Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Il mostro

Storie già viste, di "dissidenza" e "democrazia", ma l'articolo vale una
lettura attenta. Poi non sorprendiamoci se non solo nei blog neocons, ma
anche sulla cartaccia stampata italiana, appaiono stronzate non verificate
che hanno come obbiettivo la creazione del mostro iraniano.
U.S. Moves to Weaken Iran
A campaign to promote democracy and fund dissidents prompts speculation
that the administration's goal is to change the regime.
By Laura Rozen, Special to The Times
May 19, 2006
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration, shunning pressure from allies for
direct dialogue with Iran, is shifting toward a more confrontational
stance and intensifying efforts to undercut the country's ruling clerics.
U.S. officials have taken a series of steps to increase pressure on Iran,
most recently creating new offices in the State Department and Pentagon
specifically to bolster opposition to the Tehran government. In February,
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked Congress for $75 million to
supplement $10 million in funds to promote democracy, aid Iranian
dissidents and expand the Voice of America's Persian-language broadcasts
beamed across the Persian Gulf from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
"We are more out of sync now with Iran than at any time since 1979," said
a State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "I don't
think the time is right now for a dialogue. We seem to be moving closer
toward a confrontational stance, versus a compromise stance."
Although some observers note similarities in the Iran policy to the stance
on Iraq in the lead-up to the war in that nation, officials emphasize that
this time around, State Department diplomats rather than Pentagon war
planners are in charge. Still, the campaign illustrates the
administration's hostility toward Iran's rulers and raises the question of
whether its ultimate goal is to curb Iran's nuclear program or change the
regime.
"The administration is trying to make regime change through
democratization the policy, instead of making confrontation by military
means the policy," said Trita Parsi, a Middle East specialist at Johns
Hopkins University who advocates direct U.S. talks with Tehran.
The administration's efforts are taking shape on the second floor of the
State Department, where a new Office of Iranian Affairs has been charged
with leading the push to back Iranian dissidents more aggressively, boost
support to democracy broadcasters and strengthen ties with exiles.
Nearby at the Pentagon, an Iranian directorate will work with the State
Department office to undercut the government in Tehran.
Rice and other officials have publicly advocated steps to pressure the
Iranian government. But by setting up the new offices, staffs and
programs, the administration is institutionalizing its long-held antipathy
toward Iran's government.
The new offices are modest in size — the Pentagon's directorate began with
six full-time staff members. But they can draw on expertise throughout the
government, providing access to potentially hundreds of specialists.
The State Department's new Iranian Affairs office is headed by David
Denehy, a longtime democracy specialist at the International Republican
Institute, who will work under Assistant Secretary of State for Near
Eastern Affairs Elizabeth Cheney, daughter of the vice president.
Recently, Denehy and other officials went to Los Angeles for meetings with
Iranian exiles and the Persian-language media. The purpose was to inform
them of the government's plans, get feedback and — perhaps not a secondary
consideration — create a buzz within the Iranian American diaspora and its
satellite media outlets, which are beamed into Tehran.
Afterward, some Iranian Americans were left disappointed by their first
look at the new campaign and by the fact that officials had not begun
distributing money to exile groups.
"They came here — we didn't know why they came — asking: 'What do you
think about Iran? Do you have any connections to people inside?' "
recounted Zia Atabay, the founder of Los Angeles-based NITV, a
Persian-language broadcaster. "We said, 'The reason you are here is you
know we have a connection.' "
Assistance to dissidents in Iran is complicated by the Iranian regime's
demonstrated brutality toward its critics — writers, bloggers, trade union
members and human rights activists — much less anyone perceived to be
receiving U.S. aid. For that reason, the State Department does not
publicly disclose whom it funds.
Even private U.S. groups receiving money to support democracy efforts in
Iran are reluctant to discuss their programs for fear they will put their
Iranian partners in harm's way.
As much as $50 million of the funds requested will go to the Voice of
America for Persian-language broadcasts. The State Department also is
planning to send 15 foreign service officers to countries neighboring Iran
and to capitals with large Iranian exile populations to serve as "Iran
watchers."
At the Pentagon, the new Iranian directorate has been set up inside its
policy shop, which previously housed the Office of Special Plans. The
controversial intelligence analysis unit, established before the Iraq war,
championed some of the claims of Ahmad Chalabi. A number of assertions
made by the former Iraqi exile and onetime Pentagon favorite were later
discredited.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Venable declined to name the acting
director of the new Iran office and would say only that the appointee was
a "career civil servant." Among those staffing or advising the Iranian
directorate are three veterans of the Office of Special Plans: Abram N.
Shulsky, its former director; John Trigilio, a Defense Intelligence Agency
analyst; and Ladan Archin, an Iran specialist.
Even if the chief U.S. goal is arresting Iran's nuclear program — and not
overthrowing the government — the democratization effort could be a useful
part of the strategy, some experts said.
"The State Department policy of isolating the regime diplomatically is the
main policy so far," said Daniel Byman, a professor at Georgetown
University School of Foreign Service and a former CIA analyst who also
worked for the Sept. 11 commission.
"But there are all these different ways you could game this. Supporting
opposition groups could also be a way of raising the stakes, in effect
saying, 'Here's what we are going to do if you won't comply,' " he said.
The new focus also may be contradictory, Richard N. Haass, a State
Department official during President Bush's first term and now president
of the Council on Foreign Relations, said at a conference in Washington
this month. .
"We are telling Iran, 'We want regime change, but while you're still here,
we'd like to negotiate with you to stop your nuclear program,' " Haass
said. 
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 said. 
Sembrano due cose abbastanza contradittorie.Sembra che l'Irak non abbia 
insegnato nulla, se non a preoccuparsi dei costi di una nuova guerra...
Am.