AP: US May Open An Interest Section In Iran

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration is considering setting up a diplomatic outpost in Iran in what would mark a dramatic official U.S. return to the country nearly 30 years after the American embassy was overrun and the two nations severed relations.

Like the one in communist Cuba, an interest section, or de facto embassy, in the Iranian capital would give the United States a presence on the ground through which it can communicate directly with students, dissidents and others without endorsing the government, one official said.

It would process visa applications and serve as a center for American cultural outreach to locals, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.(AP)

Obtaining US visa is getting harder and harder for Iranians mainly because of the growing financial and emotional cost of extra trips to UAE or Turkey to apply for a visa and to receive it after a 3-week to 2-year FBI background check. A US interest section will save each Iranian traveller $1000 or more in travel costs, the money that could be spent with ease of mind in the US and not in Turkey or Dubai out of despair while stranded waiting for a re-permission from Washington after an 11-month old FBI background check has possibly made the original visa obsolete. I welcome this positive change in the US-Iran relationship.

AP: Iran a Threat in Iraq

Stephen Hadley, Bush's national security adviser is a true follower of Condi Rice v1.0:

WASHINGTON (AP) — With al-Qaida's influence diminishing in Iraq, U.S. troops have much work to do in stemming Iranian support for militias, President Bush's national security adviser said Sunday.

"Iran is very active in the southern part of Iraq. They are training Iraqis in Iran who come into Iraq and attack our forces, Iraqi forces, Iraqi civilians. There are movements of equipment. There's movements of funds," Stephen Hadley said. "So we have illegal militia in the southern part of the country that really are acting as criminal elements that are pressing the people down there." (read more)

I have another theory: I think Iran is training Osama Bin Ladin and providing him with food and milk shake while the Saudi's are planning to bomb all mosques in Shiraz. At the same time Kim Jong-il is secretly praying with Ahmadinejad every Friday and gets a lollipop to suck on as the mullahs in Iran are putting some yellow cake in a Russian oven, which is making the feet of our troops in Germany yellow and putting American lives in danger.

Mr. Hadley, you and the people around you have screwed up. When you go to the other side of the globe in someone's backyard, expect them to re-act. Grow up and blame yourself instead.

Video: Democracy Now: Ahmadinejad, Iran, and Columbia controversary

These videos are the best I've seen so far about the reality with Iran, Israel, the US, Ahmadinejad, and Columbia University talk. Take some time and watch the entire series. I think it's really worth it.

Part 1:


Continue watching: part 2 | part 3 | part 4

Video: NBC News Today Show Broadcast From Tehran