[Gank]

http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2005/050126-iran-game.htm

Some more from Hersch too:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/26/1450204

[Unknown Target]

Fart?

[Zarax]

Useless sabre rattling, and they know it.

[Gank]

No, its not, if you read through it again they'res named sources like "former CIA counterterrorism chief, Vince Cannistraro" confirming that the US is actually running ops inside Iran.

[Black Wolf]

The Hersch one is a good read - long, but worth it.

[Swamp_Thing]

Originally posted by Gank
No, its not, if you read through it again they'res named sources like "former CIA counterterrorism chief, Vince Cannistraro" confirming that the US is actually running ops inside Iran.

So? It´s nothing new. Tony Blair has already come forward and publicly reafirming his support for any US intervention in Iran.
The only thing preventing Bush from going after Iran today is the fact that Iraq is a sinkhole of manpower. As soon as they train a couple hundred iraqi "pseudo-soldiers", they will pull out of Iraq. Right into Iran, that is.


So, if you are a US soldier and you are currently eating dust in Iraq, don´t expect to see home soon. Your village idiot of a president is already cooking up new and improved ways for you to die 10.000 miles from home.
And if you are ripe and in the right age group, you better run for Canada, because there is an army letter with your name on it, coming to claim your arse for the "fight on terror". The draft is just months away.

[Moonsword]

I take it you're Canadian, then?

And Swamp_Thing, they don't want me.  Trust me on this one.  I'd fail the health test in at least one way and the psych test probably isn't going their way either...

[Grey Wolf]

After doing a bit of research, it seems that college deferments are quite a bit less useful now than before, as they only last until the end of the semester.

[Gank]

I wouldnt get me knickers in a twist just yet, they're talking about airstrikes, not an invasion. They have to find something worthwhile to bomb first too, though they'll probably get fed up after a while and hit something out of fustration.

[Moonsword]

Like Iran?  Or maybe North Korea?

[Gank]

I meant find something worthwhile to bomb IN Iran.

[vyper]

Blair has said he supports action but never endorsed invasion, certainly made clear we aren't gonna be involved  this time.

[Bobboau]

did that stop us in Iraq or afghanistan?

[Rictor]

Different circumstance. In Afghanistan, most of the West was on your side, both politically and militarilly. In Iraq, at least the American population strongly supported the war, and at least you had 1 major ally that is a world power. For Iran, there would be little domestic support, and absolutely no foreign support, neither political nor military.

[Zarax]

Domestic support seems less of an issue if some other communities can give a measure of it...

[Gank]

Supporting action mighn't be bright with all those british troops in and around Basra.

[IceFire]

I figure if they went after Iran it'd be a more 1991 Gulf War style thing with lots of bombing and taking out of military targets (since Iran does have a functioning army to fight).  Probably they'd go after those nuclear sites.  But I remain hopeful...could be just sabre rattling....the diplomatic process goes on.

[Swamp_Thing]

Sabre rattling, uh? Everybody thought that too, when Bush started making threats at Saddam. And now look at it...

[Zarax]

With a small difference: He had (barely) the manpower to back ot up.

[NGTM-1R]

Let the Israelis handle it. They've dealt with the atomic-bomb programs of their neighbors before.