6 Signs The US May Be Headed for War in Iran
Is the United States moving toward military action with Iran?
The resignation of the top U.S. military commander for the Middle East is setting off alarms that the Bush administration is intent on using military force to stop Iran’s moves toward gaining nuclear weapons. In announcing his sudden resignation today following a report on his views in Esquire, Adm. William Fallon didn’t directly deny that he differs with President Bush over at least aspects of the president’s policy on Iran. For his part, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said it is “ridiculous” to think that the departure of Fallon — whose Central Command has been working on contingency plans for strikes on Iran as well as overseeing Iraq — signals that the United States is planning to go to war with Iran.
Fallon’s resignation, ending a 41-year Navy career, has reignited the buzz of speculation over what the Bush administration intends to do given that its troubled, sluggish diplomatic effort has failed to slow Iran’s nuclear advances. Those activities include the advancing process of uranium enrichment, a key step to producing the material necessary to fuel a bomb, though the Iranians assert the work is to produce nuclear fuel for civilian power reactors not weapons.
Here are six developments that may have Iran as a common thread. And, if it comes to war, they may be seen as clues as to what was planned. None of them is conclusive, and each has a credible non-Iran related explanation:
1. Fallon’s resignation: With the Army fully engaged in Iraq, much of the contingency planning for possible military action has fallen to the Navy, which has looked at the use of carrier-based warplanes and sea-launched missiles as the weapons to destroy Iran’s air defenses and nuclear infrastructure. Centcom commands the U.S. naval forces in and near the Persian Gulf. In the aftermath of the problems with the Iraq war, there has been much discussion within the military that senior military officers should have resigned at the time when they disagreed with the White House.
2. Vice President Cheney’s peace trip: Cheney, who is seen as a leading hawk on Iran, is going on what is described as a Mideast trip to try to give a boost to stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. But he has also scheduled two other stops: One, Oman, is a key military ally and logistics hub for military operations in the Persian Gulf. It also faces Iran across the narrow, vital Strait of Hormuz, the vulnerable oil transit chokepoint into and out of the Persian Gulf that Iran has threatened to blockade in the event of war. Cheney is also going to Saudi Arabia, whose support would be sought before any military action given its ability to increase oil supplies if Iran’s oil is cutoff. Back in March 2002, Cheney made a high-profile Mideast trip to Saudi Arabia and other nations that officials said at the time was about diplomacy toward Iraq and not war, which began a year later.
3. Israeli airstrike on Syria: Israel’s airstrike deep in Syria last October was reported to have targeted a nuclear-related facility, but details have remained sketchy and some experts have been skeptical that Syria had a covert nuclear program. An alternative scenario floating in Israel and Lebanon is that the real purpose of the strike was to force Syria to switch on the targeting electronics for newly received Russian anti-aircraft defenses. The location of the strike is seen as on a likely flight path to Iran (also crossing the friendly Kurdish-controlled Northern Iraq), and knowing the electronic signatures of the defensive systems is necessary to reduce the risks for warplanes heading to targets in Iran.
4. Warships off Lebanon: Two U.S. warships took up positions off Lebanon earlier this month, replacing the USS Cole. The deployment was said to signal U.S. concern over the political stalemate in Lebanon and the influence of Syria in that country. But the United States also would want its warships in the eastern Mediterranean in the event of military action against Iran to keep Iranian ally Syria in check and to help provide air cover to Israel against Iranian missile reprisals. One of the newly deployed ships, the USS Ross, is an Aegis guided missile destroyer, a top system to defense against air attacks.
5. Israeli comments: Israeli President Shimon Peres said earlier this month that Israel will not consider unilateral action to stop Iran from getting a nuclear bomb. In the past, though, Israeli officials have quite consistently said they were prepared to act alone — if that becomes necessary — to ensure that Iran does not cross a nuclear weapons threshold. Was Peres speaking for himself, or has President Bush given the Israeli an assurance that they won’t have to act alone?
6.Israel’s war with Hezbollah: While this seems a bit old, Israel’s July 2006 war in Lebanon against Iranian-backed Hezbollah forces was seen at the time as a step that Israel would want to take if it anticipated a clash with Iran. The radical Shiite group is seen not only as a threat on it own but also as a possible Iranian surrogate force in the event of war with Iran. So it was important for Israel to push Hezbollah forces back from their positions on Lebanon’s border with Israel and to do enough damage to Hezbollah’s Iranian-supplied arsenals to reduce its capabilities. Since then, Hezbollah has been able to rearm, though a United Nations force polices a border area buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
Defense Secretary Gates said that Fallon, 63, asked for permission to retire. Gates said the decision, effective March 31, was entirely Fallon’s and that Gates believed it was “the right thing to do.” In Esquire, an article on Fallon portrayed him as opposed to President Bush’s Iran policy and said he was a lone voice against taking military action to stop the Iranian nuclear program. In his statement, Fallon said he agreed with the president’s “policy objectives” but was silent on whether he opposed aspects of the president’s plans. “Recent press reports suggesting a disconnect between my views and the president’s policy objectives have become a distraction at a critical time and hamper efforts in the Centcom region,” Fallon, said in the statement issued by Centcom headquarters in Tampa, Fla. “And although I don’t believe there have ever been any differences about the objectives of our policy in the Central Command area of responsibility, the simple perception that there is makes it difficult for me to effectively serve America’s interests there,” he said. Gates announced that Fallon’s top deputy, Army Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, will take over temporarily when Fallon leaves. A permanent successor, requiring nomination by the president and confirmation by the Senate, might not be designated in the near term.
© 2008 US News & World Report
#7 The approching election. The bush adminstration has until November to halt election proceedings or arrange the election of a candidate that will block their indictment for war crimes. There are only 3 ways to accomplish this: the assassination of a political candidate, war with Iran, or another 9/11 event. War with Iran is the easiest and the one they seem to be most prepared for. A war with Iran will cause backlash so severe that they will be able to avoid criminal prosecution while the US flounders. This is purely political and has nothing to do with nuclear weapons. There will have to be some media ramp up for a war with Iran to start successfully. Watch for it.
Call me callous, folks, but if our military takes part in another crime against humanity, I cannot support them. Legalized murder is still murder, and if they say, we were only following the coward-in-chief’s orders, than we owe a few countries official apologies for war-crimes trials.
And when Bush does initiate yet another war, he’ll utilize the “Directive 51″ that HE signed into existence. With this power, he can extend his presidency, and it totally robs Congress of the power to do ANYTHING about it, or have any alotted powers to determine when said “emergency” is over.
Whatever happened to the three-tier government outlined in the CONSTITUTION, designed to keep any branch of government from gaining an unfair portion of power/control?
Congress has the power NOW to IMPEACH BUSH. And you KNOW he plans to use this directive, why else did he create it?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Directive_51
Spread the word about this Directive- seriously, tell everybody, because most folks have no idea it even exists, thanks to our corrupt and irresponsible media, and completely ineffective politiicans. It is scary, and real.
This is the most depressing news possible and has been expected for a while now. An attack on Iran (inevitable in my opinion) can and will destroy whats remaining of the world order.
The Chinese don’t care as long as they have their oil supplies and the Russians will bail on Iran as they have in the past and the sycophantic Europeans will acquiesce to US demands and bend over as usual. This leaves South Asia where Pakistan and Afghanistan will not support Iran thanks to Pakistan’s self-destructive tendencies and India which traditionally supported Iran may not have a choice as their independent foreign policy of the past 50 years has become more and more compromised in recent years.
War with Iran will definitely occur and will also signal the end of the U.S. as the defender of ‘freedoms’ or whatever bull Americans tend to spew ever so often. Ofcourse the Iran war will make the Iraq war look like a walk in the park but as long as we have a steady supply of lower income whites, blacks, mexicans, guatemalans, etc enlisted to do our dirty work we should be good to go.
The media ofcourse is already having wet dreams over this issue and salivating at the prospect. They probably have already drawn up outrageous headlines and banners that are designed to shock and awe the average brain-dead american.
Number 7: Fallon was forced out, not because he was/is against, as he is quoted in the Esquire interview, crushing the “ants” in Iran, but because he didn’t agree on WHEN the crushing of 75 million ants should begin.
“Get serious. They’re ants. WHEN the time comes, we’ll crush them.”
Not IF.
WHEN.
Now, everyone go Goggle Image Iran, check out what 75 million ants living in a country over 4000 years old looks like, and then imagine a Bush/Cheney boot dropping from the sky and squashing and grinding them into the sand.
Not IF “we” are going to crush the Iranian ants.
WHEN.
It’s pretty telling when a mainstream magazine like U.S. News and World Report sees signs that we are headed to war with Iran.
One would have thought that the USA committing one strategic blunder (the Iraq fiasco) on par with Hitler’s Armies going into Stalingrad was enough. Apparently not. If this and Executive Directive 51 occur, then it is time for a second American Revolution.
Not callous, peaceman, I have not supported the troops even in this war. Joining the military is presently a voluntary affair, and despite any orders, you are responsible for taking a firearm and shooting at someone or, even worse, dropping bombs where you know there be ‘collateral damage.’ While one can understand the pressures that drive some to join the military, they still agree to kill.
Worse than that, though, many cannot escape their own conscience for what they do. For every soldier physically injured in Iraq, there are many more psychologically and spiritually injured. It’s a very sad state of affairs indeed.
The Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah photo of those two kids above says it all. Bush and his zionist criminals need to go. The scary part is Cheney drumming support in the ME and John McCain and Lieberman visiting Israel next week. The next few months could be very ugly. My question is why are these amerikan nazis still alive?
When Bush and his Evilgelicals have their collective noses stuck in Deuteronomy 20:10-18 the entire world is at risk. For the sake of humanity it’s time to close that Book.
#8: Profits. The Iraq war has been a huge success for military contractors, big energy (including “recontstruction” firms like Bechtel) and big mercenary companies like Blackwater. By not turning off the tap, indeed, by opening all the sluices for taxpayer money to pour into the coffers of the war profiteers, Congress has created an environment where they EXPECT there to be more wars. Capitalism, even when its profits are not from private sources but from public taxation, nonetheless requires continual expansion. However, there is a limit to how far the US can go into debt, how many trillions the Pentagon can “lose” ($7 trillion according to former Pentagon bureaucrat Chuck Spinney), and how far the war profiteers can go in terms of emptying the state treasury into their pockets. If the Iraq war doesn’t break the bank, a major war with Iran (involving Iranian retaliation leading to the involvement of ground troops) probably would.
Here is a good chance for the opposition to show some strength and prevent this from happening…dems do have the majority this time!
chessgames,
I agree, nothing callous about peaseman’s views. We have to understand the social and political-economic forces at home that cause someone to volunteer to participate in a war of aggression. But, at the same time, we must not deny the volunteer soldiers moral agency and accountability for their actions.
I support the troops as I do all fallable humans (except the ones at the top who have lost their humanity) but not what they are doing - starting when they step on that plane shipping them out to another people’s land.
Demerara, based on past experience, I have no hope that the Democrats in Congress will prevent a war with Iran. If what’s happened so far wasn’t enough to get them to do something, I don’t think there’s any stopping Bush/Cheney at this point. Instead, a la Pelosi, they’ll use this as an “issue” for the Presidential campaign rather than stopping it from happening, because the Democratic leadership cares more about maintaining their seats in Congress than stopping the massacres and bloodshed.
#9 (unconfirmed). Foreign bloggers report large boxes being flown into Beirut on US military planes. The boxes did not go through Lebanon’s customs because they were diplomatic mail.
Or so I heard.
More weapons for the guys whom the US supports in Lebanon?
Cheney’s missing nuke?
And we’re still in spring training, folks. The real season of madness hasn’t started yet, although Opening Day fireworks seem to be imminent.
America has become a criminal enterprise on behalf of the paranoid economic elites. They stand to lose big if the Saudi’s choose to sell their oil in Euro’s insetad of Dollars. It becomes necessary from the elite perspective to flex more muscle in the Middle East to keep the Saudi’s in check. The greed soaked policies of American banks could not withstand the Saudi’s electing to accept Euro’s for oil. So naval battle groups equipped with battlefield nukes will convoy to the Middle East soon. Their presence there will raise the war temperature considerably. Russia will respond accordingly. Cheney and Bush are desperate madmen. Russia will not be deterred by their madness and will stand firm. The mad man Bush will start the war. Humanity is at great risk. I hope that someone in the intelligence or military community has a plan to stop bush and cheney before they kill us all. Christian clergy will do nothing. The devils are dancing.
NateW: Yes, Actually it has been time for a second American revolution for three or more decades, really since the Vietnam years. Revolution is long overdue here, but it can only happen if they military sides with the people instead of with the corrupt, monied oligarchy that has brought us to the present situation. Unfortunately many in the US military officer corps are well-brainwashed evangelicals who will take orders unflinchingly from der fuehrer even when he directs them to repress dissidents within the country. We are screwed royally it seems. Only a miracle could save the day when the crunch arrives as it will in the form of attack on Iran and/or major financial meltdown.
TheLorax wrote: “The bush adminstration has until November to halt election proceedings or arrange the election of a candidate that will block their indictment for war crimes.”
Lorax, do you really believe either Obama or Clinton will bring the Bush admin up on war crime charges? I’d like to believe that, but I don’t see that happening at all. Not even close.
As far as I’m concerned, both represent the status quo. Their words are nice, but their actions speak another language.
I can’t imagine anybody, not even GW Bush, could be that stupid to start a war with Iran. There will not be one single ally besides Israel and some Pacific island or corrupt African country (in exchange of all sorts of things). Europe would condemn it, as would Russia, China, the UN etc.
It might be more about creating the right election spirit and about focusing attention on a foreign policy crisis instead of on a weak Republican candidate.
They lie to and try to deceive us so reliably that Cheney being sent on a PEACE mission is the scariest indicator.
Besides that, fill in the blank:
Cheney is to peace as anti-matter is to ______.
I personally think we will see another false flag event(s), martial law will declared, elections halted, and war with Iran. Completion of the great neocon take over and the abolishment of the Bill of Rights.
Shock and awe worked with 9/11 to get the population in line…it will work again.
I doubt a revolution in America will take place, there is too much room in the 600 detention centers to house anyone who protests and resists.
We need a miracle….the takeover is being completed.
A revolution? We couldn’t do that, not now that Bush has Blackwater, the military would be crushed by Blackwater. No, if we go into Iran, we are just going to have to sit idly by.
The evangelicals are being used as a cover…a distraction. This would be happening with or without them. Imagine their shock when they lose their rights as well.
It is a tidal wave that will consume all of us.
The only answer is for our cowardly Congress to refuse funding.
Like that will happen….NOT.
kirafa, we have been sitting idly by since 9/11. Anyone pursuing the truth is labeled a nut or non-patriot. Anyone puruing the truth gets NO media coverage thanks to a complicit media.
Truth a commodity that has been banned and rewritten.
Until the citizens of this country awaken from this blind, deep sleep they fallen into, we will slip down that dangerous slope into fascism and loss of our beloved Constitution.
Yes, we have been sitting idly by, I was recently blogging on a site that was bashing people from the sixties, well at least we were out there. This week is the fifth year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and I am going to Washington tomorrow. May not do any good, but I am going, are you?
If Bush starts a war in Iran, then Americans will riot on our streets.
kirafa:
I salute you and I thank you. That’s two things I’m not willing to do to our commander in grief.
Vicki1129: “If Bush starts a war in Iran, then Americans will riot on our streets.”
No they won’t. Americans being the sheeple they are, will use tired cliche’s like “support the troops”, and “you are helping the terrorists by opposing the war”. They’ll support an attack on Iran, trust the American people on this one! Sorry to say that, but that’s what they did when the US embarked on it’s war of genocide against Iraq. Americans never learn.
The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
AWK!
The sky is falling! AWK!
Unchained exclaimed “Until the citizens of this country awaken from this blind, deep sleep they fallen into, we will slip down that dangerous slope into fascism and loss of our beloved Constitution.”
This has already happened. Elliott Spitzer is the poster child of where we are now. He was (supposedly) caught up because of some unusual financial transactions. How large were those transactions? The law requires reporting transactions of $5000 or more, but in this case, the alleged payof amount was $4200 — i.e., less than the reporting amount.
So tell me again… how exactly did he come to the attention of the “authorities”? And what role did the was played by the NSA warrantless privacy-vacuuming operations play?
Oh, wait. I forgot. That program is a vital tool in the war on terra, and details, if made public, would endanger national security. Forget I asked.
27.
Vicki1129 March 13th, 2008 4:04 pm
If Bush starts a war in Iran, then Americans will riot on our streets.
++++++++++
I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one, Vicki…
“Give me liberty or give me death,” said Patrick Henry.
How many are ready in this country for that decision?
peace …
Reason #10: The economy is taking a dump (recession). Historically speaking, economic recessions have always been a good reason to go to war. The war will increase production, employment, profits, and shift our anger away from the rich to the enemy. War is a good way to get us our of a recession. Plus, war has always been used to get our minds off of class war.
Fallon was in charge of the plans for War with Iran.
That is why and how he knows the USA would lose badly and quickly.
The top military generals almost all know this not so secret information…even the media knows this and the cost of the war On Terror is destroying Capitalism and now they all know it.
Bush/Cheney are alone now holding out and they have no option to save their war criminal butts but keep war on the table because the Secrecy behind war is what keeps them from being Hung.
Fallon understands this and knows that next year the world will be lookin for the war Criminals to Pay. Fallon is smart to jump ship to evade the consequences.
Of all the 6 points above Fallon jumping ship was the only new point.
Slim chance for a real war on Iran… Capitalism wants to survive too.
Cheney goin to the ME will not help them, anywhere they go now will only cause them to be further exposed to blame.
Sure Bush could start another War…. but I don’t think he could get away with it and directive 51
would be the start of a violent revolution and as a result of War with Iran or any new big war would only make the Bushes more vulnerable than they already are….
It takes millions of Nazis to cary out that order but Bush and Cheney wont get much help in that Bull shit since there aren’t enough willing to do that. A nuclear holocaust would be much easier to pull off than “51″ and now MAD (mutually assured destruction) is back too.
A war with Iran could be the trigger for MAD, everybody knows that but Mad is the only limit the War Machine ever faced.
I’m pretty Mad myself.
Helix:
That’s just dirty politics the way its played today. Maybe always played. They framed the former democratic governor of Alabama because they couldn’t beat him at the polls. At least Spitzer actually did something wrong.
And Clinton. If he could use the dirt on Spitzer, he’d have his latest Monica take a memo after the BJ and the cigar.
If modern war was good for the economy, the economy would not be an issue.
War is good if it is won with new markets to exploit.
Those days are dead and gone.
This war cannot be won and everything about it is bad for the economy.
The old Idea that War is good for the economy is just old and the proof is in the pudding.
I really want to know how much the Bible is being used as a playbook in the Oval Office.
Hey ~FRANK~ That’s the third time I’ve seen you post that identical blog here, you posted it on other threads, about Admiral Fallon referring to the Iranians as ants. You took his comment completely out of context.
Admiral Fallon answered a question such as. “What would occur if Iran ever developed atomic weapons and attacked another country”. He replied, they would be crushed like ants. Fallon is on our side on the Iran issue, so it’s unfair to picture him in any way as wanting to start a war, or to bomb Iran. ___On the contrary.
Here is another “classified rumor”, in addition to the U.S. Naval force on the surface of the Persion Gulf, 1 Nuclear Submarine has been on constant patrol. The Navy doesn’t admit this, or that it has armed nuclear warheads on its long range missiles.
It is alarming that, (again officially denied), a second U.S. Nuclear submarime is in the Pacific under sealed orders. .These rumor denials are officially classified.
“Five Time Deferrment Dick” is out on a goodwill tour to our Middle Eastern client states. .He’ll give them their orders, and make a few Oil Deals for the NeoCon Gang.
Can you really see American men lining up at the US Army recruiters to join the invasion of Iran? With 9 million households owning homes worth less than their mortgages, trillions in losses in the liquidity crunch, the US dollar at an all time low ($1.56 to the Euro today) and gold at over $1000 an ounce, who is going to pay for this and with what? Remember - Hitler launched his invasion of the East at a time when Germany was the strongest industrial power in the world and had a rising (not collapsing)industrial capacity. And he sustained much of the war and industrial effort by looting the industry, labor and agriculture of the occupied countries. Maybe some Bush cronies got prize Iraqi art treasures to display in their mansions, but there has been precious little else to boast about in a war which was supposed to ‘pay for itself’. No - he will choke on a pretzel before the US invades Iran. The next war will be waged here, a domestic police state against its own citizens when the bread lines start to swell.
~GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLEY~ You might think the sky is falling if we start a war with Iran. It would very likely be the start of a depression here that would make the one of 1929 seem like a rather bad day. If we have a depression for ANY reason, you can make book that Bush will enact his Presidential Powers and declare Martial law.
Gasoline will be reach $10+ bucks a gallon and the price of food will double again. OVERNIGHT. The sky won’t fall, but our nation will. So if you wish to ignore the possible dire concsequenses of a war with Iran, knock yourself out. BTW. One can lose 150 calories an hour by banging their head against a wall. And a depression is looming whether Bush starts another damn war or not.
bakunin:
Sadly, I think you have described the dominant mindset of the US military correctly. They are brainwashed from the beginning, and led by people who have been brainwashed for decades. In essence, a total gang-banger mentality. Thanks to Smedley Butler for pointing out the connection.
Bush/Cheney is planning the Iran war as his October Suprise.
bbr-001 advanced the notion “[Massive eavesdropping on US citizens in direct violation of the 4th amendment] is just dirty politics the way its played today. Maybe always played.”
What has changed is the ability of the NSA to gather information. The 4th amendment states “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
There was no probable cause in the Eliot Spitzer case. The information was simply vacuumed up by the NSA and turned over to the FBI and news media. Note the breathtaking scope off the surveillence — bank records, emails, phone conversations…
This same kind of information is available on each and every one of us, and that information is now in the hands of the US government. The determining factor in Spitzer’s case was that had political enemies and they used the warrantless evesdropping program to take him down.
The lesson for all Americans here is — don’t make waves. Everyone has done things that they hope will not become public knowledge, even more so for public figures. We’ve now entered an era where your government has an audit trail to every single activity in your private life. If you want it to stay private, it’s probably best to keep your mouth shut and go shopping like Bush told you. By the way, they know whether you’ve been shopping. And what you bought. And they know whether every penny of your income is accounted for, or whether there is some room in there for “suspicious transactions”.
Wanna know why Nancy Pelosi took impeachment “off the table”? Ask yourself whether someone in her position is likely to have ever cut some less than exemplary deals to advance her political career. If she has — and I’m willing to bet hard cash that she’s done things that can at least be construed that way — then it’s a good bet that she’s gotten the word that she’s going to play ball — or else. I even recently saw a clip of Jim Webb (Virginia) the other day — remember the tough guy who we were hoping would take these guys on. He looked like a second-grader who’d just had his ass whipped out on the playground. My guess is — that’s exactly what happened. Was it made perfectly clear to him that those guys were in posession of a minute-by-minute account of his life for the last six years, and there are some things in there that could be made to look like red meat to the MSM attack dogs? So play ball, Jimbo. Or else.
This isn’t just dirty politics. This is tyranny and oppression. This is governance by intimidation and blackmail.
Go ahead. Speak out against it. I dare you. But if you’ve ever smoked a joint, had an affair, didn’t report that $150 you made on a side job that didn’t show up on your W-2, made an unkind remark that you now regret about someone close to you, or even made a remark about Bush or the government that could be taken as treason in a time of war, you might want to think twice.
After all, the 4th amendment isn’t the only part of the bill of rights that has been trashed.
I really don’t know what the perverted bush/cheney cowards will do next but I do know that they want to control the oil flow out of the ME and invading Iraq was only the first step in that plan. One can only hope that some force is in place to stop them before it’s too late. My best hopes are in the CIA and/or military because Congress isn’t up to the task.
>I can’t imagine anybody, not even GW Bush, could be that stupid to start a war with Iran.<
Intelligence has never been Bush’s strong suit. Who would have thought he would have been stupid enough to invade Iraq, leading to a war that’s bankrupting this country? This is a guy, remember, who apparently didn’t know that gas was predicted to hit $4/gallon. He and his associates live in a parallel fantasy world, where they’re ridding the world of “evildoers.” The fact that he was even able to get close enough to win the presidency with a rigged election makes a mockery of the idea that democracy will weed out those unfit to govern. We’d be better off with a monarchy. At least then we might get a good one through chance and sheer dumb luck.
For the first time in my life, I have to say that I would welcome a military takeover in this country. If Cheney gives the order to attack Iran, the military should arrest him and the entire Cheney/Bush crime family and bundle them off to The Hague and international war crimes tribunals. Appoint Adm. Fallon interim president until the election is held.
KEM, have you stocked up on canned goods, water, and ammo? Got the two-way radio and generator ready to go? Better get a flak jacket while you’re at it.
Also, collect some facts while you’re at it. The definition of a recession is when the economy shrinks for two consecutive quarters. It hasn’t done that yet. Are gas prices high? Yes. Are they driving up commodities prices? Yes. But still no actual recession. So a depression like 1929 - when people were homeless and starving because the dust bowl conditions out west wrecked most of the crops - is pretty a far flung possibility as well. They’re still growing a lot of food in America, despite the changing climate. And you’ll qualify for food stamps if you can’t afford the good stuff.
Look, just… grab the reigns. Get a hold of yourselves, all of you. You sound like a bunch of lunatics. Show of hands… how many of you are wearing tinfoil hats?
The economy is struggling, yes. Another conflict would be another terrible stain on the economy, destabilizing the world further. They know that. Do you think Bush and Cheney and Rove all walk around thinking “I am evil incarnate”?? No one does that. They believe in what they’re doing, misguided as it may seem. Now they’re stuck with the course of action. There IS NO TURNING BACK from what we’ve done in Iraq. Our troops are going to be there for decades. Get used to it. No one complains about our troops sitting in S. Korea. It’s just a fact of life.
Just hang on for another year until the inauguration and someone new will be in the White House. And don’t spend so much time here … If you’re worried about the war continuing into Iran, go do something about it. Notify your lawmakers, get some people to show up for some protests. If half the people who have been showing up for Clinton or Obama events would also show up for protests, we’d be getting somewhere.
What are y’all reading? Everyone missed the underlying assumption, stated right at the beginning, that leads to this article and a direct route into the author’s brain: Iran is building nuclear weapons. Is it? Only the US and its cowed, sheepish allies say so. This author also seems to think it’s true. Look again at his opening salvo. THEN…note that an ARMY guy is replacing a Navy guy and there may not be a proper appointment in the near future.
Riddimboy:
I don’t think that the Europeans people are “sycophantic.” They marched in the streets in their millions against the War on Iraq, including the Brits who loathed the fact that Tony Bliar joined the Bushits in invading Iraq. Bush was reduced to sneaking into London and giving a speech to a roomful of people (at the Royal Services Instititute-a foreign services and intelligence organization) to an audience rounded up at the bar and herded in who had no idea whom they here going to hear who sat in silence through his “pause for laughter/applause” mopments. it was hilarious.
It’s true (and as an ex-European it embarrasses me) that too many of their governments seem to be falling into the NeoCon trap over Iran. I find it unfathomable after their ability (the UK and a few minor impoverished and well-rewarded ex-Communist governments excepted) to treat the Iraq “intelligence” with the contempt it deserved and act upon that contempt.
If “traitor” is defined as those who violate their oath of office to defend the Constitution which is sworn to by every elected member of Congress and every senior appointed member of the Executive Branch, then all those in the White House, Senate and House wearing a scarlet “R” engraved on their solid gold cufflinks are traitors if we go to war with Iran without a formal declaration of war as required by the Constitution. The problem is that far too large a number of those sporting a blue “D” painted on their silver platted belt buckle took the same oath and have committing the same high crime.
The Republicans might be excused given their mental defectiveness. They might even qualify as disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Suffering as they do from minimal intelligence, uncurious ignorance, impermeable arrogance, perceived entitlement and ingrained, untamable aggression, they seem incapable of learning or obeying the law. We can pity them their disfunctionalities while still fearing what unimaginable disasters they will perpetrate if unchecked. They are not so different from predators in the wild. Interesting to study, but dangerous when allowed to roam loose.
Not so the Democrats currently calling themselves leaders. They should know better. They are not only traitors to their oath of office when they vote for tortures on suspicion, searches without warrants and wars without declaration, they are the worst kind of traitor. Those who, fully knowing better, do it anyway out of cowardice, or personal gain or laziness deserve the universal condemnation of history.
[more irreverency at resistence-is-possible.blogspot.com]
How many times have I seen the phrases “I can’t imagine”, used to describe the acts of Bush and Cheney??????
WAKE UP……..These two are NOT SANE
The last 6 years give multiple proofs of their INSANITY.
In the next 6 or 7 months, BUSH and CHENEY can start World War III.
Are we going to let this happen????????????
Write and call your representatives. DEMAND that they IMPEACH both BUSH and CHENEY……RIGHT NOW.!!!!!!!!!!
No doubt Fallon kept bringing up a little thing called FUCKIN’ REALITY….And you’ve got to love the cagy Israelis: “we won’t consider unilateral action against Iran” because, as noted well here, they most likely won’t have to: they’ll attack beside U.S. forces and be in it up to their eyeballs. To repeat once more: this is another wing of the pure invention “lifestyle war” we have in Iraqistan—There is ALREADY a more than adequate nuclear response force in place against Iran. If they do build and have nukes, what happens 30 seconds after they use them? They are gone, and they know it. There is NO SANE REASON for this U.S./Israeli behavior.
The false-flag suitcase nuke attack is coming. Iran will be blamed, everyone will fall in line and embrace Directive 51. This strategy worked once for them.
rainbrowe — “They marched in the streets in their millions against the War on Iraq, including the Brits who loathed the fact that Tony Bliar joined the Bushits in invading Iraq”
So did we. My city San Francisco/Oakland had some of the largest protests blah, blah and we took over the streets and raised hell but nothing changed. Bush was actually re-elected ! And so was Blair !!! And Merkel and Sarkozy and … i give up.
The turth is a majority of Europeans supported this war like the majority of Americans did. Maybe things have changed now after 5 years of death and destruction. Too little too late. A million dead Iraqis … 3-4 million displaced Iraqis if not more. Most of them women and children. Neither Obama, nor Clinton or McCain are getting out of Iraq and if the Iran war starts (it will) im willing to bet a million Euros Gordon Brown and Sarkozy will be the first to bend over and grease up.
The greatest insanity of the Bush/Cheney/neocon crowd is that they imagined for a moment that Iraq (and now Iran and possibly Venezuela and some African countries) would for any reason stop selling oil to the U.S. Why? Do they “hate our freedoms?” Are they “evil?” To prevent any loss of suppliers, they think we have to dominate the world MILITARILY to be sure that other countries will take our money in exchange for oil. Oh, yes, and to hunt down and kill every person we label as a terrorist.
The State Dept. has been militarizing S. America for several years. Their next project is the entire continent of Africa if the plan for AFRICOM is implemented, with the State Dept spending $1 billion per year for 5 years to hire MERCENARIES to “help” Africa make itself stable.
US ground invasion of Iran is impossible this year. That requires a year of preliminary public announcements to get the capital brigades in line, it requires a couple years without election interruption, and there is no guarantee against fatal popular backlash if the elections are suspended, and besides all that, the Imperial Chimp & Shrimp know from updates during football timeouts that they ain’t got nuff ‘cruits willing to let the Iranians turn them into Sausage in Tehran. Much more likely, fighter wings from the US/UK/Israeli Axis will join forces to drop billion dollar babies on Iranian bunkers this spring, summer, and fall to watch the rockets’ red glare of their cherished MIC stock prices again before changing of the guard in November. Meanwhile, the empty voids of Public Discourse in America have been filled with rotten kaka to suppress anything worth anything to the vast majority of the population from filling them. This is how you keep the American people down and out. Now get back to work.
The world is fed up to the back teeth with America, and like the Russians were goaded into Agahnistan so the USA will attack Iran and the largest terrorist organisation in the world will wish they never had. It will be the end for the USA, you can all put your flags away, Venezuala of course is the next inline for enemy status, but who will the USA pick a fight with then.
The usa is headed for a Military dictatorship as sure as apples are apples.
~GREAT GOOGLEY MOOGLEY~ Wow G and M, you sound exactly like some of my good friends and neighbors. “We aren’t even in a recession you say, and a depression would not be as bad as that of 1929, where people starved and were forced out of their homes. And another war would just be a burden on the economy, but wait around and things will improve. Call your congressman and let our leaders know how we feel abut it, instead of blogging comments here.” Aren’t you blogging comments here? ___ How come?
And you tell me to get a grip and face reality and take off the aluminum hat. Well Googley Moog, I have a different opinion than you do. First of all, the government and many of the wizard economists are not saying recession or depression quite yet, but we’re already in a recession. People are already losing their homes, millions of them. That disaster has just started. Gasoline is already at $3.30 a gallon and rising daily. It was expensive at $1.80 a gallon. Food prices have nearly doubled in the past six years.
The war with Iraq has brocken our economy and we owe China alone trillions of dollars because of it. Most of the army generals admit our army and National Guard units are broken. A war with Iran would bust our ass, and bedides, it would be just another stupid and illegal mistake. The price of crude would easily reach $300 a barrel. We could easily bomb Iran, but we’d sure have to fight them on the ground in Iraq if we ever do and we are not prepared to do that.
You can have your simplistic opinons and you have a perfect right to state them Googley, but if you or anyone doesn’t believe we will have a depression if we have a war with Iran you are just HOPING. We’ll probably have one anyway. And if we do, Bush wil have to enact Martial Law.
Finally, few starved during the last depresion, many didn’t have a lot of fun food, but there was plenty of food and it was inexpensive. A full bushel of vegetables at a farmer’s market was ten cents. Flour was a penny a pound and a chicken was $15 cents. Chicken was a once a week treat for most however.
This time those millions of small farmers who supplied 98% of our food in 29 are history. We now import over 40% and mega-farms grow most of the rest. You won’t be buying veggies or live chickens at a famrer’s market for a dime and fifteen cents. The supermarkets will be emptied in two days and there won’t be any food to purchase. The result? Rioting in every metro area and city. That’s just a small piece of the picture. It’s gonna be very nasty Googley, __ very, very, nasty.
So much gloom and doom here! First, I don’t think there would be suspended elections. There won’t be a need. The next president will carry on the current policies just fine. There might be some cosmetic changes, but the big picture most likely won’t change.
Second, I think a war with Iran would present too many dangers to the ruling elites of the U.S. and would be too dangerous for them. Of course I can’t rule out that we wouldn’t launch some sort of air strike or missile strike against Iran, but our corporate masters have to know how dangerous an all out war with Iran would be. It’s the same reason we don’t have a draft today- because the country would rip itself apart just like it did 40 years ago. The elites may be dumb, but they aren’t stupid! Besides, as long as the oil keeps flowing, that’s all that really matters to policy makers.
“There is nothing puzzling … about America’s gratuitously aggressive foreign policy or about the oligarchs’ successful efforts to drag the Republic into five wars. What an aggressive foreign policy accomplishes by slow degrees, a state of war accomplishes in a trice. Overnight [war] kills reform, overnight it transforms insurgents into traitors and the Republic into an imperiled realm. Overnight it strangles free politics, distracts and overawes the citizenry. Overnight it blasts public hope.”
Walter Karp
I’m listening to all of you guys, and I would never put anything past the corporates/Bush regime, but how in the heck are we going to have a war unless they reinstate the draft?
People would not stand for it, am I wrong?
7. Dick Cheney has a woody.
Riddimboy, you obviously don’t know sq…er, Europeans. The populations were almost all over 905 against the invasion. It was their governments lickin Bush’s behind for dregs that joined the coalition over their peoples’ wishes. I guess you forget the only country who had more people for the war was the good ol’ USA - idiots who bought the lies hook, line, and sinker.
Marjorie Ann, I’m afraid the lines would be long at enlisting. But you certainly would also see many 1 way tickets to anywhere.
“The populations were almost all over 905 against the invasion. It was their governments lickin Bush’s behind for dregs ”
Really … so why did they elect the same if not more conservative governments back ?? Are they really as stupid as us ??
You don’t need to draft anyone to bomb them Marjorie. We have three carrier groups and bombers at Diego Garcia and Guam all ready for action. That’s several hundred aircraft and of course sub launched cruise missiles. KA-BOOM!!
And if we do bomb Iran we wil have a war with them wwhether we want it or not and the oil will stop flowing.
The new French seem to like the idea of hitting Iran.
Can someone explain that one to me?
Iran and Syria have been the target all along.
Forget “October Surprise”
I’m thinking July.
Curmudgeon, no way, enlistment? That’s hard to imagine, but since there are no jobs….
Kem Patrick,yes I agree. Here’s a thought, IF we did something like that, then Chavez and his buddies would hit us from the south, scary. And what would China and Russia do?
And, WTF are you a surfer, do you surf? Cheney doesn’t deserve a woody.
Guess what? The carrier, the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln will sail tomorrow on a seven month deployment of unknown (”unpublished” is more like it) destination(s). It’s escorts will sail on Saturday. 3 + 7 = ?
Guess what? The U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln (aircraft carrier) was the subject of a story today in the newspaper of the city in which it is stationed that reports that it will sail tomorrow (3/14) on a seven month deployment to unspecified (or unpublished) location(s). Its escort vessels will sail on Saturday. 3 + 7 = ?
check back later, have to get some zzzzzz’s.
#
WTF March 13th, 2008 9:41 pm
7. Dick Cheney has a woody.
I think Shotgun Dick is a woody. A tiny irritating diseased woody.
The neocon philosophy says that in a chaotic situation expand the chaos. The Iran war is scheduled. It will take action to stop it. I am not hopeful.
Wars USED to boost economy because of full employment and almost all internal production. With out sourcing the money quickly flows out of the country and back as principal for a loan on future productivity that happens less and less in the USA.
Well, well, well. Reading the economic reports today and the daily death counts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza, Chad, and East Africa, I reckon that the great america experiment in democracy is completely dead in its country of origin. Revolution? When and where? Where is the great uniter leader and the sheep willing to get slaughtered to uphold…whatever? There ain’t one. There isn’t even 2,000 willing people in amerika willing to throw their empty bodies in front of a Homeland Security tank or in front of any government agency building demanding change. What a legacy. Even Serbia and Nigeria does more than “we the people”. We the people have lost the respect of the world; the beacon of freedom is out, at least in this miserable nation.
A Woody is a 1941, thru 48 Ford station wagon, deluxe, top of the line, with Birch wood side and rear door trim. Does Cheney have one?
Hi~MARJORIE~. If we have a depression, The Mexicans and South Americans will soon be pouring across our southern border. Over ten million of them, __ARMED __. You can buy a Chinese made AK-47 in Africa for ten bucks.
If we attack Iran? China will soon after invade Taiwan and also protect and support North Korea. Russia will keep supplying Iran with high tech weapons, including ant-ship missiles. Iran already has thousands of those and if we attack them, our naval forces will have some very serious problems. An all out war will ensue in the Mid-East region, with possible atomic bombs used.
We can only connect the dots here: additional troop surges were ordered, troop deployments extended.
Internet chatter says it’s going to be nuclear strikes. A bunker buster won’t collapse earth that far underground but they can contaminate all the topsoil on top. Plutonium has a half life of 24,000 years.
A military test was recently completed to knock an ailing spy satellite out of orbit-for the reason to protect human lives; a rush to deploy a missile defense in Poland to protect allies (aka American interests/assets)
Do we really believe everything that we hear from this administration? It’s a well known fact that the contigency plans have already been drafted and rehearsed. Some say not if but when.
Message to our leader: You may not pull the trigger to order the bombing run; Congress will never support funding a war expansion into Iran. That will mark the beginning of the next impeachment.
God Bless America.
KEM — I believe that darth cheney only has one when he’s holding his shotgun in somebody’s face.
His vehicle isn’t running too well these days, and has had several transplanted engines and many complete over/under hauls - and while his mileage is off-the-scale, his differential keeps on slipping more and more each revolution (= war). And his neorons fire at odd times, mostly missing the press box, but often causing his right arm to jerk upward violently.
¿ Perhaps Dr Kissyngerbal can help him find his inner pieces ?
Yes, George Brown, I, too, caught an article yesterday in our local paper, The Everett Herald, that mentioned deployment of the aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln for the mideast - an extended deployment. Cheney in the middle east, Bush administration time running out, Fallon quits. Feel like I’m sitting on the edge of a cliff.
Who’s going to run the impeachment charge? Who will stop president ding-dong or Big Dick Cheney from doing whatever they want? Congress? The israeli controlled attorney general? Ha Ha Ha. Give me a break. The “bad guys” are doing a very good job of keeping the united states completely broke, scared, and marketable; i.e. the US is a third world developing country and everything is for sale including our military. The US is a colonialized police/military nation and will be the worlds war lords. The US constitution will be a footnote in history. The sheep of the US are incapable of mounting any revolution. Welcome to the new world order.
With Iran nukes will have to be used to keep the us casualties to an acceptable level. With conventional forces this goal will not be achieved and they will lose support on the domestic front.
Helix March 13th, 2008 5:28 pm
perfect analysis - the elites let us choose the leaders, then a mysterious email shows up listing all of your errant ways or perhaps a man in a black suit w/ a manila envelope. of course we pay for it…
——————————————————
Jim Glover March 13th, 2008 4:26 pm
‘Of all the 6 points above Fallon jumping ship was the only new point.’
Doom n Gloom March 13th, 2008 3:19 pm
“They stand to lose big if the Saudi’s choose to sell their oil in Euro’s insetad of Dollars. It becomes necessary from the elite perspective to flex more muscle in the Middle East to keep the Saudi’s in check. The greed soaked policies of American banks could not withstand the Saudi’s electing to accept Euro’s for oil.”
bingo!!
i think a legitimate question is….
how does the world deal w/ a fascist entity that has more weaponry than all the rest of the countries combined (including israel)?
they can’t deal w/ the US militarily. the veto power in the security council prevents UN action, but they can destroy our economy and force us to choose new leadership.
china already buys it’s oil from iran in euros. iraq’s oil revenue sits in US banks before its redistributed to iraqi’s, this was a subject of debate last week when fallon was questioned by levin in the senate (site below).
venezuala and russia would have no problems buying and selling oil in euros. especially recently w/ US expanding missle capabilities in the former eastern block.
our economy is melting and the global elites are uncomfortable, a switch to the euro (a stabler currency) is reasonable. we no longer are the worlds largest economy, why should the life blood of the industrial world continue to be measured in dollars.
i suspect ahmanidijad spoke w/ iraqi leadership about this idea - perhaps as a way for the iraqis to resist US occupation. imagine if their resource was sold in euros. who would flip out the most over this turn of events, of course US banks and oil companies (cheney/bush).
the irony here is the tactics being employed (economic warfare) are the same tactics we used against the russians. i’d say putin and ahmanidijad are better chess players than cheney (strong offense weak end game).
from the moscow times..2003
ttp://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/crisis/2003/1010oilpriceeuro.htm
“Almost two-thirds of the world’s currency reserves are kept in dollars, since oil importers pay in dollars and oil exporters keep their reserves in the currency they are paid in. This effectively provides the U.S. economy with an interest-free loan, as these dollars can be invested back into the U.S. economy with zero currency risk. If a Russian move to the euro were to prompt other oil producers to do the same, it could be a “catastrophe” for the United States, Ibrahim said. “There are already a number of countries within OPEC that would prefer to trade in euros.” Iran, the world’s No. 5 oil exporter, has also openly mulled a move into euros.”
the same argument was posted in the arab news in 2006…
http://www.arabnews.com/?p.=7§ion=0&article=78138&d=21&m=2&y=2006
“But the US government knows, and is deeply alarmed by the danger that the dollar may be losing its status as the world’s only reserve currency. Given the huge deficits that plague the US economy, the US dollar’s value would collapse if other countries began to see it as just another currency, so the euro must be prevented from emerging as an alternative reserve currency. In practice, that means the Iranian experiment with a euro-denominated oil bourse must be stopped — and the only way to do that is to attack Iran.”
article from yesterday about fallon’s testimony at Senate Armed Services Committee,
http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_warneroil_0308mar08,0,7873597.story
…peace…..
Has anyone tried to crush ants? Biologically they are one of the most successful animals alive & thriving in their millions, ready to succeed Homo sapiens if ever the self-inflicted nuclear holocaust takes place.
“Hi~MARJORIE~. If we have a depression, The Mexicans and South Americans will soon be pouring across our southern border. Over ten million of them, __ARMED __. You can buy a Chinese made AK-47 in Africa for ten bucks.”
Ha, ha, Kem, well if that DOES happen, the American character will show through in ALL its violence. We are not a peaceful people by any stretch of the imagination, and have our own guns by the millions. It would be a shoot out at the OK Corral!
KEM,
You are hilarious. $300 a barrel… $10 a gallon… martial law… Evil mega-farms… Keep working on that movie script, maybe someone will buy it. Have you figured out who to cast for the lead role?
Keep that tinfoil hat on and you’ll be safer from the voices.
Amazing… one post someone says the fascist U.S. has the all powerful military, but then another one says “it’s broken.” Well which is, crazies? Get your facts straight.
GreatGooglyMoogly-
You suggest contacting lawmakers to enact change. Do you actually believe that they will enact any change? Do you believe they would even read our suggestions? Congress has shut down. It’s been shut down for years. The only thing congress could do is decide what day of the week to actually come to work.
Your posts remind me a lot of the man that laughed at Noah or laughed at the Wright brothers. The recession is coming. The roar of the wave is getting louder and louder but the deaf man smiles and laughs, oblivious to the danger.
The US military has the most advanced and capable army in the world, but it is broken due to misuse. (Same as a John Deere tractor that’s been run out of oil) We don’t live in a WW2 era anymore and the solidarity of the American people is weak. So even with all the advanced weaponry, computers, and tactics, we lie weak and vulnerable.
You are drastically and fatally underestimating the muslim people and their reaction to an attack on Iran. Muslims have a different methodology than Christians. The assault on our country would be overwhelming. The more muslims we continue to murder, the more resolved they become.
You also urged us to “face the fact that our troops will be in Iraq for decades”. The only reason troops are there at all is because the US government lied to it’s citizens, presented ‘evidence’ to the UN that it KNEW to be false at the time, and then committed a crime of aggression (See Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court).
The Korean war developed because the area of North Korea under soviet control attacked South Korea. The reason that we were in South Korea in the first place was because of the recent defeat of Japan. We were were responsible for the South Korean territory IAW established treaties. The ‘war’ in Iraq is completely different. The reason we are still in South Korea is because we lease a base there, same as in Japan. We pay that country to have a base. We don’t force them. (The Philippines kicked the US Navy out of the Subic Bay base in Olongapo in 1992.)
It is almost comical to read your posts. You stand with your back to the ocean saying “Tsunami? What tsunami?” as everyone else screams and runs for cover.
Iowablackbird, thanks for your post. I wonder if part of the reason Fallon “resigned” (aside from his disagreement with the Bushies over Iran) is that he publicly revealed to the congressional committee that all that Iraqi oil money is sitting in a bunch of banks. I have a feeling we weren’t supposed to know that.
P.S. Isn’t it a little late (5 years after the fact) for Congress finally to be asking where all the Iraqi oil money is?
RUSSIA. Have a nice day.
Iran will start the conflict (Mossad) The US will defend itself.
Russia. Israel.
We cannot start a “war” with Iran. We can have a blitzkrieg in the middle of some night and continue it for weeks.
We can drop bombs on a sleeping civilian population and kill thousands. Thousands more will survive with massive burns and amputations. People will be insane with grief and anger. We can shatter art treasures like the temple of Ishfahan. We can demolish the archeological treasures of Persepolis. We can ruin the roads, electrical grid, food distribution and water supply.
There will be some resistance. Some of our planes will be shot down and some US soldiers killed. Their coffins will never be shown on TV, so it won’t be real.
Then the real war starts. Decades of angry children who just wanted to live a good life grow up and seek revenge on us. We will have even fewer allies in the world.
Americans - we cannot let this scenario happen again. Let us make life miserable for our representatives and press until they stand up and tell the truth.
What could the Germans have done to stop Hitler from invading Poland and France? This is a serious question.
Whatever it is, that’s what we should be doing.
Bush does not have the public support for another war that will likely be another quigmire! Not like he did the last time. Even the dumbest American’s (except the hard core Bushies) don’t believe his terror rhetoric anymore. He has a deficit that’s gone into the stratosphere from two failed wars. As well as his unrealistic tax cuts for the rich. An economy that’s in the sewer due to two wars that are draining us. The military is in shambles from 6 years of war. If he institutes the draft he will have a full scale rebellion here at home. I for one will not send my Grandson to fight in his war. Call me an incurable optimist (even though I am a born cynic)! But, I don’t think he has the resources anymore to conduct another war. If he did he would have done it a long time ago. What resources he did have were squandered.
Capture them alive, then hang the lot from the whitewashed house.
You do not have a government, you have a criminal regime.
The issue is global, not “Umerikun”
Wake up or wake up dead.
tumbleweed, I think you underestimate the stupidity of the American sheeple. Also, like jclientelle said, we don’t need ground forces; just bombs, and we’ve got plenty of those. Besides, even if Americans objected to bombing Iran (which they won’t), what could we do to stop it? The Bushies are pulling the strings, the courts are in his back pocket, and Congress is dead.
“I’m gonna get my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames.” –Jim Morrison
I think it all comes down to the doctrine that “terrorists shouldn’t be allowed to develop nuclear weapons or even the remote potential to have them. No counter-measure should be spared, regardless of the costs in any terms.” It’s the highest-stakes poker-as-foreign policy-game ever played in human history. It doesn’t appear that anyone has the political position or will to stop it. It makes the balance-of-power situation of the Cold War seem also consoling by comparison. Perhaps, Stephen Hawking is right in his proposition that we should develop colonies on the moon and Mars as soon as possible (play multiple hands at the poker table) to increase our chances for survival.
The plan is to create massive unemployment and institute a massive recruiting campaign to obviate thr need for a draft. After all what are you going to do with no home, no job and existing on handouts, you’ll join the long line of gun fodder, that’s what you’ll do.
How did this catastrophe come about, answer, too many hot heads who believed the bullshit spewed out hourly by the media and wanted to kick ass. Well it’s their own ass which has got kicked along with the Iraqis.
On the point of Europeans, and I assume the poster meant the UK. Blair wasn’t voted in, he stole the election by ballot fraud using a first past the post system. In fact Blair only got about 34% of the vote, 66% were against him.
The Bush gang have to hold onto power to save their criminal necks so look forward to a rough ride, most of you asked for violence now you’re getting it, perhaps you’ll engage brain next time,if there is a next time.
Cranky-chatter, the French do NOT like the idea of hitting Iran. That is a consideration ONLY upon proven nuclear weapons, which (like weapons of mass destruction) simply do not exist. And hits come long after a lot of diplomacy. Bush/Chaney might like the idea of hitting them. I don’t think there is another government on the planet who feels that way. Not even the US government is in favor of it. Try and get THAT measure through congress. Wonder which side Hillary would come down on on this. Perhaps someone should ask her.
Interestingly enough this article also appeared on Townhall.com. But of course the comments section was littered with Armchair, Couch Potato Warmongers.
Conspiracy Theory Advisory Alert:
Knowns:
1) Hillary’s hanging in even though logic says it’s a no win
2) Been suggested she’s hoping for a Denver miracle
3) Wants to frame contest on National Security/Commander in Chief argument
4) (Historical frame: husband Bill been cozy with the Bush’s).
5) Commander Fallon (there’ll be no war with Iran on my watch) resigns (actually, most say forced out)
Predictions:
6) Bush/Cheney start war with Iran.
7) Hillary captures nomination on fear/War Commander campaign. Hillary or McCain wins in Nov.
Why?
Bush has two nominees, McCain and Clinton, who are both pro-war.
(Remember, he recently said something to the effect that the U.S. policy on Iraq will stay the same AFTER the next President is in charge?)
My personal favorite conspiracy theory:
Both Clinton and Bush have used thought reading technology covertly on Americans. Both have a vested interested in not prosecuting/or even embarrassing their legacy’s with this info. Re: McCain, anyone what to venture that the smart $ is on McCain also agreeing to legislating this dirty technology?
Interesting aside:
Was the Prince Harry ‘leak’ that he was in Afghanistan deliberate? To give the British an excuse to remove him from the war zone? An attack on Iran will make Afghanistan much more violent. Too violent for a Prince?
A lot of good comments and observations and only one obvious troll showed up, which is a bit surprising now that so many are invading this site. Neat name too, “Googly”, funny as his opinions.
We all better hope and pray we don’t have a depression, or that we bomb, bomb Iran. And yes Chessgames, if ten million armed people come pouring across our southern border there will be a conflict. That was exactly my point. Now if that occurs and we are in the depths of a depression and no one has any fuel, money, or food, and no ammo is available in the closed stores, we are going to suffer.
The Alamo may once again be under full contol of the Mexicans. The Mexicans could once again own Texas, the southwest and California. It is not going to be pretty or fun. Interesting however. It could finally end up with China and Russia having control of the entire world. I hear Doald Trump is taking Chinese speakng and reading lessons. He’s not stupid.
I like Chinese-American food but I accidently tried to eat real Chinese food once and don’t recommend it. The slave & child labor, human rights, and pollution issues don’t sound too good either. Anyone know anything about Russian food?
Seriously, Bush/Cheney have yet to learn that the most productive economy with ample natural resources will win a world war. Unless they are planning on a nuclear war. I suspect they may not have majored in history.
6 Signs The US Will Not Be Heading For War:
1. No plausible justification since the release of latest NIE.
2. Ground forces already stretched thin and bogged down in two occupation campaigns, whilst recruitment numbers diminish.
3. Air-only based attacks have no strategic value. (Only worldwide political condemnation would result.)
4. Certain closure of Straits of Hormuz resulting in catastrophically hiked oil prices.
5. Iraq/Afghan insurgency certain to intensify.
6. Iran is well defended and her soldiers motivated.
- Only 6? -
[7. Russia is a close economic ally of Iran, and has supplied state-of-the-art weaponry and expertise
8. China too.]
As frightening as Terry Atlas’s evidence is, I care to err on the side of optimism and hope that the rational minds in the leadership win out.
Fear not.
S March, have you ever had borscht? Well, that’s Russian.
With black bread and dead fish eggs, and a form of rotted Korean kemshi.
Fear not, ~Samski~? ___ You HOPE that the “rational minds” in the leadership win out. I hope so too however, “We have a problem Houston”. ___ What rational minds, would have invaded Iraq, especialy with no plans of what to do once we did it ?
What RATIONAL minds would have supported NAFTA, without some strong and inforceable rules? What rationl minds would have taken care of the Katrina victems as they were? What rational minds would continue to allow Halliburton and KBR to earn billions for doing almost nothing of any value and over-charging us tax-payers for every service they did provide? What rational minds would build a $76 billion dollar embassy in Baghdad, especially when we seemed to get along just fine, when we never have had an embassy there?
Sorry, but MY optomism has been destroyed during the past seven years, EXCEPT, I am optomistic, that we are going straight down the toilet and into the sorry ass cess-pool of failed once great nations.
I once had a Russian neighbor. Some kind of engineer, and when his wife went to the movies, out would come the vodka bottle. She yelled at him if he drank. One afternoon, he told me to come over in the early evening for a vodka or two. The guy cooked up a batch of fried potatos, onions, and mushrooms, and we ate that along with a loaf of Russian black bread. Several hours later and after so many toasts of “nastrovia”, the bottle was three quarters empty. The Russkie said, “for an American, you can hold your own. I like you.” Words to that effect. He was worried about the wife coming home, hid what was left of the vodka, and walked me to the door. He was amazed I was still on my feet, and he looked and acted as if he was drinking milk or juice. Several minutes later at home and on my bed, my head started spinning like a top and I was getting seasick. The next morning was vomit city for me and my head was still spinning. I peaked out the window and saw him working in the garden, fit as a fiddle. That’s my Russian “food” experience.
Look at the two children in the photo. Every child is beautiful, but these two? My god.
Let them live. Let them have a childhood of some small wonder and some small joy. Don’t let their innocent eyes grow old with the sorrows and miseries of war.
Call your congresspeople. At the same time, call on your angels, your gods and goddesses, your spiritual mothers and fathers to protect these two - and the millions like them.
Fear is a commodity in excessive supply. Had my fill, ~Kem~. Cold War was a gas. No fireworks though.
Look at how fear is used by the maestro-in-chief. In the US, terror has gripped almost everyone into submission. No need to apply any more, not domestically anyway.
The article’s 6 signs can be interpreted to mean that US policy towards Iran is one of extreme intimidation only, barking with no intention to bite.
Fear down. Heavy.
Are Americans rational?
Or has the rest of the world been right all along with the arch-stereotype “Crazy Americans”?
Googly moogly, you sound scarily exactly like the people who laughed at Hitler an the ‘nervous nellies’ who were actually getting concerned about him and his Nazi nutjob henchmen. Kem Patrick is right about one thing, if something were to disrupt the supply stream of food and fuel to our cities we would be in deep shite. There are many more of us and we are a lot less self sufficient than ever, and spoiled, and violent.
i’m sorry those links earlier didn’t work the articles are cited below……
Feb 21, 2006 …
Iran, Oil and Euros: The War Scenario Gwynne Dyer, Arab News
October 10, 2003..
Putin: Why Not Price Oil in Euros? Catherine Belton Moscow Times
——————-
another essay that puts petro dollars into perspective.
17 Jan 2006.
The Proposed Iranian Oil Bourse by Krassimir Petrov
http://www.energybulletin.net/12125.html
“The man that actually did demand Euro for his oil was Saddam Hussein in 2000. At first, his demand was met with ridicule, later with neglect, but as it became clearer that he meant business, political pressure was exerted to change his mind. When other countries, like Iran, wanted payment in other currencies, most notably Euro and Yen, the danger to the dollar was clear and present, and a punitive action was in order. Bush’s Shock-and-Awe in Iraq was not about Saddam’s nuclear capabilities, about defending human rights, about spreading democracy, or even about seizing oil fields; it was about defending the dollar, ergo the American Empire. It was about setting an example that anyone who demanded payment in currencies other than U.S. Dollars would be likewise punished.”
will the arabs comply? (if it’s in their interests of course)
(energy bulletin again)
“The Arab oil-exporting countries will eagerly adopt the Euro as a means of diversifying against rising mountains of depreciating dollars. Just like the Russians, their trade is mostly with European countries, and therefore will prefer the European currency both for its stability and for avoiding currency risk, not to mention their jihad against the Infidel Enemy.”
petrov goes on to suggest americans would consider unilateral nuclear first strikes or all out ‘total’ war to preserve the economic hegemony preserved by petro dollars…..
….peace……
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi 1869-1948
Another Sign the US May Be Headed for War in Iran:
The cut cables under the sea in the ME. Many cut early in Feb. I saw this as a sign then.
And another sign along with cut cables, the opening of the oil bourse.
hey herongal
thanks for reminding me. i heard that yesterday (cut cables) on another thread, it certainly makes sense - i know i could do a quick google but, where did you first here that?
…peace…
Hello Iowablackbird,
In early February there was much buzz about the cut cables to the internet in Iran and other ME areas, speculating that the cuts were to thwart the opening of the Iranian oil bourse. Some also wondered if this might be a sign of a pending attack on Iran, especially in light of the bourse opening, which would further weaken the dollar.
Here are some links connecting the dots of the
cut cables + Iranian oil bourse + fragile dollar + Bush ME Trip + war games late Feb.
http://www.energybulletin.net/39844.html
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d0f_1202251612
http://www.underthecarpet.co.uk/Pages/NewsArticle.php?num=3958
Viva Smedley Butler.
herongal, thanks…the articles helped put things in perspective.
so it was 10 cables that went down in 3 areas (mediterranean, persian gulf and off the coast of malaysia) w/ in a week or two.
also.. great quote from underthecarpet…..
http://www.underthecarpet.co.uk/Pages/NewsArticle.php?num=3958
“If Iran succeeds in opening its own Oil Bourse it is hard to imagine that the GCC would not trade on the Iranian Oil Bourse, given the extremely close geographic proximity. And it is hard to believe that they would not trade their own oil in their own currency. Otherwise, why have a currency of their own? Clearly they intend to use it. And just as clearly, the three cut or damaged undersea communications cables in the Persian Gulf over the last week deliver a clear message. The United States may be a senescent dinosaur, and it is, but it is also a violent, heavily armed, very angry senescent dinosaur. In the end, it will do what all aged dinosaurs do: perish. But not before it first does a great deal of wild roaring and violent lashing and thrashing about.”
…peace…
Well, I don’t believe our current leaders display any rationality ~Samski~. And I do believe I offered some prime examples and there are many others. Fear is not the issue, common sense is.
What is happening is happening, the things Bush/Cheney publicly state in regards to Iran are not questionable and it is not sensible to deny those facts. Will they actualy attack Iran with bombing raids? We don’t know, but they sure are preparing to do that.
Remember, even Admiral Fallon has addressed that issue, so it is not just I who have that opinion. You mention the cold war stayed cold. Be very thankful that Bush/Cheney and Rumsfeld weren’t at the helm during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
hey kem,
how do you think your neighbors would respond to a hard core war economy, with ss troops on the streets, labor camps w/ computer id chip’s mandated, and photos of our president at bus stops reminding us of our need to serve the national good. i realize we’re all frogs in a big kettle of water that’s heating up moment by moment. but in your estimation is their any hope for resistance ?
are americans even capable of effective resistance, we are not unique.
i remember a nice lady down the street from my family in the city i grew up in.
her name was mrs jacobson, she was raised in nazi germany and was a teenager/young adult b/w 35-45, during the hight of fascism. she was a nice person, but as a kid (a few years past ms kraft) i watched her lose her cool at a neighborhood party, when the subject of the war and the concentration camps was discussed amongst the adults. she defended hitler in public, and refused to place responsibility on the german people or leadership (via war & c camps)(although most germans i’ve met as adults are pacifists) the incident left an impression on me.
then there were the others i met in my youth; one a german who was my philosiphy professor in college and another a ashkenazi jew who owned a grimy cafe i worked at in chicago - they had one thing in common, that 5-6 digit number tattooed on their forearm. one a communist the other a jew. they never discussed those tattoos, they didn’t have any other tattoos. i never asked about them, a courtesy.
i question whether the american public is capable of resistance (i recognize the self-defeating tone here). i think our nation parallels fascism in other countries. and i don’t sense the american public is capable of understanding these parallels.
i realize i sound like an alarmist, the window of negative possibilities will be left wide open until bush the son steps aside next january.
….peace….
Hi Kem, thank you and all of you for your comments - naturally, I’d like to believe the post on why we won’t attack Iran, but never put anything past the neocons.
Regarding Mexico, because I live here in Baja,I feel that if we have a depression and of course the economics will completely affect Mex, that the Mexicans will turn first on their government. After that, I can’t say because everything will be completely destabilized. There’s no unity here really, the cartels are at war, my town (Rosarito) is now occupied by the Army, the anti-government groups are pretty much fragmented, there is no alliance between the intelligensia, the emerging middle class(what’s left of it) and the really poor people - inotherwords, it’s a repeat of previous historical patterns of Mexican “revolutions”.
Well, (gulp) I hope I’m right, maybe I’m not.
Heh, pray for surf…and peace.
MORE AND MORE ARE SEEING THE REALITY OF NOT PAYING FOR THIS IN APRIL..WILL YOU SIMPLY SPOUT? OR WILL YOU NOT DECLARE? YOUARE PAYING FOR THE END OF THE WORLD..IN MORE WAY’S THAN ONE.
THE ONLY THING THESE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND, IS MONEY..PERIOD! AND THE PAYCHECKS THGAT MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR THESE LITTLE FASCISTS TO SIT AT THEIR LITTLE CUBICLES AND SPY ON MILLIONS OF EMAILS AND WRITE NASTY LITTLE LAWS THAT GRANT MORE AND MORE POWER TO FEWER AND FEWER INDIVIDUALS…IT IS ALL BEING PAID FOR BY THE CITIZENS…ALL OF YOU WHO PAY IN APRIL..FEDERAL INCOME TAX…WHICH BY THE WAY..IT IS ACTUALLY TRUE..NOT A DELUSION..THERE IS NO LAW STATING THAT YOU DO HAVE TO PAY AN “UNAPORTIONED TAX” SUCH AS INCOME TAX…AND YET YOU PAY…YOU SPEAK OF THE EVIL THAT YOU ARE FINANCING…HHHMMMMMM? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE…? OH YEAH! YOU DON’T ACTUALLY HAVE TO PAY…SURE THEY WILL TERRORIZE YOU INTO THINKING THAT YOU…SHOULD…BUT THEN..WELL..MAYBE IT’S TIME FOR SOME ACTAUL “PROTEST” AND THE ONLY REAL…R-E-A-L POWER WE HAVE LEFT..IS THE POWER OF THE PURSE…A GENERAL TAX STRIKE FOR 2008. LET EM KNOW THE RESULTS OF SO MUCH GREED AND ABUSE OF THE SYSTEM THAT IT CAN NO LONGER BE RATIONALIZED AWAY EVEN BY CITIZENS WHO NORMALLY WOULD BE TOO FRIGHTENED TO NOT PAY…THIS YEAR..THIS TIME IN OUR HISTORY..THIS IS IT FOLKS! THIS IS THE TIME WE HOPED WOULD NEVER COME. THEY ARE TAKING OUR RIGHTS DAILY…DAILY..AND YOU ARE PAYING FOR IT!
DON’T! DO NOT DECALRE IN APRIL..NO EXCUSES, NO LETTERS, NO “CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION” JUST..THEY DON’T GET AS MUCH MONEY…HUH? WHAT’S GOING ON HERE? AND THEN WE SEE WHAT HAPPENS..
FOR ALL OF OUR VAUNTED “SOPHISTICATION” AS A “MODERN” COUNTRY..THERE IS A FAILING TO SEE EVEN BASIC TRUTHS THAT THOSE 240 YEARS AGO OR SO SAW SO CLEARLY..
TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION IS NOT OKAY! PERIOD! AND THE FUNNY THING IS..DISRUPTING THEIR LITTLE PLANS..WHAT DO DO WITH ALL YOUR MONEY..WHAT EVIL CAN WE DO THAT WE HAV NOT DONE YET?WELL!..IT IS STILL ALMOST AS SIMPLE AS STORMING A BOAT AND THROWING THE PRODUCT OVER BOARD! JUST DO NOT PAY..AND VOILA’ THERE GOES THE MONEY THEY NEED..AND BELIEVE ME FOLKS..THEY NEED EVERY LAST DIME..HOW ELSE CAN THEY AFFORD TO LOSE 9 BILLION IF YOU DON’T KEEP THE COFFERS FULL? FOR THE US GOVERNMENT IS, LIKE MANY CITIZENS THESE DAY’S, ONE PAYCHECK AWAY FROM FINANCIAL RUIN…AND THIS IS THE ONLY POWER WE HAVE LEFT..THE POWER OF THE PURSE..SO DON’T DO IT..
FINALLY..TO PAY IS TO BE COMPLICIT..REMEMBER, YOU PAY THE SALLERY OF THE PERSON TORTURING A CONFESSION OUT OF A “SUSPECT” (OOPS “ENEMY COMBATANT…” WHICH BY THE WAY IS ANYONE THEY SAY IT IS..READ THE M.C.A IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE ME…ANYONE..) AND YOU PAY..YOU PAY…YOU PAY…SO DON’T PICK UP THE CHECK THIS YEAR..LEAVE IT ON THE TABLE AND WALK AWAY…
THIS IS NOT A CRIME! IT IS JUSTICE TO AN OUT OF CONTROL GOVERNMENT BEING RUN BY MADMEN..FOR REAL FOLKS..THIS IS FOR REAL..DO NOT PAY…OR LEARN TO LIVE WITH “FRIENDLY FASCISM”…JUST GO OUT AND SHOP..AND TRUST US…OR ELSE!
TGGEVEDON
no-one here gets out alive………..biography, jim morrison.
The United States: spreading like a cancer all over the world.
If Iran is attacked in any manner, the price per barrel of oil will probably triple, as will the price of gas at the pump. Americans might sit still for war crimes, but if/when gas triples in price they’ll be so pissed they’ll even lose interest in Paris Hilton. Republicans will rightly receive the major portion of the blame, and McInsane would be guaranteed to lose the election. Stupid as Junior is, even he grasps this reality.
WmC, I totally agree that if gas prices skyrocket, the patriotic, flag waving, “Support Our Troops” couch potatoes will be marching in the streets. They don’t care a whit about men, women and children being blown to bits in th