What Happens: The Sequel!

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  • James Bremner,

    More on Iran

    Now here is an interesting article on Iran. Can't vouch for its accuracy, but some of the suporting evidence (levels of youth unemployment and drug addiction) are well known.

    http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HK21Ak01.html

    NOLA • Since Nov 2006 • 353 posts Report

  • Simon Grigg,

    Now this is getting silly. Asia Times is an odd site...with the odd good piece it also flails wildly both left and right and this thing by the anonymous "Spengler" is bizarre flailing non journalism of the worst kind..bereft of any facts it makes statements like "The French sold their women to the German occupiers in 1940, and the Germans and Japanese sold their women to the Americans after World War II."

    What? No some women sold themselves as prostitutes, it was not state policy.

    and then we have "A corollary to this universal law states that the battered Iranian whore is the alter ego of the swaggering Iranian jihadi"...for gods sake, no reasonable person should keep on reading, but I did...and it's a litany of half baked convoluted twaddle that should never have seen the light of day. The Iranian birth rate is the regarded as a
    huge success story for gods sake.

    Who is this idiot and how did he get published?

    As I said James, this is getting really silly, in your attempts to paint Iran as a nation in collapse, against all available reputable evidence, this half baked piece does you no favours at all

    I get the feeling this conversation has ground to its inevitable end.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report

  • James Bremner,

    If there was any serious doubt as to the kind of regimes and organizations Syria, Iran and Hezbollah are, that doubt should have been removed yesterday in Beirut.

    Lovely people. So much for democracy and the will of the people, Iran and Syria want to effectively take over the Lebanese Govt and make it a puppet, and they will do so by assassination.

    Anybody who thinks those regimes are anything other than vicious thugs is a serious deluded person. And quite possibly soon to be vicious thugs with nukes.

    Anyone who thinks they can be talked to and persuaded to become a positive influence in the region is a naive fool.

    The only effective communication that could be had with those regimes is in the context of holding a metaphorical gun to their heads. Iran and Syria see the US as having backed off into a waiting game in Iraq and the US Administration as weakened at home, so they believe that they can pursue their agendas, free of any risk of retaliation. Unfortunately, they are probably correct.

    Until the day the regimes of Syria and Iran are either changed or have their behavior changed, we will see plenty more of what we saw yesterday. No amount of wishful thinking will change that.

    NOLA • Since Nov 2006 • 353 posts Report

  • James Bremner,

    More on what Iran and Syria and their puppet Hezbollah are up to in Lebanon:

    Hizbullah on the move after Gemayel assassination

    http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/06/front2454061.982638889.html


    Anyone who thinks the BBC is not biased had better open their eyes, even the BBC themselves have enough self awareness to know that they are biased!!:

    BBC admits anti-American bias

    http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/06/front2454060.1166666667.html


    An article on some coordinated internal resistence to the Iranian regime (about bloody time too!!)

    Opposition takes aim at strategic Iran sites in coordination with U.S.

    Iran's opposition has been directed to strike oil facilities that finance the Teheran regime. Arab intelligence sources said Britain and the United States have been training Arab and Kurdish operatives to attack oil facilities in Iran in an attempt to destabilize the regime.
    On Nov. 10, a bomb exploded in Ahwaz, the most active oil production center in Iran's Khuzestan. While no one was injured the attack was seen as a warning to Teheran that Iran's opposition was going for the jugular.

    The attack's timing might not have been a coincidence. Gulf Cooperation Council countries have been on alert for an Iranian strike on oil facilities. About 10 days ago, a Kuwaiti refinery exploded and was knocked out of commission.

    Opposition sources said Western forces in Iraq train and finance the operatives. From there, the operatives enter Iran and train others to conduct attacks.

    Ahwaz has been a prime target of the Western-backed opposition as it is in the heart of Iran and contains huge reserves.

    Over the past year, Khuzestan has been rocked by Arab attacks on the Shi'ite regime in Iran. On Nov. 9, 10 people were sentenced to death for detonating bombs that killed more than 20 people in the province in 2005.

    NOLA • Since Nov 2006 • 353 posts Report

  • Simon Grigg,

    James,
    you are ranting now. You've produced loony link after loony link. And now the world tribune...not the most reliable balanced source ..and yet after all those we are told the BBC is garbage. Oh dear, I discussed, tried to take you seriously but I can't anymore.

    As I said, this discussion has ground to a halt.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report

  • James Bremner,

    Simon,

    Re: Lebanon

    Here is a link to an article in The UK Times which says basically the same thing as the World Tribune article. You could find many such articles, as what both articles say is basically the consensus view as to what has happened in Lebanon.

    NOLA • Since Nov 2006 • 353 posts Report

  • Simon Grigg,

    James,
    I wasn't disputing the contents of the WT story on Lebanon, rather the site itself (witness the "Daily Express" and "Daily Mail" sources for the hilarious BBC story..what's next, The National Enquirer??) but my comments on the ranting applied to what you surrounded these with. "While no one was injured the attack was seen as a warning to Teheran that Iran's opposition was going for the jugular"...and they will greet you with flowers as the 82nd rolls in...god we've lived through these half baked fantasies before and look what happened.

    The The BBC has had its problems over the years but it's credibility as a news organistaion dwarfs most of the other major names on the planet. I know that its pro-rigor on the hard US right to dismiss it as "anti-American", but its not a credible accusation really when stacked against the likes of Fox or even CNN.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report

  • James Bremner,

    A couple of links on subjects previously discussed on this thread.

    Those cheap, nasty Americans.

    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/11/are_americans_cheap.html

    According to the article, Americans gave $260billion to charity last year, $900 per household, 7 times what Germans give and 14 times what Italians give, so much for the "Cheap Americans" line.
    Follow the link to the book "Who Really Cares", you will find all sorts of stuff like:
    A religious person is 57% more likely than a secularist to help a homeless person
    Conservative households in America donate 30% more money to charity each year than liberal households.
    Those cheap nasty secular lefties!!

    Dems non-withdrawal from Iraq, Michael Moore gets boxers in bundle

    http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=202

    "We aren't kidding around, Democrats, and if you don't believe us, just go ahead and continue this war another month. We will fight you harder than we did the Republicans."

    If I was an anti war leftie, I would feel the same way. But this fight was always going to happen as about half the Dem base has always wanted out of Iraq ASAP and the other half wants something different from what there is now, but not cut and run. This is why Kerry couldn't enunciate a coherent Iraq policy in 2004, because as soon as he did, he would have pissed off half his base.

    From a purely political point of view, the Dems would be mad try to preempt the Administration and cut off funding of Iraq as if they do, then they own the policy and the result. A precipitous US withdrawal from Iraq guarantees a bloodbath that will make the current level of violence seem mild by comparison, and then in 2008 the Repubs can lay the bloodbath on the Dems. The Dems are much better to leave the whole thing as Bush's problem and lay it on the Repubs in 2008.

    A serious Dem catfight on Iraq, it should make for a great fight and a great spectator sport for most of the next 2 years. Also if the Dems don't push for an immediate withdrawal, it guarantees a challenger for Hillary from the left, which will be great sport too. My personal hope is that Gore runs as the Clintons and Gores truly despise each other, watching them claw at each other in the primary will be too funny!!

    This is all rather cynical when so many people’s lives are at stake, but there you have it, that is politics.

    NOLA • Since Nov 2006 • 353 posts Report

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