Is a U.S.-Iran War Inevitable?

TIME ^ | Robert Baer, former CIA field officer

[maquiladora]

You wouldn't be wrong to wonder if Iran hasn't lost its mind seizing the fifteen British marines and sailors, and in so doing, handing Bush a causus belli even he couldn't have imagined.

But then again you'd be missing the grim fatalism that has settled over Iran of late, the resigned belief that a war with the U.S. is all but inevitable.

(...snip...)

I called up an Arab Gulf security official and asked him what he thought about it all. He said the view from his side of the Gulf is that if Iran does not soon release the Brits, a war between the U.S. and Iran is in the cards. "I for one am taking all the cash I can out of my ATM," he said before he hanging up.

[BurbankKarl]

[snarks_when_bored]

$10,000, huh? Uh, if you could find that offer, please...!? (grin)

[naturalized]

And now you understand the rope-a-dope on Iraq. Iraq was always win-win. Either a clear political victory and peace, or the current situation that tempted Iran to overplay its hand. Anne Richards is shaking her head.

[spokeshave]

"I for one am taking all the cash I can out of my ATM," he said before he hanging up.

I wish I had my own ATM.

Next best thing is a Carbon Credit company...like the one Al Goron has

[bvw]

Sad Fact: They are already at war with us. They've already murdered hundreds, possibly thousands, of our fellow citizens in that war.

[ken21]

i doubt it.

we lost the iraq war due to the leftist media and the incompetence of bush, cheney, rumsfeld, bremmer.

consequently, we've got a democrap u.s. congress and they're not going to approve of any iran war.

[bvw]

One, you should study our history more. Washington lost and lost and lost, all the way until his defeat was obvious to all in November 1776. When I say his defeat was obvious, I am understating the sense of the time. That the rebels were fully defeated beyond question was obvious to all, so obvious that the British General in New York then -- a very capable man and General too -- did not even feel that any further military effort need be wasted against the rebels. The despicable remnant would melt away cold, sick, hungry and unpaid before spring thaw.

Two: Rumsfeld is one of the most capable men in our nation's history. Cheney is a genius and Bush is rock-solid four-square honest and sharp.

[ken21]

i read history.

i really doubt that our present circumstances are analogous.

but, i hope you're right and i'm wrong.

p.s. we can't control the gangs in los angeles, for example, so how could we control iraq? etc.

[bvw]

Oh, we could control the LA Gangs in a few weeks. It takes resolve. LA lacks resolve. The US national resolve, according to the media, is impaired. It isn't, it has hidden deep wells. And fortunately we still have folks with resolve fighting this war against terror -- this war against tyrannical, fanatic Islam.

[gogogodzilla]

Five minute war.

Nuclear bunker commanders receive orders, read orders, insert keys, turn, look at big red button, and press.

Missiles fly.

Hit Iranian targets.

Boom.

See the nuclear wasteland of Iran.

War over.

---

See? So much faster.

[ken21]

you put your finger on the problem!

no one is going to do that. or in any other city in the u.s., or even france, for that matter.

can the french control the urban youts?

the illegal drug trade is the real reason that our gangs can't be controlled and the real reason why our borders can't be controlled.

no one's going to interfere with the mexican and american officials that make a killing off of drugs.

[Prost1]

You read my earlier posts....

Nah...I know there are others out there whose minds
have not been turned into cheese by the MSM.

[gogogodzilla]

I really don't see why we have this fixation on 'invading' Iran. That would take a lot of money, men, and material... which are in short supply nowadays (with a Democrap Congress)

But... BUT...

We do have the ability to destroy Iran. Make it a wasteland. Obliterate it's government, it's military, it's infrastructure, and it's populace.

If we do that, Iran ceases to be a problem. Although, it does cause pain and suffering to one of our enemies.

GASP!

(Imagine that, combat that inflicts pain and suffering onto our enemies.)

And thanks to precision guided weaponry, we Americans cannot even contemplate war that inflicts pain and suffering upon our enemies.

[baubau]

No.

[gogogodzilla]

Except that it would only require Iran to sink two or three tankers at the Straits of Hormouz to blockade all shipping into or out of the region. Heck, an Iranian swimmer with a limpet mine could plant one on the hull of a ship for later detonation (like, at the straits).

And if Iran has nothing more to ship... what's there for it to lose?

:-(

[R.W.Ratikal]

War between Iran and the U.S. is not likely. What is more probable is a war between Israel and Iran. The great danger to America in such a war is economic. Oil prices would skyrocket and our economy would collapse.

It is in Red China's interest, for example, not to allow that to happen so China would probably not support Iran. Russia, our traditional enemy, is in disarray and would also probably not come in on Iran's side.

Left alone a war between Israel and Iran would last about a week and a half before Iran and its terrorist allies would be kaput.

Don't be fooled into thinking the war in Lebanon was an example of Israel s's ability to fight a real war. In that conflict the Bush administration held Israel back. In a war for survival with Iran Israel would kick butt and take names for sure.