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What about the investigations you are dealing with?
I'm dealing with them, and, unfortunately, as a matter of law, I can't talk about it. It's unpleasant. It's mostly referring to campaign contributions.

Have you thought of saying, 'Okay, I'll just resign' . . .
I don't really see that this will bring any better outcome for the country at this point. Not that a person is indispensable or irreplaceable. . . . But given the circumstances right now, I think it will not do good that I step down at this point. I have to think about it. I have to think about the possible ramifications of an early retirement. I was not born to be prime minister, and I'm not going to stay here until the end of my life. I'm too young for that. Right now, I think it will be a mistake [to leave], and I have a job to accomplish, a vision to realize. This is the great vision of peace which I think is possible this time more than ever.

What about Iran? You told me over a year ago that tolerating a nuclear weapon was not possible.
Yes, Israel will not tolerate a nuclear weapon in the hands of people who say openly, explicitly and publicly that they want to wipe Israel off the map. Why should we?

If you're not prepared to live with it, is Israel capable [of striking Iran's nuclear facilities]?
I don't want to go into this issue every time I'm asked, 'Do you have plans?' The United States is the leader of the international effort to stop the Iranians from becoming nuclear. The European countries, the Russians, the Chinese, the Japanese—all the most powerful nations of the world are joined together in an effort to stop the nuclearization of Iran. I hope they will be successful.

But didn't Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad just say that he has added 6,000 more centrifuges to his program . . . got them up and running?
We have to listen to him, but that doesn't mean that we have to believe everything he says.

It's widely believed in the U.S. that after the latest National Intelligence Estimate [on Iran, which concluded with 'high confidence' that Iran had shelved its nuclear weapons program in 2003], the U.S. will not act.
We have a different opinion about [the Iranian nuclear program] from the NIE, and we haven't changed our attitude. The Israeli information is available for our friends to examine and to come to other conclusions.

You mean that you think [Iran's nuclear program] is closer to being usable?
The main point of the NIE, the estimate, was that there is no evidence that the Iranians restarted their [covert] military program since it was closed in 2003. . . . Based on the information we have, the military program continues and has never been stopped. If this program continues, at some point they will be in possession of a nuclear weapon.

There have been recent revelations in Congress about the North Korean-built Syrian nuclear reactor bombed by Israel last September. The director of the CIA actually said that the Syrian reactor would have had enough plutonium to make two bombs. What do you say?
I heard about the briefing that [CIA Director Michael] Hayden gave Congress. But I didn't talk about it before the briefing, and I won't talk about [it] now.

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Member Comments

  • Posted By: Nins @ 05/12/2008 3:11:38 PM



    ThreeNewCandidates, I agree with you when you say that Carter was a good man with high hopes. But I can't agree when you say that he "accomplished nothing" while he was in office. You are 50 years old, so surely you remember how Carter brought peace to the Middle East? And you must remember how very threatening that was to certain factions like the religious right in Iran, who had just overthrown the Shah. They wanted the drama to continue (and they had some legitimate grievances against the US, since we had been controlling Iran through the Shah) so they took American hostages to sabotage the peace, and OPEC jacked the price of oil and turned down the US oil supply for a while, to scare Americans enough not to re-elect Carter. Since you are 50, you must remember standing in line for hours during the 70s, waiting to buy gasoline. Trust me, it will only get worse in the future as the oil supply actually runs out. The party is over, people.

    When will America wake up and rid ourselves of our dependancy on oil?

    If we want to remain the "land of the free" we better start investing in renewable energy, NOW.

    You ask, who would vote for Obama instead of McCain?

    The answer: ANYONE WHO WANTS A STRONG AMERICA, FREE OF OIL DEPENDENCY.

  • Posted By: cadercader @ 05/12/2008 12:11:55 PM

    The sixty-years' -celebration.


    What is there to celebrate ??
    the 6 wars ??
    the 4 million refugees ??
    the 3 million occupied ??
    the 1,5 million abducted-hostages ??
    the 254 km of an Apartheid- Wall ??
    the 562 humiliation- check-points ??
    the 20.000 Political-prisoners ??
    468.831 new settlers on an occupied land ??

    the disappearance of Palestine ??

    the denial of any human-rights ,
    any national-rights
    any historical-rights ,
    any political-rights to the Palestinians ??

    the import of 4 million impostors
    into a stolen land, that was never theirs ??

    60 years of misery ,
    of deprivation and or ethnic-cleansing ??

    what are they celebrating ??
    the event of a one United Nation Resolution
    which was not anyhow binding , which allowed them to stay
    or
    the refusal of about 40 other resolutions
    which were indeed binding ,
    but asking them to leave ??

    what are they celebrating ??
    the massacres of
    Deir Yasssin ,
    Sabra and Chatilla ,
    Jennin and Gaza ??


    Who else but criminals celebrate a crime ??

    60 Years of a constantly revolving crime ,
    is no reason to a celebration
    but rather a reason to be ashamed
    and to repent .

    60 Years ago ,
    we were farmers , teachers, workers ,
    shop-keepers, carpenters , drivers and poets....... ..
    now they made 'Terrorists ' out of us.
    But at least , we the 'terrorist' are fighting against a crime
    while those blue-eyed-Zionists are ,themselves , the crime ,
    that 60 years old Crime !

  • Posted By: Tan Boon Tee @ 05/12/2008 1:59:07 AM


    At 60, one would have supposedly gathered sufficient experience in life to be wise enough to come to terms with it. Yet at 60, Israel is still struggling to find the elusive peace.

    Deliberation after deliberation, mediated-talk after mediated-talk, false-hope after false-hope, there seems to be no end to the conflict. Agreements have been reached and signed, only to be dishonored later each time without fail.

    Like mirage, co-existence appears illusive. Like morning dew, mutual respect looks equally delusive. Ruefully, the outcome of which is the ugly stalemate that remains hard to break through. Now, with the Palestinians splitting into two opposing camps, seeking for any amicable political solution will be even more difficult, though not entirely impossible.

    No one exactly knows how long will the confrontation continue.
    Why not live and let live?

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