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#21
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Iran launches "space rocket...or missile".
Rand Simberg wrote: And Saddam made it very clear that he wanted the world to think that he had WMD. Whether true or not, it's a potentially suicidal thing to do. It's something that if it goes wrong, goes _really_ wrong. It's a situation where both sides may think they know what the other side is going to do in regards to their actions and completely misread what the response will be. The classic case is the Soviets sticking the missiles in Cuba. Meanwhile, back in Iraq, our radical foreign policy reversal that was first shown in regard to North Korea a week or so back continues: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17364686/ It looks like the Iraq Studies Group's recommendations are getting implemented, and Cheney is no longer a major player. Scuttlebutt is that Condolezza Rice is behind these moves. If so, getting North Korea's fuel supply linked to South Korea rather than China was a very clever move. They'll be a lot less likely to attack a country that is supplying them with fuel, as that would disrupt its production and shipment. Pat |
#22
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Iran launches "space rocket...or missile".
Rand Simberg wrote:
On Tue, 27 Feb 2007 15:47:55 GMT, in a place far, far away, (Henry Spencer) made the phosphor on my monitor glow in such a way as to indicate that: In article .com, Quadibloc wrote: It could happen at any moment, since the leadership of Iran has made it very clear that it is willing to attack Israel. No, they've made it very clear that they want us to think that. It's not at all the same thing. And Saddam made it very clear that he wanted the world to think that he had WMD. Whether true or not, it's a potentially suicidal thing to do. Yes, and this latest news item that says that perhaps Iran just wants us to *think* that it tested a rocket, instead of it actually having tested one, definitely makes me think that Iran could be headed on a course similar to Iraq's. But since the United States has made it clear that they react badly to bluffs, what is their strategy? Do they think the United States will die of embarassment? Or maybe they are willing to sacrifice Iraq, so that when some *other* Islamic country gets close to developing WMD's... political forces willing to *do* something about it will be discredited. Sort of like the story of the boy who cried "Wolf". But a strategy that involves sacrificing *whole countries* as expendable pawns! Who can believe it? No one, since except for Pakistan, there's hardly a credible third candidate for an Islamic WMD nation. But then, terror weapons don't have to be high-tech. Maybe al-Qaeda has someone in Japan digging up old meteorological charts... More like a plot for the next thriller novel, though, than a real threat. So instead of a mysterious "country X", I think we have to go with thinking of Iran as the real threat for now. John Savard |
#23
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Iran launches "space rocket...or missile".
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#24
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Iran launches "space rocket...or missile".
Pat Flannery wrote:
: : :Fred J. McCall wrote: : But we don't see any huge tactical innovations in their methods of : warfare. : : :Except that now they are going to rely on sophisticated equipment rather :than human wave attacks? :Any country that's getting input from Russia on stealth fighter design :might bear watching: :http://www.irandefence.net/showthread.php?t=640 :It just struck me why that thing looks like it has a flying saucer stuck :in its midsection. :http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...q-image3-s.jpg :http://www.aeronautics.ru/img/img006/mig_i-2000_001.jpg :That's the Russian plasma stealth generator to wrap the plane in ionized :air that absorbs radar waves. :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_stealth :http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/10/19/stealth.shtml Yeah, and then a miracle comes to pass... -- "Some people get lost in thought because it's such unfamiliar territory." --G. Behn |
#25
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Iran launches "space rocket...or missile".
Fred J. McCall wrote:
(Henry Spencer) wrote: :In article .com, :Quadibloc wrote: :It could happen at any moment, since the leadership of Iran has made :it very clear that it is willing to attack Israel. : :No, they've made it very clear that they want us to think that. : :It's not at all the same thing. It can, however, have the same effect. The problem with trying to convince people you're a dangerous loon is that they just might believe you and decide to do something about you... Furthermo dangerous loons do really exist, and so doing something about those who appear to be dangerous loons is actually a rational act. The following incident happened right here in Edmonton only recently. There were two guys on this bus (the number 5 trolley), arguing. One guy says: "You gave me this cold. Give me your cold pills; I gotta get to work." The other guy says: "That's it. You're not getting to work today. I'm going to stab you." The driver puts them both off the bus. The other guy really *does* stab the first guy. He dies. Apparently, our police haven't even caught a suspect yet. Presumably, bus drivers will now be instructed to take all threats of violence _very_ seriously in future, and always put the guy who threatens violence off the bus by himself rather than trying to defuse the situation by appearing even-handed. It is suicidal - especially after September 11 - to do anything *but* assume the worst about anyone who may possibly be a dangerous loon, and therefore take innocent lives. We cannot put innocent lives at risk, because we don't have the power to resurrect the dead. It should not have taken as many innocent people dying in Iraq as it has before the U.S. decides to institute a draft, go to Iraq in sufficient force to totally pacify the country, giving it a chance to train its own security forces in peace. *Then* withdraw, once the government we put in place is in *total control*. You don't hear of anti-government rebels killing hundreds of people every day in North Korea, do you? So peace is achievable. John Savard |
#26
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Iran launches "space rocket...or missile".
Pat Flannery wrote:
It looks like the Iraq Studies Group's recommendations are getting implemented, and Cheney is no longer a major player. That reminds me. I can remember those long-ago innocent days... when the office of the Vice-President of the United States of America was thought to carry very little weight... and, thus, the notion of an attempt to assasinate the *vice*-President would be... a joke. 23 people left dead is not funny. The world has changed a great deal since the 1960s. John Savard |
#27
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Iran launches "space rocket...or missile".
Quadibloc wrote:
Pat Flannery wrote: It looks like the Iraq Studies Group's recommendations are getting implemented, and Cheney is no longer a major player. That reminds me. I can remember those long-ago innocent days... when the office of the Vice-President of the United States of America was thought to carry very little weight... and, thus, the notion of an attempt to assasinate the *vice*-President would be... a joke. 23 people left dead is not funny. The world has changed a great deal since the 1960s. Come to think of it, I think I even *remember* the joke. Even though I can't Google it. I think it went something like this: "What's the difference between crazy and stupid, Daddy?" "It's like this: Someone tries to assassinate the President, he's _crazy_! Someone tries to assassinate the vice-President, he's _stupid_!" Doubtless this will jog someone's memory and a reference can be supplied. John Savard |
#28
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Iran launches "space rocket...or missile".
"Quadibloc" wrote in message ups.com... It should not have taken as many innocent people dying in Iraq Why is this a bad thing? Wouldn't it be a far worse world if those people *deserved* what happened to them? How about the innocent people killed by suicide bombers in Israel? Why do we not hear dead Israelis referred to as "innocent"? Why don't we hear about those killed in the Towers as "innocent"? What has guilt or innocence got to do with collateral damage? The word "innocent" is clearly being used to promote a political agenda rather than being used as a legitimate descriptor. Without being able to examine the individual lives of every victim, how can they accurately be called "innocent"? Even children have been used to commit evil. The word "innocent" has become as meaningless as the word "terrorist" because of overuse and misuse in promoting agendas. |
#29
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Iran launches "space rocket...or missile".
"Scott Hedrick" wrote in message
... What has guilt or innocence got to do with collateral damage? The word "innocent" is clearly being used to promote a political agenda rather than being used as a legitimate descriptor. Without being able to examine the individual lives of every victim, how can they accurately be called "innocent"? Even children have been used to commit evil. It reminds of the people who were tallying up the number of "civilians" killed by Israel in their war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Evidently any body not in the official uniform of Hezbollah counted as a civilian. -- Regards, Mike Combs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- By all that you hold dear on this good Earth I bid you stand, Men of the West! Aragorn |
#30
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Iran launches "space rocket...or missile".
Quadibloc wrote: It should not have taken as many innocent people dying in Iraq as it has before the U.S. decides to institute a draft, You try that stunt and Bush and the gang are going to end up hanging from the nearest tree, followed by every member of Congress who voted for that draft. Since you're from Canada, and we're obviously incapable of doing the Iraq thing correctly, maybe it's time Canada institutes a draft and cleans the mess up. Pat |
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