Russian
Ultranationalist Leader Expects U.S. to Attack Iran in Late
March
Created: 07.02.2006 10:54 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 14:07 MSK, 8 hours
29 minutes ago
MosNews
A senior Russian parliamentary official and leader of the
ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Vladimir Zhirinovsky believes
that a US attack on Iran is inevitable, he has told Ekho Moskvy
radio station.
The war is inevitable because the Americans want this war, he
said. Any country claiming a leading position in the world will
need to wage wars. Otherwise it will simply not be able to retain
its leading position. The date for the strike is already known it
is the election day in Israel (March 2
. It is also known how much that war will cost,
Zhirinovsky said.
He went on to add that the publication of Prophet Muhammad cartoons
in the European press was a planned action by the U.S. whose aim is
to provoke a row between Europe and the Islamic world. It will
all end with European countries thanking the United States and
paying, and giving soldiers, he said. Russia should choose a
position of non-interference and express minimal solidarity with
the Islamic world, Zhirinovsky added.
For his part, the head of the Centre for Strategic Studies of
Religions and Modern World Politics, Maxim Shevchenko, also
believes that a U.S. attack on Iran is very likely although he sees
no preconditions for this war. Iran does not threaten anyone, is
not pointing its missiles at anyone. No Iranian leader has ever
threatened to carry out a strike against the U.S. Therefore
preparations for a war against Iran appear to be a global act of
provocation, he said.
In Shevchenkos opinion, the reason behind this barefaced
promotion of a world war lies not in a conflict between the West
and the Islamic World but in a fight for power in the world between
US and European elites. The fate of humanity will be decided
between a saber-rattling America and an allegedly democratic
Europe, Shevchenko concluded.
Whereas a senior research associate of the World Economy and
International Relations Institute, Georgy Mirsky, is confident that
there will be no war.
The Americans got so very much stuck in Afghanistan and Iraq that
they will not start a new war without definite proof of the fact
that Iran poses a threat to the world. Besides, the U.S. has
mid-term elections this year and the Republicans, who have suffered
a severe blow to their trust, will not be able to win these
elections if they drag the country into a new hazardous
escapade.
As for Israel, it can carry out a strike against Iran but only
when it knows for certain that only one step remains before an
Iranian atomic bomb is created. But that time has not come yet,
Mirsky said.
