Bush threatens Iran with military action

As the horrible little loser completes his farewell tour, he's handed us another reminder that he's not out of office just yet, with a threat to take military action against Iran unless Iran stops enriching uranium; which we all know Iran is entitled to do under the NNPT.

But the US President's remarks on the last leg of his "farewell tour" of Europe raised fears at Westminster that Mr Bush is determined to take action against Iran before he leaves office in January if the sanctions fail to force Tehran to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions.

Standing alongside the President after more than an hour of talks in Downing Street, Gordon Brown surprised EU council officials by announcing that the EU intends to intensify its sanctions on Iran, including freezing the billions of euros in overseas assets of the Melli Bank of Iran.

But Mr Bush left no doubt that the US is holding military action in reserve. Thanking Mr Brown for keeping together the European alliance "so that we can solve this problem diplomatically", Mr Bush said: "That is my first choice. The Iranians must understand that all options are on the table, however."

The Iranians are said to be considering a EU package offered over the weekend by EU foreign policy chief Xavier Solana, which included help developing civil nuclear power and extending economic assistance if Iran stops enriching uranium to produce weapons-grade plutonium.

The EU have previously stated that further sanctions were not on the agenda and it was quite surprising to see Brown suddenly appear so keen for further sanctions to be applied, so I can only presume that Brown is calling for sanctions as a way to run out Bush's time in office, which implies that Bush was seriously pushing for some sort of military action against Iran.

A spokesman for the Stop the War Coalition, which protested against Mr Bush's arrival at Downing Street on Sunday, said: "Bush has been travelling round Europe trying to secure support for sanctions and a possible future attack on Iran."

Or maybe Bush is simply threatening to take military action as a way to get the EU to give him the sanctions that he wants. If that's the case, then he's got what he wanted.

I've been reading Richard Reeves' biography of Nixon recently and it really is striking to look at how Nixon was prepared to meet with perceived enemies such as China and to contrast that with the way the Bush administration has behaved regarding Iran.

Just as with North Korea, Bush has insisted that Iran stop enriching uranium before talks on what Iran hopes to gain by enriching uranium can even take place. He has been asking for abject surrender before any meeting could even be deemed possible.

We've watched this game being played for the last seven years, it has rarely been successful. And now we watch as, once again, the US threatens to attack another nation unless it's will be obeyed.

It's simply tiresome.

And the effect that Bush's behaviour has had on the supposed "special relationship" between Britain and the US is highlighted in a leader column in today's Independent. Whilst noting the natural trust which exists between Britain and the US through our shared language and the fact that we have fought together in two world wars, it states:

So perhaps Mr Bush's most significant legacy, as far as Britain is concerned, will be the destruction of the instinctive trust of America and its leaders that once prevailed here. It is no exaggeration to say that Mr Bush has done more damage to relations between our two nations than any president in living memory. This rupture is not an accident of circumstance; there are no impersonal forces of history to blame. This sorry state of affairs is the consequence of the actions of a single leader and his small coterie of advisers.

Of course, one might argue that the real culprit here is Mr Blair, who signed Britain up unquestioningly to President Bush's foreign-policy goals when he was in Downing Street. Mr Blair's burden of responsibility is undeniable. But it does not rescue Mr Bush from the abysmally low regard in which he is held by the majority of Britons. And with his disregard for international law, his arrogant refusal to build alliances, this President would have inspired fierce opposition here, even if Mr Blair had not committed Britain to the Iraq misadventure and the "war on terror".

It is no exaggeration to say that the Bush presidency, certainly regarding attitudes in Europe towards the US, has been an unmitigated disaster. Obama really will have his work cut out trying to repair the damage that this arrogant little man has done to the US brand across the globe.

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Tags: Bush, Brown, Iran, EU, sanctions