Tehran not afraid of war, sanctions

[ECH1969]

Iran is unfazed by the threat of war or sanctions over its disputed nuclear programme and mounting international pressure has only hardened its resolve, a senior official said yesterday.

“They must understand that such an attitude will only persuade us more to have nuclear technology,” said top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, responding to widespread condemnation of comments by President Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad.

Iran has been bombarded with complaints after Nejad last week called for Israel to be “wiped off the map” – comments that increased concerns over the country’s bid to master nuclear fuel technology.

“There won’t be a war. They do not have the means to go to war on two fronts,” Larijani was quoted as saying by the student news agency ISNA in a reference to the continued hostilities faced by US-led forces in neighbouring Iraq.

http://www.bahraintribune.com/ArticleDetail.asp?ArticleId=86643&CategoryId=2

[Gyre]

1. But we do "have the means" to bomb the shit out of you.

And since it's only US taxpayer money that's being burned (besides the bodies of your children) this administration couldn't care less about the ability to "win a war" against you. What they're into is sabre rattling and destruction of Israel's enemies. Does the phrase "bombing them into the stoneage" mean anything to you?

Gyre

[Tempest]

2. Does the phrase "cutting off all Middle East oil supplies" mean anything?

A couple of missiles shot into oil tankers in the strait would close off all oil shipments out of the Middle East.

Say goodbye to the global economy and hello to WWIII.

[ECH1969]

3. Alternative fuels would quickly take over

if oil rocked over 150$ a barrel.

[daleo]

4. Which ones? n/t

[ECH1969]

5. I suspect different ones would take over in different areas

It would likely end up being years later that one AF source takes over the market.

[daleo]

10. I suppose that could be

I think the transition will not be easy, though. Eventually, it will have to happen.

[twaddler01]

7. still, it would hurt

that energy bill of 2005 is too slow acting....we need it to happen NOW! Of course, I know it won't happen with * around, but I can dream can't I?

[ECH1969]

8. yes it would hurt

But, in long term anything that gets the US off oil would be worth it.

[PurityOfEssence]

17. "Quickly"? It just isn't possible.

Yeah, it would wake people up and yeah, it would spur risk and creativity to find some different approaches, but it would be A HUGE DISRUPTION. Any other assumption is pure fantasy.

Rest assured that many are working in the background these days and much money is dedicated to solving this problem, but it ain't gwine happen no time soon; distribution of fuel itself is a huge impediment.

A shock like this may be what's needed, but our pathetic economy is so tenuous and skittish right now that the reverberations could be horrendous.

[hogwyld]

9. Our military machine

would be absolutely useless without the ME oil. Iran shut down the straits of Hormuz, we have no oil to speak of, so all these high tech planes, tanks, ships would be worthless. Iran has us by the short hairs because they know we can't do anything.

[Tempest]

16. Exactly right

The Pentagon released a report two years ago that said if attacked, Iran would close the strait and stop 100% of Middle East oil shipments.

The report said the U.S. military would be not be able to function for more than a couple of weeks without the shipments, leaving the U.S. venerable to counter-attacks all over the world by terrorists who don't rely on oil and gas to stage their attacks.

It also said there is nothing the U.S. can do, pre-emptively or through sabatoge to prevent Iran's missile batteries located around the strait from sinking oil tankers in the strait effectively closing it off.

[confludemocrat]

6. They have studied our weak points well and are exploiting them

The quite evident fealty to Israel, strong in both parties, dratsically limiting our political options concerning Iran. Within liberal factions, the fault line between pro-Israel "liberals" and nonpro-Israel liberals, the racist-based blindness to their grievances against US scheming and manipulation, which is never discussed in the mainstream media. And our clear, well-known but never discussed hypocrisy on nuclear proliferation (Pakistan and it's looking the other way vis a vis Kahn gets a pass).

Lastly, our being tied down by the Iraq disaster and the various criminal crises of the Bush Admin.

[The Stranger]

11. From a country that the President of the United States labelled "Evil"

in his State of the Union address.

The construction of the Arab/Muslim "Other" is so prevalent and so far-reaching in the West that trying to view it can be compared to a fish trying to view water.

[occuserpens]

12. Iranians won't wink

Neocons can turn blue, but there is nothing that can be done about Iran and N.Korea, it is as simple as that.

1. Tehran not afraid of war, sanctions: http://www.bahraintribune.com/ArticleDetail.asp?ArticleId=86643&CategoryId=2
2. JPost. Dichter: US may have to attack Iran: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1129540633411&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[Charles19]

13. US has the media to do all this saber rattling

but Iran doesn't have to do squat and they know it.

Any scenario you play out in your head leads to disaster if the US does anything. So Iran will just keep on, keeping on.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

14. The base point: Chimp has weakened our country.

We could have been in a stronger position vis-a-vis Iran without having spent a life or a dime on the Iraq folly.

[anotherdrew]

15. the explanation...

you see, he had this big map of the middle-east see, and was showing it to the students over lunch. Some humus fell on the map and he just wanted someone to wipe it off, the humus just happened to have landed on israel, coulda landed anywhere. In translation the phrase sounds funny in english... Now he just doesn't want to appear weak by explaining what really happened.

so we can all rest easy now right?

And let's all take the bahrain tribunes lead and just go with Nejad as his last name, much sorter and easily pronounceable to us non-arabic speakers.

Looks like maybe this is gonna get ugly.