Colin Powell and Iran...

[SpeedoGuy]

Colin Powell says Iran is working on a nuclear weapons program, including arming missiles with atomic warheads. Iran claims its nuclear research and production efforts are intended for energy purposes only.

I'm not eager to defend Iran's mullahs but the events of the last two years in Iraq leave me having a difficult time taking Colin Powell's statements seriously either.

Why should I believe him now and what do about it?

SG

 

[KinkGuy]

Iran has always been on the agenda. Now, we are scared of yet another terrorist threat that must be dealt with. Keep us petrified, keep us docile.

 

[Pecker]

Yeah, right. The country is dripping in oil yet it needs nuclear power?

Powell has no agenda. It's been all over the news anyway.

 

[Ralexx]

Any European alliance in attacking Iran is excluded. That was a statement coming from little-little Tony Blair.

And besides, now 1€ = 1.3 $, while 1$ is evaluated to only 102 Japanese yens !!! Do Americans want their economy to go even lower ? Does anyone have any idea how cheap oil is for Europe now ?...

In October 2000 I said that electing Bush is a desastrous coup. He was to ruin America worse that any rival of that country. I was right. In only 4 years, American political alliances were lost, a HUGE economic deficit (re-) created , the currency is weak (Alan Greenspan can do nothing against...) and all this putting hate aside and not mentioning the fracture created within the American society during & after the elections !.
In 4 more years like this, US will collapse.

Attacking Iran ? For Christ's sake, that would be America's sentence to death...

 

[jonb]

Well, don't blame me; I voted for Kerry, but my electronic ballot gave me a negative vote for Kerry.

 

[madame_zora]

I voted for Kerry but my state saw fit not to count my vote! I guess I officially have the right to bitch now, not that I needed encouragement. Ralexx, we will see how much destruction it takes for the rest of the country to admit that the tings you say are even happening. I can't imagine how so many can be so blind when the facts are right out in front of them, but if total annihilation of our society is what it takes, so be it. Maybe if we go into a complete depression the Republicans will be forced to admit they were wrong, and GTFO of office.

 

[KinkGuy]

What makes you think there will even be another election? Police states and dictatorships don't hold elections.

 

[madame_zora]

Oh, come now, they just had a free (wink, wink) election in Afghanistan!!

 

[SpeedoGuy]

I am concerned that the failure to find WMDs in Iraq and the absence of bona fide links between Saddam and al Qaeda have so undermined US credibility that few governments will take us seriously again. The Bush administration said WMD's were definitely in Iraq and their threat was so great we had to go to war immediately. Now Iran is becoming subject to similar claims.

Before the Iraq war, I was skeptical of the administration's claims about WMD and 9/11 but I held my peace and trusted that the president knew more about the situation than I did. The results of the war showed otherwise, to my acute embarrassment as an American. And simply blaming the CIA for the intelligence errors now seems like too pat an excuse for me to again place my trust in what this administration says.

Intelligence estimates are like weather forecasts. There are a variety of them available from different sources and none of them are 100%. The estimate chosen to be believed says as much about the chooser's wishes as the intelligence itself.

So, I am not in a mood to blindly believe Colin Powell and his claims about Iran. Why should I be? Haven't we been burned before in our relations there?

SG

 

[jay_too]

Do I believe Iran is attempting to develop nuclear weapons? Yea.

The more interesting question is: "Why?"

I think it is the result of the Bush administration's poorly conceived, planned, and executed war on terrorism. It is apparent to any idiot [and perhaps, even to some Bush staff] that nuclear weapons prevent invasions by the coalition of the willing/bribed.

The case in point is: Bush/Powell argued that a preemptive strike was needed to prevent Saddam from developing nuclear weapons while at the same time trying to ignore North Korea which had one and was developing others. I argue that the Iraq War and the fumbling policies of the White House encouraged Iran to proceed with plans to produce nuclear weapons to avoid invasion and loss of sovereignty.

If I were President of Iran, I know I would undertake their development while the U.S. was bogged down in Iraq....but then I have and use a brain.

jay

 

[jonb]

Originally posted by madame_zora@Nov 21 2004, 02:55 PM
Oh, come now, they just had a free (wink, wink) election in Afghanistan!!

[post=264691]Quoted post[/post]​

They were so excited, some even voted twice! But Bush brought whole new meaning to "Five Times Reality" when he claimed 40% of Afghan voters were women.

 

[madame_zora]

Yeah, I almost puked when he went on tv to tell us that the first one to cast a vote was a woman- I live here and my vote didn't count. Grrr. I'm sure not lame enough to believe that many Iraqi women voted, but then fuzzy math is his specialty.

 

[jonb]

Aghan. The Iraqi elections were delayed again. (Will Ayad Allawi ever give up power? Place your bets on whether this regime will end democratically or in a coup&#33

 

[lacsap1]

Originally posted by jonb@Nov 26 2004, 02:14 AM
The Iraqi elections were delayed again. (Will Ayad Allawi ever give up power? Place your bets on whether this regime will end democratically or in a coup&#33

[post=264869]Quoted post[/post]​

We are packing anyway !!

Dutch troops (1500) in Iraq will leave the country in March 2005 as the Dutch government will not renew their mandate after an eight month extension already.
With or without elections, Enough is Enough.

Ofcourse we wish Mr Bush succes in further actions.

 

[Ralexx]

Originally posted by Ralexx@Nov 21 2004, 09:24 AM
... And besides, now 1€ = 1.3 $ ...

No other comments : 1€ = 1.3467 $. Lost 0.0467 $ in 2 weeks...

 

[KinkGuy]

To say nothing of the dollar nudging 2 to 1 against the Pound. sigh.

 

[D_Humper E Bogart]

Crap! Better get my holiday sorted then.

 

[BobLeeSwagger]

OK, back to the original topic.

The big difference here, as I see it, is that without a doubt, Iran has ties to terrorist organizations. With Iraq it was always pretty sketchy, even among people who wanted it to be true. Iran is a major supporter of terrorist groups. There seems to be more evidence of Iran's nuclear weapons progress than there was with Iraq, but then it's hard to know what to believe these days, isn't it?

The real tragedy would be if Iraq turned out to be a "cry wolf" incident that ended up helping some other country get a nuclear weapon and use it. But it's not clear what we'd have to do now to get people to believe us even when the United States is right.

 

[KinkGuy]

Carpet bomb the entire middle east?

 

[jonb]

Originally posted by KinkGuy@Dec 9 2004, 05:33 PM
Carpet bomb the entire middle east?

[post=266820]Quoted post[/post]​

Well, maybe just the countries which really do support terrorists, such as Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and not Iraq.