This is insane. They think we are Rome 2,000 years ago.

[BurtWorm]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/08/AR2006040801082_2.html?nav=rss_politics

As the administration weighs these issues, two main options are under consideration, according to one person with contacts among Air Force planners. The first would be a quick and limited strike against nuclear-related facilities accompanied by a threat to resume bombing if Iran responds with terrorist attacks in Iraq or elsewhere. The second calls for a more ambitious campaign of bombing and cruise missiles leveling targets well beyond nuclear facilities, such as Iranian intelligence headquarters, the Revolutionary Guard and some in the government.

Any extended attack would require U.S. forces to cripple Iran's air defense system and air force, prepare defenses for U.S. ground forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and move Navy ships to the Persian Gulf to protect shipping. U.S. forces could launch warplanes from aircraft carriers, from the Diego Garcia island base in the Indian Ocean and, in the case of stealth bombers, from the United States. But if generals want land-based aircraft in the region, they face the uphill task of trying to persuade Turkey to allow use of the U.S. air base at Incirlik.

Planners also are debating whether launching attacks from Iraq or using Iraqi airspace would exacerbate the political cost in the Muslim world, which would see it as proof that the United States invaded Iraq to make it a base for military conquest of the region....

[Benbow]

1. If the US or Israel attacks Iran, America risk being nuked within hours -

by one of the other nuclear powers.

The US administration is taking your country into oblivion. Bye.

[marmar]

2. and we all know what happened to Rome.

:scared: :scared: :scared: :scared:

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

3. Didn't they criticize Clinton for launching air strikes only against Iraq?

I guess they critized him for doing anything at all (wag the dog), and for doing to little (air strikes vs. disastrous ground combat like we have now).

And now the RWers hero has expended all the political AND military capital in one venture, so that the only "doable" thing, would be air strikes.

"Planners also are debating whether launching attacks from Iraq or using Iraqi airspace would exacerbate the political cost in the Muslim world, which would see it as proof that the United States invaded Iraq to make it a base for military conquest of the region...."

...well, "duh"!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. our current group of assholes are so delusional that it won't be just air.

land forces will follow, probably towards the gas and oil fields.

[Emit]

8. Yes

A list of quotes by Republicans during the Kosovo campaign. It's on the net somewhere - have some saved, didn't copy the link, but here's a partial list:

~~~~~~~~~~

"You can support the troops but not the president" ---Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX)

" President . . . is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit
strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will
cost. And he has not informed our nation's armed forces about how long
they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound
foreign policy." ---Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)

"American foreign policy is now one huge big mystery. Simply put, the
administration is trying to lead the world with a feel-good foreign
policy." ---Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX)

"If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they
have a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy."
---Karen Hughes, speaking on behalf of George W. Bush

"I had doubts about the bombing campaign from the beginning . . . I
didn't think we had done enough in the diplomatic area." ---Senator
Trent Lott (R-MS)

"Well, I just think it's a bad idea. What's going to happen is they're
going to be over there for 10, 15, maybe 20 years." ---Joe Scarborough
(R-FL)

"I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it
is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just
learning that lesson right now. The President began this mission with
very vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later,
these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of
engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition
of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is
no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our
over-extended military. There is no explanation defining what vital
national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war
when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan
today" -Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX)

"Explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that may
come home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up their
life?" ---Sean Hannity, Fox News, 4/6/99

"This is President Clinton's war, and when he falls flat on his face, that's his problem." -
Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN)


"Bombing a sovereign nation for ill-defined reasons with vague objectives undermines the American stature in the world. The international respect and trust for America has diminished every time we casually let the bombs fly." -
Representative Tom Delay (R-TX)


And my favorite:

"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to
explain to us what the exit strategy is." -Governor George W. Bush (R-TX)

[liberal N proud]

5. America, was it a great country or what?

While it lasted.

[Quakerfriend]

6. Just this morning, my 12 year old son said to me,

"Mom, what we are going through right now is just like it was in Rome during the heights of the empire."

Where are our leaders??

[teamster633]

9. You have a very perceptive son.

My only quibble with his observation would be that our "height" has long since past. We are are best compared to early 3rd century Rome. The end is in sight. "Our Constantine", however dissimilar in intellect, our simple shrub, now hopes to reunite the country under the banner of Christianity. You have to think the division of the Empire is inevitable, nonetheless. We are, like they were, over-extended, bloated, dependent on slave labor, dependent on foreign credit, divided along social lines for the personal benefit of the wealthy and their co-conspirators, the politicos. The only difference is that a north/south division is more likely in our case than the east/west division of Rome. And when the barbarians come, they will relish our fall. Their wrath led to nearly a millennium of darkness last time around. It makes you wonder what lies in our future, having so heedlessly sown the teeth of the dragon.

[The2ndWheel]

10. Leading the way

We've been an expanding empire from day one. This is what we do. The Indian savages, the Philippines, Iraq, it's all the same. Born an empire, die an empire.

[Beelzebud]

7. We are New Rome

And bush is playing his fiddle.

[Lisa]

11. they could call it the "Pox Americana" (American curse) (n/t)