The Stupid Grows
“No one could have imagined” the Secretary of State stepping into the middle of this mess: U.S. vows to defend against Iran missile threat
(CNN) — U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice — responding to Iran’s latest test-firings of missiles — has made it clear Thursday her country is determined to prevent Tehran from threatening the interests of itself and allies like Israel.
Rice was speaking at a news conference in the Georgian capital of Tblisi after Iran test-fired a long-range missile. According to Iranian state media, Iran conducted more test-firings Thursday.
Rice said the United States has been working with allies to “make certain that they are capable of defending themselves” against any threat from Iran.
“We take very strongly our obligation to help our allies defend themselves and no one should be confused about that,” she said.
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The Iranian news agency Fars said the launches, near the Persian Gulf, were a continuation of Wednesday’s maneuvers and that the missiles hit their targets successfully.
Iran’s Press TV said a “Hoot” torpedo was among those tested. “The maneuvers have also included IRGC scuba divers and marines who conducted practice assaults with speedboats on hypothetical enemy targets,” the station added.
Two years ago a report by Jane’s Information Group, which provides information on defense issues, described the “Hoot” or Whale as a sonar-evading underwater missile that Iran had said was “one of the fastest in the world” and “able to outpace warships.”
Yo, Madame Secretary, you and whose army, because the US military has been stretched so thin by your boss, that it can’t deal with its current problems?
The BBC reports that Israel is climbing on the “tough talk” bandwagon: Israel ‘ready to act’ over Iran
Israel’s defence minister has warned of his country’s readiness to act against Iran if it feels threatened.
Ehud Barak, speaking in Tel Aviv, said Israel had “proved in the past that it won’t hesitate to act when its vital security interests are at stake”.
He spoke as Iran’s testing of missiles that could reach Israel stoked tensions between the two, and with the US.
But Mr Barak added that diplomatic solutions should be pursued before other options were taken up.
I assume that Mr. Barak is going to react with the same Israeli Defense Force that didn’t seem to be able to deal with Hezbollah. If Israel starts something we will all find out how closely allied with Iran both Hamas and Hezbollah are.
Meanwhile you have things like this: Putin, Ahmadinejad discuss nuclear plant progress: PM’s office
MOSCOW (AFP) — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday discussed progress on a nuclear power plant Russia is building in Iran, a statement from Putin’s office said.
“Both sides underlined the need for timely construction of the atomic power station at Bushehr,” the statement said.
They also discussed cooperation in the transport and arms sectors, the statement said.
Russia says it is close to completing the decades-long project to build Iran’s first nuclear power station at Bushehr, for which Moscow has already shipped nuclear fuel to the Islamic republic.
Apparently the Hedgemony has lost some of the pieces to its copy of “The Great Game” and forgot who all the players are.
13 comments
I personally think the Iranian actions are the smart thing for them to do in the current situation. Bush, Rice and Barak are rattling their swords in some kind of delusional space where Iran is some kind of push over wimp that needs to be spanked. I think the with the current state of readiness in at least the U.S. force that some aggression against Iran will trigger a fight we aren’t prepared to deal with. The same probably applies to Israel when their recent performance on the battlefield is taken into consideration.
The Iranians are flashing the warning colors and we should pay close attention.
Diplomacy(n): The practice of making meaningless and futile threats against other sovereign nations, especially threats of a military nature.
Secretary of State(n): An employee of the Department of Defense charged with making meaningless and futile threats against other sovereign nations.
— The Republican Dictionary
Laura Rozen caught an article saying that most of Israel’s security staff is on its way to Washington to plead the case for an attack. I think they should be holding town hall meetings in Tel Aviv to explain why they are going to be sacrificed to this stupidity.
From Cinco Bayou I don’t think that the Shahab-3 or the Hoot/Whale torpedo will be as good as advertised, but if I were on a ship in the Persian Gulf or an apartment in Tel Aviv, I wouldn’t bet my life on it. The Iranians know that as soon as satellites pick up launch sites they are going to be attacked, so they will throw everything at once and overload the defense, just like they do at sea with their small boat tactics. They don’t expect to win, but they will making losing very expensive for the attacker.
Ricebubbles is still around?
Geez… Who could have imagined that?
BTW, I think everyone in the World (outside of the USA anyway) stopped listening to Ricebubbles years ago. *shrug* Does anyone listen to any of these morons any longer? I suppose… when they need a laugh. The entire EU is proving lately they couldn’t care less what the USA has to say any longer. The USA has become the little dog owned by the host that farts in the room and everyone just politely ignores and moves away.
She is an accomplished and talented individual. Unfortunately her strengths do not lend themselves to being either a national security advisor or Secretary of State.
Her strengths lend themselves to playing piano and translating documents written in Russia about Soviet missile strengths into English. A Sovietologist in the post-Soviet world, however, is much the same as a cannibal all alone on a desert island. Just no place to ply her trade, pity that, eh?
– Badtux the Snarky Penguin
She was apparently a competent university bureaucrat before entering the Hedgemony, so that may be the correct position for her.
I didn’t want to get into her Soviet credentials because we both know she missed who and what Putin is, which was obvious to old Cold Warriors.
I’m not sure she missed who and what Putin is or really just didn’t care. After all, if Putin could have resurrected the old Soviet Union, why, the Soviet Union was the best friend that Republicans ever had, y’know. Always gave them a handy prop to use to condemn Democrats. “You’re pro-Commie!” and all that. Also a handy prop to use to excuse their constant overseas militarist adventures, overbloated defense budgets, and all that. So while Putin was/is KGB to the bone, I’m not sure whether the Condilator would consider that a bug or a feature.
— Badtux the Geopolitics Penguin
There is that, but it is going to make things problematical, as Russia is also a major energy supplier and is using that power more effectively every day.
Within Iran politics, Putin can speak directly to the Supreme Leader on equal footing, while Ahmadinejad can only listen. Games within games, and no one is paying enough attention.
Russia seems to have more goodwill there than we do, currently. Although, almost everyone else does.
That Russia has relations at all should be an indication that Iran is willing to negotiate, because Khomeini included Russia [Soviet Union] in the term “foreign devils”. Russian-Iranian wars pre-date the Romanovs.
If they’ll talk to Russia, they will talk with anyone, but some people won’t take “yes” for an answer.
So what if Condi was a good Uni Bureaucrat etc way back when… The Worlds shortsightedness is matched by their equally short hindsight. Nobody cares what anyone did a year ago, much less over a decade ago. She even had a big ol’ oil tanker named after her, until Rove decided it might not look so good at the time they were trying to prove the *War on Terror* wasn’t a *War for Oil*.
As for Iran talking to Russia even though they are ancestral enemies… Iran has always been pragmatic, and I’ve never heard of them spitting in the face of one of their biggest trading partners, especially one of the few supplying state-of-the-art weapons systems and training. 🙂
That used to be the USA once, remember? Oh, and it’s also the USA’s fault there is a hardliner nutter running Iran now. And gee… doesn’t THAT sound so familiar?:) Funny isn’t it really, but the War in Iraq would have been over a lot sooner, and many lives saved, if the USA hadn’t made an enemy of Iran.
The only thing I think USA will be remembered for (assuming anyone is left to remember), is how many times in it’s short history it shit on it’s own doorstep. 🙂
Maybe it’s time to invest in a SDPS (Super Dooper Pooper Scooper). 😉
She should have stayed at the university where she was doing some good, rather than becoming part of several of the worse decisions in American history. The set-in-concrete belief that all terrorists are state-sponsored is at the root of all of the various problems the Hedgemony has had in the world.
They have absolutely no nuance in their thinking which leads them to over-use military force and under-use common sense. Ignorance is a badge of honor in this administration.
That Russia and Iran talk, shows that neither is going to let minor problems, like several centuries of wars, interfere with today’s realities. They understand that you deal with whomever you have to to accomplish your goals.
It is ludicrous to believe that taking out the Taliban and Saddam wouldn’t automatically strengthen Iran, but the Hedgemony missed that point. Iran was always the pivot. The Saudis must be livid over what has been done. I expect Prince Bandar will discover that he would like to spend more time with his family as soon as the Shrubbery is out of office. If Iran is attacked, I’ll wager his family will be in a tent in the desert without passports.
With all of the personal connections and information available, they have totally misread the Persian Gulf.