While we are getting indications that Defense Secretary Gates is cutting back on so called "old weapons systems", like the f-22 fighter jet that was slated to replace the aging F-18, and cutting back on the production of a new nuclear aircraft carrier.
The State Department has reported that Iran's has charged that a US journalist is a spy and will be tried as such! This is disturbing news. There is no action even being considered to force Iran to release this lady who has been held in jail since January,2009!
Ms.Saberi, an Iranian/American, has lived in Iran for six years, reporting for BBC and other networks.
Hillary Clinton, Secretary of state, said on Wednesday that the US was "deeply concerned" about the news and called for Roxana Saberi's immediate release.
"We are deeply concerned by the news that we're hearing," Clinton said. "We wish for her speedy release and return to her family. Note, she did not say "we demand her immediate release", she said "we wish"!
Clinton said that the US, which is embroiled in a long-running dispute with Iran over that country's nuclear program, had asked Swiss diplomats in Tehran for the "most accurate, up-to-date information" on Saberi.But she failed to report that she and the Obama administration have agreed to meet along with five other nations who have disputes with the USA, to discuss with Iran their nuclear program! The operative word is "discuss"!
alJazeer.com has this report on their web pages today:
"The US government has said it is to regularly(?) join in talks between Iran and other states over the Islamic republic's nuclear programme.
Washington will participate in the talks, held between Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and Iran, the US state department said on Wednesday, marking a shift from the policies of George Bush, the previous US president.
"We believe that pursuing very careful engagement on a range of issues that affect our interests and the interests of the world with Iran makes sense," said Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state.
The other members of the "P5+1" group said they welcomed the US decision to join the talks.
The group had announced earlier that it would invite Iran to attend a new session aimed at breaking a deadlock in the talks"
It appears to me that the tack and modus operandi of the Obama administration is accommodation not action, as was the mast head of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush
Apparently Obama thinks he can talk those who hate us into doing what is best for us.
Or does he really care? Barack Obama, the US president,and commander in chief of the armed forces, has signalled a willingness for US officials to hold talks with Iran and other powers(China,Russia and France) with poor relations with the US.
In March, Obama recorded a video addressed to the Iranian people in which he appealed for better relations between the two nations, which have not had diplomatic ties since 1979.Better relations with no mention of the nuclear program cannot exist!
It would seem that the message the World is getting from the White House is one of accomidation not action. This brings to mind a quote from Winston Churchill. "Danger - if you meet it promptly and without flinching - you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!...Winston Churchill
In another intersting develeopment, Nato's incoming chief has said that he would carefully consider religious sensibilities in his new post, as he seeks to allay Muslim concerns over his appointment.
Speaking in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Monday, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Denmark's former prime minister, called for a balance between free speech and a respect for religion. What this sounds like is that freedom of speech will be curtailed if a person says or writes anything disparaging about Muslims!
Turkey had threatened to veto his appointment due to his support for a Danish newspaper after its decision to print cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2006 prompted protests across the Muslim world.
The dispute was resolved after Barack Obama, the US president, guaranteed that Turkish commanders would be present at the Nato's command and that a Turk would be appointed as one of Rasmussen's deputies. You did not read this or hear it on TV did you?
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