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Preventing the Impending War on Iran
Rhetoric flowing out of the White House indicates the Bush administration is planning a military attack on Iran. Officials in Saudi Arabia, a close Bush ally, think the handwriting is on the wall. "George Bush's tone makes us think he has decided what he is going to do," according to Rihab Massoud, Prince Bandar ben Sultan's right-hand man. Saudi Social Affairs Minister Abdel Mohsen Hakas told Le Figaro, "We are getting closer and closer to a confrontation."
As Bush and Cheney try to whip us into a frenzy about the dangers Iran poses, their argument comes up short. They say Iran is developing nuclear weapons, but Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), says there is "no evidence" of this. They say Iran is sending deadly weapons into Iraq to kill U.S. troops, but those devices can be manufactured in any Iraqi machine shop. Now the New York Times reports most of the foreign fighters in Iraq come, not from Iran, but from two Bush allies - Saudi Arabia and Libya. An estimated 90 percent of suicide bombings are carried out by foreign fighters. And senior U.S. military officials believe the financial support for Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia comes primarily from Saudi Arabia.
Yet the Bush/Cheney polemics about Iran continue to escalate. In light of the lack of evidence Iran is actually developing nukes, Bush equated Iranian "knowledge" to make nuclear weapons with World War III. "If you're interested in avoiding World War III," he said recently, "it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon." This substantially lowers the bar for a U.S. attack on Iran.
A few days after Bush warned of World War III, Cheney called Iran "the world's most active state sponsor of terrorism," adding, "The Iranian regime needs to know that if it stays on its present course, the international community is prepared to impose serious consequences . . . We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon." These threats are eerily reminiscent of his rants in the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
In an unprecedented move, the Bush administration labeled the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. It appears the administration applied that label in an effort to trigger language in the 2002 Congressional authorization for the use of military force in Iraq. That authorization says, "The President has authority under the Constitution to take action in order to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States."
Like Bush's invasion of Iraq, an attack on Iran would violate international and U.S. law. The U.N. Charter prohibits the use of military force except in self-defense or with the approval of the Security Council. Iran, which has not attacked any country for 2,000 years, hasn't threatened to invade the United States or Israel. Rather than protecting Israel, U.S. or Israeli military force against Iran will endanger Israel, which would invariably suffer a retaliatory attack.
In making its case against Iran, the administration points to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's alleged comment that Israel should be wiped off the map. But this is an erroneous translation of what he said. According to University of Michigan professor Juan Cole and Farsi language analysts, Ahmadinejad was quoting Ayatollah Khomeini, who said the "regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time." Cole said this "does not imply military action or killing anyone at all." Journalist Diana Johnstone points out the quote is not aimed at the Israeli people, but at the Zionist "regime" occupying Jerusalem. "Coming from a Muslim religious leader," Johnstone wrote, "this opinion is doubtless based on objection to Jewish monopoly of a city considered holy by all three of the Abramic monotheisms."
It seems significant that support for Ahmadinejad may be waning among the real power brokers in Iran, particularly the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Jomhouri Eslami daily in Iran, which has close ties to Khamenei, has denounced Ahmadinejad's characterization of those opposed to his nuclear program as traitors.
If the United States attacks Iran, the results would be catastrophic. Three Europeans, including former French Prime Minister Michel Rocard and Yehuda Atai, a member of the Israeli Committee for a Middle East without Weapons of Mass Destruction, wrote in Libération, "We are being warned about it from all sides: The United States is at the brink of war, ready to bombard Iran. The only thing lacking is the presidential order." Drawing parallels with the U.S. war in Iraq, they caution, "An attack against Iran, whatever its targets, its methods and its initial scope, will significantly aggravate the situation, achieving similar results, without even talking about the disastrous impact on the global economy." They add, "It would be still worse if the insane idea of using tactical nuclear weapons - which exist - to prevent Iran from building, in spite of its denials, the nuclear weapons that recent IAEA inspections have found no trace of, were implemented."
The threats against Iran appear to be politically motivated. Seymour Hersh's extensive research has convinced him that Bush/Cheney will invade Iran. They likely think embroiling us in Iran will ensure a GOP victory in 2008. It will certainly make it harder for the next President to withdraw from Iraq once we are mired in Iran.
If Hillary Clinton becomes that next President, she will likely continue Bush's foreign policy. Clinton, who favors leaving a large contingent of U.S. troops in Iraq, says nothing about disbanding the huge U.S. military bases there. Clinton is also rattling the sabers in Iran's direction. She voted to urge Bush to label the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization and she, too, misquotes Ahmadinejad about Israel.
As we go to the polls in the coming months, it is imperative we scrutinize the candidates' positions on Iraq and Iran. The security of the United States, as well as the Middle East, is hanging in the balance.
Marjorie Cohn is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and President of the National Lawyers Guild. Her new book, Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law, was just published. Her articles are archived at http://www.marjoriecohn.com.
41 Comments so far
Show AllIt's too late. Time to start organizing the Underground Resistance while you still can. America is over. The bushco dogs of war don't give one flying shit about "as we go to the polls in the coming months" crap --since they have totally emasculated Congress and control the fascist media. America is over.
As a symbolic gesture to the world, on the day before the abolition of the death penalty, the USA should fry the present administration for their crimes against the world.
Bush and Cheney rank right up there with Adolph and Tojo.
Who funded these monsters and can they be held accountable for these crimes as well?
Cole and Johnstone are stretching way too far to cover for Ahmadinejad and Khomeini and make them sound like moderates. When someone says, "the regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time," it still sounds extremely creepy. It isn't just contesting the "regime," it's proposing to erase history itself. The Tehran regime (no quotes) is an ideological one, seeking to put Iran at the head of Islam and making the Shi'ism into Islamic orthodoxy. Attacking Israel, if only verbally or via the Hezbollah, is a useful way to establish Islamic bona fides.
Why doesn't "regime change" bother you right wingers when Bush says it--and does it? Anyone who has even a bit of knowledge about Iran knows that it hasn't invaded another country in historical memory, unlike Israel and the US, who are the truly destabilizing forces in the world today.
It is time that we define those who use their power to kill and destroy as defective human beings. That means anyone who sees war, torture, environmental degradation, as viable strategies, is unfit to hold office. Are you listening Barack? Hilary? Rudy? Mitt? george? etc.
http://www.healingmagic.org/articles/Setting.pdf
militantliberal:
Read this:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12790.htm
It is best to distrust anything you hear from the mainstream media, especially about someone considered an enemy of the imperium. Quotes are misinterpreted and taken out of context to paint the grimmest possible picture. It's been obvious for quite some time that the powers that be want Ahmadinejad to be our newest Emmanuel Goldstein.
Bushco's probably got the war plans all drawn up. They're just waiting for (setting up?) the proper Gulf of Tonkin moment.
Remember the Maine!
Chicanery:
Thanks for the link. In this case I wasn't referencing the MSM's quote/misquote but the words of Cole and Johnstone. I never take MEMRI stuff at face value. I agree that Bushco are whipping up a frenzy campaign; I remember when Noriega was Hitler too. However, I also remember when everyone on the Left used to hold up Iran as the horrorifying example of what would happen if the U.S. religious Right ever came to power. When Pat Robertson issued his death sentence against Chavez, we called it a "fatwa" in reference to Khomeini's death sentence against Salman Rushdie.
So the following statements are all true:
1. Bush is waging a campaign of hysteria against Iran, possibly to prepare a war of aggression.
2. Under the UN Charter, Iran has the right to remain free from attack unless it commits armed aggression, and its people the right to live without fear of American bombs.
3. Iran has done nothing to justify a U.S. attack. To my mind, even armed aid to Iraqi insurgents against U.S. troops (if true) would be legitimate in view of the occupation's illegal character. I haven't heard the Baghdad Green Zone regime complaining about Iranian interference.
4. Iran has the same right to atomic weaponry that we do.
5. Iran has an utterly repugnant system based on Islamic law that we would do well to take as an anti-model. See http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=mideast&c=iran for examples. I'm not willing to call the skunk a poodle.
Of course one of our national hypocrisies is forgetting that Saudi Arabia's regime is even more horrifying. Where Iran's clerics ban liberals from running for the legislature, the Saudis have neither legislature nor elections. Their Islamic law is mixed with even crueler tribal norms. Their regime has sentenced a gang rape VICTIM to 200 lashes for being with a man not her husband at the time the rapists attacked them both. Now they're saying the woman was having an affair with him and the men were enraged to find them together. Which, of course, makes the victim's sentence a just one.
I do remember the Maine! I also remember how the Spaniards shot our men at the Lexington Green, shelled Fort Sumter, blew up the Arizona at Pearl Harbor and fired on our ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. Kill the Spaniards! Yes, I'm kidding.
Impeach Cheney and save the world.
Frankly, I'm beginning to think this attack on Iran is less and less likely to happen. But if it does go ahead, it will be the final step towards endless total war.
Hopefulli, if the Codpiece actually gives the order, him and Mr. Snarly will be put in straight jackets
Thanks for the clarification, militantliberal. Very well written and all too true. The truth is never painted black and white, but rather in shades of gray or, more often than not, in a much more colorful fashion. That's the beauty and tragedy of the human condition.
Human Rights Watch does excellent work and I applaud them for their willingness to look at all the countries in the world, including the most powerful. Few countries in the world have completely clean slates (though, if one were to base one's judgements about Norway on the DVD extras for Michael Moore's Sicko, it would be tempting to give them a pass) and it's always worthwhile to try to eliminate human rights abuses throughout the world.
Heh, you forgot the bit where the dreaded Spanish blew up the World Trade Center... (j/k)
"Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. ...Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." - Hermann Goering
"Preventing the Impending War on Iran!" Where is the prevention info? I see lots of info about the rationale and reason for believing this is coming, but where are the solutions? Where does the author tell us how to prevent it? This is awful! Ever felt powerless? If you haven't, you should NOW!
Making the invasion of Iran hinge on the question of its military acitivities is to play into the hands of Cheney and the other thugs. Friends of peace must pursue the theme that the U.S. is invading the ME, and until we stop it we can only expect that our intended victims will defend themselves. Wouldn't the people of Illinois send fighters if anyone invaded Kansas?
Marjorie Cohn..I'm sorry to say you have not told us anything we do not know..and have known over and over from various sources for quite a while.
The most important issue is that the MSM is once again going along for the ride, with few, if any, descending comments.
As far as Pelosi goes, she was quoted a short time ago as saying something along the lines of bush having to go through the congress before invading Iran. That's not mentioned in the article. But, don't get me wrong, I doubt Pelosi wanted that repeated.
So, where's the "preventing"? Did I miss something?
The Iran trip has been canceled, Marjorie.
The tired old magical formula, used by administration after administration in the United States of Israel, for many an election cycle, of picking yet another country to attack in unjustified and unprovoked war, is to be trotted out again on cue. It must be an unwritten article of faith, that it benefits the fortunes of the warmonger politicians, maintains the military industry, and boosts fear of USI in world zones of contention, and keeps the USI sphere of influance to be defined as the rest of the world. The chance of blow back never occurs to them, the cost to the result of the world never worries them, and the permanent damage to the target country is counted as gain.
The American people have no voice. The party is over folks. The new America will bomb, torture and kill at the will of our leaders and we are powerless to stop it. So just keep slaving your life away and paying your taxes because senseless death and distruction cost money and Iran will not be cheep.
Hey, what's the problem with losing 3 wars at once instead of 2?
As for Iran giving arms to Iraqi people who don't like us, didn't we give arms to Afghans who didn't like the USSR occupation in their country? And didn't we support them with arms and such to kill Soviet soldiers?
I fear the biggest problem with the Bush admninistration is just plain old stupidity--which always has a strong appeal for US voters.
The White House's propaganda campaign laying the groundwork for military action against Iran dates back almost six years—to Bush's 2002 State of the Union address in which he designated Iran as a founding member of the "axis of evil." Since then, this drumbeat has waxed and waned as other concerns—primarily the disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq—have often commanded center stage. Now, with the Bush administration approaching its final year in office, a renewed push and a shorter fuse are increasingly evident. My 3-minute YouTube video entitled "Forewarned Is Forearmed: Bush On Iran" is available HERE. It offers a very brief but deeply troubling chronicle of the president's public warmongering and demonization of Iran.
Such manipulation of public sentiment has been a key part of the White House's entire Iraq war enterprise, so we should not be surprised to see it play a similar role in any military attack on Iran. For those interested in a psychological analysis of this warmongering, I have also recently completed a 10-minute online video entitled "Resisting the Drums of War." It examines how the Bush administration's messaging targets five core concerns that often govern our lives--concerns about vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority, and helplessness. The video describes these warmongering appeals and offers suggestions for how to counter them. It's available for viewing HERE.
Read the following article....It is amazing and you'll see what's really happening.
PS: Recommended article: BEHIND THE DRUMS OF WAR WITH IRAN: NUCLEAR WEAPONS OR COMPOUND INTEREST? http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/war-with-iran.php
This very timely piece from Los Angeles lawyer Ellen Brown is a clear explanation – with much documented evidence - for our seemingly irrational policy towards Iran.
Ellen started an intense 4-year investigation of our monetary system after attending FF events with Bernard Lietaer and Thomas Greco. The products of her efforts are in this article and in her extraordinary new book: Web of Debt.
If this unelected & unlearned zealot, guided by his right wing supporters, manages to start another ill conceived war, the blame lies again squarely on the Americans and their legislators for allowing such outrages and their aftermaths.
Hello, I am afraid to say that nothing we do can change the course that our government has set. People have compared the President with A. Hitler, another popular and freely elected leader of a once great country. I see a similarity, and hope we can escape the fate of Germany in 1945. I think it is about time for the world to step in and teach our crazy government some manners. Maybe its time for the UN to leave its cozy confines of NY and maybe relocate to Geneva, or London. Then maybe sanctions can be leveled against us for once. Just a thought. But I am here to tell you that the Republicans are in stride and are about to sell the country to the highest bidder (as long as the winning bidder is a christian), and that they do not care a bit about the American people. And the Democrats either can't see the forest for the trees or they are complicit in this silent coup. I am sorry to say that we have nothing to do but to ride out this series of unfortunate events (sorry to steal a phrase) and to hope that the country's sins, and they are many, can be forgiven by the rest of the world. Mr. Bush wasn't smart enough to get us into this trouble and he is certainly not smart enough to get us out.
If the regime thinks that another war will guarantee a victory for the right, it means that the election is a moot point and it is certainly time to consider a move. The persons responsible for the country's demise will certainly find a corner in the hell of their imagination ready for them when they leave this world.
In the meantime, buckle up.
Just today the newspapers told about,"An Iranian backed" Shiite group of four men who were captured and confessed to bombing a market place. It looks like this will be the new technique. Every bomb that goes off will blamed on the Iranians. At least two explosively formed penetrator (EFP's)bomb making shops have been found in Iraq. That has been one of the ongoing lies from Bush/Cheney, that the Iranians are secretly slipping these into Iraq. Like the Iraqis are too stupid to build these very simple devices. I found this information in an Australian newspaper. You won't find it on FOX news or any US papers. Some news that's encouraging.
Admiral Fallon, in charge of CENTCOM has quietly let it be known that he will not allow an attack against Iran while he is there. Right now, we only have one carrier battle group rather than two or three in the gulf along with some small carriers for Marines. Peter Pace and some top level generals pressured the White House into a retreat from the idea of using nuclear bunkerbusters if they were to attack the nuclear sites in Iran. The bad news: Nancy Pelosi made the mistake of addressing the AIPAC crowd and they booed her. She apparently wet her pants and promptly canceled the resolution that was pending, that the President had to get permission from Congress before attacking Iran. If our Democratic members of Congress are unwilling to treat AIPAC like atomic waste, they will continue to play them for fools.
cokids, you wondered why there was no information on how to stop the war on Iran. The "legal" groundwork, in terms of US law, is in place already. The 2001 AUMF (Authorization to Use Military Force) gives Bush the power to use force on anyone he deems a terrorist threat. Bush has labeled Iran's revolutionary guard as a terrorist organization. Earlier this fall, the Senate fell in line, using the Kyl-Lieberman amendment to apply the terrorist label to the Rev Guard of Iran.
Of course its all bogus-- even if Iran does support attacks on US troops in Iraq, this cannot be "terrorism" by definition, since the attacks clearly are directed at an occupying army, not at civilians-- but that hardly matters. The point is to create a paper trail that the politicians and the media can cite to say that the war is justified.
So Bush could attack Iran tonight, and if he did, we can be sure that tomorrow, our obsequious congress would pass measures approving of the action, and all the major newspapers would fall in line.
The way I see it, the only way for a massive citizens movement to stop the war is to put pressure on Congress to do something like repealing the AUMF, or impeaching Cheney.
This would send a signal that the rules of the game have changed and the executive branch no longer can do whatever it wants. Impeaching Cheney also would remove a major warmonger threatening Iran's people.
So, if you want a suggestion, here it is: write to your rep, and ask all your like-minded friends to do the same. Ask for a meeting with your rep to discuss the issue.
Stop AIPAC stop the war its very simple. Stop AEI while you're add it and the rest of the lobby orgs and thinktanks that put American interests second. As for MEMRI its run by Meyrav Wurmser and Yigal Carmon, a former Israeli colonel so of course they mistranslate what the Persians and Arabs say to suit their own agenda.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Middle_East_Media_Research_Institute
dcbeltway...
MEMRI is generally held to have accurate translations. Even critics of Israel usually acknowlege this. And AIPAC's policy on Iran is not war but political and economic sanctions.
"the regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time."
If one says the regime occupying the White House must vanish from the pages of time, it means the two top criminals should go to jail, to discredit their evil doctrine and restore the rule of law, and the White House should be vacated with windows wide open until Jan 2009 to dissipate the sulfur stench.
Didn't Vladmir Putin recently (sometime in October)after visiting Iran say that the "Iranians are not afraid, believe me they are not afraid."
And didn't he just go ahead with delivering the fuel for the Busehr reactor that the Russians are building and expect complete soon?
If that's the case why is everyone here fearful that the US/Israel axis will bomb Iran "back into the stone age". i know that the axis wishes to bomb, but the issue is can it?
I don't think so when Pakistan is in turmoil, its nukes not safe from an Islamist takeoever, the US dollar in free fall, and oil prices now hovering near $100 a barrel.
I think it will be cathartic for the whole world for the US/Israel axis to be stupid enough to attack, and then reap the whirlwind the attcak will sow.
At this point I am fed up with this media fantasies planted by fifth columns to scare the Iranians. iran has already called the bluff, nearly 6 months ago. these "war drums" are simply that now and the sound is getting a bit tiring. As they say in poker:
"Shit or get off the table"
Peace
The reduction to one carrier group in the gulf may not be a good sign. Iran has an arsenal of anti-ship cruise missiles good for one very nasty exchange. Why endanger 3 groups? Moms and Dads of the remaining sailors there - your children are pawns in this insane scheme. Pray for them.
Maybe peace groups from the US and Europe could make a well publicized visit to Iran, and place people near likely US targets. Would the Iranians allow it? (Not me. Too chicken!)
The United States of America is the world's most active state sponsor of terrorism.
Imagine the outcry if ANY other country on the planet behaved as the US has in the past six years. I'm sure that if Iran had invaded Mexico to save them from their own government, the US would do nothing at all, not send soldiers or money or weapons or anything even though it's right next door. The US is making war on both sides of Iran already---and blaming "outsiders" for its not going well (as everybody warned it wouldn't). The US has been doing that since Revolutionary times (blaming "base Canadian fiends" for agitating Native Americans, for example)....As Robert Coover wrote in "The Public Burning" (about the Rosenberg affair), there is only one logic in Uncle Sam's mind: I WANT WHAT I WANT WHEN I WANT IT....
Professor Cohn:
Ask any colleague who works on arms control or international security issues whether they think Iran is working towards a nuclear weapons capability. The evidence of this is their openly-declared large-scale uranium enrichment effort, which is not needed for Iran to have nuclear power plants and is not a cost-effective way for Iran to obtain nuclear power plant fuel, but which would enable Iran to make highly enriched uranium for a bomb very soon after a decision to do so. Plus their openly-declared heavy-water moderated natural uranium fueled reactor, which is ideal for production of weapons grade plutonium, and which no serious analyst can believe is being built for production of medical isotopes.
The IAEA has not determined that Iran is developing nuclear weapons but every serious analyst in the agency and anywhere knows they are equipping themselves with the capability to make fissile materials for weapons, and that they could easily be doing the bomb work in secret.
You call this Ahmadinejad's nuclear program, but it predates his presidency and obviously has the support of the supreme leader Khamenei.
When you rely on the fatuous premise that Iran is not seeking a nuclear weapons capability you undercut the credibility of your position, and when you support your implausible claim by quoting the IAEA out of context you undercut the credibility of that organization.
As soon as it's made clear to the woefully uninformed American public that an attack on Iran will mean a doubling, tripling or even quadrupling of oil prices, a strike on Iran will come right off the table--and impeachment will go back on.
Mrs. Clinton lives in the same mad world as Bush and Cheney and all the republican candidates except Ron Paul and she will continue the madness and insure the ongoing decline of the American Empire.
Neither congress nor the executive has the guts or character to stop the war. Attention public: if you keep electing war-mongering republicans and democrats, don't act so surprised when you get WAR.
You got EXACTLY what you voted for.
I bring great empowering and excellent N E W S:
Our belief in the systematic bought-and-paid-for inattention of the mass media may in fact be an illusion and gov't hype to completely dis-empower us to "work the system"., as evidence points to what they've actually been doing - and it's "simple" repetitive phones calls and threats to hurt circulation, not total subjugation!
OK, it might be simple, but that is hardly the same as easy, right?
Please follow this link here, for 'Confessions of "an editor who ran Bush propaganda"', where in summary that editor states that:
Every time, without fail, if there was anything on the wire that supported the Bush* administration and we did not run it prominently and "favorably," the very next day, we would get a stream of phone calls from angered conservatives who railed on and on about the "liberal media." These calls, not surprisingly, registered in the offices of our senior editors ("news editor" is not a "senior editor," by the way), and those editors -- who feared for their own jobs if they pissed off readers and lost circulaton -- insisted that we present the news in a way that was favorable to the administration's position.
Wow, isn't insidiously clever to make us think we :
(1.) Have a liberal minding media, but then
(2.) Convince us that it's really not going to speak the TRUTH, but
(3.) it still may be POSSIBLE to find truth again, if we finesse it as well as the shrub's SHOCK troops do, as they're clearly massively funded and organized for the 'duration'.
(4.) The re-Thuglicans likely have a quite distributed tag-team fon tree for each media outlet ALL across the globe, and duplication of pressuring (to own editor) would only improve their (or OUR ODDs) for impact.
(5.) OK, don't even bother with FauxNews, but maybe 'the denuded emperor pix' will leak out?
What GRASS ROOTS ACTION does it take from any of US?
_a._ Any person willing to call, and call again (watching the news wires, and being aware each day)
_b._ Heavy hitter progressive thinkers that will ACT (like STARS, Media celebrities, actors, chamber Commerce, talkers) with real influence, and or patience.
_c._ Lots of 'cold calls' in attempts to find each media
_d._ Attempt to convert retrenched re-Thuglicans as "double-agents" for TRUTH, as they know who to call
Like I said initially, this is SIMPLE, but it's hardly EASY.
We ALL can Go for IT, as we deserve the best media that OUR money (remember WE are the actual circulation- right?) can influence and buy.
P.S. Thanks to inspiration posts throughout CD, and my apologies for cross-posting this to get this powerful message out, as bandwidth is likened to our CD's very blood coursing through the ethereal veins of OUR WEB.
Namaste
__ __ __ __ We must be the change
__ __ __ __ we wish to see in the world __ Gandhi
Aymon; Putin knows the ultimate goal of 'The Project For A New American Century' group of imperialistic gangsters who sets policy. He is nobody's fool and has to re-institute the arms race because of the Cheney/Bush (in that order) outlaws "ruining" (not running) the United States.
Oil and natural gas and control of them are at stake as you well know. China and India are concerned as well as Russia on the messianic doctrine of this administration, both major politcal parties included. Those natural resources are finite and the power play is up for grabs.
If push comes to shove, China will probably back Russia as they are neighbors and have already formed an alliance with other countries in the region. They are all worried about the 'American Bully', and building a united defense, just in case.
The saddest thing is the ignorance of the American people and how many are willing to jeopardize their lives and limbs and souls for the two cowards in the White House. Ignorance certainly isn't bliss by any means. Even sadder is the amount of honest, decent folks who still rely on the Democrats (with very few exceptions...I'm a Kucinich man!) to "save the country" from Cheney/Bush and the Republican crime family.
As much as some Iranians are at odds with Ahmadinejad, the majority will unite to defend their 'homeland' from an attack. It won't be fun and torture games like Abu Ghraib.
My special THANKS to you, AYMON, for the insightful contributions on the Bill Maher article. And without naming names, my THANKS to all my fellow vegetarian/vegan/ animal (as well as human) rights activists contributing to Maher's post.
The Neoconservative Agenda to Sacrifice the Fifth Fleet – The New Pearl Harbor
http://voltairenet.com/article153013.html
Americanish hoopoos bite ass-hand of wiper-hippo! Hoo hoo!
This mean mushy bunion in every boot! Hoo hoo!
Mushy bunion in every boot, and it really doesn't matter if everyone on CommonDreams and every other liberal blog writes total gibberish or repeats the usual clichès about Bush and the media.
None of it has ever made any difference.
I don't think Bush has the guts or the resources to engage in such a war! He has broken the Army into with his failed policies now. It's going to take decades to repair the damage he has done to them. All the General's are against it they are smart enough to know it would be a major blunder. He has run the deficit for his current wars into the stratosphere. We the taxpayer are fed up with paying for his endless wars. He can't bring back the draft without having the American people in full revolt. If we were being threatened it wouldn't be a problem. But, this is another war of choice for him. He doesn't have the American people behind him in any of this. Well over half are against the war in Iraq now. I think if he starts another unprovoked war it's going to be time for rest of the world to do something about him. If we the American people don't have take matters in our own hands and get him out of office before he destroys us! He is playing Russian Roulette with our country. So, none of things are present that were when he invaded Iraq! There are very few people that he has worked into a frenzy with his rhetoric. Only the fringe lunatics that aren't bright enough to see past his conning them again. Most of us are fed up with him period. It wouldn't take much for him to go over the cliff now. I think in the end the rat will think about his own sorry skin and survival! It's never happened in this country before, but there is always a first time for everything. Having to physically remove a President and his criminal enterprise from office.
Shaktimaan MEMRI is fair and balanced just like Faux News ay!
peacemaker; Never underestimate the needs and desires of a psycopath.
History Lesson 101; (Please, dear fellow CD'ers, don't gang up on me for what I'm about to say...I have to put this disclaimer in)
Whithin a year and a half, The German Army invaded and occupied most European countries, and began 'stabilizing them' and bringing 'peace' to Europe, the Reichfuher's way, and perfected the art of 'extraordinary rendition' by choo choo train, (mostly) of people catorgorized as 'enemy combatants' to 'detention centers' forced to work for room and board.
The world at the time saw a very bleak picture and saw how the 'German Superman' crushed all countries opposing them. (remember folks, a capitalist never has enough-it has by nature- an insatiable appetite)
So, breaking his 'pact' with Stalin, Hitler invades Mother Russia and after Stalingrad, it was 'curtains' for the 'Thousand Year Reich' and the death of about 5,000,000,000 German Germans.
That demented misanthrope did not love his 'people', otherwise it would have never happened. At least, by 1944, 2,000 brave Germans devised the failed plot to kill Hitler. You know the rest of the story.
Things do repeat, don't they?