U.S. Vows Commitment To Israel, Wary Of War Over Iran Nukes

[Purveyor]

Source: HAARETZ

Visiting U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen declared Sunday that Washington was committed to Israel's security, voicing concern over the "unintended consequences" a war in the Middle East over Iran's contentious nuclear program would bring.

"I worry a great deal about the unintended consequences of a strike," he told reporters during a visit to Tel Aviv, referring to Iran's threats to retaliate against Israel and U.S. sites in the Gulf. "I think the Iranians are very difficult to predict."

Mullen arrived in Israel on Sunday for talks on Iran's nuclear program, as the United States and Israel were pushing world powers to support harsher sanctions against the Islamic republic.

He said during his visit that it was important to give diplomacy and international pressure a chance before looking into military options, adding: "While every situation has limits, we're not there yet."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Iran on Sunday to reconsider its "dangerous" nuclear policy, saying Tehran's stance leaves the world community little choice but to impose "greater costs".

Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1149616.html

[Goldstein1984]

1. Does this remind anybody else of the rhetoric leading to

the invasion of Iraq?

Are there others who see Dick Cheney's lips moving when Hillary Clinton talks tough?

This whole empire thing is truly the proverbial tangled web we weave.

[HillbillyBob]

2. I m sure I am not alone in my concern over a nuke strike

and I think Iran is being foolish. They seem to think that we or Isreal would hesitate to turn Tehran into a glassy wasteland.
They seem to think that threatening its neighbors makes them big...I think it would make many many dead folks.

[Fumesucker]

3. We're still involved in one war started on totally bogus charges..

And another one that is questionable.

Iran is saying "if you bomb us we will retaliate".. I honestly don't see why that is such a horrible thing for them to say.

We threaten violence constantly and have damn near infinitely greater capacity to carry it out in addition to having a lengthy track record of doing exactly that..

[HillbillyBob]

4. This is true. I wish we actually had the reins of our government

not the corporate whores and war hawks that send our kids to fight and die for 'glory' there is no glory only death.
Amhadinigad (I cant remember spelling) is still foolish for taunting.
I spoke out when we started the murder and before and was called anti Murikan, unpatriotic and worse by lard asses that have never served and I have served. I Knew it in 1998 that we would be going to war if (*) 'won' and knew he would win the rigged election if he ran..
I was told I did not know wtf i was talking about. I made it a point to toss what some of those assholes said to me back in their faces after deathcheney admited we went to war for oil. That was part of what I had said too.

[Fumesucker]

5. It's spelled Ahmedinnerjacket.. ;)

And same as most of our politicians what he says is mostly for domestic political purposes..

Like N Korea, if Iran were to get nukes it would bring just about all of this brinksmanship and posturing to a screeching halt.

Nations have figured out that the only safety lies in the ability to threaten retaliation against the top politicians of the other nations, get nukes and you're not at all likely to be invaded or otherwise severely fucked with.

[No Elephants]

7. Bill Maher. "If you go to war for oil, get some oil."

[No Elephants]

9. Delete. Wrong spot.

[defendandprotect]

8. I don't think that the neighbors fear Iran anymore than neighbors feared Iraq . . .

they fear the US/CIA and our imperialistic and suicidal policies!

[Peace Patriot]

16. Iraq invaded Iran, then later Kuwait. Iran has invaded NO ONE.

I'm not excusing the U.S. decimation of Iraq by pointing to its dreadful war on Iran or its invasion of Kuwait--both of which the U.S. had fingers in. Far from it. I think the Bush-Cheney invasion and occupation of Iraq is one of the worst crimes of the 20th-21st centuries. But I just wanted to point out the BIG difference between them. Iran is has NOT invaded its neighbors, and, as far as I can see, has no territorial ambitions and is in a wholly defensive position, targeted by our ruthless political/war machine establishment.

That very political/war machine establishment has set things up--with the 'TRADE SECRET' voting machines and all--so that we have no say in the matter whatsoever and can therefore now pursue its corporate/war profiteer interests with completely impunity, as far as Constitutional/democratic control here goes. We are in the extremely unfortunate position of being lashed to a runaway train and may well suffer severely because of it.

Nearly 60% of the American people opposed the invasion of Iraq (Feb '03, all polls). 'We, the People' were not only overridden, we were then completely neutralized and our last vestiges of democratic power were taken away, as the Anthrax Congress fast-tracked e-voting machines all over the country, run on 'TRADE SECRET,' proprietary programming code, owned and controlled by a handful of rightwing corporations, with virtually no audit/recount controls. And the election system situation is even worse today than it was in 2004. ES&S just bought out Diebold (aka, 'Premier') and now has an 85% monopoly on our voting systems. ES&S was funded by Howard Ahmanson, a reclusive, far rightwing billionaire who also gave one million dollars to the extremist 'christian' Chalcedon foundation, which touts the death penalty for homosexuals. The extremist far rightwing now controls our election system and has learned to play it like a piano, with a few little liberal tremulos here and crescendos of fascism, war and grand larceny there. 25% of Congress truly represents us; 75% (the Pukes and the "Blue Dogs") does not. And while I think that Obama was actually elected--on the middle "C" note of our peoples' projected hopes--I also think that he was permitted to be elected (could easily--EASILY!--have been stopped, with a few lines of programming code) because he had pledged to continue the Forever War with no serious reform of any kind (that's what his campaign speeches pretty much say), probably made a deal not to prosecute the Bush Junta for war crimes, clearly made a deal with the DLC/Clintons and now finds himself at the seat of power in Imperial Rome with his limbs tied the imperial throne.

[defendandprotect]

21. We might say that "our" dictator invaded Iran and Kuwait with a nod from US ---

Agree completely with your post --

What to do about it is another question --

Did you notice this today --

ATOMIC WEAPONS Iran Urges Global Nuclear DisarmamentThe pact should cover existing stocks of fissile material as well as future production, according to its envoy.

http://www.javno.com/en-world/iran-urges-global-nuclear-disarmament_235704

VERSUS ...

Clinton ramps up rhetoric on Iran


Clinton has called on Tehran to reconsider
"dangerous" nuclear policy decisions



Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has said that Iran is heading towards a "military dictatorship" and warned it poses an international threat.

Clinton made her comments to students in Doha, the Qatari capital, on Monday as part of her Gulf tour seeking greater support for tough new sanctions on Iran

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/02/2010215103440320234.html


While we're seeking new ways to miniaturize and use nuclear weapons . . . !!!

[lollybaby]

12. So the standard now to go to war is Iran made threats...

...to some unnamed neighbor? Wow, using that yard stick, I would have witnessed a certain threat issuing ally (Israel) of ours been invaded by the rest of the world, but no I missed it. Israel can daily threaten its neighbors and in some cases actually make good on those threats but I guess, a nation with a track record of actually provoking and attacking its neighbors is less of a concern to world stability when compared to a nation with no such record, sometimes our arrogance can really blind us to the point where we step off a cliff and still don't know it, I am just saying...

[defendandprotect]

6. A commitment to a right wing Fundi Israeli, armed by us for war, doing our bidding in ME?

Everyone's nuclear policy is "dangerous" . . . except ours!!!

[Wilms]

15. Actually, Israel's nuke policy is okie dokie with us too. n/t

[defendandprotect]

22. Way back we were stockpiling nuclear weapons in Israel -- !!

"This is our portrait, this monster bomb" --

"When our consciousness does not reach the planetary level . . . " --

"Men do not admit their individual powerlessness in wildly escalating arms race" --



Note in my journal from 5/31/91 . . .

"Today I've heard that the US is now beginning to stockpile nuclear missiles in Israel

due to Middle East conflicts . . . "


"We are able to kill the future -

Nuclear war reaches a dimension unseen before in history. That dimension is towering,

maniacal conceit."


"Governments are a collection of men who do violence to the rest of us" -- Tolstoy

[Mari333]

10. oh for petes sake let Israel take care of itself

[area51]

18. +1

We have so many needs in this country, from the lack of affordable healthcare to lack of jobs, homelessness, etc, forget Israel, it can take care of itself.

[No Elephants]

11. "Vows?" Are we married now? Couldn't we just have pinky sworn?

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[cali]

17. do you actually believe that Israel runs the USA, the media and Congress?

That's just so bizarre.

[LeftishBrit]

20. Jenny Tonge, is that you?

Let's leave the xenophobia off a liberal board.

[Wilms]

14. Sounds like a candidate for POTUS. It's customary for them to vow commitment to Israel.

:shrug:

[LeftishBrit]

19. Lots of stupid saber-rattling on all sides for a very long time.

Let's hope that it never escalates beyond that.