Putin: Russia Opposes Force, Sanctions On Iran

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV (AP) – 3 hours ago

NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia — Russia's prime minister warned Friday against using force or new sanctions against Iran for its defiance over its nuclear program, saying Moscow has no evidence that Tehran is seeking nuclear arms.

Iran has refused to provide the international community with details of its nuclear activities, which the United States and other nations say are aimed at developing weapons.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said, however, that Moscow has "no grounds to doubt" Iran's claim that its nuclear program is purely peaceful, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Putin said, according to Peskov, that "any use of force, delivering any kind of strike, won't help, won't solve the problem. On the contrary, it will hurt the entire region. As for sanctions, they won't bring the desired effect."

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iBLHJGdHUD5xKiB9QYH6NlZhfTXgD9AL62R00

[David__77]

1. Putin is 100% right.

Iran has the right to develop nuclear power, just as much as the US does. The US should be making it its goal to establish diplomatic relations with Iran and stop all this "regime change" nonsense.

[Lagomorph]

2. Of course they do, Iran is a good customer.

Just the same, until Iran actually invades someone or detonates a nuke, we should just MYOB.

ETA: This whole pre-crime world police thing is getting old for everybody.

[SandWalker1984]

3. The US spends $801 billion a year for war, give or take a billion

Our government is spending $651 billion this year for the military budget, not counting the "black budget" money we're not supposed to know about.

The US is also spending approximately $150 billion a year for the 2 wars in the mid east.

But we cannot afford to give one dime of the precious budget money for health care reform to benefit Americans who are paying for those wars and helping the military related corporations exceed record profits year after year.

Military manufacturing is now 123% higher than in 2000, but the rest of manufacturing shrank 19% during that same time period.

Our government is now building military bases in Columbia, in South America, while most of the population there is protesting the move.

We really, really, really need to get into a 3rd war.

Go back in history -- the Greeks, the Egyptians, the Romans -- all built great empires that were eventually destroyed, not by enemies, but by their government's endless press to build even bigger empires. Eventually the people could no longer afford to pay the ever higher and higher taxes to support the governments and they collapsed.

Shouldn't we learn from history rather than repeat it?