The US is gearing up for an attack on Iran [w/update] | 58 comments (58 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

We try to hide our defeat by enlarging (none / 0)

the war. We cannot be seen as having lost a war. We cannot be seen to be failures. The only option is to increase the size of the war and declare it will take at least a genearation to win. These are dangerous times and it seems nobody can stop the escalation.

by observer393 on Sat Jan 13th, 2007 at 12:14:38 AM EST

Re: We try to hide our defeat by enlarging (none / 1)

Congressional Democrats do have the power to stop the escalation. They have the power of the purse. Senator Kennedy has introduced a bill which would require Congressional approval for escalation. The Dems could attach such a condition to a new bill funding the war. Bush could veto it and the Dems wouldn't have enough votes to override, but then the ball would be in his court, since his veto will have cut off all funding for the war. In this game, the majority party in Congress always wins, if it has the will.

There is no doubt that, as William Lind, one of the people I quoted, put it, "Headed toward the cliff, [Bush's] course correction is to stomp on the gas." The only thing I wonder (and worry) about now when it comes to America's military adventurism is whether the Democrats are going to have the integrity and sense of patriotism to take the wheel away from him. I am not optimistic. I am also not optimistic about whether a popular movement, with mass demonstrations, could stop further catastrophe in time.

I think the main uncertainty is whether the corporate media is going to continue to coddle Bush. As soon as the media started reporting the actions of the Bush administration accurately and truthfully, it would be over.

A bomb, H bomb, Minuteman / The names get more attractive / The decisions are made by NATO / The press call it British opinion -- The Three Johns

by Alexander on Sat Jan 13th, 2007 at 01:04:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]

This I agree with! (none / 0)

After a couple years of worrying myself sick about a U.S. attack on Iran -- something I truly believe would result in WWIII -- or worse -- I now agree with MarekNYC that it's just more of Bush crying Wolf! In fact, when my tinfoil hat is sitting on my head just right, I even wonder if the whole Iran "Crisis" is just a wily Neocon ruse. By keeping us on alert, so to speak, against a major new war against Iran, we're too distracted to commit the tremendous resources we'll need to stop them from dumping more money -- and bodies -- onto Iraqi, not Iranian, soil.

Let's hope that Americans have finally wised up and that they'll continue to support the Democrats who are beginning to stand up to BushCo and his depraved cohorts.

by Matt in NYC on Sat Jan 13th, 2007 at 03:03:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: This I agree with! (none / 0)

I think that what MarekNYC was suggesting was that people like me are crying wolf about BushCo attacking Iran, not that Bush himself crying wolf (about Iraq, Iran, ...)

I do believe that the Bushies and/or Israel do intend to attack Iran. Here, like Bush, I am following my "gut". There are two principal events that provide a basis for my gut feelings. First, BushCo is following exactly the same pattern for a buildup to war against Iran that it followed in the case of Iraq. (Concern about the threat of WMDs and abetting terrorism, setting up of a "special office" to manufacture propaganda, moving forces into place while claiming that they still have hopes for a diplomatic solution, etc.) Second, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon last summer showed that Bush will allow Israel to do anything.

We alreay know that Bush is a criminal of world-historical proportions. He is in power as ruler of the most powerful country in the world because his handlers stole two elections, and despite having not the least legitimacy as president, he rules as if he has a decisive mandate. And then he lies the country into the most ill-advised, not to mention illegal, war it has ever started. And still he wants to pursue it, despite everyone, except for the neocons, telling him that he should face reality.

I see a pattern here. And what fits into that pattern is launching an attack on Iran, not holding back from it.

A bomb, H bomb, Minuteman / The names get more attractive / The decisions are made by NATO / The press call it British opinion -- The Three Johns

by Alexander on Sat Jan 13th, 2007 at 04:06:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]

But you're forgetting one thing (none / 0)

Both Bush and Olmert are the most incompetent leaders their respective countries have ever had. Someone -- Keith Olberman -- recently cited the old joke about the drunk who keeps picking fights in the bar, gets laid out flat and then calls out, from the floor, "Bring the next one on!" That's the way I see this desperate duo. I agree that they would like nothing more than to nuke Iran, but neither of them has the credibility anymore to get their way. The people they're surrounded by may be corrupt and evil, but they're not complete cretins.

(At least this is what I keep telling myself on sleepless nights at 4:56 in the morning!)

by Matt in NYC on Sat Jan 13th, 2007 at 04:56:44 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: But you're forgetting one thing (none / 0)

Maybe you are right. (And I did not expect to up this late into the morning!) Keith Olberman is my one regret for having gotten off cable.

What keeps me from being reassured by your line of thought is 1) Israel does feel itself to be under existential threat and 2) the current US government is captured by Israel, that is to say, the neocons, who see Israel's and America's interests as identical, have Bush's ear more than anyone else.

I agree that neither Bush nor Olmert has any more credibility, but I disagree that that will keep them from getting their way. Bush has no credibility, but our Congressional Democrats are only willing to submit non-binding resolutions, as opposed to not making funds available for escalation, which is completely within their power. That makes me think that the Dems do not have the resolve to keep Bush from getting his way, that is, the resolve to serve the interests of our country as opposed to their campaign contributors.

A bomb, H bomb, Minuteman / The names get more attractive / The decisions are made by NATO / The press call it British opinion -- The Three Johns

by Alexander on Sat Jan 13th, 2007 at 05:32:52 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: This I agree with! (none / 0)

I think Washington understands that if we attack Iran, China can cause problems.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Sat Jan 13th, 2007 at 04:41:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]

The US is gearing up for an attack on Iran [w/update] | 58 comments (58 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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