Sep. 8, 2007 - (LPAC) - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Chief Mohammed El Baradei, speaking in Vienna on Sep. 7, said: "I see war drums by those basically saying the short solution is to bomb Iran, which makes me shudder, because the rhetoric reminds me of pre-Iraq war." LaRouche noted that this is wrong - that El Baradei is too young to know the actual precedent, which is the pre-Nazi invasion of Poland. This is shown by Cheney's wife's effort to grow a moustache, LaRouche quipped.

He added: "We don't see, based on evidence we have, that (Iran poses) a clear and present danger requiring you to go beyond diplomacy," according to Reuters. "If you look at some of the American newspapers today, there is a coordinated, orchestrated campaign to undermine the process, undermine the agency, undermine me," he said. He made no reference to the British press campaign to drive the U.S. into a war on Iran (see EIR: British Hand Is Pushing Bush Into Iran War Trap)

El Baradei said that the current diplomatic process would "enable us by November-December to check clearly whether Iran is ready to work with us in good faith, or whether, as some like to say, Iran is just buying time..., which would absolutely backfire."

U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey rejected the charge, saying that the U.S. was focused on diplomacy and "supporting the work of the IAEA to try to resolve these issues."

The IAEA will vote on their Iran plan at their board of governors meeting on Monday.