World War III
As viewed from New York, Tel Aviv, Tehran, Moscow and Washington. It’s a reality check:
Ha’aretz editorial, “It’s Time to Shout It Out.”
… in recent months the international scene has changed for the worse. The Iranians are not deterred by the sanctions and are continuing to enrich uranium. The International Atomic Energy Agency reached a shameful agreement with Iran that will allow it to carry on with its project. Russia and China are adamantly opposed to stepping up the sanctions … Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad still makes inciteful speeches calling for Israel’s destruction, and he is enjoying growing legitimacy.
Under these circumstances there is no longer any reason for Israel to whisper in the hope that “the world” will deal with the problem. Israel must clarify its concerns in a loud voice, as well as its determination not to live under the shadow of an Iranian nuclear threat …
David Stout at NYT, “No, It’s Not Really World War II.”
… taking everything into context, the hyperbole about world war last week does not make it less remote than it already is. The maneuvers so far have been diplomatic, more like chess, a game Russians love, than war games.
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Mahmoud Chaharbaghi, “11,000 Rockets and Cannons.”
“If a war breaks out in the future, it will not last long because we will rub their noses in the dirt,” said Chaharbaghi.
“Now the enemy should ask themselves how many of their people they are ready to have sacrificed for their stupidity in attacking Iran.”
If I had to choose between the three, I’d credit Ha’aretz with the better grasp on reality.
Hold on, we have another entrant. Tony Blair:
Islamist extremism is similar to “rising fascism in the 1920s and 1930s”, Tony Blair said last night in his first major speech since leaving office.
At a prestigious charity dinner in New York, the former Prime Minister said that public figures who blamed the rise of fundamentalism on the policies of the West were “mistaken.”
…
“This ideology now has a state, Iran, that is prepared to back and finance terror in the pursuit of destabilising countries whose people wish to live in peace.”
He added: “There is a tendency even now, even in some of our own circles, to believe that they are as they are because we have provoked them and if we left them alone they would leave us alone.
“I fear this is mistaken. They have no intention of leaving us alone.
Tough choice … Blair, Ha’aretz. Blair seems to be getting more to the point. All of this was kicked off by Putin’s remarks warning Caspian states against assisting the United States in an attack on Iran … he wasn’t so silly as to suggest Russia would actually act in defense of Iran … and Bush’s follow-on remark:
“We’ve got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel. So I’ve told people that, if you’re interested in avoiding World War Three, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon.”
Putin of course was not attempting to have any affect on the behavior of the United States or Iran. That’s not really his problem as long as Iran pays up. Putin was attempting to control the behavior of the Caspian states. He may in fact view an American attack on Iran as an opportunity to be exploited, just as he is attempting to exploit the threat of American attack.
Critics say Bush is engaging in “hyperbole,” bringing this opinion review full circle. But those critics apparently don’t fully appreciate the threat a nuclear-armed terrorist-supporting state poses. Whether it is threatening or acting on threats to Israel, whether it is only attempting to control the world’s primary oil supply, whether it is attempting to vastly extend its sphere of influence and its position in the world, it has the potential to greatly expand what is already a global war. World War IV. Yeah, Chimpy did goof that part up. World War III was our other war with the Russians. World war doesn’t require an actual mushroom cloud to screw up a lot of people’s day(s).
Topics: Bush, Iran, Israel, Russia
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 12:29 am Comments (3) on Sunday, October 21, 2007
3 Responses to “World War III”
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October 21st, 2007 at 1:11 am
David Stout at NYT: “The maneuvers so far have been diplomatic, more like chess, a game Russians love, than war games.”
What in hell is this man doing writing this kind of article/editorial? The depth of his understanding of what is happening in the world wouldn’t hide the gnat buzzing about his cranium. Everybody is just playing games blah blah blah. “…a game the Rusians love”? What does that mean? If he is writing for the Times, I would assume he understands that people are dying every single day in the middle of this “game.” Obviously, what I must not assume is that he gives a rat’s ass.
Idiot.
October 21st, 2007 at 4:24 am
The Middle Eastern paper Asharq Al-Awsat has a matter of fact piece about Iran out right now titled “Washington and Tehran– Negotiating Over What?”
By Tariq Alhomayed, the level headed editor.
It is remarkable because it lays out a litany of charges against Iran over recent years in vivid detail and makes it clear Iran will not change course. Iran is portrayed as the engine of death, despair, and destruction in the Middle East.
This piece is begging someone to take out the Iranian Revolution with directly saying so.
It also derides the current crop of Democrats for wanting to engage the Mullahs with carrots and no sticks. “No preconditions”
This is a landmark piece. Look it up.
October 21st, 2007 at 11:13 am
The longer we talk about it, the stronger Ahmedinejad grows. People like David Stout must wake up and realize that Mahmoud isn’t interested in playing games. He believes in a worldwide caliphate with the twelfth imam and himself in charge, and he is deadly serious about this goal. And he’s not above murdering a few million infidels in order to achieve it.