Blogcritics Comments on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Comment by bliffle on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:43:43 EDT

Good grief! Now we have the newest EMP threat that I've been hearing about for 50 years. Maybe longer. People REALLY should take some good science courses at the Junior College down the street so they're not lead around like children by such nonsense.

Comment by Dan Miller on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:54:21 EDT

Here is something I find a bit scary, and as to which I must confess I hadn't previously given much thought. It seems that Iran, and/or a bunch other neat folks, could without much difficulty or expense launch an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack on the U.S., which might even disable BlogCritics. Collateral damage could easily deprive the U.S. of just about everything dependent upon electricity. The article goes on in some detail. Doubtless the infallible experts referred to elsewhere on the thread have the problem all figured out and can deal with it appropriately. The teeny weeny lingering reservations I feel are probably unwarranted, but then I'm just a scardy cat. Dan

Comment by Dave Nalle on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:00:34 EDT

Gee Bliffle, sounds like in your administration you'd like to bring in some experts on foreign intelligence and policy. Perhaps some folks from a think tank like PNAC would be useful to you. Dave

Comment by Clavos on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:54:35 EDT

"How a about trying to correctly estimate ones enemies? How about trying to get it right from the start instead of using the lazy persons method of applying a fudge factor to inaccurate estimates?" Wow. Profound...

Comment by bliffle on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:47:59 EDT

Dan sez: "It's always silly to under-estimate one's enemies, but it's almost as silly to over-estimate them." How a about trying to correctly estimate ones enemies? How about trying to get it right from the start instead of using the lazy persons method of applying a fudge factor to inaccurate estimates?

Comment by Dave Nalle on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:15:01 EDT

Well, that's a theory, Dr. D. But rather than letting their veterans sit around and drink on the dole all day they might have tried putting them to work so they could use the skills they learned in the nuclear silos to fix elevators or furnaces or hot water heaters. But the truth was that under the soviet system they got paid whether they worked or not, so they generally preferred not. I'm sure that they could have put together some kind of most unpleasant nuclear attack. They certainly tried pretty hard to make that possible. But based on all the problems they had towards the end of the cold war and after with defective equipment and decomissioning warheads I suspect that the glowing reports that went with every 5-year plan were mostly bullshit. Dave

Comment by Dr Dreadful on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:46:41 EDT

As Dan says, Dave... I'm fairly sure that at least part of the reason nothing worked or could be bought when you lived in the USSR was that the bulk of resources was diverted to the military. Remember that that military defeated the German Wehrmacht in 1945, quashed revolutions in Hungary and Czechoslovakia and kept half of Europe under its thumb for almost half a century. You're probably right in your assessment that they weren't nearly as formidable and unbeatable as they were made out to be, but your surmise that any attack on the West would have fallen flat is very blasé.

Comment by Dave Nalle on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:36:39 EDT

I lived in Russia at the time, Dan. I figured that if they couldn't make the elevator or heat in our apartment building work they weren't likely to be able to dominate the world. As an ideology Marxism seems to have had more success since the USSR fell working through their old network of organizations and agents which are still alive and well. I always figured that if a nuclear war started and the launch command went out half the soviet missiles would be duds and a good number of them would hit the wrong targets or blow up on launch - that's in the unlikely event their launch crews were sober enough to launch them - but enough would get through to really piss us off and that our missiles would work and wouldn't miss. Dave

Comment by Dan Miller on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:02:19 EDT

Dave, Remember how terrified we were back during the cold war days over the tremendous competence and stellar military abilities of the USSR? It's always silly to under-estimate one's enemies, but it's almost as silly to over-estimate them. Dan

Comment by Dave Nalle on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:45:43 EDT

Wow, that's pretty blatant. You would think that with their resources they could find someone a bit more competent and a bit more creative. I wonder if they use the same guy who doctored all those photos of Israeli attacks on civilians for Hezbollah. Dave

Comment by Dr Dreadful on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:17:16 EDT

Anyone else thoroughly amused by the dodgy Photoshop job done by someone in the Revolutionary Guard in an attempt to cover up the fact that one of the missiles failed to fire?

Comment by Dan Miller on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:49:36 EDT

Dave, Believe me, it wasn't easy, particularly for a bunch of stupid neocons who, we all know, can't do anything ~~right~~ correctly. Dan

Comment by Dave Nalle on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:13:51 EDT

The cleverest part of the neocon conspiracy is the way they've recruited Iran to be a bunch of militaristic and expansionistic warmongers just so they have someone to motivate themselves against. Dave

Comment by Dan Miller on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:41:26 EDT

Looks like things are heating up a tad, what with the Iranian long range missile tests and Russian unhappiness over a deal to put radar sites in one of its former satellite countries. Even Deputy Warmonger in chief Rice is talking about defending our interests and those of our allies. Obviously, this is all a giant conspiracy among the wicked Bush administration, Iran, Israel and Russia so that the U.S. elections can be canceled and to obtain passage of the despised spying legislation so favored by all of them. It's a vast right wing conspiracy, I tell ya. Dan

Comment by Cary Ace Bowers Jr on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Tue, 8 Jul 2008 20:53:56 EDT

death is the moral teaching of govts,just like on our roadways of life,everyone really wants to kill each other,go on,the meek get the planet afterwards!!!

Comment by Conrad Dalton on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 20:36:05 EDT

"Naked power is power devoid of justice or morality." "According to whom?" Most likely Machiavelli.

Comment by Conrad Dalton on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 20:29:04 EDT

"Conrad, you earlier suggested that Bush was on a par with Hitler and presumably Stalin." No such suggestion was made. "Compared to Adolf Hitler, FDR, JFK, and LBJ are not in the same category. But in their class, GWB deserves mention "Not in the same category" is not the same as "on a par."

Comment by Clavos on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 20:07:12 EDT

"Naked power is power devoid of justice or morality." According to whom? Wikipedia attributes this definition of naked power to Bertrand Russell: "...naked power is the ruthless exertion of force without the desire for, or attempt at, consent." Which is a pretty accurate description of the USA's wielding of power over the past 60 or 70 years.

Comment by Dave Nalle on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 19:14:13 EDT

Conrad, you earlier suggested that Bush was on a par with Hitler and presumably Stalin. As for FDR's 'morality' you must have a different definition of the word. FDR may have been an angel compared to Hitler, but that's hardly a great accomplishment. More damage was done to the rights of citizens during his period in power than under any president before and since, including the dreaded GWB. Dave

Comment by Conrad Dalton on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 18:43:04 EDT

"FDR used naked power to the extent of defeating Hitler's naked power." Naked power is power devoid of justice or morality. FDR had justice and morality on his side. Adolf Hitler's only competition is Joseph Stalin.

Comment by bliffle on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 16:02:10 EDT

The USA has actually been pretty efective at using naked power for the last 60 years. I do wish, however, that all that cleverness had been put to better purpose. Namely, advancing the causes of USA citizens instead of the Vested Interests, which, more and more, are speaking with foreign accents.

Comment by Clavos on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 13:22:04 EDT

"Compared to Adolf Hitler, FDR, JFK, and LBJ are not in the same category." In your opinion. In terms of the use of naked power, (the original point, remember?) they are most definitely in his class; in fact, FDR used naked power to the extent of defeating Hitler's naked power. Nobody since WW II has even begun to approach the USA's use of "naked power." And, as an American, I'm glad.

Comment by Conrad Dalton on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 12:53:37 EDT

Compared to Adolf Hitler, FDR, JFK, and LBJ are not in the same category. But in their class, GWB deserves mention.

Comment by Clavos on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 12:03:46 EDT

""Naked power sounds good to me... At least it's honest." -- Adolf Hitler?" Possibly. Also, FDR, JFK, and LBJ, among others.

Comment by Conrad Dalton on War With Iran: An Extremist Fantasy

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 11:59:06 EDT

"Naked power sounds good to me... At least it's honest." -- Adolf Hitler?