A Daily Briefing on Iran: Thursday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 12.22.2005:

Underreported US Senate Resolution on Iran reveals a lack of conviction

Last Friday, the day after millions of Iraqi's voted in an historic election, the US Senate passed a resolution condemning the recent alarming statements by Iran's President. Surprisingly, the mainstream media ignored the resolution while the international press has been avidly covering similar resolutions adopted by countries around the world. Unfortunately, the story behind the resolution revealed a disturbing lack of conviction by some in the US Senate.

The resolution, authored by US Rick Santorum, was in his words "a mild condemnation" version of the resolution that he had also authored and which had obtained bi-partisan support hours earlier- which was then objected to by Senate Democrats. ...

A good resolution but a substantially weaker one. So what happened?...

At the last moment, US Senate Democrats demanded that Senator Santorum remove US support for a referendum. ... But more surprising is that Senator Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee had not cosponsored either resolution.

It has been reported that a Majority staffer with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee objected to condemning the entire government of Iran and the call for a referendum with international observers. He reportedly said that we should be condemning President Ahmadinejad (vs. the entire government) and that "Iran just had elections and they chose the current leader." Such statements show a complete lack of understanding of the Iranian government. Sadly it looks like Chairman Lugar is the problem. READ MORE

Blogosphere Alert! We need to act now. Please post this report on your blog and ask your readers to call or write Senator Lugar's office and demand hearings on The Iran Freedom and Support Act S. 333.

Here are a few other news items you may have missed.

Reuters reported that European powers on Wednesday reopened talks with Iran over concerns that it is secretly trying to make atomic bombs and said the dialogue would resume in January, halting a spiral into confrontation.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Turkey's ambassador warns the US about Iran's nukes.
SMCCDI reported on three more public executions carried in Iran.
Simon Henderson, The Washington Institute published a report: The Elephant in the Gulf: Arab States and Iran's Nuclear Program.
ABC News reported that US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley went on the offensive over Iran in a speech this week.
Asia Times Online reported Rafsanjani said, "We see now that the United States has been defeated [in Iraq]."
John Hughes, Christian Science Monitor reported that the west's patience is wearing thin with Iran's hard line.
The Wall Street Journal reported that now that Ahmadinejad has called for banning western music in Iran, we should remember that as Vaclav Havel once said, music can also be a tool of liberation.
Zeev Maoz, Ha'aretz suggested a different nuclear policy in Israel.
Christian Today reported that a U.S. evangelist who has been declared an “enemy of the state” by Iran has unveiled plans to broadcast special Christmas television programmes into Iran.
Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor published a report on Shia Islam's version of "Waiting for the Rapture in Iran."
The Associated Press reported that the families of three Americans killed in Palestinian suicide bombings have accused the Italian government of siding with Iran in a legal battle to collect damages from the Islamic regime's assets in Italy.
NewsMax reported that the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) thanks U.S. Senator Rick Santorum for his resolution on Iran which condemned the recent disparaging and destructive statements made toward Israel.
John Batchelor interviewed DoctorZin regarding the attempted assassination of Ahmadinejad. Audio clip provided.
And finally, MEMRI published excerpts from a recent Iranian TV broadcast where Iranian "experts" denied of the existence of crematoria at Auschwitz, and a discussion of how Jewish rabbis in Europe used to kill children and take their blood for use during the Passover holiday. Video.