What To Do About Iran?
Below is a picture of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaking at a podium. Note the banner, prominently displayed with the words “A World Without Zionism” translated loudly to English lest we not get the point.
As an American citizen I get concerned about Iran. As an American citizen some thirty years ago I was also very concerned about Iran. Then I was angered by the capture of American citizens from the American embassy in Iran and frustrated by America’s lack of response to the whole matter. Back then there was a strange Ayatollah Khomeini in charge of that country. Today we have President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Oddly, there is a connection to the Ayatollah and Ahmadinejad. For it is rumored that Ahmadinejad was a young adolescent involved with the capture of our citizens during the Iran hostage crisis.
Ahmadinejad was hand-picked by the radical mullahs who run things in Iran. He was “elected” but only via a seriously rigged election system boycotted by most of Iran’s populace. Ahmadinejad is, the kind would say, a bit radical. The unkind would call him a nut case.
Whatever the diagnosis, Ahmadinejad has certainly uttered some threatening words and strange beliefs. He’s expressed his conviction that the Holocaust was fiction, that Europe should take the entire nation of Israel into its bosom, that Iran deserves nukes and Iran will get nukes.
Surely an oil-rich country like Iran doesn’t need nuclear energy to run its machines. Iran is fooling no one with this assertion.
The country of Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. By going ahead with its nuclear program, Iran is essentially violating the treaty. Beyond that, the world is simply not a safe place once nuts and kooks get their hands on nukes and the means to deliver them.
Back when the Ayatollah kidnapped American citizens at least there was no worry that the mullahs would soon be lobbing nukes our way. Now we know Iran has the American army knocking at its back door in Iraq and a citizenry that despises the government under which they must live.
That’s the odd thing about Iran. Its citizens are young, hip and love America. In my dewy eyed youth I was once engaged to an Iranian man, yes I was. Of course my experience is anecdotal but if he was any indicator, there is no populace on earth more in love with the United States than the citizens of Iran. I remember how Ali used to lecture me on how lucky I was to be born an American, to never have to worry about a knock on the door late into the night. I remember how he used to make his own yogurt and the meals we ate while sitting on the floor. I remember the thud that came over me when I realized that Ali wanted nothing more than a sweet American wife to take home to Persia as if a grand and wonderful prize.
Of course I would have to wear a burqa and that was pretty much the end of that.
There’s a lot of questions I have about Iran. The first being why that nation is so ostentatious and belligerent about its nuclear program. Iran’s “talking points” are uttered very plainly in world view and it’s almost as if the country is daring the United States (or Israel) to “come and get us”. If Iran wants to develop nukes why not be clandestine about it? Why not keep it all hush-hush until the day the transportation is ready and the goods can be delivered to the selected target?
I can come up with four scenarios why Iran is handling the burgeoning nuclear program with such a brazen display.
1)-Iran knows that Israel knows and America knows and the rest of the world knows they’re working on nukes so the country makes no attempt to hide it.
2)-Iran doesn’t have nukes at all but wants the world to think it does. Much like Saddam except Saddam had enough money through his oil-for-palaces scam to develop a nuclear device very quickly.
3)-Iran is banking on the sound byte “no weapons of mass destruction” bandied about by anti-war and partisan politicians that it knows it would be difficult for this administration to get approval for another strike after weapons of mass destruction that don’t exist. Which, as an aside, is why supposedly pro-American politicians and such shouldn’t be speechifying for their own gain in a manner that passes this very wrong message to the dangerous countries of the world. Not to delve into Saddam, but this fellow had enough money at his disposal to instantaneously have a whole boatload of nukes delivered from nutcase Kim Jong-Il with the flick of a finger. Also, Saddam certainly had enough notice of an impending American attack to dismantle and/or hide his stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.
We’ll get to the fourth scenario later.
Never mind the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it’s just bad form to allow nations governed by nut cases to have nuclear weapons. Yes, there’s North Korea but Kim Jong-Il was so appeased by the Clinton administration that he’s managed to be one of the largest exporters of nuclear materials in the world. As for Iran, well that country knows all too well that the United Nations will do nothing, witness Saddam. And if the U.N. does nothing, not even espousing sanctions or just a nasty email, then Iran knows the United States and its allies will have to do the deed.
Perhaps banking on Iraqi war fatigue, Iran figures America won’t commit to another Mideast war.
So we have a country governed by some very dangerous people that will soon be able to annihilate Israel, then soon after, the United States.
How nuts are they?
Some interesting tidbits re Mr. Ahmadinejad:
In November, the country was startled by a video showing Mr Ahmadinejad telling a cleric that he had felt the hand of God entrancing world leaders as he delivered a speech to the UN General Assembly last September.
When an aircraft crashed in Teheran last month, killing 108 people, Mr Ahmadinejad promised an investigation. But he also thanked the dead, saying: “What is important is that they have shown the way to martyrdom which we must follow.”
Please let’s not forget the mullahs. Iran’s been governed by religious clerics forever. They like their power. They especially like all that oil money. With the U.S. army so close by the mullahs are especially jealous of their power. This talk about democracy is a dangerous thing when you’re the thug, thief or despot in charge.
Iran’s now made clear that it won’t tolerate sanctions.
Iran also has threatened to block short-notice U.N. inspections of the country's nuclear facilities if the United States and its allies push for U.N. sanctions against it.
So what to do about Iran?
It would seem that there’s some very good clue as to just where Iran has the brunt of its nuclear program. Came across the following detailed picture from the Officer’s Club Blog, written by military types.
In addition, these Bloggers have a suggestion for dealing with Iran.
A caveat though. Sanctions may actually work, and Secretary Rice has expressed strong interest in the Security Council resolution route. Why? Because moderate and liberal Iranians have grown increasingly disillusioned with Ahmadinejad's series of embarassing fundamentalist gaffes, from his calls for the destruction of Israel to his denial of the Holocaust. If Iran's street sees sanctions as a direct result of Ahmadinejad's blustering, the Iranian populace may offer us a more long term solution to the nuke problem via civil uprising.
Indeed it’s been suggested often that the Iranian populace itself could overturn their hated government. This is, of course, the best solution of all.
It’s not, however, without danger. We are reminded of the Shia and Kurdish uprisings in Iraq. Those results being deadly and demoralizing. President Bush called out for rebellion of the masses in the Ukraine and Lebanon. Both countries had a peaceful turnover. His father called for a rebellion of the masses in Iraq right after the Gulf War. At that time, the U.N. had no inclination to go in and help those poor victims who thought their back was covered. The first President Bush had no authority to commit American troops to the cause.
With a citizenry as pro-American as Iran, with the American army so close by, with the current President having a mandate to wage a war on terror, it’s likely Iran will fall by the hand of its own citizens and through international condemnation.
Which brings me to the fourth reason the Iranians in power are so vocal about their nuclear program.
That country could be trying to scare its own citizens.
New Orleans Goes Into 2006 With a Brave Face
Kaitlyn,
It’s now the New Year 2006 and the flooded city of New Orleans is plowing on. They even had a New Year’s Parade! More on this later.
For now, some tidbits.
BLANCO'S POST-KATRINA TAJ MAHAL "Some members of the governor's staff will return from the three-day holiday on Tuesday to newly renovated offices at the State Capitol. Shortly after the two hurricanes, (Louisiana) Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D) decided to renovate some of her staff's offices. At the time of her decision, Blanco also was hinting at deep budget cuts to state programs and the possibility of laying off 20 percent of the state workforce. The project cost $564,838. "The newly refurbished office space on the sixth floor of the State Capitol includes hookups and mounts for two flat screen televisions, Swedish granite countertops, walnut paneling and frosted laminated glass. The floor, which will not be accessible to the public, was redesigned to add three new offices, a conference room and file storage areas." - 2theadvocate.com, 1/7/05 |
The Louisiana contingent has been petitioning congress for money, Kaitlyn. Lots and lots of money.
Not that we don’t have an obligation of sorts to help rebuild an American city. We do have an obligation to monitor how the money is spent. What with that Democratically controlled city ran so poorly in the past not to mention the levee money sent before Hurricane Katrina wasn’t used for what it should have been.
The above is an example of how that states spends money. Swedish granite? Two flat screen televisions? A half million dollars to renovate an office for one of the piss poorest governments in this country?
If that’s not bad enough, read on.
The Latest on the New Orleans's Phantom Police
Gotta give them credit for imaginative PR, Kaitlyn.
But of course, NO Mayor Nagin declares, we had a phantom police force. We did it to make the criminals think we had more than we really had!
Do not let the history books tell you different, Kaitlyn. President Clinton allocated billions in federal dollars to boost up police departments across the country. The money was NOT given to play make-believe.
Seems the FBI isn’t buying Nagin’s lame lies either.
| Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans, lashed back at critics after the FBI discovered that up to 700 so-called members of the city police force simply did not exist. Funding for many of these officers was provided by the federal government. "During the storm and aftermath we'd heard reports that hundreds of New Orleans police officers had deserted their post," said an FBI spokesman." Further investigation indicates that these posts had never been manned and the funds supposedly paid in wages has disappeared." "Sure, we overstated the number of officers on the force,"said Nagin. "We did this to deter crime." As Nagin explained it, the "phantom officers" were used as a decoy to "frighten" would-be offenders. "Just as George Washington lit fake campfires to lull the British troops before his surprise attack at Princeton, we in New Orleans have employed a similar strategy." The effectiveness of Nagin's alleged strategy is in doubt, though. New Orleans has one of the highest crime rates per capita in the nation. As for what happened to the funds that were supposed to have paid police salaries, Nagin asserted that they were used to hire consultants and purchase computer software needed to sustain New Orleans' "Virtual Police Force." "The software had to be custom made," said Nagin. "It's not something you can buy at CompUSA. Software designers don't come cheap. Neither do the public relations experts who developed our media campaign." The media campaign featured TV spots of various street people implying that they could be undercover cops. In one ad, an apparently toothless derelict looks into the camera and says, "I be watchin' you. So don't you go misbehavin'." Unimpressed by Nagin's explanation, the FBI asserted it will continue its investigation. |
The Sad 2006 New Orleans’ New Year’s Party
Kaitlyn,
I don’t know what the city of New Orleans will be like when the history books try to lie to you about how it all came down. I do know that right now that city is fighting a difficult war with promoting their tourist industry versus getting their citizens back.
For now, the war rages on. The poor citizens are still re-located across the country. The Louisiana Poobahs who ran the city so poorly are desperately seeking the tourist dollars.
Soon, Kaitlyn, the fame of New Orleans, the Mardi Gras, will be due.
It will be interesting to see how it goes.
I suspect not many tourists are going to brave the mold and lack of services in that city to attend the big party.
From the Washington Post:
 In a city that had been eulogized by some, the vibrancy in the French Quarter this weekend gave hope that a turnaround is possible. A giant gumbo pot was scheduled to drop at midnight to ring in the new year, with fireworks over the river. City officials say that recapturing one of the city's main economic drivers -- tourism -- is necessary if New Orleans is to thrive again. The industry brought in $5.5 billion in 2004. But the revival of tourism is a source of anger for residents in poor neighborhoods, for whom the French Quarter -- largely white -- is just a place on a postcard. "Let's put Bourbon Street aside for a while," said Trenace Walker, a Katrina evacuee who returned to New Orleans to handle the affairs of her mother's death. "Let's give people the necessities they need. We need schools and grocery stores and hospitals. I'm like this: Show me. Show me you want me to come home." |
Katrina Political Cartoon
First Katrina/Kaitlyn post-the Beginning-9/6/05
9/7/05-H urricane Folklore/Wisdom and Nastiness
9/12/05-Hillary's "Katrina Kommission" and the Debacle of the Debit cards
9/14/05-FEMA Email; Dumb, blond Louisiana Senators
9/15/05-Ophelia and Grandmother
9/16/05-Katrina and the Helpless Pets
Stop Blaming FEMA-a pictorial explanation
What Will Become of New Orleans?
Katrina Gossip
Katrina Folklore
Nagin,the refinery bill,Character
Cops and Cadillacs
Those NO Prisoners
Documenting the Thieves
Blanco and the Dead
Samaritan Helps Evacuees-Murdered!
Those Wacky Louisiana Emails
The Myth of the Bridge Sniper
As the Media Preens the Myths Are Busted
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