July 19, 2004, Persian Pipeline... ?
For those of you who missed me, the familia TD took a three day weekend to an undisclosed location on the East Coast (hint: former President Clinton used to enjoy some time there, as does IIRC future President Kerry). We're back now...
And ay caramba, but the veep (Bruce, that is... Edwards is just a cheap pretender, and Cheney is an expletive deleted) e-mails us not one, but two stories, first from Time describing revelations in the 9-11 Commisison report that 8 or 10 of the 9-11 highjackers passed through Axis of Evil TM member Iran; we have a similar story from the Washington Post.
Some of the implications-- that after the Cole bombing, Iranians approached bin Laden re: attacking the U.S.A. directly, but was rebuffed because bin Laden didn't want to piss off the Saudis (you know... his financial sponsors). It also means that attacking Iraq was about as stupid a move as is imaginable, as it makes said Iran the unequivocal regional strongman. Oh- and God knows what Chalabi spilled to them. Oh-- and Iran is moving rapidly toward developing nuclear weapons.
I haven't been back that long, and already I have a headache... More when I have a chance to ponder the meaning... oy.
Comments
Sheesh! First that treasonous guns/drugs deal Reagan’s men pulled. Then it was the looking at everywhere else for a 9/11 scapegoat that Bush is pulling. Then Bush went ahead and knocked out Iran’s main regional rival. What _is_ it with Republicans and aid to Iran, anyway?
Posted by Andrew Cory at July 20, 2004 04:39 AM
I dunno. Iran is now surrounded. Iraq on one side, Afghanistan on the other.
Posted by Kathy K at July 20, 2004 06:06 AM
Kathy--
Surrounded by whom? I kind of made exactly your point nearly two years ago-- but it presupposes that Iran doesn't have, to paraphrase an advertising campaign, "A Friend in (1600) Pennsylvania (Avenue)". If anything, the Taliban irritated Iran, and we dispersed them (though sadly, not forever), and Saddam was always going to be more trouble to Iran than we ever were or will be...
I'm seriously beginning to wonder if Andrew's point isn't dead on-- whether its intentional, or the result of outrageous incompetence, helpfulness to the Iranian mullahs has been the Republican agenda back since AT LEAST Reagan's Iran-Contra (and maybe earlier, as there was an alleged secret deal between Poppy Bush and Khomeini made in Paris-- same place, same treason as when Kissinger sold out LBJ's Paris Peace Talks in '68 to get Tricky Dick elected-- to hold off on the hostage release until Reagan was in power). Since our hand in helping the Iranian dictators is not only quiet, but actually illegal here, the Iranian people hold us in high regard! Could IRAN secretly be the world's oil stabilizers? Or just the ultimate REpublican slush fund? Given Chalabi and now this, its too damned much to ponder.
One thing we can count on: despite (1) its terrorist ties (longstanding-- Iran no. 1 on our list); (2) direct ties to 9-11 apparently, and (3) nuclear weapons and (4) potential to give them to terrorists, I don't anticipate military action against Iran.
Funny, no?
Posted by the talking dog at July 20, 2004 07:50 AM
Maybe Krugman's right. Too bad he didn't have time to work the Iran bit into his column.
However, isn't it possible that this latest is a conveniently highlighted item intended to resurrect the neo-con Axis of Evil gameplan? First Iraq, then Syria, Iran, etc. Maybe the Iraq debacle hasn't dissuaded them, and they are now looking for excuses to carry on the program?
And what's Sandy Berger up to? Only one report I've seen even mentioned that these documents he inadvertently removed were copies of copies of originals, so that there was no concealment of info or documents from the 9/11 commish. So, since he wasn't hiding anything from the commish, he must have been stealing classified info to help John Kerry support Osama bin Laden, right?
Posted by mamayo at July 20, 2004 11:48 AM
Sandy seems to have committed a "crime of stupidity"-- its exactly the same thing former CIA Director John Deutsch did, when he took a laptop with classified stuff home; seems Sandy made handwritten notes, which I guess is a no-no, and may have removed copies "by accident". Unless someone can prove that those documents ended up in, say... Teheran, it seems that this will probably go nowhere-- but its nice for the Bushmen to have a Clinton appointee to draw fire for a while.
I don't know what the Iran thing is yet-- my knee-jerk reaction was like MAM's, that is, "Oh, so we're now going to start the drums for Iran in the Great Neo-Con Rolling World War. But our wad is shot: barring a draft, we have no-- as in no-- available combat troops-- we're pulling out of existing commitments (see 10,000 troop reduction in South Korea while North sabre rattles) to prop up Iraq.
And unlike Iraq, the war part of Iran would be comparable to an all-out war: a large, relatively well-equipped force, fighting to the death. In short: bad idea.
No-- I don't think the Bushmen wanted this Iran thing out-- it is a far more direct link to 9-11 than Iraq ever had (although its still not definitive-- we would expect the "definitive proof" to be well under wraps). What it shows is simply how great a folly attacking Iraq was: (1) No. 1 on list of state terror sponsors: Iran YES, Iraq NO; (2) Unquestionably developing nuclear weapons Iran YES, Iraq NO; (3) weakened and contained by over a decade of sanctions Iran YES, Iraq NO; (4) run by religious extremists likely to be sympathetic to OBL Iran YES, Iraq NO, and now (5) direct links to 9-11 Iran YES, Iraq NO.
I'm willing btw to give the Bushmen a pass on being in bed with Iran (compare Poindexter, North, et al.) THIS TIME; the decision-matrix was, however, riddled with incompetence: CRIMINAL incompetence.
And yet, the electorate MAY give them a pass (though that seems to get less likely each week...)
Posted by the talking dog at July 20, 2004 12:22 PM
Oops-- I see I have no. 3 backwards there... Iraq was the one under sanctions and contained, of course...
Also-- even those who mistakenly believe the Iraq adventure was about "protecting Israel"-- most IDF people would tell you that Hizbollah-sponsoring nuclear-weapon-developing AND FUCKING CRAZY Iran is a FAR greater threat (literally an existential threat to it) than Iraq ever was...
Posted by the talking dog at July 20, 2004 12:26 PM
"Daily News Gives Federal Judge and Fourth Amendment the Finger"
In its continuing efforts to be the GOP's "New York Hometown Paper", or formerly "The Picture Newspaper", the Daily News today labelled as nuts a federal judge who had the courage to stop the NYC Police Department's intention to search every single non-GOP person in Manhattan in an effort to dissuade the demonstrators. Apparently the NYPD's "danger zone" was the size of Manhattan, and included any space where there might be a demonstrator or Ordinary Joe or Jane going about their business.
I guess the NYPD with its 10,000 officers working the Convention will have to do something else, like fight crime. You have to wonder whether the delegates themselves will be searched.
Posted by Fatt Nudge at July 20, 2004 06:49 PM
Eh tu, Nudge-ay?
People gladly subject themselves to searches when they attend football and baseball games, but we object to searches of political protesters? Is it not as important to protect the lives of our noble, enlightened, often professional, political gadflies, as it is to protect the lives of our drunkest, rowdiest football fans? I ask you, where is the love?
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