[invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, hunted them down and killed 2/3 of their leadership? What are they waiting for? Us to do something to make them really, really mad?]
Actually, yes. I moved away from New York City one month after the 9-11 attacks when an AP wire report mentioned a nuke in Manhattan and, within 10 minutes, made the wire report disappear. It spooked me. Since then I've seen Bush playing "chicken" with the enemy...basically fighting them according to rules laid out in advance so there would be no misunderstanding.
First: Bush announced a war that would last many years. Why did he do that? On September 12th, a lot of us were thinking that the slaughtering of 40 Saudi clerics and Prince Najef wouldn't take more than a week. I was thinking "What gives?" Then I realized: we were really in a cold war with a nuclear power. We would have to fight this war as a string of conventional battles where the direct leadership of the other side was never actually threatened. Just as we fought in Vietnam against the Kremlin, we ended up fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq against Rijad and Mecca.
Bush asked Al Qaeda to prove their manhood by fighting a conventional war in Afghanistan. I remember thinking "this means that they can have a nuke in Manhattan but not risk a nuclear exchange that would take Mecca out when they might actually win in Afghanistan against us...especially if the American left had lots of anti-war protests.
Then Bush telegraphed the Iraq War a year in advance. He played chicken with the enemy in Saudi Arabia. He gave them a chance to organize a left wing cold war against America that would "hold us back". Bush got our allies to hold us back on purpose and then give "insurgents" the idea that they could turn Iraq into another Vietnam. It may have been more than just the Flypaper Effect Bush was after.
The way to stop a nuke from exploding is to always give the enemy reason to believe that they can win another way and that they are winning the other way. America's left wing seems to be helping Al Qaeda decide that America can be defeated from within, without a nuclear exchange.
I don't see Bush doing what needs to be done in Syria and Iran now that they have crossed the line with the London bombings. This says to me: they have nukes in US cities. Otherwise, we would liberate those two countries. The London bombings show me that the other side feels comfortable with bringing small bombings to England because they have drawn a line in the sand that we cannot cross in retaliation. The London bombings show me that a new Cold War has begun. We are only allowed to retaliate with subway bombings of our own (which we will not do) but I understand that they will no longer tolerate anymore regime changes. We can do nothing about the London bombings but treat it as a criminial investigation. If the investigation shows Syrian connections, our own government will downplay these findings or bury them.
I don't get any idea at all that nukes are NOT in American cities. I am NOT living in an American city until the government tells me the truth about what THEY know.
One reason why I would like to see war in Iran is precisely so that I know they don't have nukes in the USA.
Where, for instance, are Jenna and Barbara Bush living? If one of them is in Manhattan, then I would admit to being wrong about this. I want to be wrong here.
Similar thing happened in Boston. There was a report of some device found in Peabody - a town just north of Logan Airport. It was on the radio and on Boston.com. There seems to be no trace of that report.
Puh-leeze. The reason we haven't started a war in Iran and Syria (both at once?) is obvious (it would cost too much and require too many people). No tinfoil-hattery required.
""I want to be wrong here.""
you are.
You won't see a war in Iran. You will see a strike that eliminates Iran's nuke plant and possibly some critical parts of the fuel fabrication process. I don't think Israel has received the bunker busters we sold them yet.
Once those are staged. A bunch of Iran's facilities will go POOF soon after. Other than using our air and naval power to safeguard the Strait of Hormuz and eliminate any Iranian military asset that gets out of line., I think it's going to be a wham bam, eff you Iran.
If Iran wants to carry things further, it'll be death from above for their forces.
Alex Jones? You're here?