Here’s a column that’s been bandied around the lefty blogs today; tonight BMG acts as part of the echo (echo echo) chamber (ber ber):
Reports that the Bush administration is considering a nuclear strike on Iran may not frighten the mad mullahs in Tehran, but it will scare the hell out of many Americans here at home.
It’s hard to believe that with one military venture gone bad in Iraq and a world that now sees Washington as the greatest threat to peace, the Bushies would contemplate attacking a second nation, this time with tactical nukes. Which prompts two questions: Are these guys obsessed with a messianic sense of world mission that has robbed them of common sense? Or are they just plain nuts?
Mr. John Farmer sounds like a very very sane and very very angry man. War is the failure of diplomacy; the Bush folks have always been eager failures.
which supports terrorism and has threatened the United States and has also pledged to destroy Israel, to also possess nuclear weapons.? Are you people all fu–ing crazy? Havn’t you figured out yet that all these people want is the destruction of every one that is not muslim including our children. Is your memory of 911 so short ? In the back of my mind there is this little birdie telling me that Osama is blogging here. It would really bother me if progressive democrats are also pacifists.
Do you think nuking Iran is the answer? Do you imagine that would help things? Do you think that having failed in Iraq so spectacularly, that these guys are going to get it right on Iran?
Knock it off with the Osama-9/11 troll bait. I know damn well what’s endangering this country: among others (yes, Iran included), it’s the incompetents at the very top. Read Richard Clarke’s Against All Enemies if you have any doubt.
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You sound like a knock-off of Sean Hannity.
Incompetence is a product of all administrations. First of all, Richard Clarke also pointed out that the CIA was neutered by the failure of the Clinton Administration and others to provide sufficient financing for middle east covert operations. He was very balanced in his criticism of all leadership and believed the defense of this country should not be a partisan political issue. Bush was only in office for 9 months when we were hit..I read Clarke in general as a scorned disgruntled bureaucrat.Otherwise , it was an ok read.I also agree that Iraq is screwed up. But remember, it is also a success for others. The moderate arab countries are ecstatic that Saddam is gone. They don’t say it in public for fear of the maniacs in their own country . Do you hear Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, or the others criticize the US. Even,China, Russia ,and our former communist enemies support us because they now understand that as as a result of our capitalist model there is a better life for all and as years go on they will morph into more democratic free societies. In time Iraq will also enjoy the fruits of democracy. This takes time , but our disposable society like the progressive liberal elite will not accept anything but instant gratification. Have you looked at the success of non Baghdad Iraq.? How about the Kurds?. Do you realize how safe and secure that part of the country is doing?.I am friends with Iranians who detest the dictatorship in their homeland and are very, very worried about the devastation and harm those fanatics will do to their people. Charlie, do you know any Iranians? Have you ever talked to them about how fearful they are of Ahmadinejad .How vulnerable is our country to a suitcase nuclear bomb with Ahmadinejad signing a treaty on behalf of Iran.? Do you really believe that a leader who denies the holocaust existed and a country that supports terrorism would honor and respect any international treaty.? Excuse the Osama baiting , but I do believe the only thing that fanatics like that respect and understand is absolute, unrelenting brute force. If its our limited nuclear strikes to destroy their underground nuclear storage bunkers, so be it. Charlie, you may not be aware that we are at war at the present time.It is called terrorism. How soon we forget. Those Islamic fanatic beasts are lurking out there, listening to those pacifists who deny we are at war. Charlie, remember, the safety and protection of our families, our children and our way of life is the only decision I see at this time.To me this is not a negotiable issue ……………………”We see the world as it is not as we wish it to be. Preemption sees the world as it is.”
What little respect I might have had for you, rightmiddleleft, just evaporated.
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Look, another bogeyman! Fear! Run! Save us, GOP!
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At this point, even if Iran was “16 days away” from a nuclear bomb, I wouldn’t want this maladministration anywhere NEAR a military operation. They lied to us about Iraq, they completely blew the war on terrorism to drag us into the Mess O’Potamia, and now you take their views on Iran ON FAITH?
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And pulling out September 11 to justify your addled rantings is intellectually and morally cancerous.
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WF
Although I often disagree with RML and am especially turned off by the 9/11 baiting (which he – I assume RML is a he – has since apologized for), there’s a discussion to be had about Iran.
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To answer one question posed by RML, I know personally quite a few people who left Iran after the revolution. Some were Christian Armenians. Other were muslim persians. None approved of the tactics or morals of the Ayatollah.
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Frankly, I don’t trust the Bush administration to handle our military. I supported the invasion of Afghanistan after 9/11 (see, we’re not all pot-smoking hippie peaceniks), and I thought (and still think) that invading Iraq was the wrong move. Yes, Saddam was a terrible dictator and in the long run we’re better off without him. But in the short-term Iraq posed no immediate threat to the US and our military resources could have been better used in the war on terror. Many people said 3+ years ago when we invaded Iraq that Iran was a bigger threat and now that story has played out, but with our military strength stretched perilously thin.
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When it comes to nuclear weapons, I have a very strong aversion to “tactical nukes.” Treating a nuclear weapon of any size like a conventional tool is a mistake. Drop a 700 ton bomb if there’s a need. Any nuclear weapon should be a tool of absolute last resort.
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The Bush administration is clearly beholden to the fanciful neocon belief that Iraq is a middle-eastern linchpin upon which the fate of the world rests, and by “liberating” it we have put in motion a series of events culminating in the complete reformation of the muslim world. They also said that our soldiers would be greeted with flowers and candy and that under no circumstances would over a hundred thousand troops be required for over three years.
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My distrust of the Bush administration stems not from its mistakes, but from its refusal to acknowledge or fix them. Iran cannot, unfortunately, be left alone for the next 2.5 years until the next administration comes along. But when it comes to this administration; fool me once, shame on you. But I don’t plan on getting fooled again.
RML frets too much about Iranian nationals who fear the leadership in Iran and not enough about the
present âleadershipâ in Washington. Sure, Clinton wasnât perfect, but Cheney the âEnablerâ and Bush the âDeciderâ are nearly perfect in their corruption and ineptitude. RML worries about a mullah in Iran who denies the holocaust, while we have a President who questions evolution. This is a man who controls our nuclear weaponry and still speaks of ânucularâ weapons, and believes a novel like Chrichtonâs State of Fear is an authoritative scientific text.
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As for Saddam, perhaps RML can explain for us how Bush could confuse an âimminent threatâ of attack by weapons of mass destruction, which was the reason he gave Congress and the American people for invading Iraq before the invasion, with bringing âfreedomâ to the Iraqi people which he now says is the reason we had to invade Iraq âwithout, uh, lying to us. How much support would he have gotten for the invasion if he hadnât exaggerated the intelligence about Saddamâs arsenal and if, instead, he told the truth about his reasons for the invasion.
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We know now that there was no such imminent threat, and weâve known all along that taking out Saddam was a priority for the Bush administration before 9/11. We also know that the only Americans who have received any benefit at all from the tens of thousands of lives, both American and Iraqi, and the hundreds of billions of dollars squandered in Iraq, are Halliburton and other no-bid defense contractors with close ties to the Bush administration.
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Excuse my cynicism, but behind all the flag-waving, what the Bush administration is really all about is money, and when we follow the money in Iraq it leads straight to a Texas-sized boondoggle to get hundreds of billions of our tax dollars into the hands of the corporate elite that is Bushâs true political base. And just who do you think will receive hundreds of billions more tax dollars for the tactical nuclear weapons Bush plans to use on Iran?
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Thatâs the corruption, which is nearly perfect. The ineptitude –the serial miscalculations, the alienation of our allies and now, it seems, the alienation of many true patriots in the military, still needs a little work. But RML neednât worry. Bush and Cheney might still be able to ratchet up the fearmongering and get the go-ahead for really screwing things up in Iran.