Gates calls Iran 'hell bent' on getting nuclear arms

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON --Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he believes Iran is "hell bent" on acquiring nuclear weapons, but he warned in strong terms of the consequences of going to war over that.

"Another war in the Middle East is the last thing we need and, in fact, I believe it would be disastrous on a number of levels," he said in a speech he was delivering Monday evening at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

A copy of his prepared remarks was provided in advance by the Pentagon.

He said he favors keeping the military option against Iran on the table, "given the destabilizing policies of the regime and the risks inherent in a future Iranian nuclear threat - either directly or through proliferation."

Gates also said that if the war in Iraq is not finished on favorable terms the consequences could be dire.



Read more: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/politics/story/338907.html

[LakeSamish706]

1. And here we go with the saber rattling .... How long before we attack Iran? n/t

[NightWatcher]

2. and we are hell bent on starting another illegal war

I truly feel sorry for the citizens of Iran. They have no idea the levels of crazy we have here.

[gateley]

3. Whatever happened to that NIE? nt

[babylonsister]

4. I was just going to ask the same thing, the one they refuse to release? I

imagine that tells a different story. :mad:

[gateley]

7. Oh yeah -- THAT one, too!

I was thinking about the initial one that discounted this particular lie. :grr:

[Xipe Totec]

5. 'hell bent' on getting weapons like ours... nt

[libodem]

9. exactly

we are supposed to be the only one who gets to have a giant nuclear arsenal, oh, and India and Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and Turkey and Israel and....

[Eagle_Eye]

12. Iran is so 'hell bent' that bush just might need to fly more W80 warheads from Minot to Barksdale

If Iran is behind schedule on producing their own nukes, the NeoCons will gladly supply them with a few for the correct sum of money.

[rcsl1998]

6. Bushco 'Hell Bent' On Starting A War With Iran...

I have no love-loss for Iran's leaders, but this is insane!

[Raine1967]

14. Bushco proving NCLB works...

They do not know how to read NIE's.

This is insane.

[Wizard777]

8. If only Bush hadn't destroyed the nuclear doctrine of preemption.

But even if he hadn't. They are no where near a point where that would apply. Which is basically preparing to launch.

[ckramer]

10. "hell bent"

What a familiar phrase on the eve the Iraq invasion, like in 'Bush "hell bent" on invading Iraq'.

[defendandprotect]

11. This is the Gates who helped pull off the "October Surprise" ... .... still around ...

still stealing elections?

Still playing filthy tricks?

[EFerrari]

16. He was also a fixer after Iran Contra.

If he turns out to be the sane guy -- like Ashcroft did -- well, it's enough to give you gray hair.

Eight months and counting.

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. Heck of a job, Gates

Wonder who Bush will replace him with?

[guyanakoolaid]

15. In other Gates news, a unicorn was spotted galloping across the Syrian border today

:eyes:

Iran has no nukes, no capability to make nukes, no plans to make nukes, according to the UN. On the other hand, the people who brought you the Iraq War and its pack of lies then and now are saying....

[LynnTheDem]

17. "We know where they are"..."There is no doubt"..."Six days, six weeks...I doubt 6 months"

Yes, the gop are always so dead right.

[ronnie624]

18. Bizarro World.

He said he favors keeping the military option against Iran on the table, "given the destabilizing policies of the regime and the risks inherent in a future Iranian nuclear threat - either directly or through proliferation."

As if the full scale invasion of Iraq isn't what has destabilized the region.

And this gibberish:

But he added that the U.S. experience with Afghanistan - helping the Afghans oust Russian invaders in the 1980s only to abandon the country and see it become a haven for Osama bin Laden's terrorist network - makes it clear to him that a similar approach in Iraq would have similar results.

According to Zbigniew Brzezinski, one of the original architects of the current state of chaos in Afghanistan, the purpose of covert intervention in that country, was to increase the probability of a Soviet invasion, and "al Qaeda" was not considered a terrorist organization (not by the U.S. anyway).

[CanonRay]

19. Wait a minute, isn't this what they said about Saddam?

Deja vu all over again.