Barack Obama has been telling the Iranians that “Yes we can” and that the US will take military action against them. I’m not sure whether the “we” includes “us” as in Australian, but I hope it doesn’t. While there were arguable reasons for going into Iraq and Afghanistan, there aren’t any with Iran. At least not at the moment.
It’s not just my view, and according to an advertisement in the Washington Post, it is shared by a number of retired generals.
While most news outlets have been spending all their time covering the internal shenanigans in the ALP things have been developing in the middle east.
On Line Opinion has been watching the Iranian situation for a while. In fact, as far as I can see we were the first major publication to publish on the Iranian threat to block the Strait of Hormuz. We need to be paying closer attention overseas. How ironic that our former foreign minister was diverting us from it.
Tomorrow OLO will feature an article by Ali Omidi Assistant Professor of International Relations at the University of Isfahan-Iran.
Here’s the ad. Or click here to download a much clearer PDF.
An attack on Iran will be a diaster for us all.Even the hawkish Zibigniew Brezezinski says it is insane.Iran will be no push over.It brags 100,000 + sophistocated missiles that can reach Israel and Europe.Both Russia and China have said they will stand by Iran is an unprovoked attack.Iran has 70 million people and they are far more united than Iraq.So we are staring WW3 in the face if we think that attacking them will bring peace and cheaper oil prices.
At the recent AIPAC meeting in the US Obama tried to walk both sides of the fence.Obama has been advised not to attack Iran but Israel wants it now.
BTW large amounts of oil/gas have been found off the coasts of Lebanon,Syria and Greece.
Comment by Ross — March 7, 2012 @ 6:10 am
This is Iran.
These are the people we will murder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D61uriEGsIM
Comment by Mike. — March 7, 2012 @ 8:45 am
I’m not sure that Obama is pushing for military action against Iran. If anything, he’s argued to give sanctions more time to work.
The GOP is pushing for bombing for jingoistic political reasons
There’s no doubt at all that the fragile world economy would suffer badly if the oil price went to around 200USD/barrel, a reasonable expectation if Iran is attacked, regardless of whether they suceed in blocking the Straits of Hormuz.
Iran is in quite a strong position thanks to the absurd Iraq war that wildly distorted the regional balance of power.
On the plus side, the results of just held polls will, in my view, encourage the far right in Iran to ramp up its anti western rhetoric.
The west needs to calmly let the sanction have time to work because Internal destabilisation of Iran by weakening its already struggling economy is a far more preferable strategy than bombing and thus plunging the world into a depression.
http://www.observationpoint.com.au
Comment by Anthony Element — March 7, 2012 @ 10:25 am
US foreign policy in the ME seems to be aimed at making the region safe for Israel,actually the problem is to ensure that the region is safe from Israel.
Comment by Russell W — March 7, 2012 @ 1:46 pm