Chamblee54

There is a lot of talk about Iran and the nuclear bomb. As with most political discussions, it is best to not believe everything you hear. People have motives for what they are telling you, and they are not always honorable. The Repub candidates for POTUS put on a show last night, and a Persian nuke was one topic of conversation.
BLITZER: The argument, Speaker Gingrich — and I know you’ve studied this, and I want you to weigh in — on the sanctioning of the Iranian Central Bank, because if you do that, for all practical purposes, it cuts off Iranian oil exports, 4 million barrels a day. The Europeans get a lot of that oil. They think their economy, if the price of gasoline skyrocketed, which it would, would be disastrous. That’s why the pressure is on the U.S. to not impose those sanctions. What say you?
GINGRICH: Well, I say you — the question you just asked is perfect, because the fact is we ought to have a massive all-sources energy program in the United States designed to, once again, create a surplus of energy here, so we could say to the Europeans pretty cheerfully, that all the various sources of oil we have in the United States, we could literally replace the Iranian oil. Now that’s how we won World War II. …
BACHMANN: But I want to go back to something. That’s the fact why is it that we’re talking about Israel having to make a strike against Iran? It’s because Iran has announced they plan to strike Israel. They’ve stated, as recently as August just before President Ahmadinejad came to — to the U.N. General Assembly. He said that he wanted to eradicate Israel from the face of the earth. He has said that if he has a nuclear weapon he will use it to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. He will use it against the United States of America. This isn’t just an idle threat. This is a reality. And that’s why President Obama has — has failed the American people because for two and a half years he gave the Iran the luxury of time. He met with them with no preconditions. It’s the doctrine of appeasement.
If you want to hear people tell you that an Iranian nuclear bomb is imminent, and that a bloody war is needed to stop them, you can go anywhere and find people to tell you that. There are lots of people who say that. There are also many people who disagree. The other day on Democracy Now, Seymour Hersh blasted a recent report that says Iran is working on a bomb. He says there is little new information in this report. “It’s not a scientific study, Amy. It’s a political document. And it’s a political document in which he’s playing our game.”
Apparently, Iran is under intense surveillance these days. According to Hersh, there is little concrete evidence that a bomb is being produced. It is ironic that this attention is focused on Iran today. In the seventies, when Iran had close ties with America, the country was swarming with CIA agents. They were there to spy on the Soviet Union, and ignored the internal affairs of Iran. When the revolution came, and the Shah was kicked out, the USA was allegedly taken by surprise.
The revolution, and the hostage crisis that came later, is a key to understanding the American attitude about an Iranian bomb. We have never gotten adequate revenge for the humiliation of the hostage crisis. Sponsoring Iraq in a bloody war against Iran wasn’t enough. There are elements in our country which have a grudge against Iran, and the Islamic government there. An invasion, and a few million dead Muslims, is what many people want. (One irony of the propaganda is talk of concern about the human rights of the Iranian people. Yes, the current regime treats it’s people badly. However, an invasion of Iran would kill thousands, perhaps millions, of these same people.)
Iran knows that it has enemies. It is in a bad neighborhood. It shares a border with Pakistan, an unstable country with a nuclear bomb. It shares a border with Iraq, which invaded it thirty one years ago, and killed several hundred thousand people. It shares a border with Afghanistan, the source of the world’s heroin, and a bloody war to control the heroin trade. It shares a border with three former Soviet republics, who might have nuclear weapons. It shares a border with former imperial power Turkey. Iran has territories that would be included in a future Kurdistan and Baluchistan. It is a few hundred miles from theological rival Saudi Arabia. It is a short jet ride away from nuclear armed Israel, which cannot say enough bad things about Iran. It is totally understandable that Iran would want to have a nuclear weapon to defend herself.
Israel is one of the leading cheerleaders for a war with Iran. It claims that a nuclear armed Iran is an “existential threat”. During the Iran-Iraq war, there were some shady arms deals going on with the Iranian government. Israel was the middleman on these deals. Perhaps, when there is money to be made, you help your mortal enemy buy weapons.
Israel has a nuclear bomb. It also does not get along with it’s neighbors. The West Bank, and Gaza, are hell holes today. When Israel is screaming about Iran, she can ignore the Palestinians.
Many people recognize the foolishness of an attack on Iran. Some say that cooler heads will prevail, and World War III will be started over some other issue. Others disagree, and want to turn Tehran into a parking lot.