I first talked about the desire of the administration to bomb Iran here. As the Bush administration fails to accomplish anything of any sort of importance and continues to struggle to win either of the wars that it got our country into the only solution is more war.
Clearly. If Americans aren't scared shitless of bird-flu or somebody blowing the crap out of the neighboring high rise, the threat of nuclear confrontation should do the trick? right? Well Scottie McClellan has clearly played down press reports that the Pentagon and the Administration has accelerated the plan to bomb Iran. Well if they are playing it down they are sure doing a terrible job.
Doesn't the American government have more power than this? They can tap phones, see what books you check out at the library and pull pimple faced freshman out of their college dorms for stealing music but can't keep people from reporting plans that the Pentagon is contemplating bombing a dozen or more nuclear sites, many of them buried, around Iran?
Wow. I am very unimpressed. While we are talking about striking Iran lets first start with how much BS this idea is. Some might lead you to believe that its just a couple bombers that fly in, drop some bombs and then fly out...mission accomplished. Well that's garbage. The NY Times reports that in the event of a strike against Iran, scores of air bases, radar installations and land missiles would need to be taken out to suppress air defenses. Also, navy bases and coastal missile sites would be struck to prevent Iranian retaliation against the American fleet and Persian Gulf shipping. This is on top of the massive amounts of money that would need to be spent of intelligence gathering.
The fact that the administration or who ever is calling the shots is contemplating this is ludicrous, simply ludicrous. The United States is $44 $8.4 TRILLION DOLLARS in debt. The Iraq war alone has cost an estimated $274,007,517,845 dollars. That billion dollars could have sent 36 million children to attend a year of Head Start, could have paid for 13 million four-year scholarships at public universities, paid for 4.7 million additional public school teachers for one year or fully funded global anti-hunger efforts for 11 years. Hope the price of knocking off your daddy's arch-nemesis was worth it Bush.
Whoever thinks attacking Iran right now is a good idea is out of their damn mind.
Correction: I listed the national debt at $44 trillion which was grossly off. Its actually 8.4 trillion thanks to Kent for the correction. My mistake. My point that an attack on Iran at this juncture is absurd still stands.
Link: Bush declines to exclude nuclear strike on Iran by Reuters
7 interested person(s)
Whoever thinks attacking Iran right now is a good idea is out of their damn mind.
Couldn't have said it better myself. If I'm ever in Vermont, or you're ever in Alabama, I'm going to buy you a drink to congratulate on that sentence.
First of all if you know anything about Iran, you will know that there is something worse than going to war with Iran.
And that is letting IRAN HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!!!
When Iran's new president gained office he said his purpose and promise was to use Iranian power to unite Muslims in a movement to create an Islamic empire. He said that in order to do this Israel must be destroyed, all the Jews and Christians in the middle east must be killed or kicked out, and that America and its allies must be deterred by A nuclear-armed Islamic state.
Why the heck would anyone in their right mind NOT go to great lengths to prevent this person from getting a nuclear bomb? Allowing him to attain nuclear bombs would give him the ability to do that which he promised to do!!!
Even though you'd assume that our attack on Iran would be the start of a war, you're wrong. Iran started it all. Iran has been engaged against America in a covert war for years. They oversaw and funded terrorist groups that have carried out numerous attacks against US assets around the world and have killed thousands of innocent people. They were responsible for the US Marine Corps barracks bomb that killed over 200 marines and sailors in Lebanon. Some will say "hey wasnt that Hezbolah that did that?" well did you know that Iran FUNDS and provides material to Hezbollah? which is considered a terrorist organization by every country in the UN (excluding Iran, Syria, and Palestine). Iranian officials have also openly condoned the acts of 9/11 and called the hijackers righteous martyrs.
It has been proven by Independent UN watchdogs that Iran has been actively and stridently participating in the insurgency in Iraq and has supplied insurgents with money, guns, bombs and other assistance. Despite your opinion of the US presence in Iraq, you cant condone Iran in doing this.
I think it is absolutely necessary to bomb and disarm Iran if they do not give up their nuclear program.
But some people will say "why would Iran use nukes if they know they will be nuked in return". Well they don't think like most countries do, they don't have the same values becaues they are a Muslim Theocracy. The president of Iran, who is nothing other than a terrorist in a business suit should not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon! Absolutely not.
Oh by the way, you said that the US debt is 44 trillion, thats not true! The overall debt of the US is lower than 9 trillion. Which is actually relatively small compared to our national GDP which is around 13 trillion a year.
Canada for instance, though they have a lower debt actually is more in debt than American in relation to their income. Canada has about a 1 trillion a year GDP but their debt is 6 trillion. So Canadas debt is 6 times its yearly income, but the debt of the US is 3/4 of its yearly income.
People always say that our debt is so big and just say the number of 9 trillion without putting it into context. There are actually only about 7 countries in the world that have less external debt compared to their GDP than America does!
Thanks for the correction on the national debt Kent. I changed it. Still 9 trillion is alot of money but not as large as 44 trillion.
9 trillion is alot of money, but when people see that number they don't put it into context and relate it to the broader scope of things.
ALL countries have external debt, and very few countries don't have yearly national trade deficits.
If you think about how much money America deals with all the time, 9 trillion is actually a relatively small amout of debt compared to our GDP.
You didn't respond to the Iran comment by the way :)
I appreciate the response Kent and the encouragement of discussion.
I have never read anyplace where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has lobbied for the outright killing of Christians so I am not willing to accept your first point unless I see more proof. I know that Hamas in Palastian has talked about the things you have mentioned but I have never heard them linked to Iran's president.
I also find the premise of attacking a country that we want to discourage from having a nuclear bomb with nuclear bombs EXTREMELY hypocritical. I also believe that violence begets violence as made evident by our pre-emptive and unfounded attack on Iraq. It takes extreme amounts of self composure to absorb violence used against you and not use out right retaliation (Ill comeback to this in a sec).
2nd like in Iraq I have seen no evidence that Iran is making a nuclear war head. They are enriching uranium and using it for power as they say its all we have evidence for. Iran believes that that nuclear power is necessary for a booming population and a rapidly industrializing nation. I wouldn't disagree all of the Western countries condemning Iran use nuclear power (US, France, UK). On top of this Iran does have a legal right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes under the NPT.
I do assume that us attacking Iran would start a war. And I would be cautious on pointing fingers at who is engaging in covert wars. I can only speak for MY COUNTRY and I am sure you being from a military background are familiar with covert operations on our own soils such as CONINTELPRO, along with covert operations overseas in Korea, Columbia, Grenada, El Salvador, Laos, Guatemala and an unsuccessful coup attempt in Chili in 1970. We even had covert anti-Iranian operations in the Persian Gulf from 1987 to 1988 (Operation Prime Chance).
I condemn violence no matter who uses it. Somebody kills US soldiers they are in the wrong I don’t however believe in an "eye for an eye" because it is a self perpetuating cycle. Revenge after revenge after revenge with no end.
You said that:
"[...some people will say "why would Iran use nukes if they know they will be nuked in return". Well they don't think like most countries do, they don't have the same values because they are a Muslim Theocracy.]"
I don't think this is true. Because you look at who has used nuclear weapons in the past. What were the values of a then predominately CHRISTIAN deomocracy, the only country to use nuclear bombs against other human beings in the history of the world? I don't think because you are Muslim you think irrationally or support the use to nuclear weapons. America certainly wasn't Muslim when they decided to drop the bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
I think the argument that they are a Muslim Theocracy hence they think irrationally and void of values is erroneous. The Christian world has backed the Muslim word into a corner and to expect them to not respond without force seems foolish. We attacked Afghanistan, we attacked Iraq, and now we are threatening to attack Iran. These countries have not attacked us EXTREMISTS from these countries have attacked us.
People that are suicide bombers, people that blow up abortion clinics, people that destroy federal buildings and resort to terrorism can only be labeled as extremists and nothing more.
How is our foreign policy (under Clinton and Bush) not seen as confrontational? How do you expect one to respond to such actions?
Would it be great if Iran or insurgents for that matter responded peacefully? Hell yes it would. But they won't because we didn't. It's back to the violence notion. When you use violence it encourages violence. It's a cycle and to ignore the beginning and propagation of that cycle is silly.
We have our two wars its more than enough killing for me. I don't think Iran is going to attack anyone with a nuclear weapon and even IF they threaten its because they are left with no other choice. They going to march out and meet our Apaches, Stealth Bombers and Abrams tanks face to face? They going to go toe to toe with a country that spends almost their entire GDP on its military alone? (IRAN GDP=$552 Billion--US Military Spending=$420 billion) No because its suicide.
Are you telling me that if you get in a fight with a guy 3 feet taller than you and 200 pounds more of muscle you aren't going to bring a knife to try and improve your chances of survival?
This violence needs to stop on both sides and I am an American citizen and I have the power to say to our government that I want it to stop being violent. I can't tell Iran, Iraq, Hezbolah, Hamas, or whoever to stop being violent. I can only tell my government to stop being violent and start trying to find other solutions to political and religious conflict. I can only tell them to take people your age and my age out of arms way from extremists and people that wish to hurt Americans. That is all I can do.
What's to keep Iraq from doing a counter attack, and blow all of us up.
Bush has no intention of bombing Iran. He has continuously stated and acted diplomatically using the dysfunctional UN to impose economic sanctions. While you continue to whine about Bush being a warmonger, he refuses to go into Waziristan and carpet bomb it into oblivion. He also has pressed for diplomacy with Iran, on nearly every interview where the press brings it up.
As for your violence begets violence hooplah read a history book. Japan. 1945. Fat Man. Little Boy. AND END TO VIOLENCE between Japan and the US. Nothing you can say will change that FACT. Once Germany saw we were no longer playing around, they surrendered. The difference between muslims and nazis is large. Nazi's did not employ suicide tactics. Muslims do. And it's all sanctioned by the koran, despite them telling you otherwise. The later verses written after the terrorist mohammad gained power, abrogated the earlier verses about peace and tolerance. Read a few articles on thereligionofpeace.com, faithfreedom.org, and islam-watch.org and see why Iran must NOT get a nuclear weapon.
As we are both Americans, we are free to differ on opinions. You are not free to be wrong in your facts. The difference in Iran, and any other muslim country is, you post a blog like this one attacking the president/dictator/mullah, you wind up in a jail cell, beaten, tortured nad forced to confess to whatever crime they charge you with, then hung or shot. Also, you would likely be threatend and beaten over your choice of music (see any muslim country where music shops are forced to stop selling western music)
While I disagree with you, your blog is
Post a Comment