The west has picked a fight with Iran that it cannot win

[Tom Bombadil]

Washington's kneejerk belligerence ignores Tehran's influence and the need for subtle engagement

Simon Jenkins
Wednesday January 18, 2006
The Guardian

Never pick a fight you know you cannot win. Or so I was told. Pick an argument if you must, but not a fight. Nothing I have read or heard in recent weeks suggests that fighting Iran over its nuclear enrichment programme makes any sense at all. The very talk of it - macho phrases about "all options open" - suggests an international community so crazed with video game enforcement as to have lost the power of coherent thought.

Iran is a serious country, not another two-bit post-imperial rogue waiting to be slapped about the head by a white man. It is the fourth largest oil producer in the world. Its population is heading towards 80 million by 2010. Its capital, Tehran, is a mighty metropolis half as big again as London. Its culture is ancient and its political life is, to put it mildly, fluid.

full article http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1688983,00.html

[Demeter]

1. That's Never Stopped BushCo Before

Welcome to Alternate Reality--nothing at all like Middle Earth!

[katty]

6. that's right-he lives and rules from his universe in a bubble

[Village Idiot]

2. Maybe if you did the "old Man Willow" song...

everyone would CHILL THE FUCK OUT!

[bemildred]

3. Kick.

Very well written, wonderful use of language.

[Wind Dancer]

4. Excellent article.

More-

I would sleep happier if there were no Iranian bomb but a swamp of hypocrisy separates me from overly protesting it. Iran is a proud country that sits between nuclear Pakistan and India to its east, a nuclear Russia to its north and a nuclear Israel to its west. Adjacent Afghanistan and Iraq are occupied at will by a nuclear America, which backed Saddam Hussein in his 1980 invasion of Iran. How can we say such a country has "no right" to nuclear defence?

-snip-

On Monday, Washington's kneejerk belligerence put this coalition under immediate strain. In two weeks the IAEA must decide whether to report Iran to the UN security council for possible sanctions. There seems little point in doing this if China and Russia vetoes it or if there is no plan B for what to do if such pressure fails to halt enrichment, which seems certain. A clear sign of western floundering are speeches and editorials concluding that Iran "should not take international concern lightly", the west should "be on its guard" and everyone "should think carefully". It means nobody has a clue.

[sduncang]

5. It's Obvious ....

The groundwork is being laid by Bush for another war - this one against Iran and Syria - especially Iran. The fix is on.

[yurbud]

7. sadly, most Americans won't know this is happening until we

get there--or until the Bushies launch a motivational surprise here at home.

[cliss]

8. I LOVE this article.

I read it this morning on Yahoo news. Here's the most incredible, amazing, stunning part of the article:

"At this very moment, U.S. officials in Baghdad are on their knees begging Iran-backed Shia politicians and militias to help them get out of Iraq."

OMG>>>what? I had to read that part, about 3 times to let that soak in. What an Alice in Wonderland reality we live in!

[bvar22]

9. "YEHAWWWW!!! is NOT a foreign policy!

Great bumper Sticker.
Good article!

[sarcasmo]

10. When Israel attacks Iran it will be the full blown start of WWIII.

[Nikki Stone 1]

11. These folks really do believe in Armageddon, don't they.

:(