Posted on 07/16/2006 4:32:19 AM PDT by Alas Babylon!
The Talk Shows
Sunday, July 16th, 2006
Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows:
FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Sens. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and George Allen, R-Va.; Philippe Cousteau, president of Earth Echo International.
MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del.; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; columnist Robert Novak.
FACE THE NATION (CBS): Rice; Richard Haass, Council on Foreign Relations president; Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif.
THIS WEEK (ABC): Rice; Madeleine Albright, former secretary of state; Kerri Strug, Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics.
LATE EDITION (CNN) : White House counselor Dan Bartlett; Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres; Imad Moustapha, Syrian ambassador to the U.S.; Sens. Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Mouwafak al-Rubaie, Iraqi national security adviser; Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri; space shuttle astronauts.
#247, Chrissie as usual is stuck on the past. It never ceases to amaze me how the Demoratzis never look forward, they are always looking back on a World that is constantly changing, as must strategies to handle these positions in flux.They have the cajones to say the Conservatives are either not willing to move forward or are reactionary. All they do is accuse and wah wah. It is quite the Contrary to what they complain about to the DBM. Who are the bold decision makers, it is certainly not the DBM/DNC wussies.
You and Punkin both make good points although I'm inclined to agree with you...
But doesn't your favorable analysis of President Bush's strategy assume him having a successor elected who will continue it?
No one really knows what either one will do next. We face and have faced many other super powers with far more superior nuclear capacity but also with relative common sense. An enemy who is totally out of it, is far more dangerous. Like Newt said today Lil' Kim has starved so much of his population that over the last generation they have lost 3 inches in overall growth. And ahmaddinejad stil thinks some 8 year old kid who fell in a well in 800 Ad is going to come out and save the day. Crazy is as crazy does.
I think the Taliban would beg to differ. However, you are right to point out the danger of overestimating the sanity of our foes. Wars usually start because one side seriously underestimates their foes. I think, like the Nazis, it is entirely probable the North Koreans and the Iranians will seriously underestimate the American people. They might actually think they can get away with using Terrorist proxies against us. Frankly my heart is with Newt and strongly wishes for us to strip off the gloves, throw down with the Israelis now and simply put an end to these scum. However my brain understands the difference between what is desirable and what is doable.
If it is Powell (or Armitage), the press will give the "inadvertent leak" a pass. My bet is on either Alan Foley (if you have read his testimony from the Bolton confirmation hearings, he gets side tracked a lot. He might actually have said it in passing without realizing what he said) or James Pavitt. I also don't think Novak is trying to protect his source, but rather trying to get back into the good graces of his fellow journalists. (My opinion of Novak is right up there with my opinion of Fitz).
#262, I am not surprised that Mccain would lower himself to that level. Maybe he ought to go to Playgirl and do a Centerfold. I will guarantee that his career would be over especially when they have to treat Millions of People for extreme nausea and vomiting in ER"s all over America,and the only link is that they looked at that (proposed) Centerfold. LOL!
Thanks fishtalk great job an all you do.
Neither. The political class and the punditry may have forgotten 09-11-01 but I most heartily assure you the vast majority of American Voters most certainly have not.
Most of the other arab countries are sick and tired of the palestinians. They destabilize every country and cause problems for the leaders.
Things are changing and that's why the terrorists are acting now.
There's one dynamic here that isn't being discussed by the DBM. Almost all of the Arab states, except Syria, are blaming this on Hezbollah. Both Hezbollah and Syria are clients of Iran and Iran is not an Arab state. They are Persian, and they are the rivals of the Arab (Sunni) powers in the region.
And I'm convinced that what you're saying about the Palestinian's is absolutely correct. These leaders want to move on and start to reap some of the rewards of their wealth. The smart ones also want to position their countries for when the oil wealth falters.
As always, it's far more complex than the DBM are able to percieve and certainly more complex than what they choose to tell us.
Very good example of their TARGET audience..
Like Rush says, anyone who sits on fence and doesn't come down on either side of an argument is not to be trusted.
#266, great rant PD I agree mostly with what you said except I think we are on the verge of WWIII,but not there yet. This would be a great opportunity, and Worthless leaders like in France and other Radical Muslim Growing (by the scads) Countries need to step up and be a part of this or they can go straight to Hell.
you could let him travel if you signed him up for FR and then pinged him on the important threads. that would keep him current.
And we all love you here, so we assume that someone who knows you better than we do must also.
The problem is crying victim has always worked in the past, first the drivers-by demagogue bad ol' Israel until we get them to stop killing off terrorists.
Lebanon has no reason to think it will be any different this time.So it's tiny tears time.
Hmmm pity I am here and you are there. I know a number of really great cures for head-aches.....
#270, Juan is such an immature twit, what he knows about discovery is basically what 8 year olds talk about on the playground after they watched MTV.
Great minds, and all that. I just posted the same advice to EC!
Wild horses armed w/AK-47s could not drive me away from FR, rodguy!
You can't be serious. Except for modern weaponry, the North Koreans and Iranians can't compare with the professionalism and effectiveness of the Nazis and Japanese. They had the ability to project power with superior logistics and military expertise.
North Korea has 5,800,000 military personnel, one million of them on active duty, mostly at the border with South Korea. They have 1,600 tanks and 6,500 aircraft, along with 21,000 artillery tubes. Iran has 18,000,000 military personnel, with 300,000 on active duty. They have 1,000 aircraft, 2,300 tanks and 4,500 artillery tubes. Those tanks and planes are so much more capable of wrecking destruction on a broad scale than the World War 2 equivalents that even a brief conflict can be devastating.
Numbers are meaningless as Saddam proved. The Iranians could only achieve a stalemate with Iraq after 8 years of fighting. The Iranians would fold like a cheap suit when faced with a real military force like the US or the Israelis for that matter. To compare these ragtag armies with the Nazis and Japanese is laughable.
FYI: The Nazis had 9.5 million under arms and the Japanese about 4 million. They killed over 40 million military personnel and civilians. They overan most of Europe, Asia, and North Africa.
And think about Iran's ability to destroy our economy by denying us access to oil. They can plant crude nuke "mines" in the straight's of Hormuz and shut off that oil completely. Korea is in a position to strangle our trade with the far east with similar devices. And before you say that that's crazy and would cut their own throats, France was Germany's largest trading partner before Germany invaded.
LOL. Do you really believe that we would allow that to happen? If the Iranians mined the strait of Hormuz, it would be an act of war, which would be met with overwhelming force. The same holds true with North Korea. Both of these "powers" lack the ability to project military force. Logisitics wins wars and that is something they both lack along with command in control to achieve dominance over the battlefield.
Perhaps more importantly the leadership of both Iran and Northa Korea are irrational. Ahmaddinejad believes that his mission is to start the war of Armageddon and he has the capability to do just that. Lil Kim just thinks he's god.
I don't believe that for a minute. Their statements and actions are calculated to elicit certain reactions and responses. They are not suicidal nor are they irrational.
I never assume that irrational people will take a rational look at balance of forces and "do the right thing." And a nuke will ruin your whole day. More importantly a nuke detonated above the atmosphere will result in an EMP that will destroy virtually all electronic and most electrical systems anywhere in direct line of sight. That would ruin our whole society for quite some time to come.
And if such weapon were to be used, Iran or NK would cease being nations. The primary threat that Iran and to a less extent NK pose to us is the state sponsorship of global terrorism and the possibility they will provide surrogates with WMD. They don't pose a real military threat to the US recognizing that any direct confrontation will result in their demise.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.