Bachmann Campaign Denies Making Mistake About U.S. Embassy In Iran

[Political Junky]

Michele Bachmann Campaign Denies Making Mistake About U.S. Embassy In Iran

Michele Bachmann's camp is claiming that she was "fully aware" of the fact that the U.S. hasn't had a functional embassy in Iran since 1980, despite earlier comments that appeared to suggest otherwise.

Speaking to supporters in Iowa Wednesday, Bachmann talked about the recent conflict in the Iranian capital of Tehran between protesters and the British embassy, which has led to the closure of the facility and the evacuation of diplomats.

"That's exactly what I would do [if I were president]," Bachmann said. "We wouldn't have an embassy in Iran. I wouldn't allow that to be there."

But the U.S. severed diplomatic ties with Iran in 1980, following the Iran Hostage Crisis. It vacated the embassy, recalled personnel and hasn't redeployed them since.
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[Mad Scientist]

Aw isn't she cute? She has nice hair too, just like Romney and Perry!

 

[J.E.D]

Wow. That woman is an idiot.

 

[Katzndogz]

She should have said if I were PRIME MINISTER everyone with an iota of intelligence knows she was speaking of the British Embassy.

 

[Avatar4321]

Because she didn't make a mistake. Or are you honestly claiming she didn't remember the interview the day before when she asked why the UK still had an embassy in Iran since we didn't.

But rather than give her the benefit of the doubt, you guys would prefer ripping a statement out of context and laughing. and you guys would be the first ones screaming if someone did the same to Obama or Biden.

 

[Truthmatters]

She is merely immmersed in lies.

she doesnt spend much time with real facts.

 

[J.E.D]

She should have said if I were PRIME MINISTER everyone with an iota of intelligence knows she was speaking of the British Embassy.

Yeah, right. Try opening your eyes and read this again.

“That’s exactly what I would do [if I were president]. We wouldn’t have an embassy in Iran. I wouldn’t allow that to be there.”

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/us-embassy-in-iran-michele-bachmanns-oops-moment/

 

[waltky]

Granny says Obama needs to smack Ammerjabberjob upside the back o' the head an' tell him to straighten up an' fly right...

The Iran threat
December 1, 2011 - Tehran is not worried about international repercussions, and why should it be? The West has hesitated to take the steps that could cripple the regime's economic base and stymie its nuclear ambitions.

In retrospect, weakness in the face of aggression is almost impossible to understand — or forgive. Why did the West do so little while the Nazis gathered strength in the 1930s? While the Soviet Union enslaved half of Europe and fomented revolution in China in the late 1940s? And, again, while Al Qaeda gathered strength in the 1990s? Those questions will forever haunt the reputations of the responsible statesmen, from Neville Chamberlain to Bill Clinton. The answer to the riddle — why did the West slumber? — becomes easier to grasp if we think about present-day relations with Iran.

The Islamic Republic has been attacking the West, and in particular the United States, since the day of its birth. A central feature of the 1979 revolution, after all, was the storming of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The resulting hostage crisis allowed Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to consolidate power and drove out more moderate leaders. This is the direct inspiration for Tuesday's storming of the British Embassy in Tehran. If violating diplomatic immunity worked once, why not again?

Then, throughout the 1980s, Khomeini and his henchmen in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps worked to spread their brand of militant Islam. They established a beachhead in Lebanon, where Iranian operatives worked with Hezbollah proxies to bomb Western targets (including the U.S. Marine barracks, the French barracks, the U.S. Embassy and numerous Israeli targets) and to kidnap more than 100 Westerners. Iranian and Hezbollah operatives also are widely held responsible for bombing Jewish targets in Argentina in 1992 and 1994 and for the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers U.S. barracks in Saudi Arabia.

Furthermore, the 9/11 Commission report made clear that there were significant links between Iran and Al Qaeda. At a minimum, Iran has provided safe haven to Al Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden's son. There was no Iranian link to the 9/11 attacks, but after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force mounted an active campaign to kill American personnel there. Iran's lethal contribution to one of the deadliest terrorist campaigns in history included the provision of "explosively formed penetrators" capable of punching through the thickest armor, and rockets capable of surmounting the tallest blast walls. Iranians trained Shiite extremists (and probably Sunnis as well) inside and outside Iraq.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Is Obama tryin' to muscle in on Iran?...

US at risk of sliding into war with Iran: Zbignew Brzezinski
Thu, Dec 15, 2011 - The US appears headed on a collision course with Iran that could lead to a war with “disastrous” consequences, an ex-advisor to former US president Jimmy Carter has said.

“We think we are going to avoid war by moving towards compulsion,” Zbignew Brzezinski, who was national security advisor to Carter in the late 1970s, told an audience at an Atlantic Council think tank event in Washington late on Tuesday. “But the more you lean towards compulsion, the more the choice becomes war if it doesn’t work. That narrows our options in a very dramatic way,” said the former official, who remains an influential voice on US foreign policy.

Brzezinski said he was concerned about an escalation in “rhetoric,” as the US approach to Iran’s nuclear program appeared solely focused on forcing Tehran to comply with international demands, leaving Washington little flexibility. “A lot of small decisions are being made which in the meantime narrow your freedom of choice in the future,” he said. Brzezinski warned repeatedly of his concerns that the US could stumble into a war with Iran. “If we slide into a conflict with Iran, in this or that fashion, the consequences for us will be disastrous, disastrous on a massive scale and also globally at the same time,” he said.

Brzezinski said there was a need “to galvanize this country into a deeper understanding” of international challenges facing the US. “One of the most appalling things that I see is that we are more challenged than before in a more complex fashion,” he said. “Our public is driven by fear, ignorance, demagogy to a very high degree and that I think has a paralyzing effect in intelligent management,” of foreign policy, he said.

Brzezinski, who endorsed US President Barack Obama in the 2008 campaign, described what he called a “strange situation,” with Obama and the Democrats failing to assert leadership while their Republican rivals were advocating extreme or ill-informed policies. “The party in power is frozen, and the party out of power is raving mad,” he said.

US at risk of sliding into war with Iran: Zbignew Brzezinski - Taipei Times