What’s Important?
On CBS you have a report on Ahmadinejad’s comments at a Muslim summit in Malaysia, Iran’s President Downplays War With U.S.
(AP) Iran’s president said Tuesday he did not see any possibility of a war between his country and the United States or Israel.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he believed Washington and Tel Aviv have been “focusing on propaganda and psychological war” against his country.
“I assure you that there won’t be any war in the future,” Ahmadinejad told a news conference during a visit to Malaysia for a summit of developing Muslim nations.
Very reasonable and non-hostile, too bad he might have some influence over parking tickets in Tehran and little else.
And then you have this CNN report of a statement from an official with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Iranian military warns U.S., Israel against attack
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have begun a military exercise and issued a warning that Israel and U.S. naval forces in the Persian Gulf would be prime targets if Iran is attacked.
The Web site of the elite Iranian force posted a statement late Monday announcing the military drill, which it said involved “missile squads,” but did not say where it was taking place. Iran’s guards and national army hold regular exercises two or three times a year, but the statement did not say whether this drill was one of them or if it was a special exercise.
Israel’s military sent warplanes over the eastern Mediterranean for a large military exercise in June that U.S. officials described as a possible rehearsal for a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which the West fears are aimed at producing atomic weapons.
The Iranian Web Site quoted guard official Ali Shirazi as saying that Israel’s coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv and U.S. warships in the Gulf would be among the first targets if Iran comes under attack.
…Shirazi is a cleric who represents supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the guards’ naval force. Khamenei has the final say over all state matters.
Shirazi is what we would have called a “political officer” in the Soviet military and he has a direct link to the one person with the power to say “fire” to the Iranian military. The Iranians are not kidding – an attack would result in an immediate counter-attack, and Israel wouldn’t get to sit on the sidelines cheering. The Iranians are openly stating that they know the link exists, and an attack by either one will result in retaliation against both.
6 comments
Heh. Yeah, I always get a kick out of morons like John McCain making a big noise about Ahmadinejad’s statements. Ahmadinejad is basically the overglorified mayor of Tehran, the Supreme Leader holds all the real power, including control over the military. Ahmadinejad couldn’t order a military strike upon a housefly. Maybe could order his police forces to arrest the housefly, but even that might get iffy if the Supreme Leader decided that the housefly needed to be free. What part of “Supreme Leader” do the tighty righties not get, I wonder? Oh I forget, it’s about theatre for the proles, not facts. “President” is the top office in the U.S. system so of course it must be the top office in the Iranian system. I mean, isn’t everywhere just like the United States, except the people kinda talk funny and dress funny? Huh?
– Badtux the Snarky Penguin
I notice how often the President of Israel gets quoted, and the President of Germany. Hell, Ahmadinejad got busted for allowing women to attend football matches during the World Cup in Tehran. Fully covered in a separate section, but that wasn’t good enough for the clerics.
The problem is that policy makers aren’t listening to the important people in the system, and that can lead to nasty surprises. Part of the problem is that the clerics don’t like talking to foreigners. Putin was one of the few outsiders who has had a meeting with the Supreme Leader.
You would think that the bush people would tone down the rhetoric since Iraq has supposedly calmed down some. Wasn’t this the reason (excuse) to attack Iran, that they were supplying arms and people to attack Americans in Iraq? Well, if the truth be known, Iran is the next domino on the neocon attack radar screen and of course if they don’t do it now… or if McCain gets into office….. America is so war weary, when are the people going to stand up against this tyrant of government in the WH?
When is Congress going to assume its role as a check on executive power? They keep funding this madness without checking on where the money is really going. The money doesn’t add up. The books don’t balance. There are too many things not being funded by the DoD, that were funded by Congress.
It’s time for someone to follow the money, and stop handing it out until there is an honest reckoning.
Iran hasn’t attacked anyone since before there was a United States, so it is not likely they will now. OTOH, they have been attacked multiple times and responded with everything they had. They conducted suicide charges during the Iran-Iraq War, so they aren’t afraid of dying for their country.
If your goal is Israel a smoking ruin, the 5th Fleet at the bottom of the Gulf, oil at $300+ per barrel, and tens of thousands of US troops dead, then attacking Iran is a good idea … for a madman.
If your goal is Israel a smoking ruin, the 5th Fleet at the bottom of the Gulf, oil at $300+ per barrel, and tens of thousands of US troops dead, then attacking Iran is a good idea … for a madman.
Yep! Given that Iran has been spending billions on advanced weapons systems from Russia and China and elsewhere, especially black market, I think they would be happy to oblige. The USA also ignores the treaties Iran has with other Nations, like Russia and China, including mutual defense treaties. Probably because the USA has been ignoring whatever treaties they like, so assume Iran’s partners will also. I also suspect that if Asia or the EU were to get involved (unlikely, but if they did) they would support Iran.
WW3 anyone? 🙂
The EU knows where its oil comes from, as does China. Pakistan and India won’t be thrilled, and Iraq has already said “No”. Iran and Turkey have a common Kurdish problem and coordinate efforts. The Saudis may not like Iran, but they are stupid enough to get involved after the disaster that Iraq has become.
Only the neocons and Likud think this is a good idea, and their stock isn’t exactly high.
Hopefully, sanity will reign, but I don’t put anything passed these fools.