Building a Case for War in Iran

Yankee Sailor ^ | May 11, 2008 | Staff

[freerepublic_or_die]

Most of us that were around in 2003 still remember the run up to the invasion of Iraq well. And, it seems the puzzle pieces are falling into place with Iran. First, there was the recent tough talk from Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen.

Last week, there were Admiral Mullen’s comments:
Late last week, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, pointed to the Qods Force for its “increasingly lethal and malign influence” in Iraq. Adm. Mullen added that evidence would be publicized in the coming days that newly made Iranian armaments are being smuggled into Iraq at an increasing rate. These reports echo the information I revealed in February about the Qods Force’s new military/political infrastructure, designed to expand its operations inside Iraq.

Why now? Simply put, the ayatollahs and their primary mover and shaker in Iraq, the Qods Force, are going for broke before they lose their “Iraq opportunity.” Then, on the 29th, Secretary Gates weighed in:
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday that sending a second aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf could serve as a ” reminder” to Iran, but he said it is not an escalation of force.

Speaking to reporters after meeting with Mexican leaders, Gates said heightening U.S. criticism of Iran and its support for terrorist groups is not a signal that the administration is laying the groundwork for a strike against Tehran.

Still, he said Iran continues to back the Taliban in Afghanistan.

“I do not have a sense at this point of a significant increase in Iranian support for the Taliban and others opposing the government in Afghanistan,” Gates said. “There is, as best I can tell, a continuing flow, but I would still characterize it as relatively modest.”

[freerepublic_or_die]

I see Iran's ever-increasing danger to the world as somewhat reminiscent of the original Planet of the Apes, where Taylor, the astronaut played by the late Charlton Heston approaches with great dismay, trepidation the remnant of one of our most iconic symbols, laid waste by what he ostensibly concludes was the result of a nuclear detonation. The Iranians seem to make for the perfect match as nemesis, their nuclear terrorism, unbridled enmity towards the Great Satan, the Maniacs as alluded to in Taylor's angst-ridden lament, last but least, their simian-like physiognomy, brutish demeanor, limited intelligence and deplorable body odor.

You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!

Harangue-a-tan:Long-winded diatribe against the enemies of Gorillakind

[RachelFaith]

It’s like the very old saying... Get them before they get us... especially when they’re making PROMISES to get us.

[forYourChildrenVote4Bush]

you are 100% correct....

Which US government will get them before they get the US?? Who will do it....isn't 911 enough of a sucker punch???

how many more??????? How many Americans need to be murdered before Iran is dealt with properly???? Iran knows they can kill X amount of Americans. X is acceptable by the American government...The same way Israel accepts an X number of Israeli deaths....

What is that X+1 number??? 1 American is to much, if an American government had dealt with 1 American death properly, there would not have been a 911...It will go nuclear...

[SatinDoll]

What needs to be done immediately is to start selling the coming war with Iran to the American people.

George Bush, God Bless him! - is one poor communicator who did not sell the necessity of the Iraq war to our citizens as he should have done.

Saddam Hussein violated the Desert Storm Armistice he signed with over a hundred allied nations. He sponsored attacks against the American people and never stopped shooting at our military forces in the ME. The Bush administration dropped the ball on stating the case for RESUMING THE WAR by claiming the right of pre-emptive attack.

The radical Mullahs in Iran have organized and conducted terrorist attacks against the U.S. both within our borders and abroad for 30-years. Enough is enough! But the Bushies have got to sell our people on this idea - and they better do it better this time than last time or all hell is going to break loose in domestic politics IMHO.

[af_vet_rr]

Regardless of how it would/could be sold, a war with Iran would insure the Republicans would lose the White House for several years to come. It doesn't matter whether it's justified or not. Bush is clearly not the leader we need for a war with Iran - as you yourself pointed out, Bush was a poor communicator when it came to selling the war with Iraq, and I have no doubt that he would also do a piss-poor job selling a war with Iran, and given his approval numbers (even the most optimistic), a war with Iran would most definitely see Obama headed to the White House.

On top of that, we would need to increase the caps on the military to handle a third theater, as well as to handle the influx of Iranian troops formally entiring Afghanistan and Iraq (they've been informally training all sorts of bad guys from day one, and our troops have killed plenty of them, but the floodgates would be opened and they would pour into Iraq and Afghanistan to create problems for us in already problematic areas) and it would take a lot of time. We can't just ramp up the military after we've already had six and a half years in Afghanistan and five in Iraq - we have a lot of equipment that needs repairs and replacement, and we have a lot of troops that would be headed towards their fourth, fifth, and possibly sixth tours were we to enter 2009 with an additional war.

Also, we'd have to go into a severe stop-loss mode where nobody is let out of the military, where people are called back in large numbers, and where we would have to re-assign a lot of people to various positions.

Finally, and most importantly, if we started a war with Iran this year, and it was quickly ended by whatever administration took over in 2009, then we would be doing a disservice to those troops and our allies who would fight such a war. I don't know that we have any allies that would support us outside of Britain, Australia, Italy, Poland, and Canada (although I'm sure the Saudis would love for us to go after Iran). We can't expect Israel to help us, because Israel entering such a war would drag her neighbors into a war against her and that's a pretty damn tall order to ask of them.

If only McCain were a good communicator, there would be a chance to sell our European allies on such a war - they know they are the #1 target for Iran right now given the range of Iran's missiles, and we would clearly love to remove that capability before we get within the range of their missiles. Unfortunately McCain is like Bush, a poor communicator when it comes to such things.

[RachelFaith]

Sadly, I do not think there is ANY will to do what must be done to avoid the horrid reality which is surely coming.

It will have to happen before we do anything...

If you live in one of the larger 10 cities... GET OUT NOW!

[freerepublic_or_die]

Thank you for your comments

My feelings about President Bush and that of yours is one and the same. I have a great affinity for him as wholly honorable, noble and just, and it pains me to no end to see how world events have not resulted in the fortuitous circumstances he had envisioned and hoped to engender.

I remember the sense of awe I had for the President,ecstatic that his place in history was secure as one of the greatest of men, his audacious bravery, vision in which he dared at nothing less than the unprecendeted transformation of the political social order for the bettterment of the region, the people, the world.

But in retrospect I am fully aware, cognizant of the very historical, cultural mechanisms that doomed the President's altruistic beneficience, vision from its very inception.

Quite frankly. I fear with the greatest trepidation the utter malevolence and catastrophe our civilization, our western civlization in particular, Mankind in general, will soon be forced to confront vis a vis the greatest threat in the history of the world in the guise of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

[Stayfree]

Unfortunately, it took a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese to awaken the sleeping giant, which ultimately caused two of their cities to wish the sleeping giant had never been attacked. Obviously, the sand lizards in Iran have forgotten that we have enough nuclear weapons to make Iran an underwater glass parking lot. Not wise to awaken a sleeping giant with tens of thousands of nukes. But if Iran is that stupid to push the U.S. over the line...if that is what it takes, go right ahead and awaken the sleeping giant! It’s like watching a mouse trying to steal the last bit of peanut butter out of the mouse trap...SNAP...GAME OVER, YOU LOSE!

[freerepublic_or_die]

Much to my chagrin I must agree with your comments.

Please review my own thoughts on this issue as conveyed to Satin doll in post number 7. Thank you.

[Clintonfatigued]

There is a complication- the United States is already conducting two wars (Iraq and Afghanistan). A third was should be avoided if possible.

[RachelFaith]

The mouse trap analogy works.... except that it means one of the cats must DIE first... like say “Chicago”...

3 or 4 million dead is a pretty high price to pay for a wake up call.

[phillyfanatic]

That is why our prayers should be with Bibi to take over in Israel and rid themselves of Olmert the bozo. Israle may have to do what we cannot. Actually dispose of nuclear threats in the ME.

[RachelFaith]

Yea !!

Bibi !!!!!

[ROCKLOBSTER]

dispose of nuclear threats in the ME.

Actually, the liberals took out Maine Yankee decades ago.

[Rapscallion]

Stayfree (SEND THEM ALL BACK ON FOOT!!)

Ahhh yes. What would the Romans do?

[Chode]

[purpleraine]

Building? We’ve had one for 30 years.

[freerepublic_or_die]

Ha ha. Yeah. The “building” must have pierced the stratosphere by now and still no end in sight.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

We forget that we are merely a few generations, now involved in a very, very long lived conflict. We’re talking thousands of years, and always centered in Mesopotamia.

[matthew fuller]

" last but least, their simian-like physiognomy, brutish demeanor, limited intelligence and deplorable body odor. "

Please take a few minutes and tell us how you really feel. (I already think that I concur.)

[agere_contra]

There is a complication- the United States is already conducting two wars (Iraq and Afghanistan). A third was should be avoided if possible.

The thing is: the West is already at war with Iran. They attack our troops and we do nothing except tighten our already impossible ROE and pay more for petrol.

A real war can be won. An unacknowledged war cannot be won.

[af_vet_rr]

We've killed plenty of Iranians inside of Iraq (and a few in Afghanistan), but you're right, it's undeclared and it doesn't stem the tide.

The problem is neither Bush nor McCain can sell such a war, and Bush has not prepared us for such a war - After 9/11, it should have been crystal clear that we needed to drastically ramp up the size of the military (perhaps even back to Gulf War I days) and we really haven't done that.

As I said earlier in the thread, you'd have to run stop-loss to 100%, and you'd have to call back a lot of people, and we would need a massive investment in the military and I don't see Congress or the American public supporting any of that.

[Ulysse]

The best way would be that ISRAEL launches the attack on IRAN... I guess that Israelis Jews doesn't want Oubama as POTUS...

[phillyfanatic]

LOL, yeah and Vermont is the Soviet Republic of New England too. Sanders et al. I wonder if ole John could snip Maine and NH away from the Dems?

[forYourChildrenVote4Bush]

Its very simple, Israel has to initiate a war with Iran...Thats how America gets involved...

Thats it..You have to get rid of Iranian Nukes, its in Israels interest and in the interest of America....It has to be done at any cost.

[af_vet_rr]

If it were that simple, it would have already been done. Nothing in the Middle East is simple.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

I wonder if ole John could snip Maine and NH away from the Dems?

I doubt it, Maine is pretty seriously RAT.

[forYourChildrenVote4Bush]

nobody wants war....its easy for me to sit here behind my computer and say WAR WAR WAR...

But, like in WWII this time war needs to be started...because if its not them its going to be us and THEY (Iran and the rest of the Muslims) have said this with words and actions...

[onedoug]

Building?...

[af_vet_rr]

nobody wants war....its easy for me to sit here behind my computer and say WAR WAR WAR...

But, like in WWII this time war needs to be started...because if its not them its going to be us and THEY (Iran and the rest of the Muslims) have said this with words and actions...

Yes, it's very easy for us to chant "WAR WAR WAR" behind our keyboards, but when push comes to shove, we are not ready for war from a national or military perspective.

Bush refused to substantially increase the size of the military after 9/11 when it was clear that we would be fighting wars that could rage for years (and when he had a friendly Congress), he refused to do so after we invaded Iraq (he still had a fairly friendly Congress), and because of everything that has happened since, we are now in a position where it would be incredibly difficult, if not impossible for the boots on the ground to handle a 3rd, 4th, and 5th front (i.e. - Iranian troops flooding into Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as our troops entering Iran proper).

Iran is not Iraq of 2003 - she has a very modern military (thanks to the Chinese and Russians and North Koreans), and unlike Iraq of 2003, has not faced over a decade of embargoes and the like.

Sure, we could destroy a lot of the major military capacity with our carriers and our bombers and fighters, but in the end, if we don't go in on the ground, then it's all for nothing, because they will flood Iraq and Afghanistan with Iranian troops, which will make those situations a 1000 times worse, and we'll end up with three unstable countries clustered together, one of whom has the personnel and equipment to actually construct WMDs.

In other words, if we don't do it right, our children and their children will have to keep coming back and fighting the same fight over and over (and I have my doubts about the next generation of leadership being willing to fight those kinds of wars).

Do we need to take out Iran? Absolutely, unfortunately we ended up with a President and staff that refused to prepare us for the long fight ahead and because Bush did such a piss-poor job of selling the war in Iraq, there is no way he (or McCain) could get the nation behind a war with Iran.