Mubarak to Cheney: Back Off Iran
For the record:
Mubarak strongly advised the United States not to attack Iran.Mubarak failed to mention that if Iran is attacked, it might trigger enough outrage among Egyptians to finally oust Mubarak from office.
[H]e warned . . . that ground troops "will have a hard time" in such a conflict.
"If an airstrike (against Iran) takes place, then Iraq will be turned to terror groups,"
He said . . . "Iran generously provides for Shiites in every country [in the Gulf region] and these people are ready to do anything if Iran is attacked."
* * *
"Listen to my advice for once," he recalled telling Cheney in English. "You have vital interests in the Gulf region, especially oil." [What are you? Stupid?]
* * *
[H]e said it was unlikely Israel would launch a nuclear attack against Iran "because Iran owns ballistic missiles that it will launch against Israel and there will be huge destruction."
Mubarak added that such an attack also would spark revenge from Iraqi groups, extremists religious parties and organizations such as the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
But, then this little exercise in caveat emptor will serve the dual purpose of telling the US he told them so, and telling the Egyptians he tried to stop the US and Israel.
posted by qrswave @ Wednesday, March 01, 2006
6 Comments:
Well since Bushco and Cheney don't listen to Congress, the UN, NATO or anyone else that they disagree with, not sure one leaders advice will do much. But at least we know and his countrymen know.
It's all talk. Mubarak is a lackey to international capital and a traitor to his countrymen.
But, he isn't stupid. He knows that you can only push the common folk so far before they snap.
Can someone bring me up to speed on Mubarak?
This is the extent of what I know. I don't follow his news closely - only when he makes international news.
If you have more info, I would be interested. Egypt is a pretty influencial player in the Middle East.
The Oxford research group has recently published a report Iran: Consequences of War.
In a similar briefing before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Oxford group predicted that Saddam Hussein's regime could easily be overwhelmed but that the country would become a hotbed of insurgency.
There's a documentary out that shows how the first gulf war started. The US war machine stopped some kilometers before Baghdad, allegedly because an uprise has started, and Hussein needed his forces to crush it. Toppling him would probably result in what we're seeing today.
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