Iran

[BKM]

Anyone want to start a betting pool as to when the invasion of Iran begins.

Thank God I am over 40 and have no draft-age children.

[Tom R]

I see a strike from Israel similar to the one on Iraq several years ago. In WW II Germany drafted men up to 65.

[PlannerByDay]

Anyone want to start a betting pool as to when the invasion of Iran begins.

I'm not interested in a bet because I want to keep my money but I can see something happening before the Cowboy leaves office.

[gkmo62u]

BKM

Seriously, is there an alternative? Iran, some suggest, is the real cause and support of the insurgency in Iraq.

They are a huge problem.

Stop with the cowboy stuff. Iran with nuclear weapons is a real threat.

[The One]

Maybe North Korea....that would make things much more interesting...and since the LEFT Coast is the only place (Alaska excluded) that the N. Koreans may be able to nuke.....why would the Cowboy care.....??? but unlikely since we're pulling our forces out of there in what seems like a hurry.....hmmm....The S. Koreans should be the one's wigging out on that, but they're to busy with national unity and that false sense of security....

Syria- Who cares and why not just do it covert like.....
Iran- Nukes make it much more difficult to deal with them.....guarantees nuke attack in future, which will be blamed on Clinton of course.....

Sudan- Apparently no one cares about genocide anyway.....what a LOAD of hypocricy.....

[The Irish One]

There's a huge Israeli Air Force base (or presence, if you like) in the South?- East of Turkey. This has been coming a long time and yes as far as the "cowboy" talk is concerned, give it up. I guarantee a Democratic administration would give Isreal "the nod" to blow the sh*t out of any Iranian nuclear capabilities.

Iran, some suggest, is the real cause and support of the insurgency in Iraq.

gkmo62u, I agree with this to an extent, but to only point Iran out is typical of the acute politically correct mentality that I encounter a lot, you're a messenger and I'm not attacking you -just criticizing the message. We can't ignore that Suadi's (supposedly our friends ) and Syrians are assisting Iraqi insurgents.

[Gedunker]

Why won't diplomacy work? Why wouldn't it be the first, middle and next to last alternative?

[The Irish One]

but unlikely since we're pulling our forces out of there in what seems like a hurry.....hmmm....The S. Koreans should be the one's wigging out on that, but they're to busy with national unity and that false sense of security....

I actually think the US leaving South Korea is more likely to be a defensive posture, politically it is to the advantage of the huge anti US sentiment in both countries. As far as defense tactics it's a very smart move considering the maniacal militaristic leadership of North Korea. Thumbs up to US military planners on that move. I agree that South Koreans are a little polyannish about Kim Jong Il, maybe I just see the vocal minorities opinion, It's all perception for me on that subject.

[Wannaplan?]

Thank goodness Powell made a recent visit there.

I bet sometime during the next 2 months he'll make things better.

Better yet, in January, let's send Rice over there. She'll make things better. She's very good at spinning faulty intelligence into lies that the American public can only be suckered into believing it as truth.

[The One]

Thank goodness Powell made a recent visit there.

I bet sometime during the next 2 months he'll make things better.

Better yet, in January, let's send Rice over there. She'll make things better. She's very good at spinning faulty intelligence into lies that the American public can only be suckered into believing it as truth.

Sample Memo from all of the future cabinet types:

MEMO

To: W
From: Staff

YES.

[Duke Of Dystopia]

I see a strike from Israel similar to the one on Iraq several years ago. In WW II Germany drafted men up to 65.

Yeah, but they were a little short of manpower in the appropriate age groups.

[michaelskis]

I have a post-it note that says it will be by Feb 14th...

[Duke Of Dystopia]

..... as far as the "cowboy" talk is concerned, give it up. I guarantee a Democratic administration would give Isreal "the nod" to blow the sh*t out of any Iranian nuclear capabilities. .........

I agree, this guy is much more scary than a cowboy. He is a monster in a poorly cut suit. He would never lie to us..(attempts to hold vomit reflex down). He would never ignore oposing intelligince information...(starts retching). He would never blatantly change his story to dodge a failure....(blows chunks all over the place).

A democrat doing the same thing? Maybe. Isreal won't touch Iran. Also, there are ways to have prevented this rather than having to go to war......again.

What is laughable is the thought that gw really wants to make peace. He has the great idea of naming a Jewish woman to be secretary of state. Can't imagine a much larger slap in the face to the nations of the middle east.

As for Iran having nuclear weapons, who cares. We know they do or will shortly have them. We will know what thier radioactive signatures look like. one or two going off here in the US will not destroy us. Though, we should completly anihilate any nation that lets those kind of weapons loose on us.

Again. A nuclear weapon is a political weapon. It has very few if any lagitimate uses on a battlefield. If the enemy you use them on, also has them, you had better eliminate his capability to retaliate. In this instance, it is not going to happen. Therefore, fears of them being used on us are as remote as they ever have been.

As far as US Civil defense goes, I say again, encouraging the suburbanization of america was the greatest civil defense act of all time. You just couldn't launch a large enough attack on us to get more than a small fraction of us. Then you have to deal with an increadibly pissed off and effective enemy. As if we wern't pissed off enough.

I will bet there will be a war with Iran.

The fact we have a wamonger who wants the end of times pretty much gaurantees we will have more war. We will All suffer until people wake up and realize the increadible mistake we have made as a nation. Hopefully, we will still have a representative republic when it is done.


HEY! COOL POST NUMBER FOR THIS THREAD!

[Cardinal]

South Korea is not defensible if North Korea uses nucular weapons. Up until now, the North Koreans would have been most likely to invade in a conventional cross-the-border attack, which could have been repelled by US and South Korean forces. Now the likely scenario is a nucular attack to knock out the conventional defenses, followed by an invasion over the smoldering and glowing remains.

As for Iran, I think it is a good stretch of the imagination to blame them for the current insurgency in Iraq. Face the facts, many Iraqis do not want us in their country. There are undoubtedly many people in nearly all of the Arab nations who do not like the fact that we are there, and are helping to some degree, but it is largely the Iraqis themselves. Do you think the British were blaming the French for riling up the colonies in 1776?

The real question is whether we have already lost the Iraq War. The lesson Bush failed to learn from Viet Nam is that to win the war, you must win the PR war. Let's tally up the battle results:

- An overwhelming majority of the world's nations opposed to the war, including some of our most important allies;
- A great deal of disagreement among the American populace;
- 100,000 civilians killed in the early stages of the war;
- Baghdad's museums looted while the troops protect the oilfields;
- No weapons of mass destruction or evidence of ties between Hussein and Al Quaida;
- No jobs, food, medical care, power, sanitation, or other infrastructure in Iraq's major cities;
- Several members of the coalition of the willing no longer willing, including Hundary as of yesterday (What about Poland?);
- Abu Ghraib, where a handful of enlisted soldiers have been punished but nothing has been done about the intelligence officers or those who set the policies;
- Detainees held without being granted any rights, either civil or as prisoners of war;
- Detainees illegally removed to countries that permit torture;
- Fallujah, where another 1,800 people are conservatively estimated by the Red Cross to have been killed (every one an insurgent, according to the US) and the city flattened;
- More Fallujah, where there have been at least two incidents of US soldiers killing unarmed and wounded prisoners.

On the other side, to be fair, there has been:
- Saddam, a criminal and evil dctator responsible for the death of thousands;
- Executions of innocent civilian non-combatants, often there to provide aid to Iraqis;
- Car bombings and ambushes directed against the civilian population.

Neither side is good, but as I sum it up, we are losing.

[Rumpy Tunanator]

Didn't Russia just develop a new nuclear weapon? We better keep our eye on them too .

[Repo Man]

I think that there will be an internal revolt in Iran long before we do anything significant. The administration is probably doing all it can behind the scenes to fuel the flames of discontent in that country. There is a huge movement that favors democracy and eventually it is going to boil over.

[plankton]

Many good posts in here.

I am literally too sickened by the thought of continued war mongering in the middle east to even make a prediction on when we invade Iran.

One thing's for sure, average US citizens are beginning to accept war (or should I say have accepted it already) as the best response to quelling out fears about terrorism......

Yay, four more years

[silentvoice]

I don't think people are accepting war readily. For example, from the University I'm in now, the general mood is "IF" a draft is called for the purpose for an invasion, everyone will rise up and riot. This will be different ofcos, if it's in response to another strike like 911. But if it's just for invading Iran, no way anyone is taking it calmly.

[plankton]

I don't think people are accepting war readily. For example, from the University I'm in now, the general mood is "IF" a draft is called for the purpose for an invasion, everyone will rise up and riot. This will be different ofcos, if it's in response to another strike like 911. But if it's just for invading Iran, no way anyone is taking it calmly.

I appreciate your comments.

Of course, it's the sentiment of the rest of the country that's currently not attending a university that has me a bit more concerned

[Chet]

Thanks Cardinal for saying what I din't have the care to take the time to type. That said, there is no way the US will go into Iran after Afghanistan and Iraq. The UN / Isreali alternative not only is much more likely, it is much more politically tolerable. If the US aggressively went after another islamic state it would launch the next great war for control of oil (read up on your history - The rise of the Shah in Iran was a result of WW2 and was all about control of oil folks)

[BKM]

Thanks Cardinal for saying what I din't have the care to take the time to type. That said, there is no way the US will go into Iran after Afghanistan and Iraq. The UN / Isreali alternative not only is much more likely, it is much more politically tolerable. If the US aggressively went after another islamic state it would launch the next great war for control of oil (read up on your history - The rise of the Shah in Iran was a result of WW2 and was all about control of oil folks)

My fear is that another World War may be what some want.

[Chet]

My fear is that another World War may be what some want.

So? Maybe a good global enema is in order.

edit: jeez.. I think i just stole that from a Jack Nicholson / Batman movie script

[silentvoice]

I appreciate your comments.

Of course, it's the sentiment of the rest of the country that's currently not attending a university that has me a bit more concerned

lol u're right :P... which is alittle sad if you think aboutit, because it's gonna widen the split more.

I also agree with Chet that Iran is not possible because Europe has just brokered a peace deal with them and they won't allow GW to destroy that work. I seriously doubt Blair is gonna get re-elected as well next year.v