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Gearing Up for War With Iran?

Newsweek reports the war between Israel and Lebanon could get much bigger in the next several months, paving the way for a military confrontation with Iran.

Over at Alternet, Larisa Alexandrovna, who has been writing about Iran for the past year, explains why Iran and Syria will be drawn into the conflict.

Yet there is a full war and full military action, and it is not by accident. It is also exactly on time to be the trigger. But this will not be the worst of it, because Syria will be drawn in; it has to be, and then Iran. This is the strategy that was feared and that is now being played out across the Middle East.

This is a strategy long wanted by the far right and people like Dick Cheney, and this is a strategy that was long in the planning. Even as we began military operations in Iraq, Iran was the subject of all major military discussions. And yet when Israel became engaged in military operations against Lebanon, the entire world failed to understand the true nature of this conflict and the real issues behind it. Israel is a client-state of the United States and, as such, it will do as it is told.

While I disagree with her conclusions that Israel has been acting "carelessly" and that Israel as a "client-state" of the U.S. will do what it is told, I don't doubt that a war with Iran has been on the Cheney-Bush-neocon agenda all along. I just think Israel will do what it thinks is best for Israel's self-preservation. That may or may not continue to mesh with the Cheney-Bush agenda.

As for negotiations, maybe if we had a more effective Secretary of State than Condoleeza Rice, progress could be made. Either she's being hamstrung by Bush-Cheney or just not up to the task. Regardless, she's not getting the job done.

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    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 10:05:35 AM EST
    Mexico is looking better and better.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 10:10:48 AM EST
    Of course they are salivating over that one! They'd love to be able to take the attention off what they do (pilfer the country, disgrace their offices, shred the Constitution)!

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#3)
    by jondee on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 10:11:42 AM EST
    And less blood thirsty. And more rational.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#4)
    by desertswine on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 10:14:07 AM EST
    This is a strategy long wanted by the far right and people like Dick Cheney, and this is a strategy that was long in the planning.
    Teheran is the ultimate target (for now).

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#5)
    by soccerdad on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 10:23:07 AM EST
    Is the Israeli attack on Lebanon the blueprint for the war against Syria and Iran? What other kind of war can they wage? There are no troops to send. The best excuse against Iran will be the nuclear issue. So will they go for simply attacking "nuclear sites" and related military targets or for massive destruction of the infrastructure? If they attack it seems likely the will use the low yield nuke bunker busters. This will remove any last hesitation by anyone else to use nuclear weapons or nuclear terror. What happens after the attacks? The premise has been if that you cause evough damage and physical and mental distress to the people they will give up. It doesn't work never has. All it will do is increase the hatred of the uS by 1 billion people and destablize other Muslim countries and Pakistan is one to be fearful of. I dont understand what is to be gained by creating a series of failed states in the ME. May God have mercy on us, but may the neocons go to hell.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#6)
    by roger on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 10:57:16 AM EST
    Just had an Iranian friend get back from the middle east. According to him, Iran already runs things over there. President of Israel- born in Iran. Iraqi Kurdistan? Run entirely by Iranian Kurds. Do we even have to discuss Shiite S Iraq? Who got rid of Saddam? Who was he really a threat to? The Taliban is a big enemy of Iran, but the US has been keeping them busy lately. If you are looking for a conspiracy, try to find one that is working.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#7)
    by Sailor on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 11:08:57 AM EST
    of course they're gearing up for iran ... and trying to use israel for syria, it's the exact neocon game plan.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#8)
    by Sailor on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 11:21:12 AM EST
    Conservatives Slam Israeli War Strategy By ORI NIR August 11, 2006 WASHINGTON -- Staunchly pro-Israel conservatives with close ties to the Bush administration say that Jerusalem is hindering America's global war on terror by failing to wage an all-out war to eliminate Hezbollah.


    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#9)
    by Johnny on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 11:25:19 AM EST
    If the wrong-wingers lose control of the house, we will not have war with Iran. If the wrong-wingers retain control, dead children by christmas.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#10)
    by jondee on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 11:37:34 AM EST
    I think we need an "all out war" to eliminate Iran Contra scum Abrams (why is that putz still in govt?); the Kristols, the Kagans etc. Chutzpah, in the original meaning of the word, and friends in high places is all that these shameless, unrepentant, warmongers have going for them.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#11)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 11:57:48 AM EST
    If you are looking for a conspiracy, try to find one that is working.
    No need for conspiracies, there is a document written by the Satinists-in-Charge. Read it. It will explain all that's going on these days.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#12)
    by squeaky on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 12:01:18 PM EST
    Jondee-
    Iran Contra scum Abrams (why is that putz still in govt?)
    Condi pulled him out of the political graveyard by appointing him to the NSC. He is now the senior director of that committee.
    Ms. Rice selected Mr. Abrams for the National Security Council staff in 2002 when she was national security adviser. His return to government service was unexpected. After President George H. W. Bush pardoned Mr. Abrams in 1992 for his role in the Iran-Contra affair during the 1980's, Mr. Abrams said he would never work as policy maker again. State Department officials say that Mr. Abrams serves as a buffer for Ms. Rice with some neoconservatives who are critical of her policies. "The genius of Elliott Abrams is that he's Elliott Abrams," one senior administration official said. "How can he be accused of not sufficiently supporting Israel?"
    NYT

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#13)
    by Peaches on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 12:01:52 PM EST
    Johnny, There is, of course, the possibility that war with Iran begins before the house is decided.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 12:09:30 PM EST
    Q: How do you know it's an election year in post-9/11 America? A: The U.S. has invaded yet another country. "Mother, can I trust the government?" indeed.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#15)
    by jondee on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 12:10:07 PM EST
    Btw, Before someone decides to whip out "the card" again , recognizing that there's a discernible difference between Meyer Lansky and Saul Alinsky is not anti-semitism. Unless you're Eliot Abrams. But then, what other defense does he have?

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 12:11:43 PM EST
    Q: What's the definition of a terrorist state? A: Anybody but U.S. apparently. Move along, move along, nothing to see here.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#17)
    by theologicus on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 12:18:28 PM EST
    How to Talk to Your Jewish Friends About Israel by Ira Chernus "I can talk to my Jewish friends about anything -- except Israel. When that subject comes up, they just shut down."
    ... At the same time, your friends still have that ethical compass. They are bound to be disturbed by the pictures they see on television. They know that the Lebanese and Palestinians are suffering far worse than the Israelis. They don't value Jewish life more than Arab life. (If they did, they wouldn't be your friends, right?) So they are in a deep bind. They feel sure Israel is an innocent victim. Yet they can see the clear evidence that Israel bears some responsibility -- and, they're beginning to suspect, culpability -- for the violence. They know two things that seem obviously true yet can't both be true, because they contradict each other. Psychologists call that cognitive dissonance. ... ... You can point out the obvious: This summer's war has only created more rage among Israel's neighbors. It's entirely predictable that Israelis will be less secure for a long time to come. Lots of Israeli Jews are criticizing their government on this crucial point. They are certainly not "anti-Israel." You are not "anti-Israel" either, just because you criticize the Israeli government's policies. ... ... I suggest avoiding the question of Israel's moral right or wrong and sticking to the practical question of security. Focusing on the moral issue may well press the defensive buttons so hard, the conversation may end before it begins. Focusing on security improves the chances that your friends will listen to your criticisms of Israeli policy.


    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#18)
    by roxtar on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 01:17:47 PM EST
    If Natalie Holloway turns up as a hostage of Iranian students, all bets are off......

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#19)
    by squeaky on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 01:41:13 PM EST
    Hmmm....
    Ahmadinejad on CBS Evening News Thursday and 60 Minutes Sunday.
    Laura Rozen

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#20)
    by Slado on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 03:08:10 PM EST
    I can't wait to see this interview. Softball questions in a state that controls the media. Just like Rather in Baghdad. Why do journalists who scream about censoship and a closed Bush whitehouse fight at the chance to produce a media controlled story in a country like Iran? That said we'll see what Wallace has up his sleeve.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#21)
    by Dadler on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 06:31:42 PM EST
    Slado, There is NOTHING to lose with this interview. Only gain. Whatever contraints there are by Iranian censors mean nothing because we, as enlightened citizens of a free nation, should be savvy enough to realize these dictatorial constraints and take them into account. Realizing I'm bright enough to do so, I relish the opportunity to hear and see ANYTHING of the guy in our media that isn't a soundbite of propagandized emptiness. Wallace's interview with the Ayatollah back then was revelatory, IN SPITE of the contraints put on the journalist, simply because of the Ayatollah's uniquely human traits, both frightening and familiar, that no censorship could eliminate or keep from shining through. There's a truth that can't be edited out in an interview like this. And now Wallace is home and he can talk about anything he wants and will no doubt fill us all in about how the interview went in full. And, come on now, Bush hasn't fielded a genuinely hardball question in his life. The president and his people control the White House press room with as much political and intellectual tyranny as I can imagine in a free country. The ugly truth is Wallace's interview with the Iranian president will be a tougher one than Bush has faced. His glaring intellectual shortcomings have been as soft-pedaled as one can imagine them being considering he's, what, only President of the United States. Ho hum. Obviously Iran sucks poltically right now, to be crass and glib. Guess what, when comparing my own nation to MY OWN NATION, so do we.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#22)
    by jimcee on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 07:20:00 PM EST
    I would have to say that Iran is already involved with the Israel/Hezbollah war. They have supplied the terrorist group with small arms, anti-tank weapons and short and long range rockets. Israeli media has reported today that they killed Iranian Republican Guard soldiers in ground fighting the other day. Syria is the supply line that the Iranians have used for Hezbollah resupply. It would appear that Iran and Syria are already up to thier eyeballs in this and it does run the risk of a wider conflict. As far as Ms Alexandrovna's expertise is concerned? She doesn't appear to be a very serious student of the Levant.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#23)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 08:04:54 PM EST
    That said we'll see what Wallace has up his sleeve.
    Jeff Gannon? Oh, but in that case he wouldn't be up his sleeve. ;)

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#24)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 08:53:55 PM EST
    Dadler - Ah yes, the dreaded harsh Mike Wallace interview.
    What I found most shocking wasn't that Wallace found Ahmedinejad in some way charming or attractive (though I've heard he is relentlessly chided for BO) - it was his voluntary reference to Israel as the "Zionist State". That is a socialist and islamist way of referring to Israel as a creature of imperialism and it makes plain to me that Wallace sympathizes with Ahmedinejad's anti-Zionism (at the very least). His use of that phrasing is, I think, telling - akin to Richard Cohen's refernce to Israel as a "mistake." Really appalling. Of course, we know that Saddam didn't have long to last after the Rather interview, so


    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#25)
    by jondee on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 09:29:32 PM EST
    ppj - If you didnt seemingly get 90% of your info from that font of disinterested scholarship Powerline, you'd already be aware that many Israelis and pro-Israel people have been refering to Israel as a "Zionist state" for years. It's not just some terrorist, evil-doer code-word. A little less linkin' and a little more thinkin'. Please.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#26)
    by jondee on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 09:31:49 PM EST
    Lame in the extreme.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#27)
    by jondee on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 09:41:28 PM EST
    Nothing short of paving over a few hundred thousand people in Iran'll make you happy, will it Jim? Then you can die with a smile.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#28)
    by jondee on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 10:57:58 PM EST
    What'll we call Wallace's socialistic, communistic, Islamofascistic use of a term employed by hundreds of thousands of Israelis and Jewish Americans since Herzel first set pen to paper? I know! We'll call it Wallacegate..Or something. That'll put the librul MSM in it's place!

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#29)
    by Sailor on Fri Aug 11, 2006 at 07:17:56 AM EST
    uhh, ppj? This thread is about gearing up for war with iran, not wallace, and definitely not powerline, try to focus willya?

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#30)
    by jimakaPPJ on Fri Aug 11, 2006 at 08:13:06 AM EST
    Sailor - You obviously can't stand the heat, so you no longer comment, just complain. Try reading the thread, and you will discover Squeaky brought the subject up.
    Ahmadinejad on CBS Evening News Thursday and 60 Minutes Sunday.
    and Dadler expanded on it. BTW - Ahmadinejad is a rather well known Iranian who kind of runs Iran and keeps saying things like destroy Israel and the Big Satan. (That's you, just case you don't know that either.) His comments and the results of the interview will obviously have a lot to do with the topic of this thread, "Gearing Up for War With Iran?" My comment/quote/link merely demonstrates that the MSM will do almost anything to confound the defense of this country. i.e. WOT, war with Iran.. which, BTW is the subject of the thread. Now, do you have anything of substance to add? Jondee - There is a certain word, the N word that most people think should not be used by third parties. Wallace is obviously a third party and he uses a word that the Iranians consider an insult/negative description.
    it was his voluntary reference to Israel as the "Zionist State"
    Now, why did he say that? Was he toadying to the Iranians? Or does he use in the context the author says he does? Neither is acceptable use by a major US journalist. BTW - While you would do well to read Powerline, for some diverse opinions, somehow I doubt that you will. Why did he do that? A

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#31)
    by jondee on Fri Aug 11, 2006 at 08:33:44 AM EST
    ppj - Idiotic, grossly misinformed, posts like that is the reason Powerline has no credibility with me. I suggest that you take some time and see if you can find any historical references that indicate that Jews consider the use of the term "Zionist state" in any way the equivalent of "the N word" or would you prefer, after stepping in it with both feet, to just stand in it? C'mon in, the water's fine.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#32)
    by jondee on Fri Aug 11, 2006 at 08:45:30 AM EST
    "Zionist state" is about as neutral, objective, and historically accurate a description of what the state of Israel is as your going to find. And the term was invented by Jews, not "the terrorists." And Im beginning to suspect that that Powerline writers last job may have involved biting off chickens heads in a traveling carnival.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#33)
    by squeaky on Fri Aug 11, 2006 at 10:29:02 AM EST
    If the Nazi's could make Jew a bad word Powerline can make Zionist State a bad word too. Same operating principals: Fascism 101. I am not too familiar with Powerline or their reader base, but from this it sounds like they are mostly white-supremacists. Either that or they are bone-heads.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#34)
    by desertswine on Fri Aug 11, 2006 at 11:12:50 AM EST
    I am not too familiar with Powerline...
    They are in the "kill all the Mooslims" category.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#35)
    by squeaky on Fri Aug 11, 2006 at 11:22:02 AM EST
    desertwine
    They are in the "kill all the Mooslims" category.
    Those guys at Powerline sure sound like creeps to me. Only bloodthirsty maniacs would want to kill all those skinny Hindu cows peacfully roaming the streets of India. Can't we get PETA or the ASPCA to shut them down?

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#36)
    by John Mann on Fri Aug 11, 2006 at 05:38:52 PM EST
    Jim wrote:
    Now, why did he say that? Was he toadying to the Iranians? Or does he use in the context the author says he does? Neither is acceptable use by a major US journalist.
    Jim, Mike Wallace is Jewish, yet you're attacking him. Are you judophobic, Jim?

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#37)
    by jimakaPPJ on Fri Aug 11, 2006 at 07:40:24 PM EST
    John Mann - And you are Canadian...So your point is? Perhaps you missed this most revealing comment by Wallace and his feelings towards helping the US. Careful now, just as you can't understand OBL I am sure this one will cause you to squint in concentration. Squeaky writes:
    Can't we get PETA or the ASPCA to shut them down?
    How revealing. Your first reaction is to "shut them down." Ah yes, the Left's vaunted belief in freedom of speech....unless you disagree with them.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#38)
    by jimcee on Fri Aug 11, 2006 at 08:35:57 PM EST
    Despite the abject foolishness that seems to pass for intellect here why won't any one here reply to the fact that Iran is so involved with Hezbollah and has been for years? Is it because it doesn't fit the inate dumbness that afflicts the Left? There seems to be a certain 'La,La,La I'm not listening' thing going on here. Can anyone give me a reference where Ms Alexandronova's expertese has been acurate? Who is she? The Left, including TL has become a rather terrorist friendly, anti-semetic enabling site. Lieberman in Black-Face, OK; Hezbollah defense squad? Fine and dandy. After all it is all the JEEEEEWWWS fault. Just because those lovely freedom fighters, Hezbollah, hide behind women and children doesn't make them terrorists. No, not at all. That someone defends those that hide behind civilians as 'freedom fighters' is despictable but not surprising. The new anti-semitism that is so prevelant on the the Left right now is one of the most disgusting aspects of modern politics. Stalin was a Leftist anti-Semite and many of his Jewish rejects founded Israel. Now his soulmates wish the same on Israel. And they have no shame what so ever. The Left has become the refuge of Anti-Sementic cowardice and Islamic acquiesence. Welcome to Dhimmitude.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#39)
    by jondee on Fri Aug 11, 2006 at 09:41:39 PM EST
    Dhimitude. That's a Buddhist term isnt it? Congrats troll boy, you managed to squeeze every au courant wingnut talking point (some more than once) into one post. Needless to say, if you were Bugsy Siegels lawyer you would've used the anti-semitism defense; regardless of the fact that racism is an issue of little concern and organizations like The Urban League predominantly irrelevant these days. The Lieberman as minstral metaphor you, (still in lingering post-primary hissy fit mode) dont get. What did Minstrals historically do? Primarily they were people willing to degrade themselves and others in order to please ("entertain") the status quo. That was the point, whether you agree or not, that FDL was trying to make about Lieberman. Of course, if you really think she was being racist, maybe you should take it up with all those too-slow-for-jimcee black folks that all seemed to miss the obvious slur. As for your "all the Jews fault" bit, let's see a quote or two from people that post here to back that charge up. There have been quite a few here that have pointed the finger at the Likud/Bush Admin partnership, but I have yet to see anyone blame "the Jews." And, when did Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rice etc convert anyway?

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#40)
    by John Mann on Sat Aug 12, 2006 at 07:15:47 AM EST
    Jim wrote:
    Perhaps you missed this most revealing comment by Wallace and his feelings towards helping the US.
    Only you could take a snippet from a discussion which took place almost 20 years ago and try to make Mr. Wallace out to be anti-American. Look up the word "journalism" in your favorite dictionary, Jim. Maybe you'll understand the point he was making.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#41)
    by roger on Sat Aug 12, 2006 at 07:17:52 AM EST
    Jondee, "Zionist terror state"- Andreas Diatribe by LWW- Israel owns my congressman, his aide has an Israeli accent "try working with loudmouthed, uninformed, arrogant doctors (and not just the Jewish ones)" - Che And a host of others, unfortunately deleted by TL.

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#42)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Aug 12, 2006 at 08:50:43 AM EST
    Despite the abject foolishness that seems to pass for intellect here Troll alert. Roger, "try working with loudmouthed, uninformed, arrogant doctors (and not just the Jewish ones)" - Che Sorry I didn't pass your personal anti semitic smell test. That's a neocn tactic FYI. My point is that arrogant elitist wannabe's don't bother to read, they just parrot their self serving rhetoric. When you have money and (some) power behind you, I guess you don't have to be informed. My other point is that it is NOT (did you read that word this time?) related to their religion. You are usually very open minded. But when it comes to this issue, you are a steel trap. So be it. I've let your pro Israeli comments go unanswered because I'M trying to keep an open mind and respect your other views as more representative of your political viewpoints. Is 2.4 billion a year of our tax money not enough? Nobody here is backing Hezbollah, so don't expect us to back the Israelis either. People are being murdered, a country destroyed and you still point fingers. Whatever. Try this

    Re: Gearing Up for War With Iran? (none / 0) (#43)
    by roger on Sat Aug 12, 2006 at 11:48:16 AM EST
    Che, We have to disagree on something, otherwise Jim will think that we've organized. ;-)