hmmm, I wonder what would have happened if Russia would have used the excuse of mujahadeen using US made stinger missiles in afghanistan to justify an attack on US bases or the mainland.

I listened to the testimony and was also struck by the raising of the Iran specter as well as what wasn’t said… that baghdad, the main target of the ’surge’ (more like a trickle), is worse than when it started. Or that the handing over by the british of basra is basically a ceremonial move and capitulation to the sadr forces that control the police forces there.

Well boys, I hate to say it, though I’ve said it many times before, we’re going to attack Iran and start the third installment of that great value vacuum, world war.

If you are of drafting age, you might as well join now so you can try to get the job you want rather than have a rifle and NukeBioChem suit slapped on you and then dropped in Iran.

I hoped it could be reversed, but apparently the american people are too apathetic to get involved in the greatest historical even in their lives.
Write your congressman, manifest your opposition in rallies and public assemblies. Let them know that we will not be dragged into a global conflict over something as mundane and unnecessary as petroleum.

Maybe those 50s nuke shelters will be useful after all ..
Who would have thought after 60 years of tamping down USSR ( did we ? ) and Red china wed have a meglamaniac moron in white house return us to those dark days,of old cold war ..
Only one thing worse than a muslim fundamentalist wacko fanatic is a neo con ultra right wing pseudo christian one !
Iran will be a different ‘kettle of fish ‘ than Iraq I believe , those people arent raving Arabs !
80,000,000 of em and most are very smart !
Also they know our ‘game plan ‘ now , which in football isn’t good,especially when ones team has many injuries ( read weaker US army ) ….
The time to have thought about Iran was in 2003 , not four years later with most of army and equipment in a failed condition !
Does this ‘crew’ ( white house ) have a ’suicide ‘ desire ?????

First a word about Petraeus. Remember the lost arms fiasco, some 190K small arms? Petraeus was the commander of the unit responsible for the dispersal of those weapons. I know, I know, a commander shouldn’t be entirely responsible for ‘clerical’ errors but his ‘reward’ for this snafu was High Command? But he, in addition to being a ‘new jesus,’ is also a straw man. Just another in a seemingly unending list of commanders put forward to do their chief’s bidding. And why not, good stepping stone for political prominence. Just ask Colin Powell.

Now a word about Bushney. It gives me no great pleasure to point out what has already been pointed out about the man OR to comment on the fecklessness of the press for not chorusing Boos when he made the following quote:

“I will repeat, as the Commander-in-Chief of a great military who has supported this military and will continue to support this military, not only with my — with insisting that we get resources to them, but with — by respecting the command structure.”

Huh?? Supported this military? The Idiot In Charge seems to confuse the meanings of ‘cheer’ and ‘support.’ What do you expect from a Texan? Rhetorical question. Yes, yes, poor Bushney continues to ‘insist’ that we provide the troops with resources, but pity the poor soul, his hands are tied.

And he sure respected the command structure when he ignored their recommendations for troop strengths and how to prosecute the war and instead listened to two civilians with NO combat experience: Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz.

I’m sorry, Bushney is not only a bad Prez, he’s a bad person. There’s just no there there.

Uh, confronted on two sides by the blundering, belligerant, and antagonist American government, if the Iranians are NOT involved in Iraq and Afganistan, they are crazy.

It should be a given that they are involved heavily in prepping their Shia neighbors for the upcoming intensification of the civil war. The present Iraqi government does not have the same interests or goals as America. Shia/Iranian connections run deep.

Any possible tactical gains of the surge will erode without political gains alongside, something we are not likely to see.

Your Petraeus comments seem to snipe at the messenger, when the real target lies much higher. The present administration will come up with some excuse for doing what they want. As we have seen in the past, the factual nature of it barely matters.

The Administration’s history of dangerous military adventurism, with little contingency planning beyond a fairy tale ‘and they lived happily ever after’: That is frightening, and does, very much, matter.

Why do these people think that bombing Iran is a good idea? I’m reading now that they’re planning to use low-grade nukes to do it.

The military, CIA, Mossad and anyone else involved has NO credible intelligence on what the hell the Iranians are doing. Aside from their lack of knowledge about who the Iranians are arming, THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TARGETS TO STRIKE INSIDE IRAN IF THEY INSTITUTE A BOMBING CAMPAIGN.

U.S. INTELLIGENCE ON IRAN IS WORSE THAN IT WAS ON IRAQ.

This is and has always been a pathetic attempt at war by a bunch of rich kids from New York and Connecticut (Bush) who never fought in war and who are trying to prove their manhood. These people are rich, they won’t lose anything by their actions yet thousands of Americans will lose their lives because of them.

Americans voted in 2006 to end the Iraq war and what we will now get is an attack on Iran. The U.S. system of democracy is broken.

EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE has been aware of this for some time. Project for a New American Century outlined this plan long ago. We all knew it was coming, including the media. The real question is can we stop him?
I know what stopped Kennedy from pulling out of Vietnam……

I gotta say most of you are idiots this goes far beyond “rich kids” and Bush is also probably far older than “word”

I cannot believe not one Congress person or Senator asked for proof about “Iranian involvement”. Didn’t we just get smoke blown up our btts on that kind of unsustainable alegation? A simple 5th grader argument will suffice. Prove it Petraus, prove it. If you can.

I don’t think Bush and (esp.) Congress would be as stupid as to invade Iran because of their assistance to the Shias in Iraq.

First off, they would have no popular support. Second, I believe the collective media would (THIS time) really dig into it. Once bitten, twice shy. Thirdly, while we may have support from the Sunni nations in the Middle East, it would be lukewarm at best – mainly because they don’t want to piss off that nut bag Ahmadinejad.

Leaving Iran alone is the better idea. Trying to save Iraq from itself is a colossal blunder (that wouldn’t stop “Bushney” [I like that moniker]).

But then again… I do believe the Neo Cons constructed the Irag WMDs fallacy in order to de-stabilize the Middle East. Invading Iran would be the logical next step.

If the draft is re-instituted, the effort would end in a heartbeat. Once Bush’s daughters became eligible, then the game changes.

Bastards.

Iran is going to be a bigger mess than Iraq and the only people who are going to pay for it are more innocent civilians and US troops. On the other hand Israel, the Neocons, and oil tycoons will still have their air conditioned offices and plasma tv’s to watch all the action on.

and who would stop them? definately not the american people. Anyone trying to counter them could be labled an enemy combatant and imprisoned at guantanamo or sent to egypt for interrogation.

The only thing that will stop these morons would be mass protests in the streets. A complete work stoppage days… say some wednesday… no one shows up to work. I realize it would be almost impossible to coordinate all those people, but what if you could get 40%… 60%…? oh hell 10% would be noticeable in the stock market. Let the Buffets and the Rockefeller know that the first casualties of a World War would be their family wealth. Make sure corporations understand that under a global conflic they cannot amass wealth, it needs to be put into circulation to mobilize the country, there won’t be a war then.

I was a raving liberal for more years than I want to admit. I have heard that if you aren’t a liberal when you are 20, you don’t have a heart. If you aren’t a conservative by the time you are 40, you don’t have a head. I haven’t visited a liberal website for awhile because my time is precious to me. I do have to admit that I am again shocked. Wake up, damn it. Try actually listening to the to the other side. I did.

There are stupid people every where and for sure in America too. Far too many by the looks of it. America can never invade Iran. It wouldn’t want to and wouldn’t need to. The most it can and would do is air strikes against military and nuclear sites. As an American, do you have any objections to that? As an Iranian I don’t. Because Those Mullahs are the worst killers you can ever imagine. Your aircrafts and rusting bombs would do me a massive favor.

Mr. Dickinson,

People make bold statements, not BALD ones.

As an Iranian-American living in the states for the past 30 years, I have to say I just can’t believe what is happening to this country. U.S. is not the same country of 20, 10, or even 5 years ago.

Granted both US and Iran have each said tough words (threatening really) against the other, but anybody in their right mind can see who is the aggressor here.

Ahmadinejad may be a nutty president, but compare to Bush he is an angel. At least he has not lied to his country in order to start a war that has resulted in the death of some 100,000 people.

Iran and Iraq’s are neighboring countries whose cultures are very similar. Both countries are Muslim, with many Shia religious centers in Iraq and Iran. People from both countries have been traveling to and from these sights for centuries. Although Iran is not an Arab country, it has a much better understanding of Iraq than we in the west can possibly ever imagine. After all, they were in war with them for 8 years and I would think they now want their lasting peace with them.

All I can say is that the politicians in Washington are smarter than we give them credit. I don’t think they would agree to attack Iran, since they know they will have to put up a lot of over-time in order to fix this mess in the many years to come.

The volume of lies and distortions by the Bush-Cheney (Bushney) military-industrial complex against Iran is mind-bogging. It will only bring about another catastrophe that will result in more damage on POOR American soldiers and POOR Middle Eastern People.

The next war is another double edged sword for the RICH and POWERFUL. Before the war, they cash in billions of dollars in arms deals. Once it is over, their myriad oil companies will win contracts worth billions.

TIME FOR ENERGETIC ACTIVISM against this Corporate Sect leading the Globe to destruction

Mr John Wise and your ilk

Whilst you are being so blinded by your hatred towards some of your smarter compatriots making lots of money not only for their families but also for America as a whole – they take my wealth and some how you benefit from it too – you fail to see that once Ahmadinejad gets hold of atomic bombs 9/11 atrocity by the Muslim terrorists will be a street party compared to what they will do to you. Go and educate yourself about the threat of Islamists whose grievances are not Americans taking their wealth but Americans being infidels. I tell you what. Why don’t you convert to Islam now and invite your country men to do the same and give up your American life and live like Osama Bin Laden. That way you are more likely to please Ahmadinejad and the Islamic terrorists.

You cast doubt that Iran is helping Shiite forces in Iraq. How can you say that for sure?

My super secret spy satellite is in the shop for repairs. And my spies are on vacation until after September 16. So I am assuming that you had relied on the Rolling Stone spy satellite orbiting the earth right now, and also on your spies in Iraq to confirm your hunch.

Did your spy satellite and boots on the ground confirm that Iran is not helping anti-American forces in Iraq?

Sorry, but even if the U.S. government makes mistakes about its intelligence, I would rather rely on them rather than the editorial board and a blogger of a MUSIC MAGAZINE any day.

In fact, can you imagine how scary it would be if the employees of Rolling Stone made national policy?

All of you folks talking about the lack of inteligence on Iran are fools. Check out the latest coverage of Ahmadinejad speaking from the Natanz nuclear facility. Statements such as “[Israel] cannot continue its life” made from a podium located at an uranium-enrichment facility can, and should, be interpretted only as extremely hostile and threatenning. This kind of rhetoric, conjoined with a very active pursuit of the means to develop a nuclear arsenal, should be taken seriously. Although the response of the United States and its allies must be measured very carefully, there is just so much of this behavior that can be tolerated before an aggressive military response becomes necessary to counter a very real and extremley dangerous threat to the entire world – including idiots who read Rolling Stone and identify with the foreign-policy opinions of its staff.

Hey Symorgh:
Are they, somehow, going to be able to launch those ‘atomic bombs’ all the way over to the United States? Launch capability is a threat to the U.S.
And, by the way, since when does ’something said’ justify war? Ahmadina(whatever) is just a ‘talking head’ for the Mullahs. You have to understand that this type of terrorism will NEVER take over an industrialized nation that lives in a democracy. There’s too many police. This fearmongering about Iran IS going to lead to us getting bombed. Only it won’t be Iran, it will be China or Russia whose oil supplies we halted by bombing Iran……

Oh yeah, Widgets: Sounds like you’d rather listen to a pathalogical liar like Bush…….

this is exactly the same crap as iraq… we accuse them of weapons they may or may not have, actions that are perceived as threatening and supporting terror.

1- saudi arabia has the most suicide bombers in iraq… not iran.
2- they are “between 3-10 years away from a nuclear weapon.”
3- we have no proof they have nuclear weapons… but we suspect them. (you know who has nukes? north korea… pakistan… anybody else… why aren’t we poking at them?)
4- if you’re concerned about israel’s safety, refer to how iran has NO nukes that we can prove and israel has HUNDREDS that we can prove… i think they’ll be fine.

so why saber rattle unless the goal is ultimately to get us into iran and prop up the federal reserve with more borrowed money?

tim, can your next post tell us which points are contested and by whom? otherwise, it does seem like cause to go to war. we wouldn’t be able to, because are troops are already spread too thin. but any nation supporting violence against our troops ought to be dealt with.

Dan:
Remember Russia in Afghanistan in the 80’s? We gave Afghanistan stinger missles. They took out the Russians. Should Russia have bombed us for helping Afghanistan?
Quit coming up with lame excuses people. You can’t hide racism behind war anymore. You have to remember where our soldiers are. They’re on foreign soil. Anything done to them is ‘part of the game’. Stop pointing the finger at other people, and start looking in the mirror as to why things are so chaotic. Besides. Nothing Iran is doing is affecting us over here in the United States. It is only affecting our soldiers that are on foreign soil. But, apparently, some of you think that shouldn’t matter. NOBODY QUESTIONS THE UNITED STATES AUTHORITY! Right? Get over yourself America. If you want to be a leader, do it by leading without your weapon drawn.
I’m so sick and tired of warmongers. Ironically enough, it’s the warmongers who are going to put us on the mainland at risk of attack.

sorry, i certainly wasn’t trying to advocate war or take an accusatory standpoint. it was a legitimate question.

but i’m glad to know that we shouldn’t worry about what’s happening to our soldiers on foreign soil, as long as we can get a good nights sleep. thanks for clearing that up.

dan:

you are correct about our troops being spread too thin… but that’s not going to be enough to keep us out of iran. that’s only enough to bring back the draft! (read the article here about the back door draft.) and believe this… unless you vote for ron paul or dennis kucinich (God help us if you vote kooch), we will be at war with iran and there will be a draft to maintain a war on eleventeen fronts.

I don’t understand what Bush or Petraeus have to do with Ahmadinejad’s stated desire to eliminate Israel and its citizenry. When the leader of a nation couples that kind of rhetoric with a policy of pursuing the means to nuclear weapons in open defiance of the hallowed UN and international law (e.g. 3 resolutions to date), there is a reason to be concerned.

Regardless of past foreign policy errors, mistakes, blunders, disasters, etc. made by the U.S. and/or its allies, the fact still remains that the rhetoric out of Iran is becoming increasingly strident, not to mention openly aggressive, while Iran develops technology that will greatly intensify its capacity to cause death and destruction. This does nothing to contribute to stability and peace in the region or the world, regardless of what mistakes may or may not have been committed by the United States.

Perhaps the U.S. is wrong for invading Iraq, in that case it would serve Iran well to seek the moral high-ground and expand its influence in the region peacefully and/or economically. Meanwhile, it can only make threats, oppressing its citizenry thru a backwards theocracy and crushing its own economy with massive taxation to support a military buildup that probably includes the development of nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them. You can’t pin all of the world’s problems on Bush and Cheney or even America.

Jed, Six, Dan, Andy, etc. – your comic book view of the world would make me laugh, if the implications of the impotence and ignorance that you are purveying didn’t disgust me so much.

Dan, did I, at any moment, say don’t worry about the troops? Our concern should be: “Why are they there?” Not who’s shooting at them.
So……why are they there?
The justification for war sure has changed over the years. Used to be you had to do something first. Not just say something.
But, don’t worry. The rest of the world isn’t going to get upset at all about our ‘intelligence lapses’.
All you people who are FOR a U.S. invasion of Iran, go ahead and sign up. Your help is definitely needed.

If you read “The Israel Lobby and U.S. foreign policy” by John Mearsheimer and S. Wat- It will all make sense. This is the same drumbeat Israeli lobby and the neo con played before Iraq war. In his book he concluded and I agree with him that Iraq was for Isrel best interest not for United States. Same with Iran. It is not a threat to USA. Let the Israel fight their own war and have them pay for it too.

Six, I would be happy to sign up, if my services weren’t so vitally necessary here – you know, keeping the EvIl CoRpOrAtE MaChInE well-oiled and functioning within tolerances. Besides, I have already served honorably.

Nevertheless, I am sure that there are plenty of first-class young men and women that will be happy to stand up to the threat posed by Iran and any other state that threatens the U.S. or its allies. Meanwhile, you can continue to sip lattes, post to this website, braid your ponytail, and read Rolling Stone.

Oh yes – you can also pump gasoline into your Prius, and while you’re doing that, remember that somebody’s got to keep it flowing or you and the rest of the babyboomer-dogooders-brigade never make it to the local Bush-hating fest.

It’s who is Making National Policy Now and for the Past Seven Years, that Is Scary.

Oil Interests and Dick’s and George’s Oil Family are eager to bomb Iran’s oil fields before they exit office.

Think of eliminating some of the prime competition, and how Oil Prices would have to go Up-it would make a definite Dent.

Pressure is on-Bush and Cheney have become so hated(And for good reason)that, any mention of “bombs, war, strikes” sends chills down the spines of most Americans/ vents lots of spleens, too…

While there are profits to made by weapons manufacturers and oil execs., don’t count on Bush to keep any spring promises of troops coming home-a self-perpetuated “war with Iran” could end that scenario real quick.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

there will be no war with iran…an airstrike maybe, but we dont have the capacity, or the need, to fight another war, espescially one that would be counterproductive against iran

something covert is probably even more likely (maybe even a collaboration with the Mossad), but Iran will not be invaded…again, all of this is mere inference, no one really knows whats bouncing around in GDubs office

Mr. Let ‘em eat Cake:

You have no idea what you are talking about. You must be some kind of simpleton. To think that igniting a war in the middle east is the kind of thing that the world’s powerbrokers do for kicks and cash is so outrageously stupid and incorrect that I can hardly believe I am bothering to post this. In any event, things do not work that way. The people who actually make things happen in the world (which does not include the likes of Tim Dickinson by the sound of things)are much more sophisticated.

A conflict on the level of what would happen if the U.S. were misguided enough to attack Iran would cause tremendous upheavel to the global economy, which would dramatically shrink demand. I know, you were just joking, but the crazy thing is…most of the people on this site actually think that way.

I agree with Widgets…you people have a comic-book view of the world.

blood for oil of olay: Please, don’t just spew “you’re an idiot”. You didn’t give any facts. The only thing remotely close to a fact is “The people who actually make things happen in the world are much more sophisticated.” Even then, what the hell does that mean? Sophisticated people can be VERY sinister. Sophisticated people can commit murder. It’s funny. The rebuttals from the right about the questions the left have are a joke. Patriotism is one of the most exploited emotions in this nation. To think that it’s impossible for things to work the way ‘Cake’ said is to be very closed-minded. If it’s possible for Iran to have crazy leadership (in our eyes), then why is it crazy for the left to think that Bush/Cheney are also crazy? Why? Don’t just call us stupid and unpatriotic. Tell us why it’s impossible. Checks and balances? Bush got rid of those. Oversight? Rid of those also.
All we want is questions answered. The same thing you Bushies wanted during the Clinton administration. Now, just because we’re at war (an unjustified one at that), we’re unpatriotic by asking questions?

Ms. “Blood for Oil of Olay”

Under Bush(Neo-Con Rule) we have endured a Surprise attack, an election sham that put the Loser in office, lost part of the Rule of Law, seen privacy rights stomped on, declared “war” on a Country that did not threaten us or attack us, lose thousands of troops and still losing them in the same “War” of Profits for Neo-Con oil, weapons and, Neo-con politicians, allow a major city to lose thousands without a timely Rescue and let a City to drown, see the Infra-Structure sinking with Fat Cat tax Cuts, see education scholarships dry up and health care enrich insurance companies and Not provide for those insured, see Fear Peddled like Ipods and, gutless leaders insist on sending other peoples children to fight “wars” that they were deferred from…

Tell me all about “Insane Situations”, BrainCloud!

Bush and Cheney and Rove and his Neo-con fetish are worried about the relations with China, Russia?

A monopoly on the oil wouldn’t work for the greedy Bush and Cheney and their tightness with the Saudis’, who they are always kissing — with?

You must be Sinking in Olay or something Worse!

Cheney and Bush would do anything to Profiteer off “War” and all of their “War Planners”-after all we have seen, Nothing is too Low for the Neo-cons to go! $$$$$$$$$$$$$

And you must be Aces in Intellect-Who still believes in the Bush “War” Dream-You are a Lonely Number, girl!

still, i think it would be dangerous for Iran to continually flout UN resolutions, what does it say about the UN as a capable body if its resolutions are meaningless? I still dont see how anybody would think that a virulently anti-west, anti-jewish regime should have nuclear weapons, and that the region would be any safer

and no matter how you split it, Ahmadinajad and the Mullahs with a nuclear weapon is not a good thing…cause when jerusalem or tel aviv goes up in a mushroom cloud, the Israelis are perfectly capable of answering back with equal force…

plus bush may be “nuts” but ahmadinjad is “nutsier”…either way a bad combination

Ahmadinajead is ‘nutsier’?? Who has he bombed? How many cruise missles has he launched? Again, you’re basing your argument on things this administration has TOLD you. Stupid propoganda. Do you honestly think Iran is a bigger threat to us than China? Are you really going to complain about Iran not complying when WE don’t comply?
I know you’re not a radical. But, I think we ALL need to settle down about Iran. The ONLY thing they’re doing is supplying the fight in Iraq. If we weren’t there, it wouldn’t be effecting us.
Now, about them having a nuke. Do you really think it’s good for ANYBODY to have a nuke? I believe they KNOW the ramifications if they launch, in about 5 years. It’s the same thing Hussein was doing. Spewing ‘tough’ rhetoric in order to suppress the other countries WITH nukes.
I have an idea. Quit catering to the religious aspect of all this. Get off oil and ’see what happens’. We need to completely stop taking as gospel the word of an oil administration.

Bravo!!!

I have to say something about the arguments people make about Ahmadinejad’s speech to “wipe Israel off the map”. I don’t see what he has said as a good reason for us to go to war or even be scared of him. First off, open any US newspaper, any day of the week, and you will see an article about our plans to attach Iran. From US senators to anyone else in the government that likes to act tough or patriotic, someone likes to attack Iran. Please, do this today, if you don’t believe me. Look at any newspaper and you see an article about us or by our “ally”, Israel, planning to attack Iran.

Now, seem to me that planning an attack is much more threatening that wishing or wanting to attack another country. Ahmadinejad may have said he “likes” or “wished” or that Israel “should be” wiped off the map, but notice he never went as far as showing any plans to make this into reality. However, our government, perhaps taking its queue from the over-active Israeli Lobbyists, talks, plans, and even has an Oprah show on the subject.

(Rest assured now, that the whole world is watching this and wonder “this the-only-super-power business must have really gotten into these people’s head, since they haven’t even finished with one war when they want to start another”.)

Please help me understand this: Why what we say to the world on a daily bases, over and over, means nothing, but when the world responds we feel threatened? Are we that alienated as a nation that we like to attack other countries for God damn no-good reason other than our own distorted understanding of our own threatening words? Are we like the Germans under Hitler where they were making horrendous acts and no one saw the truth to say something intelligent against it? Is America really at such low point in its history?

Who are these people who defend the terrorist Ahmadinejad who right now is terrorizing Iranians, supplying bombs to the insurgents and his terrorist groups in Iraq to kill American solders on one hand and on the other, bash their own president? They may be disgruntled, prejudiced, discriminated against immigrants who hate America despite the fact they are far better off living there than the hell they escaped from. Or may be the agents of the Islamic regime. May be members or sympathizers of Al Qaeda? May be the next terrorist? And oh yeah finally the simpleton Americans who have read too many posts by the aforementioned and the opportunist idiots in the form of democrats who try to win their votes because these are exactly the kind of people who would vote for them. Intelligent people see far too many other aspects of issues than what hits the face.

Ahmadinejad is the same as Osama Bin Laden, the only difference is that he is officially the president of an invaded and unfortunate country called Iran and the other has to hide in caves. They are brothers in arm in their fight against the infidel West and the Imperialist America.

They don’t want to nuke America really if they can help it. They prefer to convert America to Islam.

Well that is preposterous I hear you say. It is ridiculous; it is just laughable. You are right. But Osama bin laden and Ahmadinejad believe it is possible to establish the rule of Islam even in America!

They think they know how to do it. Now here you have some committed terrorists whose aspirations and goals are simply ridiculous and laughable and may be we can even just about tolerate their little mischiefs like 9/11 (not speaking for myself), but when they get their atomic bombs or some form of crude enriched uranium bombs they pass on to their cells in the land of infidels, It will be Ahmadinejad and Osama bin Laden who will be laughing.

If they’re laughing, it’s ‘cause someone translated your post for them.

As for all the saber rattling, etc., it IS the end of the third quarter and perhaps Bushney got ‘the word’ from his oil cronies that they needed a little ‘boost’ towards the end, could he jump up the price of oil a little for them?

I say that Congress should pass a resolution stating that in the event ANY U.S. forces attack Iran, that body, Congress, would begin impeachment proceedings against Bush & Cheney. If he’s going to rattle sabers, the Dems should do likewise.

Word, Nativeson:
“First it would shrink supply. Supply to China and Russia to be exact. Go home to your kiddie sandbox and wallow around with the rest of your “short bus” friends. Then, when your parents have no money to support you because the Dow torpedoes on account of China’s high manufacturing costs because of expensive oil, come argue with me. ”

I support my deadbeat babyboomer parents with my petro-profiteering ways, so a drop in the Dow would definitely hurt us, but not that much. I have finnished done playing in my sandbox, and thought I might point out that Russia is not supplied with oil – it has its own supply and refineries. This is part of the reason it currently holds the 3rd largest foreign currency reserves. Yes, I agree that eliminating Iran from the equation would create a substantial global supply disruption, which would result in higher oil prices (~$115-135 barrel). The lasting effect, however, which is much more significant in my humble opinion, would probably be something akin to what happened 30 years ago in the U.S., except on a much greater global scale. We would definitely see a massive check on growth and likely even shrinkage of GDP everywhere. So, in the long run, demand for all goods and services would shrink. The oil companies will suffer big-time from that kind of slowdown. The people that run oil companies and make investments in this sector know this scenario very well. They are not stupid contrary to what you might think. I am speaking from experience that I’d prefer not to elaborate upon. At any rate, my point was that if ‘Bushney’ were as diabolical as it is made out to be, they would have a very different policy than brazenly attacking Iran. Who knows? Maybe keeping up a steady stream of threats is actually what they’re all about. In other words, maintaining the so called geopolitical risk premium on oil, without initiating the kind of scenario I described above. At any rate, that would be much more subtle (and less destructive)than open war. I feel very confident in saying, though, that they are moved by more than just short-term greed. They are probably just apathetic to a public that is screaming for material-fulfillment, and is shocked when it learns that people got hurt along the way. So, in some ways I sympathize with some of what you’re saying, but the only alternative to giving the people what they want is to tell what they should want – which is exactly what EVERYONE who has posted hear fears from either a ‘Dinejad or Bushney.

Nativeson,

“The Iranian oil production and transport facilities, which would eliminate the major supplier of China and India. Chinese and Indian demand for oil would then skyrocket, not drop, pushing the price of crude well over $100 a barrel overnight.”

Reduction of quantity-supplied results in higher prices and ultimately reduced demand. I think you might benefit from some remedial economics.

Olay:
Look at the fundamental theme of what you guys are arguing about: OIL.
But, this war and pillage through the middle, somehow, isn’t about oil?????
Hey hand lotion boy: Where on your list of priorities is getting OFF oil? Do you happen to understand that taking a country’s treasury stuffer away from them may just get them to cooperate?
Just curious.

This just in…This mornings “Telegraph” in the UK, dated 09/17, quotes senior US intelligence sources and also Pentagon sources as saying that there is a deliberate policy in place of vilifying Iran, it’s leadership, and portraying them as a threat to world peace and American forces in Iraq, with the intent of justifying an attack on Iran before Bush leaves office.

Look it up.

The British are almost out of this mess, and they are not interested in seeing it escalate in this manner, nor participating in the inevitable aftermath of such an attack.

Gee Tim…and to think that General Petraeus wrote that whole report last week without any input at all from the White House, or any body else in the Pentagon. All on his lonesome. Entirely alone…..

Third try!

It seems the ex-head of the economy(Greenspan) just gave “Oil as the reason we went to war”. His book is imminent!

Slick(BFOOO), Money/Profit/Control/Power just about says it all.

Iraq’s fate was planned before 9/11-9/11 just gave Bush and the Team an excuse(Is that a Convenient Excuse?)

All the Noble protests from Bush-apologists, do not sway the majority nor do they erase the ugly Facts of Bush’s Reasons for “War”.

Money, Profit, Control, and Power are all good things….

Where would you be if you were without money, with losses, out of control and powerless? You might be sitting on your ass in Iraq, waiting for some G8 country to build an oil rig or a pipeline, so you can get generate some income to feed your family with, instead of the empty promises that’ve been shoved down your throat for years by one group of thugs after another.

Whether conditions are any better following US involvement in Iraq will remain to be seen for many years to come, it is certain, however, that no prosperity can be achieved if the forces of extremism which dominate the region remain unchecked by powerful (and no doubt profit-hungry) allies such as the US. These forces have prevented the Middle East from achieving prosperity for decades.

Hey Bloody OIly Mess: You’ve just justified the CHANGED reasons for war involving the United States of America. We’ve just turned, based on your analysis, into a modern day Nazi regime. You won’t admit this about oil, but you WILL admit it’s about the economy? Enough, man.
Answer me this: How did you feel about Clinton’s involvement with NATO in Somalia? Or, are you just a Repubelickan supporter?