WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU FORCE THE CONTRADICTIONS:

IRAN PROPOSED REFERENDUM TO NORMALISE TIES WITH WASHINGTON (Safa Haeri, 4/12/03, Iran Press Service)

Iranian ruling ayatollahs, seriously concerned at the perspective of being the next on the America’s list of rogue regimes to be removed from power, paved Saturday the way for normalising relations with the United States, suggesting to organise a national referendum on the subject.

The proposal was made by Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in an interview with "Rahbord" (Strategy) periodical, saying the problem of Iran's thorny relations with both the US and Egypt could be resolved through a referendum or by referring it to the Assembly for Discerning the Interests of the State (ADIS, or Expediency Council).

As some political analysts interpreted the suggestion as a "turning point" in the 24 years-old life of the Islamic Republic or describing it "a great leap forward", other cautioned against "over simplification" and said it is a "new cup of poison" the clerical leaders are drinking in order to save the regime, referring to the dramatic decision taken by the leader of the Islamic Revolution in 1989, accepting a United Nations resolution proclaiming cease-fire in the war with Iraq.

"Now that the ruling ayatollahs have realised the danger that looms over their head, that this American Administration is serious in its menaces, they try to get out of the pit in which they had plunged themselves", commented Mr. Ahmad Ahrar, a seasoned political analyst.

North Korea Blinks? (Carl Limbacher, 04/12/2003, NewsMax.com)

In the wake of the U.S.'s stunning military victory in Iraq, North Korea has reportedly relaxed its demands that the Bush administration engage in one-on-one talks with Pyongyang to resolve the nuclear standoff between the two countries.

"If the U.S. is ready to make a bold switchover in its Korea policy for a settlement of the nuclear issue, the [Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea] will not stick to any particular dialogue format," a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said, according to the state-run KCNA news agency.

The statement was a "hint" that North Korea would accept U.S. demands for multilateral talks to end the nuclear dispute, the Associated Press said. Since North Korea announced it had resumed its nuclear weapons program last October, Pyongyang has insisted on direct talks with Washington, D.C.

To paraphrase Dr. Johnson: the prospect that regimes will be changed in the future tends to focus the totalitarian mind wonderfully. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 12, 2003 3:41 PM