I have no doubt Seymour Hersch is telling the total story on Iran...

[originalpckelly]

because I have been making a point of "flipping through" the usual sources of RW propaganda. My friends they are prepping their people with total fear, I don't recall the same sort of thing before Iraq. They are pulling out all the stops.

We need to stop the neo-cons, or they are going to fuck this country over, and they will put us in an even worse position in the world (though I know it seems impossible.)

They are no different than the Nazis or the revolutionary communists in their plans for global domination, they have an idea of government and life which is totally foreign to America, though it originated on our shores.

We do not believe in forcing democracy on people. Deciding to overthrow a government without the consent of the governed is an act of tyranny.

They are extremely dangerous; possibly one of the most dangerous threats to America in its history.

They parade around with the flag as their disguise, they cloak themselves in America, something which Nazis and commies do/did not do.

They don't wear little brown uniforms, they don't worship a swastika, and they don't have a fascination with the color red.

This fact, that they are Americans, means they are far more powerful and threatening than any geographically external threat to this republic.

We must not let them continue down the path to war with Iran. That doesn't mean we should side with Iran, and it doesn't mean Iran should have a nuclear weapon, but it certainly does mean pursuing creative solutions to this problem. Obviously, an all out war, or limited air strikes will threaten our troops in Iraq, cause terrorists such as Hezbollah in both the USA and in Lebanon to rise up and carry out massive attacks, as well as the people inside Iran nutty enough to pledge to kill themselves for their country, and finally threaten the flow of oil.

I suggest armed inspections. A force of UN backed troops, should accompany IAEA inspectors and force the Iranians to open any facility deemed necessary to find out if Iran is producing a nuclear bomb.

This would prevent Iran from throwing inspectors out, but it would not be as hostile, and since it would have the support of the international community, the threat of force would not come solely from the USA, and that would prevent Iran from blaming America and/or Israel for the actions.

*It should be noted the coalition must contain every single predominately Muslim country, if it doesn't it will look like a bunch of Westerners attacking the Middle East. That would incite general unrest, however a unified Muslim coalition will make the forced inspections look like a small regional issue. I am quite certain that these countries, which are worried about Iran's potential program, would go along with this action. (Evidence to this came from the early days of the recent war in Lebanon, the Arab League condemned Hezbollah, not Israel, that was until Israel went batshit insane and killed innocent people with bombs/white phosphorus.)

[Donnachaidh]

1. is this the article you are talking about?

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/061127fa_fact?page=1

[originalpckelly]

4. Yes, indeed.

I did mean that one.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

2. Nosepicker is very much a threat.

Beware this angry, rabid dog...

he, and his "visionaries", still possess the capability of creating Armageddon to vindicate their attempted ascension to a throne.

Another item. How many Generals have been dismissed and retired to keep their path more accessible?


Talk of bi-partisanship is just more lies from the boy who would be king.

[originalpckelly]

3. It isn't him per se...

He's what'd you call a Christian Democrat, but in general all he really believes in is religion. He's pliable on everything else, his Texas history shows that.

He never had foreign policy credentials, so the neo-cons, in the form of Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Rice took over. The pragmatics like Colin Powell and his assistant Col. Wilkerson, were sorely underrepresented.

That's why we went to war. (Plus oil and the whole wanting to out-do his father crap.)

The problem is that there are neo-cons everywhere still, and they have the power to use propaganda to force our country into military action. We must at all costs defeat this propaganda, while at the same time taking responsible actions against Iran.

[OneBlueSky]

5. the most critical thing on our agenda right now is stopping BushCo . . .

from starting World War III . . . because that's precisely what they intend to do . . .

[Leopolds Ghost]

6. No offense, but didn't Seymour Hersch keep moving the goalposts for war with Iran?

First it was 2005. Then it was June 09, 2006. Then it was October 21.

All these precise dates. And we all sat on tenterhooks in the lead up to each one. Then he'd write another article saying the Pentagon had successfully beaten back Rumsfeld but only postponed the inevitable. Now Rumsfeld is gone.

Can we now say at best that it was never likely to happen and at worst that it was never gonna happen?

I'm getting sick of being jerked around here. Of course it would be disastrous. That's why it's unlikely to happen -- for the same reason nuclear war didn't happen in the 20th century -- no matter how hard you try, you cannot eradicate sanity from an organization.