December 30, 2003
PLEASE LET US IN FROM THE COLD (QUIETLY):
Iran thanks America for earthquake relief; Powell sees `new attitude' in Tehran (MATTHEW PENNINGTON, December 30, 2003, Associated Press)
As survivors of Iran's earthquake scavenged for clothes and jostled for handouts Tuesday, President Mohammad Khatami thanked the United States for aid but played down talk that Washington's contribution would thaw frosty relations.Khatami's remarks came after Secretary of State Colin Powell said he sees a "new attitude" in Iran that could lead to a restoration of ties between the United States and the Islamic republic that President Bush has called part of an "axis of evil."
"There are things happening, and therefore we should keep open the possibility of dialogue at an appropriate point in the future," Powell was quoted as saying in Tuesday's Washington Post.
Iranian leaders have agreed to permit unannounced inspections of the country's nuclear energy program and made overtures to moderate Arab governments. They also accepted an offer of U.S. humanitarian aid after last week's devastating magnitude-6.6 earthquake. [...]
In the latest U.S. shipment, an American military plane carrying 80 personnel and medical supplies landed early Tuesday in the provincial capital of Kerman. The team reached Bam, 120 miles to the southeast, by midday.
Seven U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo planes have already delivered 150,000 pounds of relief supplies -- including blankets, medical supplies and water -- making the United States one of the largest international donors.
Nothing like a disaster to drive home the point that your system doesn't work. Posted by Orrin Judd at December 30, 2003 6:36 PM
This conclusion might be a tad premature.
Posted by: Barry Meislin at December 31, 2003 3:09 AM"Nothing like a disaster to drive home the point that your system doesn't work" -- indeed! Tehran is a ticking time bomb. It's a city of 12 million situated in an earthquake-prone area. Since building codes are pretty much ignored there (as is the case with the rest of the country), a quake similar to the one of 1830 would level the place. The Bam region (where the recent quake occurred) had a population of 200,000 and the death toll is probably something like 30,000, with an additional 30,000 injured and 100,000 now homeless. Multiply these figures by a factor of sixty and you have a picture of the next earthquake in Tehran.
Posted by: Josh Silverman at December 31, 2003 9:20 AM(Now, if only the mullahs can be persuaded that underground testing is the way to go.)
Posted by: Barry Meislin at December 31, 2003 11:35 AM