[NYTr] Bush warns Putin over 'World War Three'

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

sent by Steven Robinson - activ-l

[It looks like George W. Bush shares the views of those ... who
view Iranian President Ahmadinejad as the devil incarnate and who
believe that war on the Iranian nation is a moral imperative. -SR]


The Telegraph (UK) - Oct 18, 2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/17/wwar117.xml

Bush warns Putin over 'World War Three'

By Matthew Moore and Adrian Blomfield

President George W Bush today warned that world leaders risk helping
bring about "World War Three" unless they do more to prevent Iran
developing nuclear weapons.

In remarks timed to coincide with Russian president Vladimir Putin's
visit to Teheran, Mr Bush said the Islamic republic must remain
isolated until it drops its nuclear ambitions.

[CAPTION - New best friends: Vladimir Putin and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
after their meeting in Teheran]

"We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy
Israel," Mr Bush told a White House press conference.

"So I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding World War
Three, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from
having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."

Mr Bush's pointed statement follows the warm words exchanged by Mr
Putin and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, at an historic
summit in Teheran this week.

After their meeting Mr Putin repeated Moscow's line that there is no
evidence to suggest Iran wants to build a nuclear bomb, and pledged to
continue helping the country develop its civil nuclear technology.

As the first Kremlin leader to visit Iran since Josef Stalin in 1943, he
also secured the vital backing of Azerbaijan in a five-nation pact by
the Caspian states to prevent the US from using the region as a staging
ground for military action against Iran.

Mr Bush added today that he had no doubts that Russia appreciated the
dangers of a nuclear Iran.

But he said that he wished to speak to Mr Putin about his meeting with
Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme Iranian leader, during which he is said
to have suggested a new proposal to end the nuclear stand-off.

"I'm looking forward to getting President Putin's read-out from the
meeting," Mr Bush said.

"The thing I'm interested in is whether or not he continues to harbour
the same concerns that I do.

"I will continue to work with Russia as well as other nations to keep a
focused effort on sending Iran a message that you will remain isolated
if you continue your nuclear weapons ambitions."

Although Russia lent its reluctant backing to two United Nations
resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran, it has been stridently opposed
to escalating the penalties after Teheran refused to stop its uranium
enrichment programme.

Among Western diplomats, opinion is divided as to whether Russia -
which has little to gain from a nuclear Iran - will eventually
acquiesce.

Emboldened by its vast energy resources and desperate to reclaim its
status as a global power, Russia could also stand to gain by seeing the
United States dragged into a new, controversial and potentially
debilitating Middle East conflict.