9. april 2007

British bishops side with Iran over hostage taking Easter madness from two British bishops. The Roman Catholic bishop who oversees the armed forces has provoked fury by praising the Iranian leadership for its "forgiveness" and "act of mercy" in freeing the 15 British sailors and marines last week. The Bishop of the Forces, the Rt Rev Tom Burns, said that the religious beliefs of the Iranians had played a large part in their decision to release the hostages after holding them for more than two weeks. His words were echoed by a leading Anglican figure, the Right Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, who said Iran had acted within the "moral and spiritual tradition of their country" and contrasted this with Britain's "free-floating attitudes". Such naivety is almost mind boggling. Tim Collins, famous for a speech he gave just before the invasion of Iraq, puts it quite well. Col Tim Collins, who led the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, said: "It's a close call as to which organisation is in the deepest moral crisis - the Church or the Ministry of Defence." I'd have to go with the church. 4:25:08 PM    comment []  trackback []

- Iran enrichment enters 'industrial stage' There is defiance, and there is contempt: Iran has entered the "industrial stage" of nuclear fuel production, the country's atomic chief has declared. Gholamreza Aghazadeh said the Muslim state spoke of the breakthrough during a visit to a uranium enrichment facility in central Iran. [...] Mr Aghazadeh said: "Now, by entering into mass production of (uranium enrichment) centrifuges and ... launching industrial-scale enrichment, another step was taken for the development of Islamic Iran and years of efforts are bearing fruit." The UN has set a deadline in late May for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment. Otherwise there will be issued a new ultimatum. And yet another, if that doesn't do the job. PS: Those weak sanctions already in place, are mostly ignored. Iranian state television reported Monday that an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general who is banned from traveling abroad under the sanctions has visited Russia without any difficulty. Gen. Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, who is also deputy interior minister for security affairs, was quoted on the state TV Web site as saying that his six-day journey to Moscow, which ended Monday, showed "the ineffectiveness of the resolution." And the duplicity of Russia. 3:19:44 PM    comment []  trackback []

© Copyright 2007 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.05.2007; 04:52:19.