Posted on 03/14/2006 12:04:04 PM PST by aculeus
[snip] Congressmen should beware of underestimating this president as others have done in the past. They should remember that a second-term president is not necessarily a lame duck. He is also a man with nothing to lose.
So my guess is that Bush is going to bite back. And the obvious way for him to do this is over Iran. Last Tuesday Vice-President Dick Cheney gave a speech in which he bluntly declared: "We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon." Remind you of anything? It was Cheney who set the pace four years ago, as the administration prepared to confront Iraq, insisting that Saddam already possessed weapons of mass destruction. And the same sequence of events now looks set to replay itself.
The United States is going to ask the UN Security Council to impose sanctions if Iran does not halt its programme of uranium enrichment. The other permanent members won't agree. And then… Well, when those missiles slam into the Iranian nuclear facilities, don't say I didn't warn you.
Harvard's revolution was a reminder that in academic politics the stakes are relatively low. Larry Summers may even find he is happier back in the classroom, teaching the subject he loves. But where the stakes are high - and they don't get any higher than American national security - the presidents are harder to roll over. The next time you hear the word "duck" in Washington, my advice would be to do just that.
• Niall Ferguson is Laurence A Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University www.niallferguson.org
© Niall Ferguson, 2006
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Actually, this is an easy one for GW Bush. Give the Iranians plenty of warning, but no specifics. Give them every opportunity to conform. If not not then destroy all of their oil producing capacity right down to the last drop, destroy all their known, unknown and suspected nuclear sites, destroy all of the Syrian military from the air, and this fiasco will be over. The Iranian economy will collapse overnight, the Iranian people will overthrow thes fanatics. The Syrian Goivernment will fall and Hamas and the boys will begin to tow the line. Some pain, yes, but I'll bet you Chavez does not hold back one drop of oil to the USA. Let the backboneless Europeans take the pain of no Iranian oil!!! They deserve it.
Iran is an importer of refined petroleum products. Taking out their one refinery would inflict great pain.
The oil card, seems to be the only obsitacle the third world has to toss on the table.
I say we cast our gage, and follow through, all the way.
We will then take the oil we need, and leave payment for those left to collect.
Ops4 God Bless America!
What a great plan that is. I agree with all of it.
1. What do you expect the proposed action will do to the the oil prices here domestically? I would expect them to shoot up, not sure how much. You know how these over emotional traders are.
2. Do you seriously expect Bush to order destruction of the Iranian oil refineries?
3. Do you seriously expect Bush to order the destruction of the Syrian military even by air?
11 “And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore: 12 merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; 13 and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men. 14 The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you,[e] and you shall find them no more at all. 15 The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16 and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! 17 For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance 18 and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’
19 “They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’
20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles[f] and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!”
Excellent line
Look, at the end of the day GW Bush has all the cards in his hands. Yes, oil prices will go up, the fact is we get very little oil from Iran. And...screw the rest of the world. We should protect India, the United Kingdom, Australia, Poland, Costa Rica and the rest of the coalition states. If Chavez burps, we should put him to rest quickly. Remember, the USA is still the most powerful nation in the world. We need to get a little more like the Roman Empire when it was at its peak, talk, try sincerely to make peace when possible, when not possible, destroy!!! I actually believe if GW told the Iranian leadership what was coming, the solution would be immediate without any military action. They know who holds the real cards.
After the election in November, he'll have nothing left to lose. Right now, he's got the House and the Senate and probably one or two Supreme Court seats.
Alas the rest of the world's consumers will bid for whatever oil is on the market. Make no mistake: removal of Iran's production would cause the world price to skyrocket.
You are exactly correct. Some people simply don't understand how markets work, or the concept of fungibility.
With his current approval ratings in the low 30's, Bush wont be helping too many Republicans during these mid-term elections. The Dubai Port deal was very illustrative.
As history as shown us however, Presidential approval ratings rise quite dramatically when a new war breaks out. Taking on the Mullahs may be the only way Bush can elevate his approval ratings. Especially right after the port deal where the Rino's and Dino's foolishly tried to make Bush look soft on the war on terror.
Wow, it's Cheney's fault we're in Iraq? And all this time the left-leaning media has been blaming it on Bush's lying. Go figure.
Me, I"ll take the pain to get rid of Iran. Plus all you doom and gloomers have never been right with your predictions. You should go on the Chris Matthews show. He lives in a dreamland with Howard "I have never been right about one thing" Fineman. You want to cure the "Middle East" problem? The solution is right in front of your nose. Iran has no economy other then its oil!!!
Nonsense. The President would never put our military in harms way for such reasons. Bush, thank goodness, doesn't lead based on polls.
Theoretically, if GWB was concerned about the election, he would look for a way to raise his approval ratings. GWB puts country before party. His low approval ratings however should not be seen by the mullahs as a green light to nuke Israel and a few European capitals. It seems ridiculous to me to base ones opinions of GWB on how 'well behaved' the desert trash in Iraq is. That desert trash is driving the polls down through the treasonous terrorist apologizing dinosaur media.
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