Cheney Says Iran Tops U.S. List, Warns Israel

[Roland99]

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=7385089&src=rss/politicsNews

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney said on Thursday that Iran was at the top of the administration's list of world trouble spots and expressed concern that Israel "might well decide to act first" to eliminate any nuclear threat from Tehran.
"You look around the world at potential trouble spots, Iran is right at the top of the list," Cheney said in an interview aired on MSNBC.

"Given the fact that Iran has a stated policy that their objective is the destruction of Israel, the Israelis might well decide to act first and let the rest of the world worry about cleaning up the diplomatic mess afterwards," he said.

"We don't want a war in the Middle East if we can avoid it. And certainly in the case of the Iranian situation, I think everybody would be best suited by or best treated and dealt with if we could deal with it diplomatically," Cheney added.

:wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf:


WTF was Iraq, then? It was completely avoidable.



Iraq was a distraction from the failure to find bin Laden.

Iran is the next distraction to keep attention away from the failures in Iraq.

Who's next?

[illflem]

1. Furthermore, it was reported today

that at a White House staff meeting last week, there was a heated discussion about the health of Vice President Cheney and his angina problem. President Bush interrupted and stated emphatically that men do not have anginas.

[Zenaholic]

2. LOL!

Good one.

[BattyDem]

3. ROFL!

Thanks .... I needed that laugh today! :toast:

[Catfight]

10. ROFLMAO....that's hysterical. n/t

[Roland99]

13. LMAO!!

[6th Borough]

42. :hearty clapping:

Good play!

There are an awful lot of witty comments on this board, but that's a keeper :-)

[renaissanceguy]

45. Maybe he should see an OB-GYN.

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/479704

[Old and In the Way]

4. If Israel attacks, they go through Iraqi airspace.

That means we have to approve. If this happens, Iran could well perceive this as an act of war and we'd be fair game.

Let's see if what the US Navy does in the following weeks. If there's a sudden redeployment out of the Gulf, I'd be mighty nervous.

[hang a left]

6. How will we know? eom

[Old and In the Way]

11. Of course, our media won't clue us in.

That doesn't mean others won't be watching and reporting. Gulf of Hormuz is pretty narrow....

[quaoar]

27. It's not necessary for Israel to use Iraqi airspace

Israel has ballistic missile launch capability from submarines.

[bemildred]

33. Cruise, not ballistic, I believe. nt

[teryang]

37. missile payloads are quite small

therefore, PK low for hardened or even just ordinary concrete and steel construction.

Submarines are not the blockbusters of the land attack mission. Israel will definitely get US cooperation and assistance in any such attacks which will take by air forces primarily if they occur. Submarine attacks will be miserably insufficient. Better watch out Iran. We will attack your huge landmass with our submarines.

[jmcgowanjm]

55. Why the JFK was pulled from the Gulf

It was a sitting duck. At the end of November
it was removed.

[teryang]

70. Exactly,

Acting as if the US can't stop Israel from attacking, is to suggest the average American can't read a map and that the US doesn't control the airspace from the straights of Hormuz to the Black Sea.

This man can't open his mouth without lying. He is most dangerous man on earth.

[jmcgowanjm]

79. Iran's AWACs will have to be destroyed before any attack begins

And the instant the AWACs are attacked the Straits of Hormuz
will
be closed.

Again oil will be immediately priced at $100/bbl

Capital will immediately be destroyed
worldwide. A new age will begin.

[teryang]

80. Their entire early warning network, command and control, etc.

You are right on, J. McGowan, as usual.

I think we were good friends in a prior life. Do you have any relatives in Vero Beach?

[illflem]

5. Furthermore the President was especially perplexed

when a staffer said that Cheney has acute angina.

[Coastie for Truth]

7. The hand of James Baker....

the Saudi's consigliere in the US, the Bush Family consigliere, Big Oil's consigliere --JAMES ADDISON BAKER, III OF BAKER AND BOTTS, ATTORNEYS, LLC -- when the fit is about to hit the shan -- scapegoat Israel.

Baker at his best ---

see Craig UngerHouse of Bush, House of Saud - The Secret Relationship Between The World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties

I am a PhD FORMER chemical engineer - not in the petroleum industry -- (alternative, renewable, green energy) -- I know how "Big Oil" and the Saudis and Baker operate.

[jmcgowanjm]

59. Then you know that Ghawar is about to rollover

and when that happens, we might as well start
a new calendar, because we will never have as much
oil available. Capital will have to be destroyed.

But the world has redlined Iran
And the world will see the US/Israel/UK
as being one and the same.

If Israel attacks, Iran retaliates both against
Israel and US interests.

BTW-that attack will preclude Ghawar rollingover
because the price of world oil
wil be at or near $100/bbl.

Once again historians, or whoever is left
will be able to pinpoint critical oil events
over oil's 100 year history by the accompanying
poli/military events.

[Coastie for Truth]

62. I have done MY share

Thanks to the Arab League Boycott Office and "Big Oil's" quick, no questions asked, "to get along, go along" compliance - I have had the opportunity to spend a career in alternative and renewable energies, some not so green (synthane, syngas, nuclear) and some green (photovoltaic, wind turbines, fuel cells) - and we are a 100% Prius family - and we bought a home because of its public transit friendly location.

And, when Ghawar rolls over - Europe and Japan will go nuclear, and we will sit here debating bat kills at wind turbines, and hybrids in the HOV lanes and storing nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain - and waging a war somewhere in some part of the world - to replace Ghawar.

[jmcgowanjm]

63. Luck favors the prepared

although I don't think there will be any debate.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

8. "Iran is at the top of the list"

NORTH KOREA HAS NUCLEAR MISSILES!!!! Sweet Mother of God, how freaking stupid are these guys! Are they going to get into another pre-emptive war with Kim Jong Il melts down the entire peninsula?

[txaslftist]

18. Well yeah... we go after a country with nukes and we might...

actually get nuked. Ergo, North Korea ain't even on the list. We can go after Iran without fear of it smacking us in the ass. It's just some more dang towel-heads.

If you're going to be the world's biggest thug bully, you don't go after the other big kids on the playground. You gotta go after the 'little kids'.

Doncha know how this works? How the F else did Myanmar get put on the list of "outposts of evil" by Condi?

Ya see, pawdnah. We kin take Minamar er...Mynamir...uh, Heck you know. Used ter be berma?

[renaissanceguy]

46. I wonder how this will play out.

They talk the tough talk today. But will they actually face real threats? They would certainly need to reinstate the draft to get enough troops to do the job. Of course, that's yet another campaign promise bluntly broken.
http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/479704
http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/479723

[Kenneth ken]

53. re: N Korea

something someone (gjb specifically) mentioned in a different thread that made me think.

Do the geniuses really think that given Iraq, the 1st of their "axis of evil" trio has been attacked, the leader toppled, and the country occupied; that if the 2nd of their "axis of evil" trio is attacked, that N Korea will just say, "No big deal, we don't have oil, so they won't bother us"?
Or will N Korea say, "Gee, we're next on their list, let's not wait for them to attack on their terms, hmm."?

[teryang]

71. N. Korea won't attack anyone

It's not in their national character despite the propaganda. It makes no sense to do so, for many reasons. The first and most important is that they'd lose any war.

Of course, this doesn't mean that the south or the Americans would "win" because after the war started and the North took a terrible thrashing, the Chinese would intervene and a protracted slaughter would ensue which might not be contained to the Korean peninsula. In any case, both the south and the north regard the outbreak of war as the worst thing that could happen to their country.

[Gusto md]

34. I'm just curious....

How much oil does North Korea have??

That may be you're answer.......

[GiovanniC]

57. EVEN WORSE NEWS: THERE'S A MOTHERFUCKING LIST

Just making it blatantly obvious that Iran is the next sovereign country we intend to invade is bad enough... but to say it's at the top of a "list" indicates even more to follow. North Korea, Syria, Libya, Egypt, Cuba, China, Russia, France, Germany, Argentina, Canada? How the fuck big is this list, exactly?

[OldVlad]

68. Doesn't matter much

We tried to stop the one that was at the top of the list beforehand, even made it a huge part of the election, and people just didn't care. We made the case perfectly I thought about why that war was wrong, if it didn't make a difference then I see no evidence it will now.

[demnan]

9. Did you read Seymour Hersh's article in the New Yorker?

They have had reconnassiance people in Iran for months now. It's only a matter of time before the invasion.

[Old and In the Way]

12. Invasion very doubtful, airstrikes very possible. nt

[0007]

24. ....and I kind of think air strikes might be highly unlikely, but then

again who indeed knows? These guys are still loony tunes on their best day.

[Minstrel Boy]

32. Yup - and Iran will just sit back and take it. Er, right?

Not to mention China, Iran's biggest oil market, and its strategic neighbour, Russia.

It will "only" be airstrikes if Iran does not retaliate.

The neocons think they have the run of the board, and all the other pieces are standing still. But they're not.

[SweetLeftFoot]

50. Boards

The neocons are playing on a different board to the rest of the world.

[MHalblaub]

67. Some neocons must have shipping industries!

The Iranian answer to an air strike would be something with SS-N-22 Sunburn anti-ship missiles. Exocet missiles are small and slow against a sunburn missiles. Two Iraqi Exocets sank nearly the USS Stark during Iran-Iraq war.

After an air strike the Persian gulf would be a war zone. Even if an supertanker is named "Condoleezza" it will not make his way through the the Strait of Hormuz. But supertankers are cheap compared with an aircraft carrier.

[SweetLeftFoot]

69. True

but sinking carriers is a big move. Chances are more American would die during a Sunburn attack on a carrier than did at 9/11.

The Iranians know that if they start sinking carriers, they are taking things up to a new level - carpet bombing of Tehran maybe.

[MHalblaub]

75. Also true is

- Tehran has about 7 million inhabitants - carpet bombing?
Nice pictures on TV.
- Iran is able to by weapons all over the world.
E.g. SAMs or GPS jammer from Russia or China.
- Iran did not suffer under an embargo.

- Iran: "We will strike the U.S. back"
http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=6463

There are 150.000 US soldiers in the Iraq trying to cope with road bombs. What about additional 300.000 Iranian soldiers on their way to Basra and Baghdad?

[Kimber Scott]

14. Sounds like a signal to me. Elbow to Israel, "We HOPE you don't do

anything to Iran." Wink, wink.

[bahrbearian]

19. "Oh, and by the way the recon maps are on my desk , I'll be

leaving my desk to go to lunch for about an hour"

[rodeodance]

81. wink wink and champ champ te he

[fertilizeonarbusto]

15. "We don't want war in the Middle East..."

WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU CALL WHAT'S GOING ON NOW?

[driver8]

22. They call it...

"Freedom and Democracy!". You can't bring democracy to a country without killing a hundred thousand or so of it's people first. Regarding freedom, the US will decide how much freedom these poor people are entitled to. We know what's best for everyone.

[renaissanceguy]

49. Yep, because our country is SO perfect.

Everyone here is free. Everyone has rights. Everyone is equal.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/479723
http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/479727

[daleo]

16. Setting up the rationalization, U.S. attack is necessary

Or Israel will attack Iran, causing a wider war. But if the U.S. attacks nobody will blame Israel, so that will make it alright. Of course it doesn't make sense, but neither did Saddam's invisible WMD.

[renaissanceguy]

47. No, I think just the opposite will happen, if we do invade.

BushCo would want Israel to go help first, so then we can go there and be an "ally" for "freedom."

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/479723
http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/479727

[Strawman]

17. "let the rest of the world worry about cleaning up the diplomatic mess"

Isn't that the Bush/Cheney Doctrine?

[tlcandie]

20. GREAT!! This is the all clear to Israel to go ahead boys....

flag is raised for another serving of war on the rocks! Wind it up baby here we go!!!!!!

Watch this swing!!!!

This is normal...warn..talk...warn...threat...talk then BOOM!!! It's a done deal!

Think we aren't at leasting bombing the hell out of Iran? I'm sure if they can bomb them back to pre-dawn days this admin will be happy!!

Wonderful..simply wonderful!!

:cry:

[rumpel]

21. Here we go again. The propaganda has begun for their next step.

[driver8]

23. I hate to say it but...

I may actually hate Cheney more than Bush!

[Laurab]

25. Me too if that's at all possible

It's frightening that he's suddenly become so vocal. They STILL think they have a mandate. They are certifiably crazy, I'm sure of it.

[mordarlar]

76. They have actively pursued this since at least Fords administration.

Paul Nitze and his writings, Wolfowitz, Cheney and Rumsfeld in Ford's White House. They have been waiting for a long time to be in this position. Then there is the concern about Moon. He says he helped George senior lose a second term because he would not follow his plans (which include a very powerful Korea) Yet all the sudden the Bush family and Moon are pals again. It pretty much ALL SUCKS.

[Laurab]

83. Yeah I'm familiar with some of the history

They're all crazy. Why they are in positions of power is beyond me. The saddest part is that so many people can't see it, and just blindly follow the administration wherever they choose to go. I don't believe it's as high a percentage as the * regime would like us to believe, but I do believe it's still a large percentage. The fight against terrorism should begin right here at home, in the white house.

[mordarlar]

84. When the blind man carries the banner woe to those who follow...

French proverb : /

[Old and In the Way]

35. What do they have to lose?

If they ever lose their grip on reins of power here, 9/11 gets reinvestigated and they are liable for the deaths of 3,000 people. And, bonus, they get tried as war criminals for their unprovoked invasion of Iraq, too.

In their naked oilgrab, they thought wrong about Iraq being a cakewalk and, I'm sure they fully expected to find WMD to cover their PNAC plan. Looks like they rolled snake eyes there....too bad, they're busted.

So what do they have to lose? They'll take the world into WW3 if this is the only way they can avoid accountability and save their sorry asses from justice. War criminals and murderers are like that.

[MisterP]

36. well, remember that Rummy had a special office in the Pentagon

to fabricate evidence of WMDs (OSP), so they knew there was nothing there

[Trajan]

41. It is important to note ...

That it is the PENTAGON's Military Intelligence organ that is presently in Iran, NOT the CIA ...... This was part of the re-organization scheme of US Intelligence .... Military Intelligence, presumably though the Office of Special Plans, is reconning Iran and many other ME nations for the purpose of developing target lists and possible staging areas ...

Since it is MILITARY intelligence: they are not beholden to Congress, and can therefore do as they wish when they wish without having to answer to the people's organ of power: the Assembly of Congress ...

Say hello to Authoritarian Military Superiority over Democracy ....

The Days of the Thirty Tyrants is upon us .... How long will it take for the US to become an UN-militarized society ?? ... Decades ? .... A century ???

The New Sparta ? ....

Pitiful .....

And the people still clamor for Bush .... how absurd .....

[teryang]

39. this is exactly the dynamic they are subject to

It is similar to the totalitarian dynamic of constantly keeping everyone off balance with the latest extremely destabilizing event and the movements of resources, personnel, and mindset to meet the next crisis. In fact, the only way to feel stable, is to isolate yourself entirely from these irrational moves or to psychologically embrace them and their impossibly contrived justifications.

If you approve and go along, you are part of the ingroup, the "movement." If you disapprove, you are out of touch with "history" and the "new reality" because they don't analyse history or do comparitive cost benefit analyses weighing pros and cons, they just follow the anti-rational and nihilistic principle of "just do it." We are important, we are most powerful, therefore if we do it, it is good. They've got a real syndrome going.

Cheney is a big believer in this. When he was beating the war drums for Iraq attack, he went abroad and thought he would get resounding international support. The response was defeaning silence around the world. He called it the bandwagon effect. When everyone sees we're doing it anyway they'll get on board, (no matter how stupid or criminal an idea it may be.) At least this is what he thought. His foriegn policy was a huge failure and now has become a huge catastrophe unlimited in its negative ramifications.

Could you imagine the Islamic world falling for a propaganda campaign promoted by Dick Cheney or designed by someone like Gingrich. These people need to get their venal heads out of their moneyed asses.

[teryang]

82. This is what it is all about

This also is the reason that the Patriot Act and other inroads into civil liberties were created and formalized institutionally. When the backlash comes, they will be ready to repress it efficiently.

[renaissanceguy]

48. Well, of course.

He is the "brains" behind Bushie's actions.

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/479723
http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/479727

[RawMaterials]

26. looks like Israel needs us to do there dirty work again

and n. Korea would be next then china then WW!!! and we all die whoa
its on big shit storm.

[Hobarticus]

28. Wow...these guys really are the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. eom

[V Lee]

29. Goes right along with what the neocons were saying in 1996 ...

... in their paper (written for Israel) "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm"

Found at http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article1438.htm and elsewhere. Look at who wrote it, most or all are/were involved with Bush and/or are/were in the Pentagon, the folks who pushed the Iraq war (Richard Perle, James Colbert, Charles Fairbanks, Jr., Douglas Feith, Robert Loewenberg, David Wurmser, and Meyrav Wurmser).

Interesting snippets include:

While there are those who will counsel continuity, Israel has the opportunity to make a clean break; it can forge a peace process and strategy based on an entirely new intellectual foundation, one that restores strategic initiative and provides the nation the room to engage every possible energy on rebuilding Zionism ... This implies clean break from the slogan, "comprehensive peace" to a traditional concept of strategy based on balance of power.

While the previous government, and many abroad, may emphasize "land for peace"— which placed Israel in the position of cultural, economic, political, diplomatic, and military retreat — the new government can promote Western values and traditions. Such an approach, which will be well received in the United States, includes "peace for peace," "peace through strength" and self reliance: the balance of power.

Israel can shape its strategic environment ... This effort can focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq — an important Israeli strategic objective in its own right ... Since Iraq's future could affect the strategic balance in the Middle East profoundly, it would be understandable that Israel has an interest in supporting the Hashemites in their efforts to redefine Iraq ... Were the Hashemites to control Iraq, they could use their influence over Najf to help Israel wean the south Lebanese Shia away from Hizballah, Iran, and Syria. Shia retain strong ties to the Hashemites: the Shia venerate foremost the Prophet’s family, the direct descendants of which — and in whose veins the blood of the Prophet flows — is King Hussein.

In recent years, Israel invited active U.S. intervention in Israel’s domestic and foreign policy for two reasons: to overcome domestic opposition to "land for peace" concessions the Israeli public could not digest, and to lure Arabs — through money, forgiveness of past sins, and access to U.S. weapons — to negotiate. This strategy, which required funneling American money to repressive and aggressive regimes, was risky, expensive, and very costly for both the U.S. and Israel, and placed the United States in roles is should neither have nor want.

Israel can make a clean break from the past and establish a new vision for the U.S.-Israeli partnership based on self-reliance, maturity and mutuality — not one focused narrowly on territorial disputes. Israel’s new strategy — based on a shared philosophy of peace through strength — reflects continuity with Western values by stressing that Israel is self-reliant, does not need U.S. troops in any capacity to defend it, including on the Golan Heights, and can manage its own affairs. Such self-reliance will grant Israel greater freedom of action and remove a significant lever of pressure used against it in the past.

As outlined in another Institute report, Israel can become self-reliant only by, in a bold stroke rather than in increments, liberalizing its economy, cutting taxes, relegislating a free-processing zone, and selling-off public lands and enterprises — moves which will electrify and find support from a broad bipartisan spectrum of key pro-Israeli Congressional leaders, including Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich.

Israel’s new agenda can signal a clean break by abandoning a policy which assumed exhaustion and allowed strategic retreat by reestablishing the principle of preemption, rather than retaliation alone and by ceasing to absorb blows to the nation without response.

Israel — proud, wealthy, solid, and strong — would be the basis of a truly new and peaceful Middle East.

[makhno]

58. This says it all, really

This isn't zionism, this is neo-liberalism:

As outlined in another Institute report, Israel can become self-reliant only by ... liberalizing its economy, cutting taxes, relegislating a free-processing zone, and selling-off public lands and enterprises.

Say good-bye to the socialist founding ideals of the state of Israel.

This is the neocons ultimate goal, a return to 19th century unchecked capitalist oppression, be it in Israel, the US or in newly liberated countries in the Middle East and elsewhere.

That is not to say, of course, that nationalism, zionism, protestantism and other similarly parochial ideologies are not effective tools in mobilizing popular support for what should be extremely unpopular policies.

[jmcgowanjm]

61. The World has Redlined Iran

No matter who attacks it, the US will be blaimed
for participation in it. And an immediate response
can be anticipated.

Russian President Putin planning to glue together the
most powerful superpower coalition in the world - India,
China, Russia and Brazil

Add Venezuela and Cuba to that mix.

Russian President Putin is taking a lead role in putting
together the most powerful coalition of regional
and superpowers in the
world.

http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/11-10-04.asp

The day Iran/Syria atacked is the day the Olduvai
Slope turns into a cliff.

           

[wrate]

30. Tricky Dicky is not wasting time, it seems. n/t

[renaissanceguy]

52. Why should he?

They have nothing to lose. Bushie can't run again. And Cheney isn't running. They won't answer to anybody, even their faithful supporters, if it comes to it.

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/479723
http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/479727

[The Doctor.]

31. Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, what the heck - let's get em' all...

I think we should all make a big fat stink about "what it's going to take to drum up support for the war in Iran."

I'm actively telling friends and family that war in Iran is inevitable, "hope I'm wrong, but...".
After they tell me that we'll never have another war while we're still so divided about Iraq, I ask, "So what do you think it will take to get support for such a war? I think a 3k suitcase nuke popped on US soil ought to do it. What do you think it would take?"

At that point they either think about it or think I'm nuts - I don't care - if there is any chance I can raise suspicion about the next 'event' enough that the worst might be 'prevented'... then SO BE IT!!

[saigon68]

38. If Israel attacks Iran

The genie will be out of the bottle. Like as in what would Pakistan do?

[Tacos al Carbon]

43. Pakistan wouldn't do a thing

For any number of reasons. First, they have a significant conventional military presence to their north (Afghanistan)in the shape of their ally, the U.S.A. Second, they have a HUGE conventional force to their south in the shape of their enemy India, which happens to have pretty warm relations with Israel at the moment. Third, they have a high strung nuclear force to their South. Fourth, Israel, by most estimates, has a MUCH larger nuclear arsenal than Pakistan. Finally, Israel also has delivery capabilities with respect to Pakistan and, AFAIK, Pakistan does not, with respect to Israel.

If Israel attacks Iran's nuclear weapons development sites, Pakistan will do exactly what it did when Israel attacked Iraq's nuclear weapons development site. Nothing.

[daleo]

44. Maybe you are right

Then again, maybe not. History is replete with examples of third countries not responding the way aggressors assumed that they would.

[jmcgowanjm]

77. Like Turkey 1914

"By 6 o’clock therefore on the morning of August 7 <1914>
the Goeben, already the fastest capital unit in the
Mediterranean, was steaming on an unobstructed course for
the Dardanelles, carrying with her for the peoples of the East
and Middle East more slaughter, more misery and more
ruin than has ever before been borne within the compass of
a ship." -Winston Churchill

http://www.manorhouse.clara.net/main/straits.htm

[makhno]

60. Well put

Musharraf's survival depends on his continuing good relations with his patron state. He may be able to weather popular discontent (that might not even be particularly severe) in case of an Israeli attack on Iran, but he will certainly not last long without US support.

[jmcgowanjm]

65. Musharraf hangs by a thread

Rumor of deal whereby Pakistan doesn't
turn over AQKhan, Pakistan hero
in return for allowing US access from
Pakistan to Iran.

Turkey is the country to watch:

Turkey Warns of Mideast War Far More Dangerous Than in Afghanistan

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/1204-06.htm


Turkey Warns US It Plans To Invade Northern Iraq Shortly
After Elections

The United States has refused numerous Turkish
appeals
to eliminate the PKK strongholds.

On Oct. 14 Erdogan and his cabinet reviewed the General
Staff's plan. That meeting, attended by Chief of Staff Gen.
Hilmi Ozkok and Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul,
discussed
the rapid deployment of up to 40,000 troops in
northern
Iraq.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1277827/posts

Turkey Warns U.S. That Its Troops Will Fire Back, Milliyet Says

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=aPBWwTSw.6GE&refer=uk

[Oversea Visitor]

73. Gee

Turkey is now part of EU think they in NATO too.

[Oversea Visitor]

72. If either US or Isreal

attack Iran, Pakistan wont be friendly to US anymore. The Bush puppet be hang from the highest tree by the people.

Afghanistan will be in total choas from increase in attacks and so will Iraq.

Important thing is how Iran will counter, they got tons of sunburn missles. I think they will just launch all at the first sign of attack. We will see a bloodbath with very high casaulties for sure.

Attack on Iran is no laughing matter. It can spark off WW3. And US will be the loser. There is no moral ground to US action.

[muriel_volestrangler]

40. "We don't want a war in the Middle East if we can avoid it"

"POWELL: We are doing everything we can to avoid war. The president's made that clear." 19th Dec 2002 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/12/19/national/main533763.shtml

So are these clowns completely incapable of avoiding war? Of course not: that's just their excuse. I'm reminded of John Malkovich in Dangerous Liaisons, when he taunts Michelle Pfeiffer repeatedly with the plain lie "It's beoynd my control".

[Cooley Hurd]

51. A 25 year old coworker stopped by yesterday during the coronation...

...and I said to him, "we are so fucked." He's said, "whatta mean 'we?' You're 39, I'm 25, and I don't want to fight in a fucking war for oil!"

That shut me up...:(

[WritersBlock]

54. The "Iranian situation." Just what exactly IS it?

Is anyone else having a hard time keeping all the accusations against Iran straight? They seem to keep changing.

Just like the ones for...what was that other country?

Oh yeah.

Iraq.

[Roland99]

66. Unintended consequences...Bush is intervening in interventionist situation

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/21/unintended_consequences/

[GiovanniC]

56. That Was Not a WARNING to Israel

It was permission.

"Go get 'em. We'd have a hard time justifying an attack ourselves in this political climate... but the American people would let us come to the aid of our ally, see."

We are officially fucked.

[Roland99]

64. With Abbas now sending troops to stop Palestinian attackers...

what other target will Israel have? Hmmm...

[Chomskyite]

74. I interpreted this as a signal to Israel

. . . that all is go on any airstrikes they may be thinking of of staging. That Cheney believes the worst consequences would be diplomatic.

[Jawja]

78. Excuse Me?

We already HAVE a war in the Middle East and we DIDN'T avoid it.

:mad: :eyes: