WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is considering a more aggressive effort to foster opposition inside Iran and seeking ways to use a new $3-million fund to support activists without exposing them to the risk of arrest.
The approach would represent a change since President Bush's first term, when the administration was more wary of such potentially dangerous moves, officials said.
"We can now be much more aggressive
than we had been," a senior official said, hailing the arrival of Condoleezza Rice at the State Department as invigorating the president's push for democracy.
"The guys at the State Department were too afraid to try anything during the first term," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "They were extremely cautious about angering the regime in Tehran."
The more aggressive approach is being considered even while Bush moves toward supporting a plan created by France, Germany and Britain to offer Iran economic incentives to forgo nuclear weapons. Bush discussed the issue with Rice on Thursday.........
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-usiran4mar04,1,2129746.story?coll=la-headlines-world
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