Hey, not bad… not bad at all. I’m impressed. You’ve got to give credit where credit is due, but FIRST…
To HELL with Karl Rove. We’ll get to him when we’ve got the time to spend on that insignificant little WORM. In the meantime, shall we spend a few moments together in an attempt to avoid World War Three? I think that’s a novel “plan of attack”, vesus the “plan of attack” (on Iran) our President is currently contemplating behind our collective “back”…
A hearty “congratulations” goes out to President Bush, whose “legacy” is destined to one day become credited as the man who single-handedly started WW-III after mounting a possible “bloodless” (domestically speaking) coup to acquire his “power” (last part, arguable).
Now, it appears the President has found a “slick” way to declare war on Iran by abusing the abusive Patriot Act while bypassing Congressional permission to wage war on Iran by labeling their “elite” military branch (125,000 man Republican Guard) as a “terr’ist organ-eye-zation“.
Uhmmm, yeah… right — we’ve got the firepower and worldwide support for our Red, White, and Blue American butts to “cash those checks that mouth of ours” is writing these days… NOT.
On a “lighter note”, have a look at the upsetting news from The Washington Post:
Iranian Unit to Be Labeled ‘Terrorist’
U.S. Moving Against Revolutionary GuardBy Robin Wright
The United States has decided to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country’s 125,000-strong elite military branch, as a “specially designated global terrorist,” according to U.S. officials, a move that allows Washington to target the group’s business operations and finances.
The Bush administration has chosen to move against the Revolutionary Guard Corps because of what U.S. officials have described as its growing involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as its support for extremists throughout the Middle East, the sources said. …”
Oh, yeah — this is a FANTASTIC way to follow up on our recent diplomatic talks with Tehran, is it not? “We’ll just enter into talks with Iran, and while we’re doing that, we’ll just go ahead and cut off the money the country uses to finance its national defense system”, says the Bush Administration…
Right, THAT’S really gonna work. THAT’S really gonna bring ‘em to the table for more discussions. Just BRILLIANT, but “brilliant” in the same manner former Republican serial killer, Ted Bundy, was “brilliant”; or “brilliant” in the same manner former Republican terrorist, Timothy McVeigh, was “brilliant”…
Look, I’ll be the FIRST to say we might wish to consider weighing the idea of going after Iran if there is CREDIBLE intelligence (an oxymoron in America’s three-letter-agencies today) to demonstrate the Iranian government is directly involved with commanding the Iranian military to fight against our troops. How do we know it’s “credible intelligence”? Not sure. Before BOTH sides of the aisle almost unanimously agreed to send us into Iraq, I’d have said a good indicator of whether or not “intelligence” was “credible” would be to look to Congress and see if both sides of the aisle agreed. Unfortunately, the Democrats and Republicans BOTH cried “wolf” and sent our troops into Iraq for what turns out to be no good reason at all.
Where does this leave us? I guess, since there is no TRUE discourse in Washington anymore (look at the votes and cover your ears when they speak), we, as Citizens, should simply ask ourselves if we are ready to kick Armagheddon off with a BANG. Not I. Not yet.
Personally, I am ready for some good ole’ fashioned isolationism the more I think about it; perhaps even if the charges prove to be true, but that’s just MOI (and yes, I am part French and PROUD of it). A tad bit of isolationism combined with a (true) Liberal dose of populism and we MIGHT just have us a pretty damned good country on our hands, but then again; that’s just moi…
More from The WaPo article:
“… The designation of the Revolutionary Guard will be made under Executive Order 13224, which President Bush signed two weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to obstruct terrorist funding. It authorizes the United States to identify individuals, businesses, charities and extremist groups engaged in terrorist activities. The Revolutionary Guard would be the first national military branch included on the list, U.S. officials said — a highly unusual move because it is part of a government, rather than a typical non-state terrorist organization. …”
(Snip!)
“… The key obstacle to stronger international pressure against Tehran has been China, Iran’s largest trading partner. After the Iranian government refused to comply with two U.N. Security Council resolutions dealing with its nuclear program, Beijing balked at a U.S. proposal for a resolution that would have sanctioned the Revolutionary Guard, U.S. officials said. …”
(Snip!)
“… The administration’s move could hurt diplomatic efforts, some analysts said. “It would greatly complicate our efforts to solve the nuclear issue,” said Joseph Cirincione, a nuclear proliferation expert at the Center for American Progress. “It would tie an end to Iran’s nuclear program to an end to its support of allies in Hezbollah and Hamas. The only way you could get a nuclear deal is as part of a grand bargain, which at this point is completely out of reach.”
Such sanctions can work only alongside diplomatic efforts, Cirincione added. …”
Hmmph. I’m convinced… NOT.
The last time a bunch of Democrats and Republicans agreed we needed to place our countrymen and women in harm’s way, well — we can see how well all of that worked out, can we not? Oh, and do not believe for one second that cutting off the funding for a country’s most prolific military force is anything shy of a BLATANT act of war. Imagine China (who’s also got quite a vested interest in this whole ordeal, by the way) finding a way to suddenly halt the flow of all petroleum products to our own Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard for a moment. Got the idea?
I don’t know about the rest of you, but the more I ponder it, the more I think I’d be just fine with pulling every troop we have serving in foreign lands back home to the good ole’ U.S. of A. again where they belong. Close BOTH of our borders to all illegal “immigrants”, build that Star Wars missile defense system those “Republicrats” have been trying to shove down our throats for decades, then learn an HONEST method of paying our house notes versus turning our heads the other way as we authorize our “Gub’mint” to keep our lives comfortable by continually destroying other countries. Nation building, “Big Oil”, perpetual war, being “The World’s Policeman” — all HUGE “necessities” if we Americans wish to continue driving our SUV’s while chatting on our Razr™ cell phones while America’s kids wear their jeans halfway down the cracks of their butts…
I can live without all of the above if that is what it is going to take to delay Armagheddon and WW-III for a few more years. In fact, I can live without all of the above IMMEDIATELY, and If you cannot, then maybe you should re-think the words of Jesus Christ, and many other wise men and women who’ve warned us over the centuries, in various articulations and languages, that “the love of money is the root of all evil“…
I DO think they were really onto something there. Again — that’s just MOI.
***
Other opinions and coverage…
Bloggers — not many lefties yet (courtesy in part of MemeOrandum): Reihl World View (Right – says it’s “more than a little overdue”); Hot Air (Right – says “this is just a logical next step”); Blogs Of War (Right – also says “This is way overdue”); The Reaction (Moderate Left – “in Ritalin-deprived Dubyaland, they can’t stop thinking about Iran”); Dean’s World (Right – “This is a measured step in the right direction”); Wake Up America (Right – “ABOUT DAMN TIME”); The Moderate Voice (Moderate – “What this action does is ups the ante”)
UPDATE: Ah, here we go — a few more lefties weigh in finally: Firedoglake; Daily Kos; Comments From Left Field (Thanks for the links and quote, Kyle); The Democratic Daily; at-Largely
Other MSM: The [ahem... oftentimes labeled as "traitorous"] New York Times; National Review’s “The Corner” (GOOD POINT)
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1:51 am on August 15th, 2007 1
[...] House Contact the Webmaster Link to Article iraq Bush Administration (Neo) “Cons” System To Declare War On Iran – Armagheddon And [...]
9:06 am on August 15th, 2007 2
[...] The GTL paints a dim picture with the prospective results: A hearty “congratulations” goes out to President Bush, whose “legacy” is destined to one day… [...]
11:08 am on August 15th, 2007 3
great essay GTL.
sometimes it’s better to walk away from useless fights, in this case, Iran, which could very well lead to WW3.
isolationism is the answer for now, until we can fix our main internal problem(s), or until there is a credible threat to our shores:
the federal reserve bank, which is privately owned, has stolen, from what i know, all our money–when was the last time the gold reserves have been audited? paper is nothing but paper unless it represents something.
the frb, hilariously, unconstitutionaly, prints money for itself and it’s banker owners at will, with the stroke of a pen. and on a related note i’ve just learned that an unaportioned income tax is also not only unconstitutional, but it is not written in any law books. Our unlawful income tax goes to pay, get this, the interest on the money our own government borrows from the federal reserve bank. funny how that works.
I’m getting all this from Aaron Russo’s great film America: Freedom to Fascism.
sorry if i’m a little off topic…
11:59 am on August 15th, 2007 4
Are we Inching Closer to War with Iran? (Updated)…
Once again, the Bush Administration’s creative labeling is confusing me. The Washington Post reported:The United States has decided to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country’s 125,000-strong elite military branch, as a specially des…
12:02 pm on August 15th, 2007 5
This may end up being outside the scope of power granted the Executive under the AUMFs and the USA PATRIOT Act. I’m not sure, and since I’m on vacation, I’m unlikely to do the reading up on the above articles, but this could end up being the high crime (if it ends up going anywhere) that people have been looking for.