David Wurmser: "If we start shooting, we must be prepared to fire the last shot."

[laststeamtrain]

US 'must break Iran and Syria regimes'

By Toby Harnden in Washington
Last Updated: 2:09am BST 05/10/2007

America should seize every opportunity to force regime change in Syria and Iran, a former senior adviser to the White House has urged.

"We need to do everything possible to destabilise the Syrian regime and exploit every single moment they strategically overstep," said David Wurmser, who recently resigned after four years as Vice President Dick Cheney's Middle East adviser.

"That would include the willingness to escalate as far as we need to go to topple the regime if necessary." He said that an end to Baathist rule in Damascus could trigger a domino effect that would then bring down the Teheran regime.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, the first since he left government, he argued that the United States had to be prepared to attack both Syria and Iran to prevent the spread of Islamic fundamentalism and nuclear proliferation in the Middle East that could result in a much wider war.

Mr Wurmser, 46, a leading neo-conservative who has played a pivotal role in the Bush administration since the September 11th attacks, said that diplomacy would fail to stop Iran becoming a nuclear power. Overthrowing Teheran's theocratic regime should therefore be a top US priority.

<snip>

Although Mr Wurmser's recommendations have not yet become US policy, his hard-line stances on regime change in Iran and Syria are understood to have formed the basis of policy documents approved by Mr Cheney, an uncompromising hawk who is deeply sceptical about the effectiveness of diplomatic pressure on Teheran.

<snip>

Limited strikes against Iranian nuclear targets would be useless, Mr Wurmser said. "Only if what we do is placed in the framework of a fundamental assault on the survival of the regime will it have a pick-up among ordinary Iranians.

"If we start shooting, we must be prepared to fire the last shot. Don't shoot a bear if you're not going to kill it."

<more>

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/05/wiran105.xml

[TomClash]

1. Why is it in the American national interest to seek regime change in Syria?

And what gives the US the right to do so?

[tech3149]

2. Just Nucking Futs!

I can't follow the logic of these idiots that see such a great threat from a pissant little country that can barely function. Were they scared as infants by some relative doing the "oooga booga" in their face? What a bunch of scared-assed wussies!

[denverbill]

3. We've faced down nuclear-armed Russia for 50 years.

If Iran gets nukes, what's the big deal? All it does is prevent us from invading them, since no nuclear armed country has ever been invaded. Iran would be nuts to nuke the US or Israel, cause they would be utterly annihilated.

[Diclotican]

6. denverbill

Or shal we say it. No Nuclear Nation in the world have USED THE NUCLEAR BOMB after 1945?.. Wel US have, but that dosent count I guess...

Diclotican

Sorry my bad engelish, not my native language

[populistdriven]

4. Know thy enemy, Excerpt from the Wiki entry on Wurmser

On September 4, 2004, the Washington Post reported that FBI counterintelligence investigators had questioned Wurmser, along with Feith, Harold Rhode, and Paul Wolfowitz about the passing of classified information to Ahmad Chalabi and/or the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. <4>

In September 2007, Newsweek and Reuters reported that "David Wurmser told a small group several months ago that Cheney was considering asking Israel to strike the Iranian nuclear site at Natanz."<5><6> Meyrav Wurmser, Wurmser's wife, "told Newsweek the claims were untrue."<5>

Wurmser's wife, Dr. Meyrav Wurmser, co-founded the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

[Demeter]

5. And Here I Thought It Was The BFEE We Were Going After!

Wouldn't that make a LOT more sense, anyway?