ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <!-- saved from url=(0044)http://www.irna.com/newshtm/eng/01134301.htm --> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=unicode"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4616.200" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY><PRE> <BR>thr 025 <BR>Press-US-Terrorism /GNR/ <BR>  Daily on Washington's operation, "infinite Justice" <BR>Tehran, Sept 23, IRNA -- A Tehran-based English-language daily on <BR>unday wrote that if all goes according to US presumption for an <BR>all-out war against terrorism, operation "Infinite Justice" will be <BR>launched in the coming days. <BR> "The military-political establishment in Washington has made known <BR>in simple terms that the time has come for action and negotiations are <BR>a thing of the past," noted `Iran Daily' in its perspective column. <BR> Paper contended, "tough talk for home audiences is one thing, <BR>reality and delivery is something else, especially, if Afghanistan is <BR>your launching pad." <BR> It further stressed, "world public opinion, the American people in <BR>particular, must take notice that waging war against Afghans in the <BR>name of fighting terror has nothing to do with guilt or innocence, <BR>right or wrong, justice or injustice," reminded the daily. <BR> On the contrary, "it has everything to do with false pride, <BR>misplaced priorities and the tradition of military arrogance <BR>outsmarting political wisdom," pointed out the paper. <BR> According to the brand offered by President George Bush and his <BR>team, "terrorism is prevalent in 60 countries", noted the paper. <BR>However, the full force of the world's mightiest military power and <BR>that of old and new found allies seems, at least for now, to be <BR>focussed on one villain, Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden, the <BR>radical militia government of his Taliban hosts and compatriots, a <BR>primitive group jointly created by the US in the second half of the <BR>1990s and Afghanistan, all presently on the Pentagon's hit list, it <BR>noted. <BR> It is quite true and understandable that a section of the American <BR>people want "revenge" and "conciliation" is not on their agenda, <BR>because of the manner in which terror struck on September 11 at the <BR>heart of their country's military and economic might, ending in the <BR>tragic deaths of thousands of innocent people. <BR> But the daily warned, it is indeed "during such trying times, <BR>(that) a nation's sense of right and wrong is put to a litmus test." <BR> It added, "reprisals and retribution are no new terms in the <BR>complicated vocabulary of international relations." <BR> But it stressed, "almost always, they have not produced the <BR>results their architects could be proud of." <BR> However, if at all for any reason whatsoever, the Americans think <BR>caution at this juncture is "nonsensical" and in war-ravaged <BR>Afghanistan lies their sworn enemy, then the paper advised <BR>Washington to recall how their friends in Moscow lost miserably in <BR>their war against the Afghans, in the rugged and inhospitable terrain <BR>of the world's most impoverished country. <BR> This was despite the former Soviet Union possession of "a strong <BR>military and intelligence superiority, political chips and <BR>geographical proximity," it recalled. <BR> It was a quagmire indeed, which in less than a decade, "sucked in <BR>the prestige of that country then known better for its military power <BR>than anything else," added the daily. <BR>FH/HM <BR>End <BR>::irna 13:43 <BR></PRE></BODY></HTML>