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The Spectacle Blog
Actually, there were opponents and even some supporters of the Iraq war who saw increased Iranian power as a risk of regime change. They weren’t necessarily correct in all their predictions — they tended to think Iraq would have to fall apart for Iran to be empowered, for example. But given that Iraq’s role as a counterweight to Iran had long been a key part of the United States’ strategic interests there and that this was one of many factors that militated against going all the way to Baghdad in the first Persian Gulf War, this development can’t be a complete shock.
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More Blog Posts by W. James Antle, III
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Dai Alanye | 10.25.11 @ 5:02PM
Dubya took Step 1 (Afghanistan) and Step 2 (Iraq) but never took Step 3 (Iran) or even Step 4 (Syria.)
Some day those other steps will need to be taken, although by the time the Arab Spring has run out of steam we'll probably have expanded the list. [And I haven't yet mentioned Step x (Pakistan.)]
os| 10.25.11 @ 8:16PM
Well I hope China doesn't run out of money; we're gonna have to borrow quite a bit more for all that you listed.
Clint| 10.25.11 @ 6:24PM
Our American Warriors Are Not To Be Used As Cannon Fodder To Force Feed Democracy Around The World & Be Used As Global Police.
The Tea Party Rebellion Is Here.
Occam's Tool| 10.25.11 @ 9:27PM
Well, Clint, I wanted to express my condolences for what happened to a group of Ron Paul supporters the other day:
"The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) reports 20 Palestinians were injured in Gaza due to celebratory shooting-in-the-air upon the return of convicted terrorists freed by Israel in exchange for Hamas’ release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.
After surveying hospitals last Tuesday, the Center reported that among the injured were six children and three women."
Gonna blame the Israelis for this one, Jihadist catamite?
Herb Tarlek| 10.25.11 @ 11:45PM
Thank you for this update from "Always about Israel, all the time" channel.
Jim| 10.26.11 @ 8:55AM
Equating Americans who support Ron Paul to muslim terrorrists is low and unworthy. Whenever welfare cuts are proposed the Black Caucus like Rangel say the Republicans are racists. Here whenever anyone says cut the four billion we give to Israel every year you say they are anti semites in sympathy with muslim terrorrists. You are hurting your cause, unconditional financial support for Israel, with your over the top comparisons.
KennesawJack| 10.26.11 @ 11:05AM
Jim, in fairness to Occam, my enemy's enemy is my friend. To the extent the cessation of aid to Israel threatens its abiltity to survive, and it surely would threaten it, the result is the same as that desired by the Jihadists. I'm not saying it's intentional and therefore, by extension, anti-Semitic but the result's the same. If I were Jewish, I would be trumpeting this just as loudly as Occam. Otherwise, the short-sighted, simplistic foreign policy of Ron Paul could prevail.
KennesawJack| 10.26.11 @ 10:58AM
There is an historic element here that gets little attention. There exists a 2,000 years old animosity, some would say outright hatred, between Arabs and Persians dating to the days of Darius. The ethnic divide between these two has always been greater than the supposed bond between Shia from both sides. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan and the rest of the Arab nations (with the exception of the suicidal Libyan's) will not allow Persian influence to control Arab Iraq. Simply will not happen. Al Sadr is toast as soon as the U. S. gone, the Saudis will see to that. They, the Saudis, understand the long term threat to them of Persian hegemony in the region.
Am| 10.26.11 @ 1:31PM
Interesting that most people here actually view Iran as an aggressor. Which country has Iran attempted to invade during the last few hundred years or even more? Which country actually has a minimum ('at least') number of seats for Jews and Christian reps in its parliament? Which country still allows Jewish schools to operate, incl one of the oldest Jewish schools in the world? Given the overall limited human rights in that region, comparatively speaking, which country actually violates less human rights than its neighbors? Which country has been battling the alqueda and the Taliban long before the US? Actually it's funny given the fact that the US used to support those groups? Which country was the victim of US' operation 'Ajax' which resulted in the destruction of a democratic govt and installation of a monarchy, the Shah? Maybe more people can begin looking at the long term impacts of imperialism of which the US has been a part for decades. Maybe more should look at human rights violations committed by the US' closest allies such as Saudi Arabia and Israel.
And think of this .... again, educate yourself about the history of that region and for example ask - given the uprisings and the slow but certain destruction of US loved monarchies in that region, why would Iran want to stir the pot and give the us another stupid reason to invade by trying to kill a worthless embassador of Saudi Arabia? Why would Iran, whose intelligence agency has been compared to CIA and Mossad be so careless? Why would it use a random FBI loving mexican drug dealer? How could any of this, if successful, have benefitted Iran? The answer is - it couldn't have.
What about benefits for the us and Israel? It would provide additional excuses to attack Iran. Such action has become more urgent for Americans and Israelis as that great Iraqi freedom bs strategy is now biting them up you know where. In addition the us needs more presence there because that strong relation with Pakistan has broken down and Pakistan actually has nuclear weapons, and is loaded with other military weapons thanks to both the us and israel. Lastly, no matter what the great car salesmen tell you (politicians), they are not happy about what happened in Libya, Egypt and what is happening in Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and other areas there. They're losing their grip on that region. That's what happens when you lube up too much boys. Face it, all of the short term minded and selfish and imperialistic policies and strategies are biting you up the you know what. The worst thing is that most Europeans agree with these views but given the economic impact, they won't do anything about it. Don't worry things won't get better given that after about 2-3 years of silence, those war hungry neocons are starting to come out of hibernation. Perle, wolfowitz, Bolton, Kristol, Emanuel, Axelrod, and the rest of them are running things again. You can just tell by watching the rep debates and listening to Obama. It's hilarious.