Introduced less than a month ago, Resolution 362, also known as the Iran War Resolution, could be passed by the House as early as next week.
The bill is the chief legislative priority of AIPAC. On its Web site, AIPAC endorses the resolutions as a way to ”Stop Iran’s Nuclear Program” and tells readers to lobby Congress to pass the bill. In the Senate, a sister resolution, Resolution 580, has gained co-sponsors with similar speed. The Senate measure was introduced by Indiana Democrat Evan Bayh on June 2. It has since gained 19 co-sponsors.
The bill’s key section “demands that the president initiate an international effort to immediately and dramatically increase the economic, political, and diplomatic pressure on Iran to verifiably suspend its nuclear enrichment activities by, inter alia, prohibiting the export to Iran of all refined petroleum products; imposing stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains, and cargo entering or departing Iran; and prohibiting the international movement of all Iranian officials not involved in negotiating the suspension of Iran’s nuclear program.”
“Imposing stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains, and cargo entering or departing Iran” can be read to mean that the president should initiate a naval blockade of Iran. A unilateral naval blockade without UN sanction is an act of war.
Resolution 362 has already gained 170 co-sponsors, or nearly 40 percent of the House. It has been referred to the Foreign Affairs Committee, which has 49 members, 24 of whom, including the ranking Republican, are co-sponsors. The Iran Nuclear Watch Web site writes, “According to the House leadership, this resolution is going to ‘pass like a hot knife through butter’ before the end of June on what is called suspension – meaning no amendments can be introduced during the 20-minute maximum debate. It also means it is assumed the bill will pass by a 2/3 majority and is non-controversial.”
Our national legislators deem it non-controversial to recommend to a president known for his recklessness and bad judgment that he consider engaging in an act of war against Iran. Those of you who consider this issue controversial can go to the Just Foreign Policy Web site and tell your representative to oppose this resolution.
Thanks to Geoffrey V. Gray for this submission.
In the long term, nothing could be more positive for this country than the complete and total annihilation of the military. If they start a war with Iran, this may very well happen. This is the equivalent of Hitler’s attack on Russia. We could very well charge every person who votes for this with treason.
Treason?
I would go for war crimes instead.
I would argue that they would be legally responsible for any loss of life that resulted from their actions.
Remember one thing. The dimwit(s) in charge have very large hydrogen bombs and a sophisticated missile delivery system. They have not hesitated in committing genocide against the Iraqi people in order to steal their oil. What do you think that they will do if they find themselves cornered and out of options???
The problem is not the military as much as the military-industrial-congressional complex and the apathy of too many Americans. I do agree that attacking Iraq will be a catastrophic error.
“I do agree that attacking Iraq will be a catastrophic error.”
Some would say it was.
I think he meant IRAN. Iraq WAS a catastrophic error.
More likely, Fundies and fellow-travellers will blame every scapegoat imaginable, anything rather than face up to their own follies. I predict lots about how God is punishing the US for tolerating gays, for not having Fundie prayers shoved down school-childrens throats, for tolerating non-Fundie sects, etc. Some, perhaps, may blame Israel for not building the Temple that Dispensational future history says is required before Jesus can come again.
Lester Ness
Doesn’t “Divinity” win football games? Why not wars? Might one suggest Ghost Dancing midwinter to stave off high food prices and economic collapse?
Many years ago one had an acquaintance that blamed everything under the sun on taking prayer out of the schools.
The public and private schools thrived on praying aloud and reading silently?
One once knew a Swiss scholar who learned his Greek chopping wood and reciting verb forms in Swiss youth camps.
When Home Schooling, we never prayed. I am not given to the diversion personally but sometimes one stands by and watches. Anyway in school, why bother–we were reading the New Testament, and Xenophon, and some of the Greek Lyrics aloud and in Greek. Ever see a twelve-year-old fluent in ancient Greek (about fours years study)?
Guess not.
Latin was rather rudely interrupted. At that point the twelve year old was learning Latin by translating Greek into Latin.
Always do it aloud as well as in writing. Don’t worry about your pronunciation. Just be consistent. You can change it later if it is consistent, like learning another dialect.
The fun every day was reading aloud from Tristram Shandy and Jacob Burckhardt.
Piano was hard work.
The Saxon Math is the best around for Home Schoolers.
One also recommenda the Robinson Curriculum, as much for the man’s prescriptions as for the collection of texts. That edition of Britannica remains the most useful ever done, for example. And one used to be able to get a used hard copy set for a song.
Illinois law discriminates against Spanish-speakers in its Home School law that the nativist “English Only” idiots snuck through.
The law is unconstitutional.
A Puerto Rican Family that moves to Illinois from Puerto Rico and homeschools in English, for example, has an open and shut case constitutionally.
A French-speaking family from Maine has almost as good a case, as does any Hawaiian family that wants to Home School in Hawaiian.
A German speaker from Kentucky or a French speaker from Louisiana or a Spanish-speaker from Texas also has a case, though perhaps not as open and shut.
One wonders how much money one wishes to spend for these epeople to get their civil rights?
corr:”homeschools in Spanish”.
Right now the law requires everyone to homeschool in English, including foreigners, which is also absurd. So Puerto Ricans in Illinois, who have an undeniable right to homeschool in Spanish, or a French diplomat’s family, for example are denied the right to homeschool.
Americans have such facility in foreign languages, naturally, any schooling in languages other than English is superfluous.
Mark Twain writes extensively on the subject.
Unlike the Neo-Cons, who seem to have picked up the English only issue to win support among the English Only Nativists, Twain had tongue in cheek.
Most folks don’t know that he spent a lot of time in Austria, for example, and read and spoke German with some facility.
His essay on the German language is hilarious.
One will never progress to two. That’s “two,” not “dos.”
This bill is at least a year overdue. Most of the comments on this blog are so stupid they can only be the rantings of people in the final stages of AIDS dementia. The point of the bill is to pressure the Iranians into giving up their nuclear bomb ambitions, so we don’t have to bomb them back into the stone age.
I suppose you pacifists think we should do nothing while every psycho regime in the Middle East acquires nuclear weapons.
But Israel can have un - inspected nukes?
What planet are you from?
John Woodhouse, you are one sick puppy to make a comment like that. The psycho’s are the westerners who will not stop at their plight for world tyranny. They are invading sovereign nations and killing their citizens to gain control of their resources. The real terrorists are the Americans who kill entire families and torture children for fun. You are sick and demented people, not the middle easterners. When you finally realize that, you will say ‘oh sh*t’, what have we done? What have we become? Monsters is what you are. And your greed and arrogance will lead to WW3 and possibly the destruction of the U.S. military. Don’t forget that Iran has been stock piling serious weapons and they may see the aid of China who is a sleeping giant both economically and militarily. They can crush the dollar and economy and put all Americans into the poor house. If Iran acquires nuclear weapons it will create balance of power in the Middle East and prevent the U.S. & Israel from continuing their criminal deeds.
@ John Woodhouse:
Great words and a good view point. One could actually only wish all the right thinking Americans that their military power, financial system and along with their evil leadership gets completely destroyed soon, otherwise the whole world and the Americans too will forget what freedom actually means…
Deterrence works! If the godless communists knew better than to pick a nuclear fight with the U.S., what makes you so sure the Iranians will? You are obviously ignorant of every concept of modern warfare except for whatever gets included into your first-person shooter video games, perhaps.
The REAL reason the Busheviks are going after Iran is the same reason a rapist makes sure his victims are unarmed before violating them. No more, no less. Anyone who says otherwise either stands to make a lot of money off the death and destruction of a new war, or they just don’t care about standing up to treason against the U.S. by a bunch of paid-for politicians who own real estate overseas to retreat to when the crap hits the fan.
Yeah, every Middle East psycho like, Israel.
So far only one psycho regime in the ME has them. We only need one more to bring peace to the region.
John Woodhouse, you seem to lack a sense of proportion. We’ve done nothing about our own proven psycho regime that already possesses vast amounts of nukes, so why worry about the acquisition of same by a country with a much smaller budget?
Get a grip. Turn off your television and leave it off.
The only “pyscho regime” in all of this war mongering against the Middle East is the neo-con terrorists in the current US administration.
Why do you beleive that to be a pacifist is wrong ?? Look where your warmongering stance has got you so far ? Over 4000 US kids killed in a war that the majority of your countrymen do NOT support… Hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraquis killed for the lies of the American NeoCons and their cronies and, may I remind you, that Iraq and Saddam Hussein had absolutely NOTHING to do with the 9/11 outrage )
You are so narrow minded that you believe it is fine for Israel to have nuclear weapons funded by the US - and terrorise all their middle eastern neighbours? yet Iran and Iraq are to be “bombed out of existence” by the one sided Fascist type thinking exhibited by Bush, Cheney, Wolfovitz, Rice, et al ?
America, you may just bite offmore than you can chew this time. America is ignorant and arrogant to the extreme, a child throwing tantrums and their very dangerous toys out of the pram. Might is not right. You have succeeded in the 8 years of the Bush administration in becoming the ‘Bully Boys’ and argueably one of the most hated nations on earth. Ahmadinejad is also a puppet, and is in reality not as powerful as the US media make him out to be. Iran has the right to develop nuclear energy under the auspices of international Nuclear inspectors as does any other nation for peaceful purposes, but the propaganda machines of te US media are spiting out the usual vitriole
and comming their populace into believing more lies from puppet boy Bush.
Look beyond the rhetoric of your American ‘leaders’, it is all about generating increasing wealth for the all the boys in teh Bush and Cheney Oil Club. They’re laughing all the way to the bank while young American soldiers die in un-necessary foreign wars based on lies and hypocrisy. WAKEN UP AMERICA ! Stand up and state that enough is enough, or is a GAZILLION dollar debt what you wish for your children and grandchildren ? Poverty brought on by further ‘defense’ spending is just around the corner.
The terrorists are within in your
Damn straight!
This is exactly why there is a push on right now to eliminate the Death Penalty for TREASON! They can read the ‘writing on the wall’…
MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN
I think this is a rather harsh comment. I could not agree more. This is the hight of treason.
It’s not the military…it’s the congress that has thrown the military into the hands of a crazy president.
Yeah! Thats just what we need is another War. I would defend my my country with my life,but not for the
children of the devil who have caused every war in the United States history with the exception of the
Revolutionary war! They have invaded religion,robbed us and have stolen trillion’s from hard working American’s who’s check get smaller and smaller every year. They make movies to confuse the masses and
do what ever it takes to lie,cheat and mislead. The mass media included.
Soon enough there will be a great awakening upon real American’s across this land and they will be able to
see through the smoke and mirror’s and know who the real enemy is, it’s not Iran either. They are the one’s
vanquished from 34 countries who are not a race. Americans have fallen prey for to long and the day will
come when the awakening of those down, will bring those on high,down like they brought down the twin
towers and our great Republic will return to us. The enemy will will be easily identified because they will
be found as if naked,when real Americans discover what they have done to our great Nation.
We are so effing effed.
Indeed!
Need it be said - here we go again. The world is held hostage to the stupidity of U.S. politicians falling for the same bulls**t, from the exact same bullsh**ters as last time. Hopefully there are some REAL patriots left amongst the U.S. armed forces who will refuse any order to blockade/bomb Iran.
Members of the military take an oath that swears “…that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic,…”
There are subtle but important differences in the oaths taken by enlisted persons and officers. An enlisted person swears to “…obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me,…”, officers do not.
Oaths of Enlistment and Oaths of Office
I submit that even if authorized by Congress, an attack and or blockade of Iran represents such colossal stupidity as to place the entire Republic *and* its Constitution in grave danger.
Perhaps it is from the remnant of those who take their responsibilities to heart we can rebuild.
Not that you have to be smart to be an Army officer — most are just frat boys a couple years later. You certainly don’t have to be smart to be a private soldier, and it’s probably best that your infantrymen NOT be smart.
Lester Ness
It is not stupidity that drives government. It is fear of being exposed by aipac for the crimes each government official committed with aipacs money or child sex slaves or aipac supplied drugs. Of course this does not apply to the zionist whores in government. They are doing what they see as best for their country, No not the USA but their true home, israel.
WE the People must educate each other about the history, the REAL history of jews then we can liberate ourselves by eliminating them.
…with other words: Hitler did not complete his job? ..sounds cruel but seems to be a sad fact!
Um yeah, I think the Israeli Nationalists and Neocons would be great friends with Hitler, they think alike.
A 20 minute debate on yet another war in the Middle East? Are these people completely insane? I don’t suppose Congress or AIPAC are interested in educating the American people as to the probable consequences or its cost, right? Didn’t think so.
As far as the politicians are concerned, our job as Americans is to continue funding the death machine and otherwise act like sheep being led to slaughter. We should also keep quiet when our country is tranformed into a police state to “protect” us from pissed off Muslims who survive the shock and awe campaign. We have the neocons and the Israel lobby to thank for this wonderful state of affairs.
I’m wondering when we’ll have a foreign policy that addresses the national security interests of THIS country, not that of Israel. If Israel thinks it wise to bomb Iran to thwart a non-existent bomb-making program, would it be asking too much that they do their own dirty work and accept the blowback the follows?
“I don’t suppose Congress or AIPAC are interested in educating the American people as to the probable consequences or its cost, right?”
Education? Are you kidding?! All AIPAC gives a sh*t about is Israel and all congress gives a sh*t about is AIPAC money. As Eric exclaimed (paraphrased) in his earlier post: “The effing effer is effed!”
Actually, I doubt AIPAC cares much about Israel. (Most Israelis aren’t Westerners, after all.) It is mostly concerned with John Hagee “Let’s end the world tomorrow” type Christian Fundamentalists.
Lester Ness
Kunming
China
I don’t why some people in the american parliament can be so dumb, I don’t know how else to put it out. There are so many studies on an military attack against Iran from universities in England and from many other countries, which consider an attack against Iran as a very bad move.
The one and only reason USA would want to attack Iran because it senses the threat of other world-powers such as China.
However this actually is a very broad topic, because the relations between Iran and the USA are very complicated.
If you like to read some more on that kind of stuff read this page or visit my blog
The smartest people in America go into business, sometimes the arts or scholarship, almost never politics. Congressmen are usually crooks, sometimes actual associates of the Mafia. (Think of James Traficant of Ohio, Dan Rostenkowski of Chicago, among others.) You can make a lot of money by doing favors for defense contractors, etc., if you’re a congressman. In the present generation, a lot of protestant religious fanatics eager for the end of the world have been wielding clout in Congress, too.
As for the “one and only only reason the US would attack Iran”, I take it you don’t think Iran is the “King of the South” in Daniel 11? Mad ideology though it is, Dispensationalism is not trivial.
Lester Ness
Kunming
China
You are right, I was trying to say that USA is trying to secure its power by “infiltrating” the middle east. Obviously Iran cannot be seen as a king of south or anyhing thelike. But it needs to be said that Iran is a very powerful state in its region. Also Iran is a lot more powerful than most of the people think.
However an attack against Iran would be a very serious mistake.
lester,lester,lester, you actually believe Traficant is a criminal, merely for pushing the zionists buttons by freeing John Demjanjuk (who’s about to be “had” again)? Every single charge against Traficant was trumped up, so said THE WITNESSES after the fact, all of whom were threatened with their own jail time if they wouldn’t play along.
Such is ‘justice’ in America. But criminals like tom delay and ted stevens walk free.
I lived in Ohio for a long time, so, yes, I believe that James Traficant is genuinely a crook. Likewise, when Donald “Buzz” Leukens (R, Ohio) got caught in bed with a 13 year old black girl, that was real, not a conspiracy against him. He even admitted he did it, just denied he’d done anything wrong! That’s the key: a lot of bossy people who can’t admit they’ve done anything wrong.
Lester
Unbelievable.
Another sad day in American history. We now start wars.
My prayers are with all of the poor souls in our military who are going to be plunged into another god foresaken “war”, and with all of the innocents on both sides.
Now, if Obama wins he can stay in Iran and Iraq, while placing the blame on Republicans. Obama is just as bad as all the rest. He will never end this.
McMurder is probably loving this, since his military experience will give him an edge.
Sad.
I’m not sure what McMussolini’s “military experience” is? Nearly sinking his own Aircraft Carrier. Or spending much of the War in a POW Prison after bombing some civilians and getting shot down.
Yeah, it is a said state of affairs in the US Government when the only constructive thing they can do is cause destruction.
we’re hosed>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4G1xy31yiA
This is most interesting. As an Iranian, living in Iran, I do not like to be the target of another American stupidity. Nonetheless it is most interesting. It also reinforces my belief that although we Iranians do not have a zillion Noble prize winners and another zillion patents to our name, we Iranians are collectively ultra intelligent, while the Americans, collectively, are super stupid.
I never thought that America will make such a move while it has an aircraft carrier and some forty military ships of various sizes in the Persian Gulf. And Persian Gulf while being a large body of water it still a closed body of water and we know it like the back of our hands. Which makes it even more interesting. If the American congress passes those resolutions it has effectively written off each and every American ship and its crew in the Persian Gulf. Which according to the mentality of the collective American is a small investment towards total dominance of the Middle East and its resources, in the way that it allows total war on Iran and even use of nuclear weapons against Iran, because we will refuse to surrender, by America and its Western allies. I wonder what the world will be like after that, but we will just have to wait and see. However I am sure about one thing. There will be no f**king Europe after that.
Ali,
I hear you. I’d be frustrated too if the situation were reversed. But it would be a mistake to assume that America is a monolithic whole. There are 300 million of us, and we don’t think alike.
As this site can attest, many of us are vociferously against a war with your country. Do not conflate the U.S. government with its people. I have no more control over our president than you do over the mullahs. If more people could make that basic distinction, there might be fewer wars.
Thank you for that comment. This is always a big problem when people mix up governement and normal civilians.
hmm… no foolin’. if you were actually as ‘ultra intelligent’ as you claim to be,
you would know that “The Experiment” is over, and has been for more than one hundred and forty years, but you continued to trust the Empire as long as they were feeding your need for weapons while arming your adversaries simultaneously. feeling screwed over yet? get in line.
have fun at the turkey shoot.
The Nobel laureates and patent holders are nearly always immigrants.
If you think that you and a couple thousand buddies will be taken up into heaven, why should you care about the fate of the rest of America? Let alone the rest of humanity.
Lester Ness
Ali,
Unfortunately you are correct about the ships–they are sitting ducks but on some level you are also incorrect about the politicians not being aware of this. Playing out the chess pieces on the neocon board, they are hoping that those ships will be sunk. This will make an anti-war movement in the U.S. untenable. Who can march against peace when those evil Iranians have sunk our innocent fleet sitting in the Persian Gulf. The “Persian Gulf Massacre” will be the rallying cry of the neocons. This will assure that they will never be brought up on charges.
This blockade is not an act of stupidity. It will go down in history as an act of evil genius. When the Iranians run the blockade as they must. It will be the Iranian’s that started the war. It will also be the Democrats in Congress that sanctioned it. Not since the burning of the Reichstag will the forces of darkness be better served.
mudshark,
You are correct about the US losing it’s ships in the Persian Gulf but I’m afraid that is the plan. The only way the government can get the American people to go along is massive US casualties. Those ships are deliberately intended to be sitting duck targets. The US intends to provoke Iran by stopping/boarding Iranian ships in the gulf which is an act of war. Iran will retaliate against those ships and when it does, the Bush administration will have it’s excuse to bomb Iran.
Americans are stupid but it’s not an IQ problem. They are uninformed, brain-washed and complacent. They are convinced it can’t happen here. Americans are going to be in for one helluva surprise when the government war machine sets it’s target on the American public.
God bless and help us all.
You are correct about the US losing it’s ships in the Persian Gulf but I’m afraid that is the plan. The only way the government can get the American people to go along is massive US casualties. Those ships are deliberately intended to be sitting duck targets.
Gee does this sound like Pearl Harbour all over again? Those ships were placed there as sitting ducks for the Japanese to sink and draged the good ol USA into the war. This is the same old tried and true tactic, you would think they could come up with something a bit more original to start world war 3.
While the sailors undoubtedly know they are in danger, the politicians making the decisions think only of how cool they will look on TV bloviating about how tough they are.
Lester Ness
I agree with you Ali, about it all. This satanic nation is no longer a super-power, and will soon be annihilated.
More than likely the neo-cons are looking for a good excuse to go nuclear. This is remarkably similar to Pearl Harbor which lead to dropping an A-bomb on a city. Expect the U.S. Navy to suffer massive casualties only to have the Air force save the day with their tactical nukes. Americans will support dropping nukes just like they did back in the 40’s. This will be an interesting war and unfortunately millions of people will die needless because of it. If China steps in, expect the U.S. Navy to be completely destroyed. Their subs cannot be stopped.
The Elites in the US Government are not about to turn 40 Billion dollars worth of Military Equipment into Persian Gulf artificial coral reef beds and diving attractions. They would not have scrapped the Spruance class Destroyers(most of which did not even serve their full service life) years ago if they intended to simply throw away equipment to achieve geopolitical goals.
I don’t believe that they are going to pursue a “Pearl Harbor/Maine” type event to create Pro-War Hysteria among the US population. They simply don’t have any aging 40 year old Battleships they can dispose of and not feel any negative effects from this in their global plans. The only ship facing the scrapping yards/target range is the “Kitty Hawk” Aircraft Carrier, but the US Government and Military Industries want to sell it to India to then sell India some F/A-18’s to go with it.
In fact I believe losing the 5th Fleet in the Persian Gulf would have the opposite effect of Pearl Harbor 1941. Even back then if they wanted to bait the Japanese into attacking they probably bit off more than they could chew, nearly losing the Battle of Midway was not among the Government’s plan back in WW2 I am sure of that. If it was planned they simply under-estimated the Japanese, there were probably views that the Japanese would drop some bombs kill a few US citizens and do some damage. But I think nobody was thinking that the Japanese would be so well organized and the US response so disorganized and that a large part of the Pacific Fleet would be lost.
Today following the repeated disasters of the last several years the US population would not respond well to the loss of a fleet of US Warships that would appear to have been preventable. Just think of what happened in Russia in 1905 after the Japanese Navy sunk much of the Russian Navy Task Force sent to reinforce Russia’s forces in Asia/China where the Japanese were attacking. The Russian population revolted against the Government. The US finds itself in a similar situation. The US 5th Fleet is not in home waters, it is operating in enemy waters, Iran will see an attack coming and will be able to respond with the full force of its Naval and Coastal Defense Forces, the US can’t send its whole Navy halfway across the World fast enough to reinforce its forces in the Persian Gulf.
The US can’t afford to lose the 5th Fleet. It is the Navy that gives the US the capacity to bombard other nations with Tomahawk Cruise Missiles, to control the Sea, and the Air over bodies of water with Aircraft Carriers. If this is lost nothing prevents Iran from launching a direct assault against the regional US Headquarters in Qatar. Images of US Generals scrambling to board Transport planes out of Qatar while Iranian Mortars rain down on the Air Base would not be good for US Public Morale.
Bill K . I do tend to agree with you there. It’s simply to much of a loss for the US. Unless there are other more advanced means by which they may prevent a full or continued attack over/around Iranian soil. A can think of a few ways. Technologies have come a long way since the days of Pearl Harbour. Who knows what the US military could have up their sleeve. Even still, maybe it’s just me hanging-on foolishly to the hope that within the average American still exists a strongenough capability to think outside their TV sets, but another Pearl Harbour tactic will surely be too transparent.
Our rulers and their puppets and henchmen are determined to get this country into yet another wwar. And of course what we the people think about this makes absolutely no difference whatsoever.
On the one hand it is a concurrent resolution, meaning the president doesn’t sign it. This is the sort of thing Congress uses to order more stationery, and to praise sports teams. But on the other hand, it literally demands Bush set up a blockade. Most of Iranion refined petroleum is imported, and this resolution explicitly targets that import from being prevented.
Anyway it seems to me that this is like a bunch of stupid kids in a car, driving in pitch black, in an industrial area with strip mining going on…somewhere in the dark.
But now that it’s abundantly clear Congress isn’t going to hold the administration responsible for war crimes even though we know they’ve been committed and now even a military general has stated such. But even further this crackpots are seriously going to demand this crazy lunatic president to blockade crazy lunatic Iran? OMFG!
The only question people seriously should be asking now is, at what point do the adults need to come in and take control of the situation? At what point do we start recalling representatives and senators, because November isn’t likely to be soon enough, nor are enough Senators even up for election.
Executive branch: fail
Judicial branch: fail
Legislative branch: fail
So now the last rung are the citizens. If they fail, it’s all over. That’s it. Done.
Don’t worry everyone, Barrack Obama will lead the opposition to this in congress and stop it. The democrats will not pass such a resolution, as this, to give Bush more power will they? The moon is also made of green cheese.
In the USSR they had One Party and One Flavor, in the US they have One Party with Two. Two right wings, one obnoxious, the other repugnant. There are no “checks and balances,” there cannot exist such a thing in a One Party System. Now the Americans finally have a Holy Emperor, Decider I. The Senate is just ceremony, could be automated by installing an applause machine. Congress is just a waste of paper, time and money. It would cost less to let Aipac do it directly. The populace is largely indifferent or never had any faith in anything getting better anyway. Therefore “Mudshark” is right. “The Experiment” is over and Empires don’t die in bed, they drown in blood.
U.S. foreign policy tends to change remarkably little whichever party is in power.
I just sent the following email to the Chief of Staff of my Representative (Tim Walz, MN 1-CD). I would suggest y’all send similar emails/letters or call your own Reps. and Senators:
Josh,
H. Con. Res 362 “demands” that the President impose “stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains, and cargo entering or departing Iran.” That would require a naval blockade, which is an act of war. In other words, this resolution is a declaration of war against Iran. This resolution is being rushed through Congress by stealth. Its amazing that the US Congress is about to issue a declaration of war against Iran, and this isn’t even being reported by the news media.
If Rep. Walz does not want to take a public, vocal stand on this (hopefully in concert with the few sane Reps. from other districts), could you at least see to it that the media is tipped off to what’s going on? The American people at least deserve to know that their Congress is about to declare war on another country.
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2008/06/23/iran-war-resolution-may-be-passed-next-week/
Bill Rood
Oh, that Hitler had done a better job!
I’m sorry to say that what seems like insanity to the sane seems very pragmatic to those insane murderers in the white house and Downing Street. We need to be honest with ourselves about why this is happening.
WAKE UP FOLKS, THE OIL IS GONE!
The questions for the killers as they plan for further oil shocks is, “who will live and who is to die?”. There is no other explanation for this kind of madness. The sooner we realize that government is essentially over in America and much of the rest of the world, the better we could potentially save lives and perhaps survive ourselves.
Call all the congresspeople you want. I do all the time. It does no good and this Iran bill will pass because there is not one democrat to has the balls to say no to AIPAC.
America is dying of oil dehydration and is going to kill the rest of the world before it goes. Sorry world, it wasn’t my idea and nobody I know thinks bombing Iran is a good idea either.
If anyone was truly serious about making it stop they would arrest Bush and Cheney immediately. Citizens arrest anyone??
I’m disgusted as hell~
Berkeley, USA
The biggest enemy of any empire is from within. And all empires grow to a hollow shell and eventually collapse. There are only two reasons this empire has even lasted this long. One is that in most wars it has picked an enemy that was either too weak or already devastated by prior wars like afaghan, Iraq, Vietnam, and even in WWII when it entered at its near end after the soviets has already lost 20m fighting the Germans and others that fought Germany. After that it simply took over British, French, etc colonies and became what it is now. the other reason is the democrats that deflate it just enough to prevent it from collapsing but have the same policy views as rep. the only credit that can be made to this country is when it became independent from British and its smart people who make it a good culture. if US were to attack Iran, and if you anything about Iran and its history, at the very least it would not be able to defeat it, and at best it could devastate it killing many people. But the real lost for it would be that it would loose the entire world that its holding controls over with thin rope.
just as the winner of US and Iraq was became Iran, the winner of US Iran war would become china, Russia, south America, and many others, you name it…
mudshark,
What is that 140 years about? Is that a figure of speech or an approximation to some real historical milestone?
Iranians do not trust the “Empire”. We hate Empire of any persuasion. American, British, Russian, Ottoman, you name it. The only way we trust it is to be the criminal super entity that it is, and has always been. However, I sense a lumping together of Iran with all other victims of the Empire in your remark. While I do not mind the hypothetical company at all, I think that you are a bit off the mark. The Arabs of the Middle East love the Empire. It has practically given all of them their statehood. It has drawn their borders and supervised their retreat into the Middle Ages; which they seem never to be able to thank the Empire enough for. That goes for Israel too. But not Iran. Actually, the only countries in our neighborhood that are not Empire made, are Turkey and Afghanistan, with Afghanistan being rather Empire destroyed.
Ali,
it’s about how long ago the uSA ceased being a republic and took off down the path to ending up the hideous empire that it is now.
as for the rest of it… face it, you’ve been played, maybe not to the extent others have, but Iran was a launch pad for the economic terrorists and their empire of debt, and they’ve conned you into the position that you find yourself today. who do you think got Iran started on a nuclear program? and now they’re turning it back on you to potentially destroy your country if you don’t do what they want, contrary to IAEA verification that Iran in not violating anything.
Your Supreme Leader better get busy talking to Russia and China and anyone else that will help throw a net over the raving lunatic liars that are frothing to rain bombs on your country. blind fanatical nationalism is no deterrent to the insanity that is staring you in the face.
Take care…
mudshark,
I think that I understand you about America. I have heard Lincoln referred to as the original American dictator before, or at least the one who steadfastly refused to put his finger in the whole in the dam that was supposed to protect America from it. I also know perfectly well about the way the World Bank and IMF in collaboration with the American and European political elite set out to destroy the third world economies and transform them into zero cost suppliers of their needs, whatever that may be. They start with the weakest link in a certain chain of countries and work their way up. But what you say in your comment does not really apply to Iran. Employing businessmen as spies is nothing new. They are the ones that can move freely and often are quite welcome in the target countries because they provide the trade that the said country is looking for. For example there was talk of Germany, issuing German passports to Israeli spies and including them in the business groups that would visit Iran. Kermit Roosevelt was different in the sense that he was only the coordinator of the coup. He was given one million dollars, which he eventually left in Iran, because only about seventy thousand dollars of it was spent on the coup. Everyone in Iran knew that he was the CIA’s man. It was not important if he was a businessman or not. So, we really should not be the ones to be blamed for American public’s negligence in questioning Roosevelt’s true anchorage. The ignorance was on your part, not us. Kermit Roosevelt as businessman is a new concept to us, you know. I tell you. What is really novel and quite dangerous is a businessman posing as CIA agent or a military man, not the other way around. That is what you will have to worry about now, as far as America is concerned at least.
I also understand you and other American posters’ use of the world “nationalism”. I suppose you refer to it in the same sense as of the nationalism of Germany and Italy or Japan in the WWII. But, believe me, it is different here. First of all, ours is not nationalism based on any idea of supremacy as was the case with Germany and Japan. Second, here we are being the target of threats and attacks as opposed to the case with Germany and Japan. I cannot ask you to let go of your history and culture and language and icons and points-to-look-for’s. But, considering other posters’ of supposedly liberal or antiwar leanings use of “heaven” and “nationalism” and “rapture”, I also have to warn you of incorporating these icons and code words into your language as well. Otherwise and in good time, all of you will be fuel on the war party’s fire. It is no accident that Obama is holier than thou, or as we say in Iran, more Catholic than Pope when it comes to the issue of war on the “enemies of freedom”, and “West’s way of life”, and “security of Israel”. The poor guy has no where to go. The same with Ron Paul. He called Iran a terrorist country and was just one step short of calling for a halt on the campaign, well if you can call it that, against a war with Iran. Justin Raimondo called that very very wrong, but that is really beside the point. The important thing is that the Americans have a habit of calling everything by its wrong name. It is not just propaganda anymore. They are one “big government”, you know. And, yes I know. Justin Raimondo is also American.