I wonder if it’s okay…
…to call Ahmadinejad a liar?
Emboldened by recent events (you can take your pick as to what they might be, there are so many to choose from), Iran’s President makes his most unequivocal statement of Holocaust denial so far:
Mr. Ahmadinejad said confrontation with Israel was a “national and religious duty” and that the Holocaust was “a lie” used as a pretext for the country’s creation in 1948. Although he has called the Holocaust a “myth” in the past, provoking angry reactions in the West, he does not appear to have used the word “lie” in connection with it before.
Note the first part of the statement, too: it’s a national and religious duty to “confront” (wonder what the actual untranslated word is?) Israel.
The White House response so far:
The president’s press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said that by denying that the Holocaust took place was “ignorant, hateful and would isolate Iran further from the world.”
“Obviously, we condemn what he said,” Mr. Gibbs told reporters.
Obviously. It would be even more obvious if Obama could manage to join Gibbs in saying so, too.
And that might actually happen. But it would hardly matter if it did, because Obama gave Ahmadinejad a huge gift yesterday, as Ahmadinejad is well aware.
Neo, you can call him anything you want, ‘cept late for Armageddon.
Rassmussen has Obama at -8 today. Strongly Approve 32, Approve 16, Strongly Disapprove 40, so Disapprove 12.
Looks to me like overall approval is down, so some Approves have become Disapproves in the last week.
Foreign policy missteps have stopped the Big Speech Bounce.
Ahmadinejad is a mad little man, but he will prevail.
Once Iran has the bomb all they need do is provoke Israel into attacking first. Let us suppose that Israel has ten, twenty or even a hundred or so weapon-ready nuclear devices. Iran is as large as the Western United States – it is enormous. Israel could expend its entire arsenal and still not put a dent in Iran’s ability to counter-attack.
Iran need only launch, drop, drive or float one primitive Hirsoshima sized “gun” fission weapon into Tel Aviv and it’s game over.
The only hope is to prevent Iran from getting the bomb.
Fat chance. The U.S. won’t attack and Israel is incapable of launching a debilitating attack. The only hope is to sway the Russians and the Chinese and isolate Iran, then place Israel under our protective umbrella. The Democrats think that the persona of Obama will make it so.
They are complete fools.
What did Sir Winston Churchill say? Ah!
“Doom marches on”
How ’bout psychotic f**k’n liar?
I don’t think Iran will use a nuke to attack Israel. I think Iran’s strategy is to create such existential anxiety that young Israeli Jews will conclude that they have a better future outside of Israel–for example, in the US–than inside. Perhaps they can empower the Israeli peace lobby to seek appeasement. Demographics and despair will do the rest.
> “Obviously, we condemn what he said,” Mr. Gibbs told reporters.
Let me translate:
“BAD Ahminajad!!
BAD!!
BAD!!
Ok, we’re done.”
> Once Iran has the bomb all they need do is provoke Israel into attacking first.
LOL, and how do you figure they’re going to do that without attacking directly?
You also presume Israeli intelligence isn’t up to the task of knowing where their bombs will do the most good.
Not to suggest I consider all this GOOD, mind you, but you vastly underestimate the direct threat that Iran represents.
Israel’s problem is that no matter WHAT happens, their response will be “inappropriate” to the antiZionists.
> Not to suggest I consider all this GOOD, mind you, but you vastly underestimate the direct threat that Iran represents.
LOL “overestimate”.
Foreign policy missteps have stopped the Big Speech Bounce.
Yes. Although foreign policy may not be as important as domestic policy in the eyes of the voters it still plays a part in the voters’ overall perception of any President and so far Obama is not doing so well. In this area there are some troublesome chickens that may come home to roost in time for the 2012 elections.
For an excellent summary of Obama’s foreign policy failures to date see the below by David Frum:
http://tinyurl.com/krhurm
… Israel is incapable of launching a debilitating attack.
Israel may be able to set Iran’s timetable back a year or two. Time will tell but the Israeli intelligence agencies, the Mossad, the Shin Bet and the Aman, are known as three of the finest, if not the finest in the world. Israel does not lack for military hardware. Keep in mind that there are some Middle Eastern nations, such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, Kuwait and Turkey, that may not want Iran to nuke up and could be of assistance to the Israelis.
The real question in my mind is whether the Israelis will strike, not that they could strike. There are many factors in play but if I had to bet I would have to place my money on an Israeli strike.
as i said in response to neo in another thread when she mentioned their nuclear capabilities. i said they already had it, the tech is pre 1950, and delivery and enough for another few are needed to be effective. i even mentioned the annex.
IAEA secret report: Iran worked on nuclear warhead’Secret annexe’ to UN nuclear inspection agency report reveals Iran has ‘sufficient information’ to make a nuclear weapon
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/18/iran-nuclear-warhead-iaea-report/print
You heavily over-estimate the Israeli Intelligence capability – the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War is stark testimony to that fact.
Regardless.
Iran’s nuclear production industry is both widely dispersed and heavily bunkered. Despite the best Israeli intelligence they do not have the technology to effect it by striking preemptively – nor do they have the international cover to launch such an attack. Much less the fact that a primitive 20 kt yield U-235 gun fission device can be hidden anywhere.
But, to answer your question:
Easy, other than as a desperate response to actionable intelligence of an imminent threat, Israel will not attack. They’ve already calibrated the futility of such an action. Israeli overtures to the contrary are designed to provoke an international response to isolate Iran – that is Israel’s best and only hope.
Pingback:Webloggin » Ahmadinejad And His Enablers