AFP: Giuliani tops poll of most popular US politicians

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani is the most popular politician in the United States, according to a national poll this week testing support for potential candidates in the 2008 presidential race.

The survey of some 1,900 voters by the Quinnipiac Polling Institute asked respondents to rate several nationally known politicians on a scale from 0 to 100, with higher numbers reflecting higher regard.

Giuliani topped the list, with an average score of 63.5 percent, followed by Democratic Senator Barack Obama, seen as one of his party’s rising stars. Obama scored 59.9.

In third place was maverick veteran Republican US Senator John McCain at 59.7, followed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with a score of 57.1.

Former US President Bill Clinton rounded out the top five with a score of 56.1 in the poll by the Hamden Connecticut-based political institute.

His wife, US Senator Hillary Clinton, seen as the Democrats’ top bet to run for the White House in 2008, came in eighth place, with a score of 50.4.

The Quinnipiac University Poll is here.

The independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll asked voters to rate leaders from 0 to 100 on a “feeling thermometer,” with the highest numbers reflecting the warmest feelings. The top 10 mean scores are:

(1)..Rudolph Giuliani…………………….63.5

(2) Barack Obama………………………..59.9

(3) John McCain…………………………59.7

(4) Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice……57.1

(5) President Bill Clinton……………….56.1

(6) Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards..50.8

(7) Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner………50.7

(8) New York Sen. Hillary Clinton…………50.4

(9) Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold………….49

(10) Virginia Sen. George Allen……………48.6

“Not only do Mayor Giuliani and Sen. McCain get the best ratings, but their numbers are uniform across the country. There is less than a 1 percent difference in their ratings between the red, blue and purple states.”

“Interestingly, Giuliani gets a higher rating from self-identified white evangelical voters who either don’t know or don’t care that he favors abortion and gay rights.”

Flap’s 2008 Presidential Election prediction:

Republican Nominees:

President: Rudy Giuliani

Vice President: George Allen

Democrat Nominees:

President: Hillary Clinton

Vice President: Bill Richardson

Stay tuned……….

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Technorati Tags: RudyGiuliani, GeorgeAllen, HillaryClinton, BillClinton, BillRichardson, JohnMcCain, , BarackObama

Hassan Rowhani

The Sydney Morning Herald: Iranian negotiator boasts of fooling Europeans

THE man who for two years led Iran’s nuclear negotiations has laid out in unprecedented detail how the regime took advantage of talks with Britain, France and Germany to forge ahead with its secret atomic program.

In a speech to a closed meeting of leading Islamic clerics and academics, Hassan Rowhani, who headed talks with the so-called EU3 until last year, revealed how Tehran played for time and tried to dupe the West after its secret nuclear program was uncovered by the Iranian opposition in 2002.

He boasted that while talks were taking place in Tehran, Iran was able to complete the installation of equipment for conversion of yellowcake – a key stage in the nuclear fuel process – at its Isfahan plant while convincing European diplomats that nothing was afoot.

“From the outset, the Americans kept telling the Europeans, ‘The Iranians are lying and deceiving you and they have not told you everything’. The Europeans used to respond, ‘We trust them’,” he said.

Well, now they haven’t fooled the Americans and Israelis, have they? And why boast of these accomplishments?

In his address to the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution, Mr Rowhani appears to have been seeking to rebut criticism from hardliners that he gave too much ground in talks with the Europeans. The contents of the speech were published in a regime journal that circulates among the ruling elite.

He told his audience: “When we were negotiating with the Europeans in Tehran we were still installing some of the equipment at the Isfahan site … In reality, by creating a tame situation, we could finish Isfahan.”

Perhaps or have they already completed the work?

The President is growing weary of the BIG STALL from Iran and……..the ball is in his court.

Stay tuned…..

Previous:

Iran Nuclear Watch: Vice President Cheney – “Iran Faces Meaningful Consequences”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Europeans Capitulating for Iran Uranium Enrichment

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Increasing Development of Missles Capable of Delivering a Nuclear Warhead

Iran Nuclear Watch: IAEA Optimistic

Iran Nuclear Watch: United States WARNS Iran of “Painful Consequences”

Iran Nuclear Watch: The Final Proposal from Iran

Iran Nuclear Watch: Condoleezza Rice – United Nations Security Council Sanctions UNLIKELY

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran and European Union – NO Agreement

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran – “The Process of Uranium Enrichment is the Sovereign Right of Any Country”

Iran Nuclear Watch: IAEA Report – “Iran DETERMINED to Expand Uranium Enrichment”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – United States and Russia Should Give up Their Nuclear Weapons

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran and Russia Have Reached a “BASIC” Agreement on Uranium Enrichment

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran WILL Retaliate Against Israel Nuclear Facility

Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia – “IAEA Can Still Solve Iran Nuclear FLAP”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran President Ahmadinejad Blames United States and Israel for Iraqi Shiite Dome Destruction

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Foreign Minister Mottaki – “Returning to the Suspension of our Nuclear Activities Is Not on Our Agenda,”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Would Become Top Supplier of Oil to China

Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia Hosts Iranians to Discuss Uranium Enrichment

Iran Nuclear Watch: Suicide Bombers Warn United States and Britain

Iran Nuclear Watch: Jacques Chirac Says France’s Stance on Iran Unchanged

Iran Nuclear Watch: France Accuses Iran of Clandestine Military Nuclear Activity

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran’s Ambassador to Portugal Questions Holocaust

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran OWNS Russia and China Vetoes on United Nations Security Council

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Begins Small Scale Uranium Enrichment While Russia and France Oppose

Iran Nuclear Watch: Talks with Russia Postponed

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Reaffirms Commitment to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty

Iran Nuclear Watch: United States Preparing Military Strikes Against Iran Nucear Sites

Iran Nuclear Watch: Natanz Uranium Processing Plant has Restarted

Iran Nuclear Watch: “MYTH” of the Holcaust Redux

Iran Watch: Iran Paper Holds Holocaust Cartoons Contest

Iran Watch: Iran Paper Plans Holocaust Cartoons

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Tells IAEA to Remove Surveillance Cameras and Seals From Nuclear Sites

Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia Warns Against Iran Conflict

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Ends Cooperation With IAEA and Resumes Uranium Enrichment

Iran Nuclear Watch: IAEA Reports Iran to United Nations Security Council

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Threatens Full-Scale Enrichment Work

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Says BACK OFF Or…

Iran Nuclear Watch: Bush – United States Will Defend Israel Against Iran

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Will Resist “Bully Nations”

Iran Watch: Bush: Iran ‘Held Hostage’ by Clerical Elite

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Documents Point to Nuclear Warheads

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Threatens End of Diplomacy

Iran Nuclear Watch: Permanent Five Say IAEA Must Report Iran to U.N. Security Council

The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.

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Technorati Tags: Iran, Russia, China, SergeiLavrov, UnitedNations, UnitedNationsSecurityCouncil, ZhouWenzhong, NicholasBurns, EuropeanUnion, MahmoudAhmadinejad, ManouchehrMottaki, JacquesChirac, Chirac, France, Iran, Nuclearweapons, nuclear, AbdulQadeerKhan, AliLarijani, CondoleezzaRice, JohnBolton, RezaVaidi, GholamHosseinMohseniEjehei, SergeiKiriyenko

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, seen here in February 2006, accused Iran of sending Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces into Iraq, and warned Tehran it was “an error in judgement.”

AFP: Iranian revolutionary guard infiltrating Iraq: Rumsfeld

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accused Iran of sending Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces into Iraq, and warned Tehran it was “an error in judgement.”

“They are currently putting people into Iraq to do things that are harmful to the future of Iraq, and we know it, and it is something that they will look back on as having been an error in judgement,” he told reporters here.

Pressed to elaborate, Rumsfeld said the Iranians were putting “Quds force-type people,” or Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces, into Iraq.

“I don’t think we could consider them religious pilgrims,” Rumsfeld said.

And why would Iran do this?

Let me think………

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Technorati Tags: Iran, Iraq, IranRevolutionaryGuard, DonaldRumsfeld

Sports Illustrated: Bonds exposed

Shadows details superstar slugger’s steroid use

READ IT ALL…..

Beginning in 1998 with injections in his buttocks of Winstrol, a powerful steroid, Barry Bonds took a wide array of performance-enhancing drugs over at least five seasons in a massive doping regimen that grew more sophisticated as the years went on, according to Game of Shadows, a book written by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters at the forefront of reporting on the BALCO steroid distribution scandal.

The Major League Baseball Commissioner, Bud Selig, must BAN Bonds from baseball and strip him of any and all records.

For the integrity of the game……..

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Technorati Tags: BarryBonds, MLB, BudSelig, MajorLeagueBaseball, GameofShadows, BALCO, steroids, SportsIllustrated

*****Scroll Down for Updates*****

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney speaks at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Conference in Washington, March 7, 2006. Iran will not be allowed to have nuclear weapons and faces ‘meaningful consequences’ if it persists in defying the international community, Cheney said at the Pro-Israel lobbying group on Tuesday.

Reuters: Iran faces consequences in nuclear dispute: Cheney

Iran will not be allowed to have nuclear weapons and faces “meaningful consequences” if it persists in defying the international community, Vice President Dick Cheney said on Tuesday.

Cheney, speaking to the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, also reaffirmed that the United States was keeping all options on the table — including military force — in its determination to prevent Iran from developing nuclear arms.

“The Iranian regime needs to know that if it stays on its present course the international community is prepared to impose meaningful consequences,” Cheney said.

Cheney spoke as the 35-nation International Atomic Energy Agency governing board was meeting in Vienna to decide its next steps on Iran.

“For our part, the United States is keeping all options on the table. … We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Cheney said.

The United States and Israel KNOW that the ball is in their court and that the European Union, Russia and China will be of LITTLE help in stopping Iran’s desire for nuclear weapons.

U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said late on Monday that Washington would seek to have European allies and others, possibly including Russia and China, join it in imposing travel and financial sanctions on Iran if it refused to halt nuclear uranium enrichment.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had dinner on Monday night with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and was to hold further meetings on Tuesday.

All of this is a United States State Department sponsored and a measured response to curry favor with the international community.

However, make NO MISTAKE the United States and Israel WILL NOT ALLOW Iran to continue with their nuclear program.

Stay tuned…..

Update #1

ASSociated Press: Iran Offers to Suspend Uranium Enrichment

Iran is offering to suspend full-scale uranium enrichment for up to two years, a diplomat said Tuesday. But the move was unlikely to deflect pending U.N. Security Council action over the activity, which can be used to make nuclear arms.

YAWN…….for up to Two years. The United States position is NO uranium enrichment PERIOD.

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said any enrichment of nuclear fuel on Iranian territory was unacceptable, and Russia appeared to close ranks with the United States over the issue.

Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency also said his country was not prepared to freeze small-scale enrichment, a key demand of Moscow, Washington and the European Union, along with many other nations.

“We’ve spent a lot on this,” said the envoy, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, outside a 35-nation IAEA board meeting that is preparing to focus on Iran.

Rice delivered the tough message — but shied away from warning of immediate U.N. sanctions — after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

“We will see what is necessary to do in the Security Council,” Rice said, adding that there was still time for Iran to change its ways.

Iran stalls to the last minute.

Good Grief………..

Previous:

Iran Nuclear Watch: Europeans Capitulating for Iran Uranium Enrichment

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Increasing Development of Missles Capable of Delivering a Nuclear Warhead

Iran Nuclear Watch: IAEA Optimistic

Iran Nuclear Watch: United States WARNS Iran of “Painful Consequences”

Iran Nuclear Watch: The Final Proposal from Iran

Iran Nuclear Watch: Condoleezza Rice – United Nations Security Council Sanctions UNLIKELY

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran and European Union – NO Agreement

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran – “The Process of Uranium Enrichment is the Sovereign Right of Any Country”

Iran Nuclear Watch: IAEA Report – “Iran DETERMINED to Expand Uranium Enrichment”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – United States and Russia Should Give up Their Nuclear Weapons

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran and Russia Have Reached a “BASIC” Agreement on Uranium Enrichment

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran WILL Retaliate Against Israel Nuclear Facility

Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia – “IAEA Can Still Solve Iran Nuclear FLAP”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran President Ahmadinejad Blames United States and Israel for Iraqi Shiite Dome Destruction

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Foreign Minister Mottaki – “Returning to the Suspension of our Nuclear Activities Is Not on Our Agenda,”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Would Become Top Supplier of Oil to China

Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia Hosts Iranians to Discuss Uranium Enrichment

Iran Nuclear Watch: Suicide Bombers Warn United States and Britain

Iran Nuclear Watch: Jacques Chirac Says France’s Stance on Iran Unchanged

Iran Nuclear Watch: France Accuses Iran of Clandestine Military Nuclear Activity

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran’s Ambassador to Portugal Questions Holocaust

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran OWNS Russia and China Vetoes on United Nations Security Council

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Begins Small Scale Uranium Enrichment While Russia and France Oppose

Iran Nuclear Watch: Talks with Russia Postponed

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Reaffirms Commitment to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty

Iran Nuclear Watch: United States Preparing Military Strikes Against Iran Nucear Sites

Iran Nuclear Watch: Natanz Uranium Processing Plant has Restarted

Iran Nuclear Watch: “MYTH” of the Holcaust Redux

Iran Watch: Iran Paper Holds Holocaust Cartoons Contest

Iran Watch: Iran Paper Plans Holocaust Cartoons

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Tells IAEA to Remove Surveillance Cameras and Seals From Nuclear Sites

Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia Warns Against Iran Conflict

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Ends Cooperation With IAEA and Resumes Uranium Enrichment

Iran Nuclear Watch: IAEA Reports Iran to United Nations Security Council

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Threatens Full-Scale Enrichment Work

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Says BACK OFF Or…

Iran Nuclear Watch: Bush – United States Will Defend Israel Against Iran

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Will Resist “Bully Nations”

Iran Watch: Bush: Iran ‘Held Hostage’ by Clerical Elite

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Documents Point to Nuclear Warheads

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Threatens End of Diplomacy

Iran Nuclear Watch: Permanent Five Say IAEA Must Report Iran to U.N. Security Council

The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.

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Technorati Tags: Iran, Russia, China, SergeiLavrov, UnitedNations, UnitedNationsSecurityCouncil, ZhouWenzhong, NicholasBurns, EuropeanUnion, MahmoudAhmadinejad, ManouchehrMottaki, JacquesChirac, Chirac, France, Iran, Nuclearweapons, nuclear, AbdulQadeerKhan, AliLarijani, CondoleezzaRice, JohnBolton, RezaVaidi, GholamHosseinMohseniEjehei, SergeiKiriyenko

IAEA’s Director General Mohamed ElBaradei waits for the start of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) 35-nation board meeting on the escalating nuclear standoff with Iran, on Monday, March 6, 2006, at Vienna’s International Center.

ASSociated Press: IAEA Hopes for Deal on Iran Nuke Program

Strong U.S. opposition appeared close to torpedoing a Russian initiative that would leave Iran with a small-scale uranium enrichment program, diplomats said Tuesday as Moscow and Washington struggled to find common ground on what to do about Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

One of the diplomats, who spoke outside a 35-nation IAEA board meeting, said Germany also remained open to the proposal, which would allow the Iranians to run 20 uranium-enriching centrifuges domestically while ceding control of large-scale enrichment to Moscow, on Russian soil.

As the board meeting entered its second day, German representatives were meeting with counterparts from France and Britain — which both back the Americans in opposing the plan — to try to re-establish a common European stance on enrichment, said the diplomats, who demanded anonymity in exchange for divulging confidential information.

A European official in Vienna for the meeting said that ultimately the plan would fail if the Americans opposed it.

The dispute, which surfaced in the last few days, was driving a wedge into joint international efforts to wean Iran of all enrichment activity by moving it to Russia, thereby reducing its potential for misuse by Tehran.

No surprise here.

The Europeans have NO WILL or INTESTINAL FORTITUDE to stop Iran’s nuclear program.

They never have and never will and that is why ALL of these IAEA and United Nations permutations/negotiations have been a WASTE OF TIME.

The original Russian plan that surfaced last year and is backed by the Americans and the
European Union, would have stripped the Iranians of all enrichment potential. But the proposal carried to Washington Monday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would allow the Iranians a still-to-be-defined “research and development” capacity — including the 20 centrifuges.

The diplomats said IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei backed the plan. On Monday, he told reporters a deal on Iran’s suspect nuclear program could be only a few days away, making
U.N. Security Council action unneeded. Though he did not elaborate, his optimism appeared linked to the Russian proposal on limited enrichment

“I am still very much hopeful that in the next week an agreement could be reached,” ElBaradei said.

China’s foreign minister also appealed for more negotiations, suggesting no need for Security Council involvement.

“Iran should cooperate closely with the IAEA to settle the nuclear dispute,” Li said.

More appeasement and cover for Russia and/or China to veto sanctions in the United Nations Security Council.

And the European Union will be NO help.

The ball is in the United States and Israel’s court.

Stay tuned……

Previous:


Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Increasing Development of Missles Capable of Delivering a Nuclear Warhead

Iran Nuclear Watch: IAEA Optimistic

Iran Nuclear Watch: United States WARNS Iran of “Painful Consequences”

Iran Nuclear Watch: The Final Proposal from Iran

Iran Nuclear Watch: Condoleezza Rice – United Nations Security Council Sanctions UNLIKELY

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran and European Union – NO Agreement

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran – “The Process of Uranium Enrichment is the Sovereign Right of Any Country”

Iran Nuclear Watch: IAEA Report – “Iran DETERMINED to Expand Uranium Enrichment”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – United States and Russia Should Give up Their Nuclear Weapons

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran and Russia Have Reached a “BASIC” Agreement on Uranium Enrichment

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran WILL Retaliate Against Israel Nuclear Facility

Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia – “IAEA Can Still Solve Iran Nuclear FLAP”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran President Ahmadinejad Blames United States and Israel for Iraqi Shiite Dome Destruction

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Foreign Minister Mottaki – “Returning to the Suspension of our Nuclear Activities Is Not on Our Agenda,”

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Would Become Top Supplier of Oil to China

Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia Hosts Iranians to Discuss Uranium Enrichment

Iran Nuclear Watch: Suicide Bombers Warn United States and Britain

Iran Nuclear Watch: Jacques Chirac Says France’s Stance on Iran Unchanged

Iran Nuclear Watch: France Accuses Iran of Clandestine Military Nuclear Activity

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran’s Ambassador to Portugal Questions Holocaust

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran OWNS Russia and China Vetoes on United Nations Security Council

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Begins Small Scale Uranium Enrichment While Russia and France Oppose

Iran Nuclear Watch: Talks with Russia Postponed

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Reaffirms Commitment to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty

Iran Nuclear Watch: United States Preparing Military Strikes Against Iran Nucear Sites

Iran Nuclear Watch: Natanz Uranium Processing Plant has Restarted

Iran Nuclear Watch: “MYTH” of the Holcaust Redux

Iran Watch: Iran Paper Holds Holocaust Cartoons Contest

Iran Watch: Iran Paper Plans Holocaust Cartoons

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Tells IAEA to Remove Surveillance Cameras and Seals From Nuclear Sites

Iran Nuclear Watch: Russia Warns Against Iran Conflict

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Ends Cooperation With IAEA and Resumes Uranium Enrichment

Iran Nuclear Watch: IAEA Reports Iran to United Nations Security Council

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Threatens Full-Scale Enrichment Work

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Says BACK OFF Or…

Iran Nuclear Watch: Bush – United States Will Defend Israel Against Iran

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Will Resist “Bully Nations”

Iran Watch: Bush: Iran ‘Held Hostage’ by Clerical Elite

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Documents Point to Nuclear Warheads

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Threatens End of Diplomacy

Iran Nuclear Watch: Permanent Five Say IAEA Must Report Iran to U.N. Security Council

The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.

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Technorati Tags: Iran, Russia, China, SergeiLavrov, UnitedNations, UnitedNationsSecurityCouncil, ZhouWenzhong, NicholasBurns, EuropeanUnion, MahmoudAhmadinejad, ManouchehrMottaki, JacquesChirac, Chirac, France, Iran, Nuclearweapons, nuclear, AbdulQadeerKhan, AliLarijani, CondoleezzaRice, JohnBolton, RezaVaidi, GholamHosseinMohseniEjehei, SergeiKiriyenko

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Technorati Tags: DayByDay, ChrisMuir, CindySheehan, JackMurtha, JohnMurtha