempt by evil Persians to strangle western civilization in its cradle 2,487 years ago.

They think it's "psychological warfare" against present-day Iranians, thinly disguised as a story about their wicked Persian ancestors.

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Four years after the United States invaded Iraq, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. doesn’t regret voting in favor of the war.

“The whole reason we gave (President George W. Bush) authority was to demonstrate to the United Nations that the president had the full faith and credit of both parties to begin negotiating for getting the (weapons) inspectors back in,” Mr. Biden said during an interview with The Times-Tribune on Monday.

What the Scranton native, six-term Democratic senator from Delaware and presidential aspirant does regret is how the administration has conducted itself since Saddam Hussein’s swift fall from power in 2003.

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WASHINGTON - The U.S. has granted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a visa, letting him travel to New York to address the U.N. Security Council as it considers sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program.

The department has processed 39 visas for Ahmadinejad and his delegation, which includes 12 other senior Iranian officials and 26 security guards, he said. Another 33 visa requests, for airline crew and support staff, are expected to be processed shortly.

The approvals, which had been expected, were announced Monday after world powers agreed in principle to a new package of sanctions. Iran sought to speak to the council before members vote on a resolution to impose the new measures for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.

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WASHINGTON — The United States has approved a visa so that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can address the United Nations Security Council before it votes on additional sanctions over his country's nuclear program, the State Department said Monday.

A draft resolution introduced to the council last week would ban all Iranian arms exports and freeze financial assets abroad of 28 individuals, groups and companies.

The measure also requires Iran to halt uranium enrichment and the processing of nuclear fuel within 60 days after passage or face the possibility of additional sanctions.

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WASHINGTON - The U.S. has granted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a visa, letting him travel to New York to address the U.N. Security Council as it considers sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program.

The department has processed 39 visas for Ahmadinejad and his delegation, which includes 12 other senior Iranian officials and 26 security guards, he said. Another 33 visa requests, for airline crew and support staff, are expected to be processed shortly.

The approvals, which had been expected, were announced Monday after world powers agreed in principle to a new package of sanctions. Iran sought to speak to the council before members vote on a resolution to impose the new measures for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. has granted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a visa, letting him travel to New York to address the U.N. Security Council as it considers sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program.

The department has processed 39 visas for Ahmadinejad and his delegation, which includes 12 other senior Iranian officials and 26 security guards, he said. Another 33 visa requests, for airline crew and support staff, are expected to be processed shortly.

The approvals, which had been expected, were announced Monday after world powers agreed in principle to a new package of sanctions. Iran sought to speak to the council before members vote on a resolution to impose the new measures for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.

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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - The hit American movie '300' has angered Iranians who say the Greeks-vs-Persians action flick insults their ancient culture and provokes animosity against Iran.

'Hollywood declares war on Iranians,' blared a headline in Tuesday's edition of the independent Ayende-No newspaper.

The movie, which raked in $70 million in its opening weekend, is based on a comic-book fantasy version of the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., in which a force of 300 Spartans held off a massive Persian army at a mountain pass in Greece for three days.

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Canada's Conservative government on Monday avoided a forced early election after an opposition party agreed to support its budget. A vote against the budget by the majority in Parliament is a vote of no-confidence and would topple the government. The opposition Liberal and New Democratic parties said they would vote against the budget, but the separatist Bloc Quebecois ensured its passage by saying the party would support it. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper released the $233.4-billion...

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN

Judges resign over justice's suspension

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has granted a visa to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, allowing him to travel to New York to address the U.N. Security Council as it considers new sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program.“It has been approved,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters Monday.

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WASHINGTON (AP) The U.S. has granted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a visa, letting him travel to New York to address the U.N. Security Council as it considers sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program.

The department has processed 39 visas for Ahmadinejad and his delegation, which includes 12 other senior Iranian officials and 26 security guards, he said. Another 33 visa requests, for airline crew and support staff, are expected to be processed shortly.

The approvals, which had been expected, were announced Monday after world powers agreed in principle to a new package of sanctions. Iran sought to speak to the council before members vote on a resolution to impose the new measures for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.

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U.S. grants Iranian president visa for U.N. address

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. has granted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a visa, letting him travel to New York to address the U.N. Security Council as it considers sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program.

The department has processed 39 visas for Ahmadinejad and his delegation, which includes 12 other senior Iranian officials and 26 security guards, he said. Another 33 visa requests, for airline crew and support staff, are expected to be processed shortly.

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WASHINGTON - The United States has granted a visa to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, allowing him to travel to New York to address the U.N. Security Council as it considers new sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program.

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On Iran, the options for the U.S. are limited, but the best ones are through the U.N. Security Council.

March 19, 2007

ECONOMIC SANCTIONS have a bad reputation. That's unfortunate, because the kind of sanctions the United States is proposing for Iran are more effective and more humane than sanctions used to be. They also happen to be more realistic than any of the other options regarding Tehran.

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On a wintry night in 2003, as U.S. troops gathered on Iraq's borders for an imminent invasion, President Bush described what the country and the Middle East would look like once Saddam Hussein was deposed.

"A liberated Iraq can show the power of freedom to transform that vital region, by bringing hope and progress into the lives of millions," Bush said Feb. 26, 2003, at a Washington dinner.

Iraq and its region have indeed been transformed by the U.S. invasion that began four years ago today and its aftermath - but in ways far removed from what Bush envisioned.

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The movie "300" is making news all over the country, earning $70 million at the box office during its March 9 opening weekend, the biggest March movie opening ever.

The movie depicts the ancient battle of Thermopylae; it's an epic tale of the little guy (King Leonidas and his army of 300 Spartans) standing up to the big guy (Xerxes and his massive Persian army) to unite Greece and defend democracy.

But, a tide of criticism has arisen as some Iranians both here and abroad have decried the movie for an anti-Persian storyline. In Iran, Javad Shamqadri accused the movie of actively attempting to subvert Iranian culture as part of a possible U.S. conspiracy, according to BBC News. Mr. Shamqadri is an art adviser to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran's news agencies are reporting more than 6,200 Iranians worldwide have signed an online petition calling for a boycott of the movie.

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TEHRAN, Iran (AP)— President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted Friday that new sanctions won’t force Iran to give up its right to enrich uranium, and he blasted the U.N. Security Council as an instrument used by “bullying” Western nations against Tehran.“We have achieved the nuclear fuel cycle. We won’t give it up under pressure. You can’t stop the Iranian nation from this path through meetings,” Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by state media.

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YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) ? Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Armenian counterpart will formally open the first stretch of a natural gas pipeline Monday in Armenia, a landlocked country that relies on Russia for most of its gas.

Ahmadinejad and Armenian President Robert Kocharian will open the 25-mile section in the town of Meghri, just over the border from Iran.

Under the first stage of the project, Iran is to deliver up to 14 billion cubic feet of gas a year. When the pipeline is completed and extends to the capital, Yerevan, the volume could rise to 88 billion cubic feet a year.

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It?s easy enough to portray President George W. Bush?s five-nation tour of Latin America as too little, too late to restore this administration?s depleted standing across the region. But a longer-range, broader perspective yields a distinctly more positive assessment.

If, as some on the Latin left assert, this was George W. Bush vs. Hugo Chavez in a contest for Latin loyalties, the ultimate winner won?t be Venezuela?s vulgar demagogue.

Bush visited Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico. Chavez, striving to upstage Bush?s tour, made his own rabble-rousing stops in Argentina, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Jamaica and Haiti. As always, it wasn?t hard to decipher Chavez?s message. ?Gringo, go home,? bellowed Venezuela?s leftist strongman.

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Americans worried about the threat to world peace and security posed by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can sleep easy. He is not the anti-Semitic madman the media makes him out to be. He is actually an affable gentleman willing to make peace with Israel and the United States. And whatever you may have recently heard from the International Atomic Energy Agency about Iran's two decades' worth of undeclared nuclear development activity, the country's president has no interest at all none at all in obtaining nuclear weapons.

That's the assessment of a group of U.S. Christian peacemakers who met with Ahmadinejad for two hours one Saturday last month and who held a news conference two days later to share the good news of peace in our time.

The Rev. Dr. Shanta Premawardhana, associate general secretary for interfaith relations at the National Council of Churches, offered these words of assurance: "Ahmadinejad insists that Iran is not developing a nuclear weapon. Indeed, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni, under whose authority the nuclear program rests, has issued a 'fatwa' (edict) that making or using nuclear weapons goes against Islamic teaching."

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El candidato a la nominación presidencial republicana Rudy Giuliani defendió ayer durante su visita a la Florida el papel de su compañía legal como representante de Citgo Petroleum Corporation, que está controlada por el presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez, diciendo que está ayudando a proteger empleos en Estados Unidos.

Giuliani admite que sus contrarios van a trata de explotar la noticia surgida esta semana de que un abogado de Bracewell & Giuliani, de Houston, ha estado representando a Citgo ante la legislatura de Texas.

La firma legal ha tenido un contrato con Citgo desde antes de que Giuliani se sumara a ella.

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BEIRUT, Lebanon - When Iraq hanged Saddam Hussein, furious Sunni Muslims in the militant group Hamas held mourning ceremonies. That did not sit well with Shiite Muslim Iran, one of Hamas' key backers but also a strong Saddam foe.

Yet the dispute over Saddam's execution did not break the Hamas-Iran alliance, either.

Instead the two - bound by common strategic interests - have solidified their relationship in the last year, creating a growing worry for both some Arab countries and for Israel.

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    Iran's Revolutionary Guard has been restructuring its military capabilities and taking an increasingly prominent role in the nation's political life as the United States builds political and military pressure on the Islamic republic.

    A number of former commanders have assumed political positions or become involved in shaping foreign policy, even as the military force -- known formally as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) -- prepares itself for "asymmetrical warfare" and the possibility of internal unrest.

    The involvement in national politics has been evidenced by a series of recent statements more appropriate to diplomats than to soldiers.

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Sunday defended his law firm's role in representing Citgo Petroleum Corp., which is ultimately controlled by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, saying it was helping to protect American jobs. Giuliani acknowledged though, that his opponents will try to exploit news this week that a lawyer with Bracewell & Giuliani of Houston has been representing Citgo before the Texas legislature. The firm has had a contract with Citgo si...

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TAMPA --Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Sunday defended his law firm's role in representing Citgo Petroleum Corp., which is ultimately controlled by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, saying it was helping to protect American jobs.

Giuliani acknowledged though, that his opponents will try to exploit news this week that a lawyer with Bracewell & Giuliani of Houston has been representing Citgo before the Texas Legislature. The firm has had a contract with Citgo since before Giuliani joined it.

''Oh, they'll exploit everything. There are things that make sense and things that don't make sense and that doesn't make any sense. It was one of those political attacks where you have nothing to do with it, you're not involved in it and so it doesn't really worry you very much,'' Giuliani said. ``What they're doing is lawful and honorable and helping to protect jobs for more than 100,000 Americans.''

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In his 70-plus years, Southfield resident Rudy Simons has worn many hats -- advertising executive, pacifist peace advocate, co-chair of the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights and featured speaker at the city's Martin Luther King celebration, to name a few.

Simons is donning yet another hat -- civilian diplomat -- after spending 10 days in Iran mingling and talking with government and religious leaders as well as average Iranians.

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Is President Bush's "surge" of about 20,000 additional U.S. combat personnel in Iraq working in the short run? Over the long run, does it have much of a chance to work?

With tomorrow marking the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, meaning the U.S. occupation of Iraq has lasted longer than U.S. involvement in World War II, the question is far from inconsequential.

The short answer, and the true answer, is that it is far too early to tell.

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TOMORROW MARKS the fourth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, as appropriate a moment as any to take stock. What matters most is finding the best policy now -- doing whatever can be done to help Iraq and safeguard U.S. interests in a vital region. But looking back also is essential, particularly for those of us who supported the war.

We will never know what might have happened had Saddam Hussein and his sons been left in power. Nor do we know how Iraq will evolve; history's judgment in five years or 10 may look very different than today's. But the picture today is dire, and very different from what we would have hoped or predicted four years ago. The cost in lives, injuries and dislocations, to Americans and Iraqis, has been tragic; the opportunity costs for U.S. leadership globally have been immense. So there is an obligation to reassess. What have we learned?

The easy way out is to blame President Bush, Vice President Cheney or former defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld: The decision was right, the execution wrong. There's no question that the execution was disastrous. Having rolled the dice on what everyone understood to be an enormous gamble, Mr. Bush and his team followed up with breathtaking and infuriating arrogance, ignorance and insouciance. Read Post reporter Rajiv Chandrasekaran's account of the first year of occupation, "Imperial Life in t...

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