Perhaps the attack on Iran has already begun.

[Philosoraptor]

You can't just shoot and aim, you have to set up the target, evaluate the playing field, prepare the citizens, etc. My magic 8 ball is going crazy with dire predictions.

Many here argue that it ain't gunna happen, but, all signs point to yes.

Battleships are parked and poised, papers are being signed, troops are being gathered, and mad dog idiots are planning out all of our futures.

Has it already begun and we just don't realize it yet?

[sam sarrha]

1. why the HELL doesn't the congress resend his ability invade Poland.... Ahhh Iran

[Philosoraptor]

2. Too bad we the people have no say in such matters.

I guess we'll all just sit back and watch it happen with shock and awe.

Too bad really.

[StClone]

3. The table is set...

The results may put us in to a Depression, totally despised and under attack from every quarter. We were prescient in the outcome of Iraq. They had better listen "Shock and Blunder II" is going to be one hell of a downhill ride.

[Philosoraptor]

4. Many still can't imagine it.

I wish I could stop thinking about it, I am one of those under the impression that it is inevitable, and all according to the big plan.

[StClone]

15. People need to think about it

Bush has ALWAYS made the big gamble with other peoples lives, money and future. He sees himself as needing that one big shot that'll put his name in the kleg lights of history. HOWEVER, he has almost always made the worst decisions possible. Another thing is that the NeoCon dreams are still hanging on in this WH and to them Iran is that Golden Apple. Hillary will not attack Iran, they fear, so they will have to be the real men and take out Iran. Never mind diplomacy, that's for wimps, and just like Iraq all we have to do is believe, bomb, give tax breaks to oil companies and the rich, and be patient. Oh, and bomb some more.

[blues90]

17. I wish the same thing , the being able to not think about it

But they seem to be going with their plan reguardless of the after shock effect it will have .

How much proof do we need that they care only about their own interests , look at Iraq or Katrina for examples and look at how bush waited while Israel and Lebanon were fighting and we were sending Israel bombs . Look at what they have allowed to happen to this economy . everything is falling apart and they sit back and watch and offer things are getting better when in fact they are far from better .

Everyone who is out of work or ready to or already retired are a burden that must be eliminated since they are said to contribute nothing .

I really don;t think these freaks have boundries .

[dbt]

5. Well, it's like that new old saying:

If two Viet Nams don't work, try another one.

:popcorn:

[DFW]

6. I'm one of those who can't imagine it.

Our military is pretty much extended to the max right now.

Cheney and Rummy couldn't even provide enough armor for our
people in Iraq. Now they're going to invade another country,
which happens to have twice the population, three times the
territory, and a population who will unite against us and shoot
back?

Republicans are military cowards. They like to invade places they
think will not shoot back. Grenada, Panama, and even Iraq (see
Rummy's "maybe six days, maybe six weeks, certainly not six months").
Cheney somehow managed to talk himself out of his remarkably sane
assessment of Iraq in the now-famous 1994 interview. Well, that, and
that fact that Halliburton's stock needed a boost.

But Iran? EVERYBODY knows what would happen if we did that. If we choose
only to use air strikes, they'll get every Shia activist on the planet to
organize suicide bombings anywhere there might be an American or an American
ally. If we choose a land invasion (and who's left to do it? The Delaware
National Guard?), I'm going to buy stock in whoever it is that makes body bags.

There is also the minor detail that Iran has a large and lively dissident
movement that is, while not entirely western-oriented, still very much opposed
to the hawkish stance of the arch-conservatives currently in power there. The
one way to silence that opposition would be to prove the anti-western militants
now in power to have been 100% correct to arm against the west.

I could be wrong. I know that someone whose intellect dwarfs mine (Wes Clark)
still thinks it's going to happen, but for my part, I still don't see it. There
is only one outcome of such an action: we lose. Of course, that was the situation
for Iraq as well, but we had the resources to invade Iraq. They are now out of the
equation. The Republicans should stick to unarmed tourist islands in the Caribbean.

Of course, I shouldn't say this too loudly. Next thing you know, Bush is going to
want to liberate Barbados.

[Philosoraptor]

7. All good points. I hope you're right.

[DFW]

11. Yeah, so do I!

When someone like Wes Clark tells me he thinks I'm
wrong, it doesn't exactly inspire confidence in my argument!

(He said he hoped I was right, too, he just didn't think so)

[AndyA]

12. I just don't see it happening, either.

For all the reasons you wrote, and the fact that the American people are now war frazzled. They are sick of hearing about it. Going into another country now would be political suicide for all involved. Only the ones who come out strongly against it would survive.

Of course, this does not include the Kool-Aid addicts, who will blindly follow their GOP leaders wherever they may take them.

I really hope the Dems in Congress have the guts to put a stop to any further military aggressions - including more funding for Iraq. They need to fund the orderly troop withdrawal, and that is it. That is the only incentive the Iraqi government needs to motivate it to start taking control of its country.

[Zodiak]

16. The part of your construct that may be in error is this

"If we choose
only to use air strikes, they'll get every Shia activist on the planet to
organize suicide bombings anywhere there might be an American or an American
ally. "

Who does this hurt really? Just average Americans. And it provides a wonderful pretext for martial law, further abrogation of rights, and a great excuse of postponing elections until "the crisis is over". Many have said we one terrorist attack away from martial law in the US, and I believe them.

We start to lose understanding of Bushco when we assume they have any desire to "win" in the same way that Americans see as "winning". Their motives are simply not in congruence with that of the United Staes as a nation. They want to destroy it, but still weild its power and influence, all for personal gain.

[DFW]

18. I understand where you're coming from, but see it somewhat differently

"One terrorist attack away from martial law"

That depends on how and where. If they set off a truck bomb
at the Super Bowl, it just shows that all their homeland
insecurity was ineffective, and that they are not competent
to protect us. Even their base will start to crumble, once
the initial outrage and solidarity dies down. I would more
trust them to blow up the Capitol just as impeachment proceedings
get underway, the Bushies having given Bin Laden's boys the key
to the cellar door the night before. Kiiling all the necessary birds
with one stone, so to speak.

I disagree with their wishing to destroy the United States. I would agree
that they wish to destroy all meaningful opposition in the United States.
There is a difference there. Much as they are likened to the Nazis, I have
always seen them to have taken their inspiration from the Soviets. The
Wasaw Pact never intended to invade NATO. What for? They wanted to extinguish
all political opposition to them, and hoped for a gradual political takeover
(witness e.g. East Germany's huge financing on the Western leftists even
including the Greens, most of which only came to light after the Wall fell).
They wanted the economic powerhouse that was Western Europe, but wanted it
handed to them intact on a sivler platter, not in ruins that they themselves
did not possess the means to rebuild. I see the Bushies wanting the same for
the USA. Destroy any effective opposition (Senate votes may break my bones,
but bloggers never hurt me), but keep the pie (tax revenue) for themselves,
to loot and plunder as they see fit. Cheney and Halliburton have used the
budget of the United States as their own personal cookie jar. Just because
they are moving to Dubai doesn't mean they want to smash the cookie jar. Why
bother, as long as they have exclusive access?

If average Americans start to storm the barricades (and Bobby may yet indeed see
us all there), then their façade of legitimacy crumbles. That is all that is propping them up, so I think they will leave the sham of legitimacy intact for as long as they see a buck in it.

[canetoad]

8. That works for me

All the big wars. We have an historical start date, but the workings were greasing away behind the scenes. War exists for two reasons: for men to make money; for men to rape. The moneymakers start the war, the rapists finish it.

Negotiations of War with Iran would probably have been made. Not with heads of government, but with people who have a considerable financial stakes in such a conflict.

Once upon a time, a War economy was a 'good' economy. Everyone benefited financially, from the primary producer to the labourer whose services were in demand. This equitable spread of the benefits of war has turned into extreme benefits for a decreasing number of tenderers.

I believe you are watching the death throes of the neo-cons. Burnt earth policy. I don't believe they have finished scorching the fields.

[Philosoraptor]

9. This war had a 6 month start date announcement.

I remember when we gave Saddam 6 months to surrender and told the whole world exactly when the war would start, and by God bush pulled it off!

You can't second guess these maniacs, you can try, but they're crazier than we are.

[canetoad]

10. There's a point

where most humans would pull back and have a bloody good hard look at themselves, as we ozzies like to say. Suppose the ones with the best brains/instincts have gone. Bailed out. Monkeyboy is left with the thickest, most transparent idiots advising him.

I think you are running out of time to do anything about this boy. If he declares war on Iran, and it seems he can do whatever bloody thing he likes, the timing will be around March next year. I think it's their last stand, they have nothing to lose, therefore they will try every dirty trick to wage war.

[soothsayer]

13. we've had covert types in there for months trying to foment insurgency

and spreading money around

[The Vinyl Ripper]

14. Yes, it has been ongoing for a while now..

There are US Special Forces in Iran now that are training, arming and encouraging minority groups within Iran to commit terrorist acts.

The Baluchis in particular are being recruited as a fifth column.

http://countrystudies.us/iran/39.htm