Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Foreign Policy & News Bomb Iran

I wonder if the prophesied international crisis generated to test President Obama will be the Iranian reaction to an American blockade or an Israeli attack of their nuclear facilities?

We shall see, shall we not?

Recently we've had a bit of discussion about the "longest running thread" on the RR. This one was started in June of 2007 by you, Joe.

Now there is a new countdown to sweat over: how many days until inauguration? How many days until we are safe from the threat of a global conflagration beginning with an attack on Iran, bringing about declaration of martial law in the US, postponing the day of anointment?

Oh how I hate being the bearer of bad tidings! But I tell you, I find each day since the election, sometime between the moment I wake up and maybe an hour later, I pray that no one will shoot Mr. Obama today.

Yes we shall. I believed that my fears of an unprovoked attack or blockade of Iran were not groundless and similar fears continue to be a concern for others as well. Hopefully, President Obama will rely more on diplomacy than threats or military intervention.

Is it just me, but does anyone else remember talk of postponing elections, inauguration, and martial law (Ollie's little Rex 84 aside)prior to #41? It can't happen here? It may have already happened here. However, I hope and believe that the transition will be smooth. Prophecies by the political elite, especially when they have a history of being fulfilled concern me.

President Bush has never proven himself to be a really hardworking individual and the presidency is one of the toughest jobs in the world. I expect he's anxious to get back to Crawford and the brush clearing he used to enjoy so much. In my opinion he was never really up to the task of being the leader of the free world and with his administration ending with economic collapse I think he now knows it himself.

You're right. My concern- and it's probably silly- is that President Obama might blockade and/or bomb Iran and this is the generated international crisis that a number of political elite alluded to recently. Again, I'm probably wrong. At any rate, we'll see and probably before too much longer. However, I'll bet that we'll see a viable third party presidential candidate in 2012 as a result of this economic mess, which is far from over. I just hope that they don't start another war to get us out of any depression.
I voted for Nader because he was on the ballot. I would have just as easily voted for Dennis or Ron Paul if they were on it.

I don't think so for an instant, Joe. I think the President-elect is chomping at the bit to get some level of negotiations going with Iran similar to what the Russians have had all along. There is a huge prize to be had for getting them over to "our side" even if in addition to rather than instead of the Russians. Sure Obama is all about energy independence, but he is smart enough to figure out it's not going to happen overnight, and in the meantime it would be right handy to work with Iran instead of against them in freeing up their petroleum reserves for export.

Steve,

You're probably right. I just hope that any negotiations work out for all concerned. Maybe it's time to retire this thread?

Joe

I read that Iran only exports enough oil to cover their trade imports, so I don;t think an amicable relationship with the US would necessarily achieve the goal of increasing Iranian oil exports.

I think the fundamental reason to "talk" with "enemies" is to to defer open hostilities long enough to find alternative non-military but long lasting solutions to issues. I can't find a reason why Iran would not have been exporting oil to the US had we not declared them enemies. I suspect the Ayatollahs had worked through their anger long ago with their regime change and it was only the students who could not let it go.

With regard to this the perceived issue is the alleged Iranian nuclear weapons program and their support of Hamas. There was an article on Juan Cole's site yesterday which outlined these exact issues. Could be a good jump point and a new direction for a "Bomb Iran, part Deux" thread. With the Obama administration's hopeful change in foreign policy direction it would be more important to understand what the realities are, in order to design new policy if necessary.

The ship may be taking a new direction, perhaps history has spoken and we are none the worse for it.