China backs up Iran

[G-Man]

North Korea? Lol.. Ill would have a nuke heading towards Tokyo and Soul within minutes of any US invasion. No, NK is to dangerous. Syria, is just to damn small.

Iran has missiles that can reach Israel, the gulf states, Jordan, India, Russia and possibly eastren europe and Egypt.

You really trust this administration with all your heart, don't you? lol.. Strong talks to invade Iraq didn't begin until 03, but we now know plans were being wrote up in 01.

It's not a matter of supporting them as much as it is a matter of looking at their actions. There are diplomatic moves that procede a planned war. In Iraq Bush had been talking about the regime's wrongs for over a year before it started. Even in Afghanistan you had American officials talking about the way the Taliban treats women, etc. Also, the US had been trying to pass very strong resolutions in the UN against Iraq long before the war, and while there are threats of taking the Iranian issue to the UNSC, the resolution will probably include nothing harsher than sanctions.

Yup. If only those damn insurgents would stop blowing up pipelines, than maybe I could get my gas for $1.60 again.

For a fraction of the cost of the war you could've reduced the oil price, not to mention to develop more efficient engines.

 

[Dann]

1. It was a P-3 Orion. An EP-3E (Aires II) version to be exact.

Which makes it a different plane, despite sharing the same airframe. The original P-3 was an anti-submarine platform, while the EP-3E was a dedicated electronic warfare/reconnaisance plane.

2. Well if both planes came into contact with the other then bothe sides are correct.

Yeah. No different from your typical road accident eh? "It's his fault, officer!"

On topic (I have to say something lest I be accused of threadjacking), There's no need for concern. Although ancient China and Persia have a history of alliance and cooperation (no wars ever, plenty of royal marriage arrangements), the present geo-political situation and power distribution means that China cannot offer any but diplomatic support towards Iran.

diplomacy worked. iran just agreed to suspend uranium enrichment after negotiations with the UK, france, and germany.

stronger argument against a reckless attack than i could ever give.

and china gets to keep the gas deal

Now that's encouraging news!

 

[romelus]

But is it under an inspection regime?

yeah. iran actually invited the IAEA back to verify the stoppage

On the contrary - it was the European pressure that forced Iran to accept this, knowing that otherwise they'll face a UN backed attack on their nuclear facilities.

i think iran did this to isolate the US, and pull the europeans closer. they may never had the intention of developing a nuke, but now iran-europe relations are closer.

europeans and others can also look at the US and israel and say, "see, this is how you do it, not through war". it's a very smart iranian move