Prepare for war with Iran

[drmb]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/17/2034273.htm

Could be a prob worse than the subprime!!

"The world should brace for a possible war over the Iranian nuclear crisis but seeking a solution through talks should take priority, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner says.

"We have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war," he said in an interview broadcast on French television and radio.

"We must negotiate right to the end," with Iran, he said, but underlined that if Tehran possessed an atomic weapon, it would represent "a real danger for the whole world."

Calling the nuclear standoff "the greatest crisis" of present times, the minister said: "We will not accept that the bomb is manufactured," and hinted that military plans were on the way."

 

[numbercruncher]

$200+ oil
Mega Inflation
Housing Crash
Huge Unemployment


Better than getting Nuked by Iran though i guess some may disagree !

 

[Kathmandu]

Another Oil based search for WMD's ???????

Did someone upset Bernard Kouchner's daddy???

Dave

 

[Happy]

Another good reason for renewable / alternative energy.

 

[disarray]

the israelis will be the first to hit iran, and they aren't shy about laying some smack down when they feel the need.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2461421.ece

recently israel sent commandos into syria, targetted a bunker and called in airstrike to take out a shipment they suspected was nuclear material from north korea. israel confirmed the attack, syria gave a "no comment, examining options" and north korea jumped up and down about it.

from its inception israel has shown it is prepared to strike first against perceived threats and iran has publicly and repeatedly stated it wants to wipe israel off the face of the earth. if the israelis get evidence iran has a nuclear device they will nuke them, no question. how the west continues to tolerate iran making these statements is another example of the spinelessness of the current crop of world leaders. if america got up and said they were wanted to exterminate zimbabwe there would be international uproar.

geopolitically iran is a lynchpin for the "bad" guys. they have strategic energy reserves, are situated in a sensitive area in the gulf, are forging links with russia, china and north korea, fund fundamentalist activity throughout the middle east, are attempting to set up alternative energy exchanges (to sever oil from the $US) and have a they have youthful population.

if america goes to war with iran while still mired in iraq it will be extremely unpleasant for them. the US won't have the land troops to undertake the campaign which they will have to raise by conscription (they are already laying the groundwork for that) which could very well cause social upheaval. or it pull the country back into shape, never can tell.

in response iran has been building a good defence against US sea power with the purchase of sunburst cruise missiles so the gulf fleets are extremely vulnerable however as always american air power is undisputed.

once again the whole miserable fk up is ALL AMERICAS FAULT. they supported the corrupt shah against popular opinion which gave the mullahs their leg up in the first place, then recently as iran was slowly westernising with the influence of their youth educating and embracing the internet / mass media, america started sabre rattling which sent the iranians back to the religious right which gave us that crazy Ahmadinejad bastard.

american foreign policy pisses me off. everything they touch turns to rubbish.

 

[kitehigh]

Iran has already been fighting a proxy war against the US first in Iraq and now in Afganistan. Just like the 80's when america supported the Mujahideen in Afganistan against the Soviets. Now the Iranians have taken a leaf out of the cia manual and has been supporting the Iraqi Shias' and now now the tailban, which they were opposed to before.

Pretty much all the EFP's (explosive formed projectiles) which have been causing alot of american and coalition forces deaths can be traced back to a couple of factories in Iran. And now they have been intercepted coming into Afganistan.

My take on the situation is that the US is growing tired off the constant attacks by Iranian back insurgents and now wants to hurt Iran directly.

I think we will see the US up the anti more and more in the coming months, maybe leading to a direct strike onto Iranian military installations by early next year.

I think if this happens we could see a serious stock market crash and a flight to safety, eg gold and other precious metals.

Oh yeh I don't think wars lead to high unemployment, quite the opposite in fact.

 

[drmb]

I have visited and worked several times in Iran, and visited Teheran, Esfahen, Sari, Tabriz, etc. The ordinary people are really friendly and well educated. If the US/France etc spit the dummy, terrain would be formidable deterrent. I don’t doubt for a minute the use of crazy tactics in response, maybe dirty bombs, as well as the IED, etc.

 

[kitehigh]

Yep, I meet a number of Iranians living in Dubai. Super nice people.

As always it will be the common people who suffer from any conflict, and not the elite making the decisions. Gone are the days where the leaders would actually lead from the front. These days they hide in massive bunkers and hatch their plans from afar and as safe as possible.

 

[BradK]

What happened in Syria?

Israel keeping mum on Syrian 'attacks'

By Middle East correspondent David Hardaker


At first there was a wall of secrecy about a supposed Israeli attack on Syria 10 days ago. Now, the leaks have started and there are suggestions the air assault by Israel was in response to Syria's nuclear ambitions.

In Israel itself there is an official blackout on any information related to the attack, with the Israeli military censor banning any reporting from Israeli sources.

However the British and American press, quoting unnamed US sources, have been putting together an alarming picture.

What happened in Syria 10 days ago has been at the centre of one the biggest guessing games in Israel. Whatever it was, it was very serious.

Yossi Melman is one of Israel's most respected military correspondents. He might or might not know exactly what happened and you can forgive his hesitation because he cannot by law report it.

"I would like to believe that what happened in Syria was that serious, that immediate, that it was worth the risk of all-out war with Syria," he said.

"We [in Israel] cannot say anything which is based on Israeli sources. Nothing. We can speculate or we can base our assumptions and analysis on foreign reports."

Mr Melman says if he published anything based on Israeli sources, he could be charged.

"I would violate the censorship instructions and they can theoretically charge me with [offences] from espionage to treason," he said.

North Korea link
The story began with an official announcement from Syria's state television that Syria's air defences had fired at Israeli warplanes - an event said to have happened in the early hours of September 6.

Syria complained of Israeli aggression, but no other Arab country has come to its support. Only Russia, Iran and North Korea denounced the Israeli action.

Late last week, a week after the alleged attack in Syria, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice set the hares running.

She told Fox television that the US was concerned about the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

She said the US wanted to stop the "most dangerous people in the world" holding the "most dangerous weapons in the world".

Then at the weekend, the Washington Post reported that the Israeli strike was aimed at a shipment from North Korea and that the cargo might have included equipment and materials related to nuclear technology.

It was by any measure a huge story - but the newspaper's sources were confined to the US administration, which has long been acting to isolate Syria.

"I tend to believe that there is a connection between Syria and North Korea, which caused a great concern to the government of Israel, leading them to make a decision," Mr Melman said.

He also says that such reports which quote unnamed sources run the risk of getting the facts confused.

"There is a vacuum and room for disinformation, misinformation and partial information," he said.

But Mr Melman says he believes the sort of censorship being seen in relation to the story has been done for national security reasons.

"Yes, in this case I would say there is grounds to believe that this time the behaviour of the government is sensible."

"Because the decision was so delicate and Israel prefers that the Syrians [to] react. You see the Syria reaction - it's very confusing, probably because they know something which they don't want to reveal to the world."

Now, former US ambassador to the United Nations and close ally of the Bush administration, John Bolton, has added fuel to the fire in an interview with Israeli television.

"Both North Korea and Iran today have very strong incentives to hide their nuclear activity from the international community," he said.

"So putting it in Syria or some other country is obviously a very good way to do that.

"I think it would be unusual for Israel to conduct a military operation inside Syria other than for a very high value target."

 

[greggles]

I can't shake the feeling that the current middle-east troubles are the result of a carefully orchestrated Russian provocation that is about to backfire bigly. I think Putin convinced the Iranians to instruct Hamas and Hezbollah to inflame middle-east tensions by attacking israel on 7 October to take the world's media (and the people's) attention away from his war in Ukraine He hoped that would lead to reductions in funding and support, which in turn would give him a huge strategic and tactical advantage and tip the war in his favour just enough to enable him to achieve victory.

But now it looks like the string pullers in the USA (not the puppets in power) have convinced israel to destroy Iran's weapon making facilities that produce drones and missles being shipped to Russia and used in the war against Ukraine. Putin will then have a serious interruption to his weapons supply, and this may be the USA's checkmate move to begin the end of the war in Ukraine.

Israel is going to use the upcoming attack against Iran to damage the regime so much that it will be possible for the Iranian people to take them out. Hamas and Hezbollah would be bereft of funding following the collapse of the Iranian regime.

It might be the beer talking but that's my take on what's going on right now and what will go on in the coming months. So I'm expecting serious volatility between now and new year.