(Military Times) Op-Ed: Clear and Present Danger

[unhappycamper]

Clear and Present Danger
(By convicted felon) Oliver North | January 23, 2009

Now that the festivities are over, it is time for the masters of the media to stop asking inane questions of the new folks in town – like "how do you like your new office?" and for the Obama administration to get down to work on a clear and present danger.

Notwithstanding the "Day One" and "First Week" coverage, the most pressing issue confronting the American people isn't closing Gitmo, or the always ephemeral "Mid East Peace Process" in the aftermath of Gaza or even "fixing the economy." Item No. 1 ought to be preventing the world's No. 1 exporter of radical Islamic terror from obtaining nuclear weapons: Iran. Unfortunately, the new administration is not off to an auspicious start.

On Wednesday, less than 24 hours after his inaugural, the Obama White House website announced, inter alia, that they will engage in "tough and direct" diplomacy with Iran "without preconditions" and that he intends to use "the power of American diplomacy" to deal with "Iran's illicit nuclear program, support for terrorism, and threats towards Israel." According to the statement, the new Commander in Chief believes that, "seeking this kind of comprehensive settlement with Iran is our best way to make progress." If that's really what Mr. Obama believes, he is – to put it politely – mistaken. This "new approach" includes little more than what our European allies have been trying for more than five years.

The White House statement suggests that if Iran abandons its effort to acquire nuclear weapons the U.S. would offer incentives such as membership in the World Trade Organization, new economic investment and normalized diplomatic relations. It also notes that if Iran continues its troubling behavior, we would lead efforts to further Iranian economic and political isolation. The only difference between this proposal and the Bush administration's is that the U.S. will now have an official seat at the table while Tehran's emissaries diddle the diplomats with deceit, deception and delay.

Before issuing such a bold initiative and outreach toward the theocrats ruling in Tehran, Mr. Obama's advisors should have shown their boss the report provided late last month to French President Nicolas Sarkozy from a non-partisan Parliamentary Commission on Iran's nuclear program. The report details Tehran's success in circumventing UN sanctions and concludes that Iranian scientists already have the know how to build a nuclear weapon and that unless action is taken to prevent it, they will possess all necessary technology, equipment and fissile material to deploy nuclear weapons no later than the end of next year and "perhaps sooner."


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,183537,00.html?wh=news

[zeemike]

1. Fuck That asshole..

He is just trying to gin up another war.
There is no clear and present danger...should Iran use it's first nuke we have the power to wipe the whole country off the map in one hour.

[kywildcat]

2. Oliver North? and he's relevent how?

seriously-who is the man relevent to? Does he command troops? does his opinion sway anyone? Does he contribute anything of value to the national dialogue?
Oliver North...another in a long line of people that we can say this to
'you are dismissed'

[Shipwack]

3. My comment in the threads...

Could someone please explain why military.com is giving a place for convicted felon North to air his noise and get free advertising for his scribblings? A man who betrayed his oath and country, stained the uniform of the Corp by wearing it to lie to the congress he had sworn to obey, and who's proudest accomplishment is teaching thugs to rape and murder nuns and teachers?

[islandmkl]

4. there are some areas of the pentagon/military-indi complex...

think school of the americas, for one...where ollie's credentials are respected, even admired...

that f***er makes 'good nazi' a compliment compared to what he is....the single best example of double-speak, ala hannity: :'good american'

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. Author's premise is incorrect

the number one exporter of fundamentalist Islamic terrorists is Saudi Arabia. Even the Ayotollahs in Qom, Iran, have ruled that girls have the right to go to school--the Taliban and al Qaeda come from Saudi Arabia and are funded by Saudi oil money.