November 5, 2007 – 12:55 pm
From Newsweek’s article, Hysteria Over Iran: “Here is the reality. Iran has an economy the size of Finland’s and an annual defense budget of around $4.8 billion. It has not invaded a country since the late 18th century. The United States has a GDP that is 68 times larger and defense expenditures that are 110 [...]
October 1, 2007 – 05:16 pm
From Seymour Hersh’s recent New Yorker article, Shifting Targets: The Administration’s Plan for Iran: “The former intelligence official added, ‘There is a desperate effort by Cheney et al. to bring military action to Iran as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the politicians are saying, ‘You can’t do it, because every Republican is going to be defeated, [...]
September 27, 2007 – 10:03 am
From Think Progress’ BREAKING: Lieberman-Kyl’s Iran amendment passes: “By a vote of 76-22, the Senate passed the Lieberman-Kyl amendment, which threatens to ‘combat, contain and [stop]‘ Iran via ‘military instruments.’ Sen. Jim Webb D-VA called the amendment ‘Cheney’s fondest pipe dream’ and said it could ‘read as a backdoor method of gaining Congressional validation for [...]
August 1, 2007 – 12:37 pm
From U.S. vs. Iran: Cold War, Too: “As Cold War II begins half a century later, the Bush administration is trying to drape a kind of Green Curtain dividing the Middle East between Iran’s friends and foes. The new showdown may well prove to be the most enduring legacy of the Iraq conflict.”
Before we get to the links, let me first extend a hearty congratulations to the inestimable Teddy Haggerty and his new bride, Lisa, for throwing a wonderful wedding this past weekend. I think their ceremony may have been even shorter than mine and Dawn’s, and we eloped, for Christ’s sake! It was fantastic. Anyway, congratulations [...]
February 10, 2007 – 12:02 pm
From Next stop Iran?, in the Economist.com: “Iran and America are heading for a collision. Although the risk is hard to quantify, there exists a real possibility that George Bush will order a military strike on Iran some time before he leaves the White House two years from now.”
February 6, 2007 – 12:07 pm
From Where Congress Can Draw the Line: “War with Iran would be a catastrophe that would make us look back fondly on the minor inconvenience of being bogged down in Iraq. While the Congress flounders about what, exactly, it can do about Iraq, it can do something useful, while it still matters, in making clear [...]
January 28, 2007 – 10:28 pm
More on the Iran thing. This is from the New York Times: “Iran’s ambassador to Baghdad outlined an ambitious plan on Sunday to greatly expand its economic and military ties with Iraq — including an Iranian national bank branch in the heart of the capital — that will almost certainly bring Iran into further conflict [...]
January 26, 2007 – 12:54 pm
A couple of nights ago, my friend Brian sketched out the “all of our efforts over the last three years have been a build up to a war with Iran” scenario for me, and it sounded pretty convincing, especially because he pointed out that having military footprints in Afghanistan and Iraq means that our army [...]
December 6, 2006 – 10:42 am
From Robert Gates’ impressive confirmation hearings.: “‘We have seen in Iraq,’ Gates said, ‘that once war is unleashed, it becomes unpredictable.’ The Iranians couldn’t retaliate with a direct attack on the United States, he said, but they could close off the Persian Gulf to oil exports, send much more aid to anti-American insurgents in Iraq, [...]
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