Bush's October Suprise: WW III

From The Jerusalem Post:

The Dutch intelligence service, the AIVD, has called off an operation aimed
at infiltrating and sabotaging Iran's weapons industry due to an assessment that
a US attack on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program is imminent, according to
a report in the country's De Telegraaf newspaper on Friday.

So Bush may start yet another war in the Middle East, and of course we'll need to elect John McCain to insure that we have the leadership we need in wartime.

Jim

The Hopelessness Of The Iraq Situation

Why are we in Iraq? What "national interest' is being served by our occupation of Iraq and our interference in the internal power struggles between factions of the various religious sects in that country? Yes, there's the oil, but nobody wants to talk about that. What is the "end game?" When will we withdraw? When we "win?" What does that mean? What is "victory" in Iraq?

The invasion of Iraq was illegal and was based upon a fictional "WMD" (Weapons Of Mass Destruction) premise. Now, five years later, 4000+ Americans dead, many many more Iraqis dead, and a half a trillion dollars spent, we remain mired in an occupation. The leading General cannot say when we will be able to leave. If asked, which he was not yesterday, I doubt that he could even say what his mission is except to act as a police force to help prop up the current regime in Iraq. Will the Democratic candidates for president actually end our involvement in Iraq if either of them is elected? I doubt it. They won't be able to do it. Meanwhile, don't be surprised if Junior Bush starts a war with Iran before he leaves the White House. You read it here.

PHOTO: Sea foam.

Jim

Hillary's Vote For The War

Alec Baldwin over at Huffington nails it:

Mrs. Clinton has been quoted as saying, "If the most important thing to any
of you is choosing someone who did not cast that vote or has said his vote was a
mistake, then there are others to chose from."
Precisely.
I want Mrs.
Clinton to apologize. Until she does, I encourage Democrats to focus their
attention, and their money, on illuminating what is good about Barack Obama.

Yes, and her vote to authorize junior to go to war is not the only major sin. last Fall she voted to authorize war criminals Bush and Cheney to bomb Iran. After she gets done apologizing for the Iraq vote then she'll have to apologize for the Iran vote. But she won't.

Jim

Columbia, Free Speech And The Iranian Dictator

Should Columbia University allow Mr. Ahmadinejad to speak? The University takes the classic free speech position that institutions of higher learning must be platforms for the free exchange of ideas. It's tough to swallow sometimes. It's an absolutist argument. When you veer away from the absolutist free speech position and make an exception, say by excluding Ahmadinejad, you then open yourself up to the possibility that the next person denied the opportunity to speak somehwere might be someone you like. However, where I think this absolutist free speech "slippery slope" argument fails, at least in a free society, is that democratic mechanisms combined with ethical considerations can be brought to bear on the selection of those candidates entitled to a forum. They would even allow Hitler to speak, Columbia says. I would not, nor would most reasonable people. Let's see how the dialogue goes between students and faculty and the Iranian dictator. I know that if I were at Columbia I would be protesting.

Jim

Andrew Sullivan: We're Building A US Middle Eastern Empire

Barring a sudden revolt by the Congressional Republicans, we are now at war
with still too few troops and constructing an explicit, Middle Eastern empire
for as far as the eye can see.

Hum. When a prominent conservative comes to this conclusion I think we're in deep trouble. He's right, of course, and the Democratic front runner HC has already stated that we'll be in Iraq for a long, long time. Iran is next. Can Syria be far behind?

Jim

UK Press: Will Bush Bomb Iran?

Here is a photo of downtown Ocean Beach, one of Fire Island's largest communities. OB is an incorporated town with it's own mayor and police force, and it has lots of town rules covering just about everything you can think of. For example, men must wear shirts when walking downtown. We usually walk down to OB which takes us about an hour and twenty minutes. There are a number of nice restaurants in the town. If we have dinner, we usually take the water taxi (a speedboat) back to Cherry Grove afterward.

There are frightening articles currently appearing in a couple of UK newspapers that lay out scenarios for a US attack on Iran. The Sunday Telegraph goes into great detail here.

Excerpt:

On Tuesday, President Bush dramatically stepped up his war of words with
the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whom the US government accuses of
overseeing a covert programme to develop nuclear weapons. In a speech to war
veterans, Mr Bush said: "Iran's active pursuit of technology that could lead to
nuclear weapons threatens to put a region already known for instability and
violence under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust."
He went on to condemn
Iranian meddling in Iraq, where America increasingly blames the deaths of its
soldiers on Iranian bombs and missiles. Mr Bush made clear that he had
authorised military commanders to confront "Iran's murderous
activities".
This was widely taken to mean that he is set on a confrontation
with Iran that will culminate in a bombing campaign to destroy Iranian nuclear
facilities, just as Israel bombed Saddam Hussein's Osirak reactor in 1981.

The worldwide economic fallout from a Bush attack on Iran could be devastating. Bush could order the use of tactical nuclear weapons to knock out hardened nuclear facilities in Iran. This would further inflame Muslim hatred against America. The Iraq war could widen and engulf the entire Middle East. It's almost like a doomsday scenario. Diplomacy is still the best hope for controlling Iran's nuclear program. It worked with North Korea. Let's hope "Dubbya" doesn't pull the trigger this time and hit Iran.

Jim

Something's Coming

Here are a couple of photos of the center of Point 'O Woods. Bicycles are popular as a means of transport, as can be seen by the number parked outside the tennis courts. In the center of the hamlet there is a store, but your dollars are no good there. All purchases are put on personal accounts, for homeowners only.

The "chatter" on the networks this morning is loud about the war in Iraq, the Iran problem, and the increasing probability of another terrorist attack. Some analysts are suggesting that Bush will soon attack military bases in Iran, and, after Iran retaliates, Bush will then use this as an excuse to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities. There is also a lot of talk about the probability of another 9-11 type terrorist attack happening soon. Is this why Karl Rove is so confident that Bush's approval ratings will be much higher a year from now? The American people usually rally behind military action taken against our "adversaries," at least at first, before it sinks in that there are long term problems created by such actions. It does look increasingly likely that something serious will happen between now and the election next year that will serve to rally support for Bush and the Republicans. You can just see it coming. The Democrats are too weak and fragmented to stop it. All we can do it sit by and watch whatever it is develop and hope it's not yet another 9-11 or an Iraq style military misadventure.

Jim

The Iranian Nuclear Conundrum

7:00 AM: The lead story in the New York Times this morning focuses on Iran's nuclear program. Iran is making progress processing uranium faster than was previously thought. This puts them on the fast track to being able to develop nuclear weapons. This is not good news for sane people who are afraid, not only of an Iran with the bomb, but of what the current U.S. administration might do: using this development as a pretense for starting another war.

Our options are limited when it comes to Iran for exactly the same reason that we find ourselves isolated in Iraq. Under Junior, we have squandered the good will and trust of our allies and friends around the world. We've dropped the ball on the Middle East peace process, and we've failed to maintain an even-handed diplomatic approach in our dealings with both sides in the Palestinian dispute. We are in no position to broker a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian question, we are mired in the Iraq situation while the administration "stays the course," and we are severely limited in terms of options in dealing with Iran. Add to this our dependence on Middle East oil, and our refusal to wean ourselves from foreign oil and act responsibly when it comes to energy conservation. We have a disastrous foreign policy driven by an irresponsible energy policy.

The only hope I see in this is that somehow Junior can be restrained from taking unilateral action against Iran. This will have to come from our own military, which has been stressed and stretched to the limit in Iraq. The generals must say "No!" to Junior, and the administration must send a clear signal to Israel not to take preemptive action. If we can make it past the next election without a crisis involving Iran, the next president, who will have his or her hands full with damage control, may be able to put together the diplomatic push needed to finally get a handle on the Iranian situation. The thought of Junior starting another war with Iran is just too depressing to contemplate.

Photo: fox cub on the move

Jim