It seems that everything is in place for everything to go boom,boom,doom and destruction.This election in Iran is the Iranians telling the west to eat their shorts.I heard George Bush say today that Iran having nuclear weaponds was unaceptable what does he mean by that?

The Syrians have repositioned their troops now they have left Lebonon.The Syrians and the Iranians have made a pact to help each other if the other is attacked,so does this mean that if America allows Israel to attack Iran we can expect the real starting gun to go off for the starting of third and last world war.What a depressing times we live in

Well, I wouldn't call the recent election of Ahmadinejad the installation of a "War Leader." He was the mayor of Tehran, hardly a position that springs to mind as the breeding ground for a national leader ready to lead his nation to war. His hardline status is hardly remarkable, given that he was the mayor of Tehran and as such was going to work under close observation by the Islamic Council. Any deviation from the hardline would have resulted in his removal, even in his possible imprisonment or death...

Cass- I heard George Bush say today that Iran having nuclear weaponds was unaceptable what does he mean by that?

Wax- It is quite clear what he means, and I think that you know that already.

The real question is whether wiping Iran, Syria, and Lebanon out will really cause much of an impact politically.
We may allow Israel to do it, but this would cause bigger problems than simply doing it ourselves.

The Arab nations simply do not amount to much of a threat to the west.
Don't get me wrong, they could cause shortages in fuel and be a slight military "irritation" but they will never work together enough to threaten anything in a "real" way.

The true danger with them lies in distraction.
The Soviet/Chinese block would actually be foolish not to take advantage of such a thing.

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The true danger with (Arab nations) lies in distraction.
The Soviet/Chinese block would actually be foolish not to take advantage of such a thing.

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One could make the arguement that Iraq is a distraction, and has been for years, whereas a greater show of force in Afghanistan would have by now probably secured bin Laden, made things tougher for the warlords, and showed the world that America was committed to engaging those who attacked it, not some other country which had nothing to do with 9-11.

Doing so would have strengthened, rather than weakened, our place in the world, and would have not eroded whatever popularity or support the US had among other nations.

This is all hindsight, of course, but some of us have been saying it on these boards since the beginning. I knew there was nothing Saddam Hussein could have done to prevent us invading his country. Nothing would have been good enough, or correct enough, or "honest" enough for the Bush administration.

So it's sad, sad that we've made our place in the middle east so violently, viciously and dishonestly won. It's sad that Iran elected a hard liner, a fundamentalist. It's sad that because of the horrendous squandering of time, money, and lives in Iraq the Americans have no further appetite for war.

Buy stock in arms companies and Halliburton, my friends. If we're all gonna die, we might as well die rich.

Dax- One could make the arguement that Iraq is a distraction...

Wax- Yes, I have argued this for a long time.
But a "distraction" to our enemy... not us.

I must question your assessment concerning the appetite for war.
We have been in the opening stages of WWIII since the seventies.
Our enemies appetite has held out for quite some time.

Like it or not, we are in a much better position with our troups currently in Iraq than we would be if they were all in Afghanistan.
That is why we are there.
But they will be moving rather soon.

Hello Lawmage the Iranians have elected a war leader he has come from the people to step up to the world plate i hope America is ready as it keep's saying that it is.The North Koreans say that they have unfinished business with you and i suspect some Iranians feel the same about America to.I cant believe that the good people in the west are going to allow their leaders to plunge the world into darkness.

We have been in the opening stages of WWIII since the seventies.
Our enemies appetite has held out for quite some time.

Untill i got on this site Wax i did not know this and this kind of thinking,mind set call it what you will frightens me.So reading between the lines Wax you said that the American troops are better off in Iraq than all be stuck in Afghanistan.

This next misadventure America undertakes in the middleast will be it's last why do i say that just look at the mess that is Iraq.Some of you have some nerve keep talking about war just tell me one aspect of this war in Iraq that is going well?As i am writing reports are coming in that a helicopter has crashed with 24 American soldiers on board.I have asked this before you lost the war in Vietnam what lessons did America learn that they are now applying in Iraq.

I have said before that somthing is not right at the heart of the west's thinking that want's a third world war,Why is that i wonder is it so they can bring man back to the "animal state" so they can bring in the new world order "job done so say's the devil".

Dax i know that i do not have to keep saying it but well said about dying rich.

Cass- i say that just look at the mess that is Iraq.

Wax- What "mess"?

Again people, Iraq is not a quagmire or even a failing proposition.
It could not be going any better than it is!

Soldiers fight and soldiers die, the loss of each individual soldier is a tragedy for those who loved them.
We have had thousands of personal tragedies.
But not tens of thousands, not hundreds of thousands... and certainly not millions.

If all things remained as they are the US could lose what?
Another two or three thousand troups perhaps?
Meanwhile our enemy has lost ten... twenty... thirty times that!
And like it or not the Iraqi people themselves have made true gains for the future.
Are there abuses, both physical and financial?
Absolutely, just as one would expect.
But our actions in Iraq have gone just fine so ar, and will continue so.

And let us not forget, another terrorist attack in America and no one... absolutely no one, will even consider what has happened in Iraq so far as important!

Look Aint i think that you sound like a smart American but comments like this will do you and America no good,
I have learned that 'its another Vietnam' is an empty anti war protest slogan. Its a tactict used to scare America out of its resolve to fight our enemies.

Today god is America's enemy is America going to fight god Aint?When America allows Israel to attack Iran do you think that in Eygpt and Saudia Arabia the goverments will fall i am just thinking out allound trying to follow your thinking to its logical conclusion.