Take a sober look at military option against Iran
We have learned, one would hope, not to wade into another war blindly optimistic about what it might accomplish or what costs it might entail. Given the rhetoric and bluster bandied about regarding Iran, however, some have learned those lessons less well than others.
A group of foreign policy experts calling itself the Iran Project has undertaken a study of the potential benefits and costs of military intervention against Iran by the United States and Israel. Its work has been endorsed by well-known figures in the foreign-policy field such as former U.S. Sens. Sam Nunn and Chuck Hagel, former national security advisers Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft, and seven former generals or admirals with extensive military experience in the Middle East.
The report, available here, takes as a given that “a nuclear-armed Iran would pose dangerous challenges to U.S. interests and security, as well as to the security of Israel.” It simply attempts to lay out in clear fashion both the potential benefits and costs of attempting to solve that problem through military means.
Among their findings, authors of the report suggest that a military attack by Israel would succeed in delaying Iran’s nuclear program by two years at best. The United States, with its additional resources, could set the effort back by as long as four years, but would then be forced to repeat the process on a fairly regular basis over an extended period of time. Once undertaken, such attacks would greatly reduce the chances of eventually ending the program by non-military means.
“In fact,” the report states, “we believe that a U.S. attack on Iran would increase Iran’s motivation to build a bomb, because 1) the Iranian leadership would become more convinced than ever that regime change is the goal of U.S. policy, and 2) building a bomb would be seen as a way to inhibit future attacks and redress the humiliation of being attacked.” It also concludes that resistance within Iran to the current regime would all but disappear as the Iranian people rally against outside invaders.
The authors also warn that “In addition to costing the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars yearly, a sustained conflict would boost the price of oil and further disrupt an already fragile world economy.”
Given their backgrounds, we can assume that the authors of the report are privy to discussions in Washington that the rest of us are not. That makes one section of their report particularly chilling:
“Privately, some national security experts and advisors may have embraced the more modest objective of delaying Iran’s ability to build a nuclear weapon, as a step toward prevention; but some others may have embraced objectives that are far broader than official statements currently suggest. Even in order to fulfill the stated objective of ensuring that Iran never acquires a nuclear bomb, the U.S. would need to conduct a significantly expanded air and sea war over a prolonged period of time, likely several years. If the U.S. decided to seek a more ambitious objective, such as regime change in Iran or undermining Iran’s influence in the region, then an even greater commitment of force would be required to occupy all or part of the country.
Given Iran’s large size and population, and the strength of Iranian nationalism, we estimate that the occupation of Iran would require a commit- ment of resources and personnel greater than what the U.S. has expended over the past 10 years in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined.” (emphasis original).
In addition to the significant financial costs of conducting such attacks, the report warns, “serious costs to U.S. interests would also be felt over the longer term, we believe, with problematic consequences for global and regional stability, including economic stability. A dynamic of escalation, action, and counteraction could produce serious unintended consequences that would significantly increase all of these costs and lead, potentially, to all-out regional war.”
The decision to use military power, to put American lives on the line and to make ourselves vulnerable to the unknowable consequences that war always brings, must never be made lightly. Certainly, such a profound decision must never be subcontracted out to the leadership of another country. And while leaders who want to take the American people to war have an obligation to be honest and forthright, citizens have an equal obligation to educate themselves as well as possible about its potential risks and costs.
It is, after all, our sons and daughters, and those of our friends and neighbors, who will be asked to carry out that policy.
– Jay Bookman
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677 comments Add your comment
Marty Huggins'
September 25th, 2012
9:21 am
USinUK – thug with a uterus … and former Girl Scout
September 25th, 2012
9:16 am
Got my support! I’m a food coma too, don’t eat breakfast.
I go brunch everyday then another big snack around 3.
Don’t worry no need for a nap after 3 I can usually grind out the remainder of the day.
I assume you will also require Christmas lights to be taken down and/or turned off by Feb. as well
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
September 25th, 2012
9:22 am
A tough choice to be sure ………….. reminds one of 1939.
“When civilized man can no longer stand the horror of war and refuses to fight, then he will surely be killed or enslaved by the uncivilized who can.” Author Unknown
USinUK - thug with a uterus ... and former Girl Scout
September 25th, 2012
9:22 am
“Who believes that eventually, we will have to confront Islam and the Muslim world?”
oh, FFS … what do you think we’ve been DOING since 1991
Oscar
September 25th, 2012
9:22 am
The two wars we had the last time the GOP was in didn’t work out so well. Elect Romney and we will have two more that will work out even worse. One with Iran and don’t know who the other will be with but the Neos will think of somebody.
Oscar
September 25th, 2012
9:24 am
reminds one of 1939.
_________
You can’t be serious.
b-troll
September 25th, 2012
9:24 am
” they should be working on peace.”
Obama tried that. Fail.
Oscar
September 25th, 2012
9:25 am
Enter your comments hereWho believes that eventually, we will have to confront Islam and the Muslim world?”
__________
An all out war against the Muslim world. I don’t think so. Sounds like insanity to me.
Oscar
September 25th, 2012
9:26 am
Obama tried that. Fail.
________
Pease work didn’t fail. We are not at war, are we. Then is has been successful.
Jay
September 25th, 2012
9:27 am
“labeling the death of ambassador a “bump in the road”
Except that he did not label the death of an ambassador as a bump in the road.
He said, on the topic of the Arab Spring:
“I think it was absolutely the right thing for us to do to align ourselves with democracy, universal rights, a notion that people have to be able to participate in their own governance. But I was pretty certain, and continue to be pretty certain, that there are going to be bumps in the road because in a lot of these places, the one organizing principle has been Islam.”
Show me the reference to our ambassador.
Aquagirl
September 25th, 2012
9:27 am
You can’t be serious.
Why not? It was the folks like 0311 who thought going to war with Iraq was a good idea because that was just like 1939.
I think they’re stuck in 1939 and seeing Hitler behind every tree.
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
September 25th, 2012
9:27 am
When civilized man can no longer stand the horror of war and refuses to fight, then he will surely be killed or enslaved by the uncivilized who can.” Author Unknown
.
.
.
Do you wonder sometimes why folks don’t want to take credit for what they say?
I suspect it’s because they said something stupid.
godless heathen
September 25th, 2012
9:28 am
So no answers to my question posed at 9:15?
My take is that in either case, if someone legally avoids the draft or someone chooses not to volunteer, they either feel that their efforts are best spent in other pursuits, or they are chicken-sheet.
So STFU about Romney being a “draft dodger”, unless you want to also chastise the President for not serving,
TaxPayer
September 25th, 2012
9:28 am
No more unfunded wars fought by the poorest from the states. Let the wealthiest fund and fight their own war for a change.
Gravy Train
September 25th, 2012
9:28 am
Oscar, the other war Willard will be pushing is a government subsidized army of cult members on a “mission” to kill the memory of God and replace Him with Joseph Smith. Please see the “always be converting” intentions of the LDS, where it is considered “charity” to discriminate against everyone else.
stands for decibels
September 25th, 2012
9:29 am
Author Unknown = Karl Rove Galley Slave
/drive-by
JDW
September 25th, 2012
9:30 am
The real question is the top line. If we are to commit to the statement, as it appears we will, that we will do all in our power to ensure that Iran does not possess a nuclear weapon then the options are narrowed.
We can, through sanctions and covert activity seek to force negotiation or change in Iran’s political structure. It is safe to assume that we have been and will continue to do this.
Problem is that I don’t think we will achieve success via this route before it is imperative that we act to achieve the top line goal.
So if we are committed to a nuclear free Iran we will be forced to act at some point. That brings the real debate to the choice…military action or Iran with nukes.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
September 25th, 2012
9:30 am
………….. reminds one of 1939.
Yep, there were a lot of idiot chickenhawks standing around then too demanding war and in Germany, those warmongers elected a lunatic who made all sorts of pandering crazy promises that the conned believed. Surely, they thought there would be a etch-a-sketch moment, right?
TaxPayer
September 25th, 2012
9:30 am
So STFU about Romney being a “draft dodger”, unless you want to also chastise the President for not serving,
Mitt was a draft dodger! The shock! And all this time I thought he waged a valiant effort to keep the French away from the chateaus and bordeauxes back when we actually had a draft and draft dodgers.
Joe Hussein Mama
September 25th, 2012
9:31 am
Peadawg — “Fine by me. Who do you have in mind besides Obama and Romney?”
On the Democratic side, someone like Mark Warner. Republicans should like him because he’s a millionaire businessman.
On the Republican side, I still like Buddy Roemer, but IMO he hasn’t got a chance in hell from the GOP movers and shakers.
F. Sinkwich
September 25th, 2012
9:31 am
“An all out war against the Muslim world.”
No big deal, just another bump in the road.
getalife
September 25th, 2012
9:32 am
godless,
I think our President is too young to dodge the draft for Vietnam.
mitt, not so much.
getalife
September 25th, 2012
9:32 am
scout,
It is 2012.
Mitt Romney's sons never served in the U.S. Armed Forces
September 25th, 2012
9:33 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL9F-dfPyD4&feature=related
on the otherhand, Mitt loves to talk military action!!
Thomas Heyward Jr
September 25th, 2012
9:34 am
Oscar, the other war Willard will be pushing is a government subsidized army of cult members on a “mission” to kill the memory of God and replace Him with Joseph Smith. Please see the “always be converting” intentions of the LDS, where it is considered “charity” to discriminate against everyone else.
.
—————————————————————————————————————————
.
omg.
The JSA (Jo Smih Army) agin the FSA (Free shiat Army) .
.
My money’s on……………………………………..the RPL(Ron Paul Liberation Army).
getalife
September 25th, 2012
9:35 am
There is no war on Islam.
cons don’t tolerate that religion very well so they have much in common with the radical Islamists.
USinUK - thug with a uterus ... and former Girl Scout
September 25th, 2012
9:36 am
“I think our President is too young to dodge the draft for Vietnam.
mitt, not so much.”
yep.
godless heathen
September 25th, 2012
9:36 am
Tax and get: President Obama did not volunteer for military service – legal. Romney took a legal deferment. What’s the difference?
Welcome to the Occupation
September 25th, 2012
9:37 am
So STFU about Romney being a “draft dodger”, unless you want to also chastise the President for not serving,
Almost all draft dodgers are Republican.
getalife
September 25th, 2012
9:37 am
Thomas,
ryan said if you vote Ron Paul you are reelecting our President.
I say vote Ron Paul .
Marty Huggins'
September 25th, 2012
9:38 am
Jay,
based upon the question asked of Obama in his bumps I the road assessment asked about the recent events.
So is it your argument Obama was not including the Ambassador assassination as a recent event or how do you separate the two?
Because I would consider the Killing of Ambassador Stevens as a recent event.
One could make an argument that it was the most important event recently.
This is the question asked of Obama by Steve Kroft.
Have the events in the middle east, the recent events in the middle east given you any pause in your support for the governments that have come to power following the Arab Spring?
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
September 25th, 2012
9:38 am
GETALIFE,
I disagree on BO’s failed foreign policy…
Heck, he promised (among others) that just his election would immediately improve our relations in the ME et al…the optics on this are horrid for him….the ME is on fire, Iran is closer to a nuke, IRAQ gave all oil rights to Russia and China, Afghanistan is returning to the Taliban…we are more loathed now than ever…despite his claim that our reputation would improve..
He got our of Iraq per Bush’s timetable…I just don’t see what is going well for him on this front to defend attacks (rightly or wrongly) with these issues that can be backed by pictures and quotes
And we love pictures..
Doggone/GA
September 25th, 2012
9:39 am
“Almost all draft dodgers are Republican”
Baloney
godless heathen
September 25th, 2012
9:40 am
Almost all draft dodgers are Republican.
Source?
St Simons
September 25th, 2012
9:40 am
dude, if you don’t know the difference between deferment during a draft
and not choosing to serve during voluntary enlistment, well,
you’re about as informed as the rest of the poo-flinging cons here.
Thomas Heyward Jr
September 25th, 2012
9:40 am
getalife
September 25th, 2012
9:37 am
Thomas,
ryan said if you vote Ron Paul you are reelecting our President.
I say vote Ron Paul .
————————————————————————————————————
.
Only tools would care what Romney/Ryan said.
Or Biden/Obama/Clinton.
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
September 25th, 2012
9:41 am
JAY,
Protect him all you want but the optics are where he sh^t the bed…using bump in the road in any context to the ME is a big boner…
More meaningful fodder for GOP…that’s the net result..
ITS ALL BUSHS FAULT
September 25th, 2012
9:41 am
Send all the chickenhawks children first.. hoorah!
Williebkind
September 25th, 2012
9:41 am
O.K., I do not want my kids to die for a liberal president either. So if we do not bomb Iran, what do you ingenius liberals have in mind? A mushroom cloud over New York? I am tired of hearing we are after foreign oil and I keep hearing everyday that we have enough energy in the US to last for 200 years. Do we pick and choose truths to get our political points or is that just a liberal/communist strategy?
getalife
September 25th, 2012
9:42 am
godless,
You lost that argument. mitt is a draft dodger.
ITS ALL BUSHS FAULT
September 25th, 2012
9:43 am
The Arab’s are to busy killing each other to worry about us . Just STFU you con war-mongering moochers..
Marty Huggins'
September 25th, 2012
9:44 am
How is what Romney did getting a deferment any different that what Clinton did in regards to the draft.
What both did was legal, maybe unethical.
But I think Clinton showed ethics are not a requirement to be a successful president
St Simons
September 25th, 2012
9:44 am
well, if you vote Republican, this is what you’re gonna get –
more debt, more war. Good thing ‘merka is waking up.
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
September 25th, 2012
9:45 am
“the ME is on fire” “mushroom cloud over NYC”
melodramatic clap trap typically over hyped during the “silly season”
Joe Hussein Mama
September 25th, 2012
9:45 am
williebkind — “So if we do not bomb Iran, what do you ingenius liberals have in mind? A mushroom cloud over New York?”
President Bush wound up letting North Korea get the bomb and they haven’t attacked anyone with it.
So what’s your point?
getalife
September 25th, 2012
9:45 am
Thomas,
So, if we listen to Ron Paul we are not tools?
kayaker 71
September 25th, 2012
9:46 am
USinUK,
Up to now, and since 1991, these have only been skirmishes, nothing more. I’m talking about major confrontation. Has it reached that point? We nearly ignore our ambassador and three other Americans being killed by a mob, totally sanctioned by the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood. We have sat idly by and watched Iran morph into much more of a threat than it was even 10 yrs ago. The Muslim world is getting more and more militant by the day. They seem to observe weakness in our leadership, for some reason. Do you think that they would even dream of treating the Russians like this?
ITS ALL BUSHS FAULT
September 25th, 2012
9:46 am
Perpetual war is awesome as long as yoour not the one involved eh Cons?
ITS ALL BUSHS FAULT
September 25th, 2012
9:47 am
We will be greeted as liberators.
getalife
September 25th, 2012
9:47 am
willie,
Good for you on some original thinking. Do you think Israel and Iran are both bluffing and playing politics for over a decade?
TaxPayer
September 25th, 2012
9:48 am
Does a person that defers on religious grounds have a basis for supporting war for others to fight. If you do not believe in fighting a war, how can you believe in others fighting your war for you.
clem
September 25th, 2012
9:49 am
doubt you’ll find any of mitt’s boys signing up for the military….must take after their father
St Simons
September 25th, 2012
9:49 am
Money-boo-boo was touring around on a bicycle in the south of France
(lawd, no – Frayaaance!) speaking French (noooo!) while ‘you people’
were serving. Know your place, ‘you people.’
Joe Hussein Mama
September 25th, 2012
9:49 am
K71 — “Up to now, and since 1991, these have only been skirmishes, nothing more. I’m talking about major confrontation.”
WTF do you think we were doing in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Oscar
September 25th, 2012
9:50 am
Do you think that they would even dream of treating the Russians like this?
_____
You mean the Russians that were defeated and left Afghanstan. And the Russians that have been engaged in wars in adjoining states. Those Russians.
USinUK - thug with a uterus ... and former Girl Scout
September 25th, 2012
9:50 am
GG – 9:45 – meh – melodramatic clap trap, full stop.
Jay
September 25th, 2012
9:50 am
It’s not a question of protecting him, Stevie Ray. It is a matter of basic fact that he did NOT refer to the death of our ambassador as a bump in the road.
The problem for conservatives is that reasonable people will look at what he actually said, and what you and others CLAIM he said, and conclude that you have no concern for truth and no credibility and thus dismiss whatever else you might say. What sells in the conservative echo chamber does not sell in the American mainstream.
yuzeyurbrane
September 25th, 2012
9:51 am
Jay, you do a good job of pointing out the dangers of action; but you gloss over the dangers of inaction. I would like to see a lengthier discussion of that aspect of this serious issue.
Oscar
September 25th, 2012
9:53 am
There are not any dangers to us of inaction. They will still sell us their oil and life will go on.
Barry Obama
September 25th, 2012
9:53 am
You can be rest assured that because of my special relationship with my Muslim brothers, the Middle East will soon be an oasis of peace and love.
Joe Hussein Mama
September 25th, 2012
9:53 am
clem — “doubt you’ll find any of mitt’s boys signing up for the military….must take after their father”
Mitt actually said (during the 2008 campaign) that they were fulfulling their national service by helping him get elected.
Aquagirl
September 25th, 2012
9:53 am
If you do not believe in fighting a war, how can you believe in others fighting your war for you.
That’s the difference between Romney and Clinton. Romney was basically for the Viet Nam war….but not for him. Bill Clinton was opposed to anyone going to Viet Nam.
Cheering for wars when you’re not willing to fight them is loathsome. It’s also dangerous, Republicans don’t seem to get that and they love them some Chickenhawks.
Liberal Chicks are UGLY
September 25th, 2012
9:53 am
worldaffairs.org – Nonprofit liberal think tank.
Way to present a non-partisan view. Israel needs to do what’s right for Israel after all they are under the greatest threat. If they feel the need to attack, then I support them. They know more about their region than anybody else. They knew it was al qaeda ON 9/11/2001 that attacked us. I remember reading the report on 9/11/2001.
I therefore trust Israel implicitly to make the right call. Arm chair generals do not know all the facts, Israel does.
The Thin Guy
September 25th, 2012
9:54 am
There are two non military options: 1. Give them the Norton antivirus. Within two weeks all of their computers will be reduced to sub Commodore 64s. 2. Have ØDumbø read his teleprompter over there. Within 6 months the entire region will erupt in a blood bath when they realize there is no American embassy to savage. They’ll have to settle for the Kenyan and Indonesian outposts.
Jay
September 25th, 2012
9:54 am
“We nearly ignore our ambassador and three other Americans being killed by a mob, totally sanctioned by the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
More absolute fantasy, conjured up to defend what cannot be defended through use of facts and logic.
Kayaker, show us where the murder of our ambassador was “totally sanctioned by the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood.” Otherwise, you lie.
getalife
September 25th, 2012
9:55 am
BTW Thomas,
I guess I am not a tool because I do listen to all of them including Ron Paul.
“Money-boo-boo was touring around on a bicycle in the south of France
(lawd, no – Frayaaance!) speaking French (noooo!) while ‘you people’
were serving. Know your place, ‘you people.’”
Classic.
Better check on godless after that one.
You okay godless?
stands for decibels
September 25th, 2012
9:55 am
Since the topic of Mitt’s Vietnam era service has come up…
emphasis mine.
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: But your Mormon faith has been a big part of your life. You were a bishop in the church, you were president of the Boston area parishes, you spent more than two years in France as a missionary and described it as a watershed experience. How so?
MR. ROMNEY: Oh, absolutely. It taught me that there is a great deal to life besides just what’s living in my little community back in Michigan. I was in a pampered home with great advantages. I went to France and lived on a far more modest, humble basis. We made about $100 a week, we drew out of our savings to live there. That was food, clothing, transportation, housing, the whole bit. And I recognized that the opportunities we have in this country are absolutely extraordinary.
In case you were wondering–median income for an adult male in 1968, according to Table P-5 of the Census report?
$5,980.
Meaning, poor Mitt had to scrape by on what amounted to 87% of the median income for a male individual in the US, in 1968.
(But we can’t talk about this because wealth envy, or something.)
waldo
September 25th, 2012
9:55 am
Wh says we would need to occupy them? We could crush them militarily and leave them to sort out the mess of their own making.
ITS ALL BUSHS FAULT
September 25th, 2012
9:57 am
GOP the party of IGNORANCE
Gravy Train
September 25th, 2012
9:57 am
Oh yeah, and you can bet Willard is going to double down on the war on taxes.
Marty Huggins'
September 25th, 2012
9:57 am
Jay
September 25th, 2012
9:50 am
Would you consider the assassination of Ambassador Stevens a recent event in The middle east?
Because that was the question the bump in the road comment came from.
Our president made no indication he was separating the Stevens murder from other recent events.
So why should we all assume he was?
Could it be you made that separation, even though he didn’t specifically separate them, because you agree with him and see him through Ross colored glasses.
I mean it was you who asked if he specifically said Stevens was a bump in the road. Well he sure didn’t separate it from recent events specifically. So one would assume he is including it in recent events.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
September 25th, 2012
9:58 am
ryan said if you vote Ron Paul you are reelecting our President.
Well, I don’t know about you but I’m halfway thinking of writing in old Newt. If he’s good enough for a Conservative like Wingfield he’s good enough for me. Sure he’s got a bad case of Wandering Tallywacker, but heck, everybody’s got a few faults. It’s the thought that counts. Besides, Newt still sends me e-mails.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
September 25th, 2012
9:58 am
What sells in the conservative echo chamber does not sell in the American mainstream.
Or “There’s a sucker born every minute” — David Hannum about PT Barnum
Joe Hussein Mama
September 25th, 2012
10:00 am
R. Convert — ” Sure he’s got a bad case of Wandering Tallywacker”
This is the most bizarre version of Blame The Victim I have ever seen. You leave that poor innocent tallywacker out of it.
TaxPayer
September 25th, 2012
10:01 am
More off topic, and well done:
A Peek Into the Fantasy World of the Persecuted Rich.
Aquagirl
September 25th, 2012
10:02 am
you agree with him and see him through Ross colored glasses.
Which are only $8.99, not the $24.99 you’d pay at a big department store.
mm
September 25th, 2012
10:03 am
Jay,
“What sells in the conservative echo chamber does not sell in the American mainstream.”
The cons are always making sh*t up, then patting themselves on the back thinking, “This will be the one that sinks Obama”.
Well, the jokes on the cons. Nobody believes this crap other than morons that call themselves republicans.
godless heathen
September 25th, 2012
10:03 am
None of you have successfully made the point that there is any difference between taking a legal deferment and failing to volunteer for service. It makes no difference what time or place the action occurs. Both are legal means of not putting on a uniform and I have no beef with either one.
getalife
September 25th, 2012
10:03 am
RC,
Good idea.
Vote Newt cons.
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
September 25th, 2012
10:05 am
JAY,
That’s politics of today…its like the poll question…those who think polls matter, will fight to the tooth to say the “my poll is bigger than yours”….
OBAMA the great campaigner is chief should know better to leave any room for mis-interpretation as the GOP, not unlike the DEMS will take soundbites and run down the field towards the endzone…
I think its’ irrelevant as i’m convinced all “likely voters” have already made up their minds and will subscribe to and defend to the point of anger whatever is said by their party..
And yes, you certainly are defending Obama..don’t you agree that he’d be better off had he used a better choice of words? The question was relative to those countries uprising in Arab springy thingy..many of these countries will turn out our enemies…kinda like Afghanistan and Iraq….and he mentioned “bump in the road”…
Looney Bin
September 25th, 2012
10:05 am
Give it a rest Marty – if you think President Obama feels the death of Americans in foreign lands is so trivial, come right out and make the claim. Otherwise all you’re doing is playing a boring game of semantics, hoping for a “gotcha” moment on a topic that deserves far deeper consideration.
Erwin's cat
September 25th, 2012
10:06 am
Nothing that a good speech can’t fix
Dunwoody Granny
September 25th, 2012
10:06 am
USinUK, when you are elected by acclamation, would you please also use your mandate to change the national anthem? “America the Beautiful,” for instance, is lovely, has words people can understand and remember, isn’t set to a British drinking song, and has a melody that nearly anyone can sing.
I’m looking forward to naptime after you take office in January!
Marty Huggins'
September 25th, 2012
10:07 am
Aquagirl
September 25th, 2012
9:53 am
Mogadishu, Bosnia, Kosovo,
Yeah he was all about peace!
Also at his 1998 State if the Union address……….
“Together we must also confront the new hazards of chemical and biological weapons, and the outlaw states, terrorists and organized criminals seeking to acquire them. Saddam Hussein has spent the better part of this decade, and much of his nation’s wealth, not on providing for the Iraqi people, but on developing nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the missiles to deliver them”
Him ad GWB and those WMDs
getalife
September 25th, 2012
10:08 am
godless,
There was a draft.
mitt went to France and lived off his “measly” savings of millions.
You lose.
I hear the women wear no pants in the South of France.
“Wandering Tallywacker” was the mitt.
Erwin's cat
September 25th, 2012
10:10 am
godless – no difference
Whats funny is seeing people who have never served criticize those that never served for not serving
Jm
September 25th, 2012
10:10 am
“President Bush wound up letting North Korea get the bomb and they haven’t attacked anyone with it.”
A. Yes bush failure
B. At least someone has leverage over NK: China
C. No one has leverage over Iran
So nuclear Iran is a far riskier proposition.
Mick
September 25th, 2012
10:10 am
Geez…I wonder which president it was who by the law of unintended consequences strengthened iran’s postion in the middle east by taking out saddam hussein? We had saddam boxed in and he kept iran in check. The problem was shooting from the hip with no long term strategery in place, thanks dick cheney for working the “dark side, if you will”. It’s the blunder that that still haunts the world today…
curious
September 25th, 2012
10:11 am
I have little problem with draft dodgers that freely admit it; only problem I have is with draft dodgers beating their chest while advocating others go to war.
No counting the times I’ve listened to people wanting to “kick their butt” but have “more important” things to do.
If you aren’t ready to put up, you should shut up.
Marty Huggins'
September 25th, 2012
10:11 am
Aquagirl
September 25th, 2012
10:02 am
That’s funny.
I didn’t see that. I’m blaming the auto spell thing on the iPhone.
But that was witty made me chuckle in line a Subway.
Now everyone is looking at me funny
Marty Huggins'
September 25th, 2012
10:15 am
Looney Bin
September 25th, 2012
10:05 am
Not exactly.
The level of specifically what was said was brought up. Was the Stevens assasination a recent event in the middle east?
Did he make a distinction?
It was a bad political answer he is usually a better politician than that.
Partisay
September 25th, 2012
10:16 am
Stevie Ray – Noted…but was he campaigning in Vegas while the ME is on fire?
Does he expect Obama to stop campaigning because of riots in the ME? With that logic, he must have been VERY disappointed in Bush when he was out trying to get elected while we had 2 wars going on. What childish whining.
TaxPayer
September 25th, 2012
10:16 am
Whats funny is seeing people who have never served criticize those that never served for not serving
No. What’s funny is Mitt’s jet aircraft design.
Grasshopper
September 25th, 2012
10:17 am
Who knew there were so many Iranian policy experts in the ATL?
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
September 25th, 2012
10:17 am
MM,
And all the morons who want to re-elect this guy apparently overlook the fact that BO is making the same promises he failed to deliver on in 2008…DEMS like GOPs will defend even the flatulence of their candidates…
Individuals are not better off (the country collectively can be argued we are pointing to metrics…but that in no way is meaningful to the 15% out or work or underemployed on an individual basis…
End lobbyist controling DC, cutting deficit, global immigration reform (on first day of office I believe), ending gridlock in DC, hope and change (now he is telling us DC needs to be fixed by us..the outside…I thougth we provided the Hope and he provided the Change) business goes on a usual..
You can squalk all you want about how he was sabotaged etcetera, but he made these promises none of which he can keep…
Joe Hussein Mama
September 25th, 2012
10:17 am
Jm — “A. Yes bush failure”
Your concession is noted and appreciated.
And if you’re predicating our national defense strategy in Asia on China helping us out and watching out for our interests, then I can’t help you.
Jm
September 25th, 2012
10:17 am
Tony Blair: America needs to stop wanting to be loved and get down to business
Amen
Marty Huggins'
September 25th, 2012
10:19 am
TaxPayer
September 25th, 2012
10:16 am
What’s the problem?
George Jetson used to roll his window down all the time and nothing had happened!
I think he even had it down on his flight to work in the opening credits.
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
September 25th, 2012
10:20 am
PARTISAY,
So your argument is that because Bush did it, it’s ok for Obama to do it? Ergo, is he becoming Bush? At least those idiotic wars were in progress and no need for policy to come from our leader in WH…he could arguable get more votes by saying I can’t leave the WH now….after all, the only folks that go the his rallies et al are those whose vote he already possesses.
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
September 25th, 2012
10:20 am
Tony Blair: ME experiencing “growing pains”
Amen
Jm
September 25th, 2012
10:21 am
Blair: ” people need it to be strong…. Don’t worry so much about being loved. Just be strong.”