Would you buy a used war from this man? (Stephen Crowley/NYT)He must’ve been thinking that Condi’s “mushroom cloud” comment in the runup to the Iraq invasion was so successful that he should try it again–so he did. The Dishonorable Leader has the chutzpah to try to make us believe that if the world lets the “mad mullahs” get the bomb they’ll set off World War III:
President Bush issued a stark warning on Iran on Wednesday, suggesting that if the country obtained nuclear arms, it could lead to “World War III.”
In truth, if there is any likelihood of WWIII, the danger lies much closer to home than Iran. George and Dick are far more likely to take us there than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. And I say this not out of any love for that demagogue. It’s just that I believe he understands there is a deterrent to Iranian power and has some minimal level of respect for that. Bush, on the other hand, accepts no deterrence when it comes to working his will on the world.
Bush continued his execrable remarks by distorting Ahmadinejad’s remarks regarding Israel:
“We got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel,” Mr. Bush said at a White House news conference, referring to a remark by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that Israel “will disappear soon.” Mr. Bush said he had “told people that if you’re interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon.”
Slim=George?So there you have it. If you’re against WWIII you’ll go with Bush wherever he wants to take you including possibly war. And if you’re in favor of world war, then you won’t. I guess that makes me Slim Pickens riding the A-bomb down to ground zero in Dr. Strangelove. In truth, I’m against Iran getting the bomb, against WWIII, and against a new Bush adventure in Iran.
The Times article also raises an interesting quote from a former top general about Iranian nuclear capability:
Gen. John P. Abizaid, who retired this year as the top American commander in the Middle East. The general said that “there are ways to live with a nuclear Iran.”
And Bush has done us the favor of summing up the purpose of his current policy of diplomatic isolation of Iran. It’s sure a winner:
“The whole strategy is that, you know, at some point in time leaders or responsible folks inside of Iran may get tired of isolation and say, ‘This isn’t worth it,’ and to me it’s worth the effort to keep the pressure on this government,” Mr. Bush said.
He added, “My intent is to continue to rally the world, to send a focused signal to the Iranian government that we will continue to work to isolate you in the hopes that at some point somebody else shows up and says it’s not worth the isolation.”
I can just hear the rumbling of the Iranian people rising up as one to overthrow their mullah masters. Look, I’m in favor of regime change in Iran as much as the next person. But there’s only one way that it will come: from Iranians themselves. If George Bush thinks he’s going to have an ounce of impact on Iranian internal politics he’s living a bad dream. In fact, Iranians will do just the opposite of whatever Bush wants just out of spite. And I wouldn’t half blame them considering how awful our policy has been.
On another matter Bush seemed to be in cloud cuckoo land as well. Just as Vladimir Putin was in Teheran telling the Iranians and the world that the military option wouldn’t work against Iran’s nuclear program, our president was saying this about his seeing eye to eye with Russia’s president:
“We don’t agree on a lot of issues,” Mr. Bush said. “We do agree on some: Iran is one; nuclear proliferation is another.”
A professor of Modern Jewish History and ex-ortho rabbi (http://davidsaysthings.wordpress.com/2007/09/05/i-suck-at-praying-alan-nadler-probably-agrees/ and http://davidsaysthings.wordpress.com/2007/10/18/nadlerisms-of-the-day/) told the class this morning that he was positively shocked at the President’s knowledge that there had acutally been two other world wars!
Sounds to me like you’re unjustifiably defending Ahmadinejad. Clearly, you need to read and study more of his words. Taken in context, there is a very real threat to Israel and other Middle Eastern countries if Iran gains nuclear power based on what he’s said alone. I can’t understand why you would defend him.
Tossing in your cute “George and Dick Slim Strangelove” angle doesn’t do a thing for me. You’re defending Ahmadinejad. I just don’t see the motive, past the laughably trite progressive trend to rip Bush no matter what he does.
I can’t wait until Hilary takes office. Then we can see how a Dem does things. I’m sure it won’t be fantastically better or worse than what we’re seeing now, and maybe all the junior bloggers can get a wake up call.
That’s just lazy writing. I explicitly say I have no love for “that demagogue” and you interpret that to mean that I defend him.
BTW, Ephraim Levy, former head of the Israeli Mossad delivered a speech covered in Haaretz yesterday saying that Israel could live with a nuclear Iran. Are you saying that yr judgment of the threat fr Iran to Israel is better informed than his?
I have no love for Hillary. But if she does take office you can be damn sure our Iran policy will be a lot diff. than it is now.
Whoever takes over the presidency in 2008, they are likely to be no better than Bush and could easily be worse. Bush is belligerent and autocratic, but dull and lazy. Whoever comes next will not give up any of the autocratic powers Bush has amassed and will perhaps use them with vigor and cunning. Think only dark-skinned people with an unpopular religion will be “gitmo’d”? Think again.
Too, once the next Godzilla gets tired of killing Muslims, they are likely to turn on China, massacre me and my friends here. This isn’t about protecting Israel. It’s about 1) keeping the military-industrial complex going and 2) speeding up Armeggedon.
Zhu Bajie, alive in the bitter sea
Iran lives in a tough neighborhood. It is very important to remember that in 1980 Saddam Hussein launched against Iran a terrible war that claimed as many as a million lives. Didn’t Martin van Creveld say that the Iranians are crazy if they AREN’T developing nuclear weapons?
Zhu, I fear you are correct if Giuliani wins next year – here’s hoping that doesn’t happen.