Supposedly, Israel is our best friend in that region. So why aren’t they helping us?

Wake up America! Declare independence from ISrael! Ameriuc is for Americans!

you may read this illuminating article that proves it
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=6142

Regarding the LUKOIL contract, I never knew that leftists who are supposedly in favor of human rights actually support the validity of the relationship between international corporations and fascist dictatorships, particularly the one involving LUKOIL, which payed out kickbacks to Saddam Hussein during the the oil-for-food scandal, and gave oil vouchers to corrupt Russian politicians such as Vladimir Zhirinovskii so they could peddle pro-Saddam resolutions at the UN security council.

You think the Kurds or Shiite Arabs who live in that oil-rich territory think so highly of corrupt Russian oil corporations who helped Saddam maintain his wealth and power in the region? Why should a Saddam Hussein-era contract, one that was bought at the expense of the sufferring of the Iraqi people during the oil-for-food scam, remain valid today?

Now the Democratically elected government of Iraq appoints leaders of the public oil ministry, and recently drafted a revenue-distribution bill that looks more socialist than Venezuela’s. You like Saddam’s methods better? What gives?

If Halliburton had a saddam-era contract that was redacted by the public oil-ministry of the democratic republic of Iraq, you would be singing a different tune.

If an armed wing of the Iranian government is supplying thousands of weapons and terrorists to Iraqi militias, then it is the duty of the Iranian government to know about it and reign it in. And you would rather actually believe Ahmadinajad simply on his word when he says “I had nothing to do with this” and not Bush when he says “I honestly believed Saddam possessed stocks of WMD between 1998 and 2003″

Besides, when Pace says, ““That does not translate that the Iranian government per se, for sure, is directly involved in doing this. I don’t here any repudiation against other military officials who say the highest levels of the Iranian government were involved – officials who were sourced in those same articles you cited.

They certainly knew about it last year when the story broke, but they still are doing nothing, so its like a Taliban/Al-qaeda thing at this point (That is of course, if you are of the opinion that the Iranian government is not in charge of its own government)

http://voanews.com/english/archive/2007-02/2007-02-12-voa20.cfm?CFID=231053756&CFTOKEN=71302241

I can go on, but I have already supplied more evidence than you have.

My views are based on past history, as opposed to your own, which seem to be based on more blind loyalty. I will take a look at your clip, as I am interested in all points of view, but I must admit that I find Carlson to be a bit of a boob.

And I do not act like Iran’s actions are completely irrelevant. Do you even read what anyone posts? Take a breath. Sit down. And listen (or in this case, read) what others are saying instead of reading OVER what everyone is saying and injecting your perceptions.

However, I do think that Israel can take care of itself in this matter–and if they need the assistance of the US, I think they they the phone number in the rolodex.

At the moment, though, Israel is treading carefully, unlike certain war drumb beating neocons.

(and btw, it’s still about oil–I note you don’t seem to want to address that)

Regarding the LUKOIL contract, I never knew that leftists who are supposedly in favor of human rights actually support the validity of the relationship between international corporations and fascist dictatorships, particularly the one involving LUKOIL, which payed out kickbacks to Saddam Hussein during the the oil-for-food scandal, and payed out vouchers to corrupt Russian politicians they could peddle pro-Saddam resolutions at the UN security council.

You think the Kurds or Shiite Arabs who live in that oil-rich territory think so highly of corrupt Russian oil corporations who helped Saddam maintain his wealth and power in the region? Why should a Saddam Hussein-era contract, one that was bought at the expense of the sufferring of the Iraqi people during the oil-for-food scam, remain valid today?

Now the Democratically elected government of Iraq appoints leaders of the public oil ministry, and recently drafted a revenue-distribution bill that looks more socialist than Venezuela’s. You like Saddam’s methods better? What gives?

Liberal activist and author Sam Harris describes the phenomenon in this brief clip from the Tucker Carlson show. Its fascinating, you should take the 5 minutes to watch it.

The Joint Chiefs has never denied or even doubted that shape-charges and anti-tank weapons have come from Iran, and that the Quds force is supplying militias with them. Where are you getting your information from?

I already agreed with you that a nuclear Iran is unacceptable. I will even agree that Iran supports terrorist organizations.

However, your claim that Iran is actively engaged in Iraq is unsupported and unproven. Or do you have more insight then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff?

If one were to follow you argument for attacking Iran, we ought to be attacking Saudi Arabia as well (even moreso, since a far greater number of Saudi supplied equipment and Saudi “insurgents” have been captured in Iran.

No matter how much you wish it to be true, there is simply not enough evidence to support the claim.

BTW, of all “reasons” for the Iraq war, the one with the greatest body of evidence supporting it actually is “oil”, or did you miss the LUKOIL contract cancellation the other day (yet one more piece to the puzzle).

The Neocons want a confrontation with Iran; is this really just a smokescreen to get it

I think the Neocons actually want Iran to stop building nuclear weapons, stop threatening Israel, and stop supporting global terrorist organizations. I’m pretty sure the Neocons would stop considerring military actions if all those things occurred. (oops, I forgot, its all about oil)

in the meantime, The president of Iran, as well as the ayatollas have explicitly expressed their desire to destroy the zionist state of Israel. I’m also pretty sure that this would require some sort of confrontation. (oops I forgot again, that persians are exotic third-world peoples of color and therefore can only react to stimuli like insects and can never actually have a ‘desire for confrontation’ themselves )

Claims that Iran is sending in weapons and terrorists are made from the right as if it is an undeniable fact, but who is making that claim?

The Soldiers and Marines who are being killed by them, that’s who. The difference between WMDs in Iraq is that we actually have in our possession the arms manufactured in Iran, and our military has captured Iranian ‘Quds-force’ operatives wielding them. Take it up with the troops themselves (whom you supposedly ’support’) if you don’t believe them.

Is the Iran “nuclear weapons” program simply another pretext for war?

Since it is a fundamental, self-evident, indisputable postulate that all geopolitical conflicts in the world can only be instigated by powerful white people or jews; that poor, dark-skinned people from third world countries are not capable of having political aspirations of thier own, including religious fanaticism or imperial ambition; and that all conflicts in the world will be assuaged once a U.N.-mediated wealth redistribution program closes the gap between rich and poor – perhaps you are right.

A nuclear armed Iran could never happen, nor if it did, would it be dangerous, nor if they achieved what they say they are planning to do (i.e. ‘wipe Israel off the map’) would it be unwarranted – it would still be the ‘neocon’s’ fault somehow.

I think most people would agree a nuclear Iran is a bad thing–one need look to farther than Pakistan. It is simply not a good idea to have nuclear weapons in an unstable Middle East.

The real question, is today’s nuclear program yesterday’s WMD? Claims that Iran is sending in weapons and terrorists are made from the right as if it is an undeniable fact, but who is making that claim? The same people who said Iraq had WMD, that’s who.

Even Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, admits that all that can be proved from the seized evidence and arrests of a handful of Iranians in Iraq (there have been far more Saudi’s arrested than Iranians) is things made in Iran are being used in Iraq to kill coalition soldiers.

And now we are supposed to believe that Iran is involved in developing a nuclear weapons program? On whose say so?

Maybe it’s time we stop ignoring the elephant in the room and asking the real question: Is the Iran “nuclear weapons” program simply another pretext for war?

Who gets bashed if a nuke takes out London?

Perhaps we should instead be discussing what to do about the after-effects once this inevitable event occurs.

….When America behaves radically it makes it impossible to punish others for do the same…

That is not exactly accurate. One can certainly argue that the US has lost any moral high ground, the lack of high ground and past indiscretions should have no bearing on what can or should be done.

The problem here is that this group has lost so much credibility through ineptitude or maliciousness that it cannot muster the support it needs to do anything.

When Jimmy says we can’t event respond in order to deter Iran from killing our troops in Iraq now when nobody denies that Iran is sending in weapons and terrorists, there are a lot of people right now who do deny it. Consider the source–the same people who have claimed weapons of mass destruction, ties between Sadam and 911, leaked Valerie Plame’s identity, etc…..

But, a nuclear Iran is simply unacceptable, and I cannot believe I am going to say this, but Jimmy is absolutely correct–a surgical strike on nuclear research facilities could set their program back decades, and yes, have even less of an impact on greater Iranian society than crippling economic sanctions–sanctions that harm the masses more than those in power–that ultimately results in more candidates for terrorist ideology.

Don’t like this crowd? Me neither. But we cannot allow past mistakes to deter us from following a course of action. I simply don’t trust the information they are now peddling or for them to make the correct decision.

I guess it depends how many new terrorists the CIA etc., want to create. No doubt they’ve got actual figures on it and mugshots of potential candidates in order to keep the “War On Terror” going to maintain their jobs and the US military budget for the next few years.

Oh and as for Jeremy’s comment, ‘The f’king world is falling apart under Bush leadership.’ BUSH IS NOT THE LEADER OF THE WORLD, just the USA. We didn’t all vote for this f’king idiot. Believe me, the rest of the World outside the USA is more worried about what Bush and his puppeteers will do than any Ayatollah et al.

Lol, okay Jimmy. If nothing you’re humorous.

The Japanese used kamikaze fighter pilots to great effect in WWII, but a combination of American military might and a genuine effort to rebuild their country after the war helped make them our allies. The Soviet Union and communism collapsed not so much of anything we did but because those structures resulted in severe decay of the countries which accepted them. Our military actions in Korea and Vietnam didn’t prevent those countries from becoming communist, but our dedication to aiding opponents of communist regimes via non-military means did more than anything to help defeat that ideology. Moving away from the vestiges of post-WWII socialism which we embraced, like price controls and labor unions also helped to create a freer market in the US and thus help spread the wealth across the globe, spurring other countries to move away from centrally-planned economies.

Now, China, Iran, etc., all cling to forms of governance which restrict the rights of their citizens and force them to adhere to a set of rigid principles which hold no possibility of liberty. The extremists must be suffocated, not bombed out of existence. The way to suffocate something is by cutting off its air supply. Our policy of using military force to destroy countries/regions where terrorists are believed to be only serves to provide propaganda for these groups and exacerbate the problem. There needs to be a better understanding of the fundamental issue here, and a combination of Mr. Podhoretz’s and Mr. Zakaria’s positions would best serve to at least begin to solve the problem.

Jimmy, I’ve already addressed your so-called “arguments” before, several times. Yes there are radical leaders in Iran and their is a radical leader in America. When America behaves radically it makes it impossible to punish others for do the same. We’ve invaded a sovereign country, has Iran invaded a sovereign county? No, it hasn’t. When Bush decides to stop playing Hitler perhaps America will have the moral authority to challenge the radical rhetoric
and actions of Iran, until then all Iran has to do is say: But look at you, look at what you are doing.