Monday, July 02, 2007

A beautiful day for a neighbor, would you be mine?


Imagine a submarine rising to the surface in the Gulf of Mexico. It starts to shell Galveston, and fire missiles toward Houston.

Imagine a freighter anchored near San Diego, which suddenly starts lobbing missiles toward Sea World.

Imagine a Lear Jet cruising the Great Lakes firing wing-mounted rockets into Niagara Falls.

What would be the chances that Mexico, or Canada, would come to the aid of the US in such a circumstance? If the obvious assumption were true, that it was an attack by a foreign country, I'm pretty sure they would send aid, troops, hardware, as their resources permitted. After all, the areas I mention are close to Mexico and Canada, and they would likely feel threatened by such actions too.

Is it any wonder then that Iran might be sending help (as they perceive help) to the Iraqi insurgents, many of whom by now are fighting no each other but the US occupation? Yet somehow this point seems to be missing from most current discussion of Iran/Iraq.

Glenn Greenwald has this dissection of the latest stenography supporting the Invade Iran™ position:
Every paragraph in this article -- literally -- does one of two things: (1) uncritically recites the U.S. military's accusations against the Iranian government, and/or (2) offers assertions from Gordon himself designed to bolster those accusations (e.g., "There is also extensive intelligence that Iran has supplied Shiite militants with the most lethal type of roadside bomb in Iraq" and "In Washington, Bush Administration officials have generally held open the possibility that the Quds Force activities might have been carried out without the knowledge of Iran's senior leaders").

Seriously. What do these people think. Clearly the Weekly Standard neocons want an expanded war, for purportedly ideological, and privately profitable reasons, but Glenn points out the military leaders that want additional war. Never mind that there isn't enough armor, there aren't enough vehicles and munitions, and you know, troops, to take action now.

Still, it seems the best way to avoid being attacked by People Who Don't Like You™ is to not attack them or their friends. That was pretty easy to figure out by about 3rd grade. For most people. Unless you really intend to steal their lunchbox, in which case they might fight back.

Im not sure who is in charge of the military right now, but it looks like one of these two people:


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