(post5)
Israel strikes Iran
Iran already pledged to attack Israel and US in response to such an attack
After US is attacked….what kind of “after action plan” are you thinking would be best?

You’re right of course. When President Obama takes office and inherits a recession (exactly as President Bush did) we’ll get to see how RAISING taxes helps a spending-based economy more than cutting them.

Ultimately, the fact is there are no more Democrats. Just Republicans and people seeking power through opposition for opposition’s sake.

I’m curious to see Sen Obama explain in the debates why he’d meet w Ahmadinejad and not Petraeus when formulating Iraq strategy.

Arthur?

Let’s see how he feels when Obama is President, the terrorists finally succeed in toppling the Space Needle and no one has any money to spend after paying their taxes.

I do think Israel is getting desperate.
Diplomacy has consistently proven to fail re Iran
the UN has failed (again)
US is at risk of going from a hawk to uber dove in terms of leadership
US is pulling out of Iraq/reducing deterrent in the region
Iran’s program gets closer and closer to full capacity (40bombs a month est)

I think the math is as cold as a November rain in Cleveland:
number of Israelis killed by conventional Iranian retaliatory attacks
vs
number of Israelis killed by Iranian nuclear attacks delievered either by ballistic missile or terrorist (the latter being as deniable and stealthy as a B2 bomber strike)
vs
number of Israelis killed by full scale nuclear war from a region that is thrown into a nuclear arms race by a nuclear-armed Iran.

What I don’t know is what will be the final straw that makes their pm say, “dammit, ok. We go on [such and such] day.”

Remember, very few people ever want/look forward to a war (especially one like this), but at some point someone has to do the math and realize the numbers are shifting towards another Holocaust.

But I also think any preemptive attack will be carefully weighed on repercussions that come with the action. Certainly Israel risks massive loss of life if they do not take out all launching points with any action. And that compounds if Iran does happen to have even one small nuke or bioweapon to load onto even a single remaining missile. Taking on Iran is not on a par with bombing Syria’s nuke plant.

Then add Iran’s ability to disrupt shipping traffic, which makes those repercussions global. Oil supplies are definitely severely cut, costs will be sky high even by today’s standards. Lots of “what ifs” here.

In the meantime, Israel’s been on a negotiating binge…. Syria and Hamas. Certainly with both of those countries’ tight relationships with Iran, a preemptive strike would undo all they are attempting to accomplish now. And either one may be happy to rise to the occasion to back a damaged Iran, and launch from other countries in retaliation.

So my gut says nope on Israel being that aggressive… at least at this moment.

Let’s hope it’s true this time.

Good old Mike. Consistent as always.

Never yet found a battle he wasn’t happy to have others fight.

But I see from the story that they say using the airspace, and landing at US bases. All, however, deny it. So who knows.

Frankly, INRE Iran, I don’t see Israel or the US going after them. I do, however, see their own citizens doing it (with external aid). The Iranian economy is in the toilet, and Ahmadinejad’s popularity is swirling the edges of the toilet bowl for public opinion. France backed out of oil development there in the past day or two… the 3rd oil investor to do so.

The missile launches, IMHO, are primarily to jack up oil prices to rise to protect their oil revenue, which is declining. Especially since the add’l oil investment/drilling has backed off.

But frankly, I just don’t see the world leaping willy-nilly into conflict with Iran. What they could do to the cargo traffic alone, starting from the Persian Gulf, could set the world into an economic tail spin. But I do see finding ways to have it fall from within. The times and citizenry – quite western in the youth, who are rapidly the majority – are ripe for internal change.

Just another perspective…. but only time will tell what actually transpires, eh?

I put the above on the “doomsday” clock thread, where it was more appropriate….

Israel strikes Iran
Iran already pledged to attack Israel and US in response to such an attack
After US is attacked….what kind of after action plan are you thinking would be best?

Not necessarily. Remember, the World is in so much trouble because it has allowed the problem to go unconfronted. Taking action then, it would seem, should be the best course of action to defuse the situation. Of course, that would also require that the Israel, and hopefully the US, have a very firm after action plan to deal with any reprisals. Without that, I would agree that it would lead to more trouble. It depends how clear their thinking is and how firm their resolve.