Gen. David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command, told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an interview aired Sunday that "It would be almost literally irresponsible if CENTCOM were not to have been thinking about the various 'what ifs' and to make plans for a whole variety of different contingencies." He did not elaborate on the plans, but his statement got the attention of Iran's Chinese backers. In standard orchestrated fashion, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Jiang Yu's Regular was asked about Gen. Petraeus' statement at his January 12 press conference. He responded:  China always believes that the Iranian nuclear issue should be peacefully resolved through diplomatic negotiation so as to safeguard the effectiveness of the international non-proliferation regime as well as peace and stability in the Middle East. China hopes that relevant parties step up diplomatic efforts, maintain and advance dialogue in a bid to vigorously seek for a comprehensive, long-term and...(Read Full Post)