tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post1321229498629816071..comments2024-01-05T06:18:18.086-05:00Comments on CommentaramaPolitics: Castro, Iran, and Obama's last grasps for a legacyAndrewPricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-66708606629397755812015-07-08T21:05:05.290-04:002015-07-08T21:05:05.290-04:00"We have a winner! The best way to get rid of..."We have a winner! The best way to get rid of commies is with free enterprise...in fact, as soon as possible, give every GI on GITMO a couple of thousand American dollars in 10s and 20s and turn them loose on the local economy around GITMO, they will swamp it.."<br /><br />Unfortunately, from what I've heard about the <a href="http://terminallance.com/2013/05/24/terminal-lance-267-locals/" rel="nofollow">behavior American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines</a>, such an act will probably destroy any chance of developing meaningful relations with the Cuban populations.<br />Kithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01453591141757808708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-84002379074705218002015-07-08T21:04:07.324-04:002015-07-08T21:04:07.324-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Kithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01453591141757808708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-75204380336664176072015-07-08T19:56:18.756-04:002015-07-08T19:56:18.756-04:00Bev,
In 1992 Israel was predicting Iran was no mo...Bev,<br /><br />In 1992 Israel was predicting Iran was no more than seven years away from a bomb.<br /><br />http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/1108/Imminent-Iran-nuclear-threat-A-timeline-of-warnings-since-1979/Israel-paints-Iran-as-Enemy-No.-1-1992<br /><br />Though Israel had secretly done business with the Islamic Republic after the 1979 revolution, seeking to cultivate a Persian wedge against its local Arab enemies, the early 1990s saw a concerted effort by Tel Aviv to portray Iran as a new and existential threat.<br /><br />1992: Israeli parliamentarian Benjamin Netanyahu tells his colleagues that Iran is 3 to 5 years from being able to produce a nuclear weapon – and that the threat had to be "uprooted by an international front headed by the US."<br /><br />1992: Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres tells French TV that Iran was set to have nuclear warheads by 1999. "Iran is the greatest threat and greatest problem in the Middle East," Peres warned, "because it seeks the nuclear option while holding a highly dangerous stance of extreme religious militancy."<br /><br />----------------<br /><br />I agree Israel is likely to hit key targets with bombs but by all accounts Iran has scattered and buried its nuke program in order to make that sort of quick strike less crippling than it was for Iraq.Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16124128949343301445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-73641761737591491692015-07-08T18:53:23.888-04:002015-07-08T18:53:23.888-04:00The other question is how will Saudi Arabia respon...The other question is how will Saudi Arabia respond to a nuclear Iran? Iran is Shiite and Saudi Arabia is Sunni and they are both big geopolitical rivals in the Persian Gulf region. Right now, both are fighting each other in a proxy war in Yemen. <br /><br />Israel is not the only country worried about Iran. Kithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01453591141757808708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-18938404114128687882015-07-08T16:08:15.241-04:002015-07-08T16:08:15.241-04:00Anthony - I would agree with you about Iran's ...Anthony - I would agree with you about Iran's nuclear program except Israel Intelligence is warning us now. And it may not be so much that Iran is close to having a bomb that is the danger, it is that Israel is taking a pre-emptive posture because they view a nuclearize Iran as very real existential threat. And they are very willing to take radical action as they did this with Iraq in the late '70's and ended up destroying Saddam's nuclear plant in 1980.BevfromNYChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14953050916932306270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-55253550214656272482015-07-08T14:06:17.967-04:002015-07-08T14:06:17.967-04:00I am curious about the terms of the Iran deal but ...I am curious about the terms of the Iran deal but I don't see it as anything to get worked up about. Western intelligence has been warning for a couple decades that Iran's nuke is 'right around the corner' (they will be right eventually) but no one wants to invade because it would nasty and bloody. Barring radical action no one is prepared to take, the bomb is an inevitability and if Obama cuts a deal with Iran, he will own it.<br /><br />As for Cuba, the current policy is a joke which has strengthened the Castros. The Castros have claimed economic weakness of the country (which one invariably finds in communist regimes) is a result of the American embargo, not their ideaology and mismanagement. The fact that the U.S. allows them to export their problems is also a boon to them.<br /><br />Obama is more incompetent than most, but presidential candidates talking smack about the few simple steps it would take to make the world right is a long and honored tradition in the U.S. Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16124128949343301445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-5388815485541798672015-07-08T11:08:55.124-04:002015-07-08T11:08:55.124-04:00Andrew wrote: "In terms of Castro, what we sh...Andrew wrote: "In terms of Castro, what we should do is simply drop all the restrictions on our businesses going there but ignore Cuba's demands... treat the regime as irrelevant. Then we let the free market crush the regime." <br />We have a winner! The best way to get rid of commies is with free enterprise...in fact, as soon as possible, give every GI on GITMO a couple of thousand American dollars in 10s and 20s and turn them loose on the local economy around GITMO, they will swamp it..Critchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07106908233705403513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-72417072404264711052015-07-08T10:49:45.498-04:002015-07-08T10:49:45.498-04:00ANDREW - HAVE A GREAT VACATION!!!! WE WON'T D...ANDREW - HAVE A GREAT VACATION!!!! WE WON'T DO TOO MUCH DAMAGE TO THE BLOG WHILE YOU'RE AWAY!<br /><br /><i>{{{...or will we??? Bwhahahahaha...}}}}</i>BevfromNYChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14953050916932306270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-85270956641109723602015-07-08T10:49:13.956-04:002015-07-08T10:49:13.956-04:00He's not a communist, a secret Muslim or a neo...<i>He's not a communist, a secret Muslim or a neocolonialist... he's just incredibly lazy</i><br /><br />No, Obama is a "community organizer". And that job description entails making speeches to convince others to do the work.<br /><br />On the other hand, Obama has found a clever way of closing Gitmo. It is now all be in the name of opening up relations with Cuba and the Cuban People and not about releasing dangerous terrorists out into the world... BevfromNYChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14953050916932306270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-64729619544938341552015-07-08T01:03:43.051-04:002015-07-08T01:03:43.051-04:00"He's not a communist, a secret Muslim or..."He's not a communist, a secret Muslim or a neocolonialist... he's just incredibly lazy."<br /><br />Yep. Kithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01453591141757808708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-90938934593417992462015-07-08T00:38:54.811-04:002015-07-08T00:38:54.811-04:00BTW, Folks, I will be out for the next couple days...BTW, Folks, I will be out for the next couple days on a road-trip vacation away from my computer. I'll be back soon.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251675227852122352.post-23355466436479170852015-07-08T00:37:21.704-04:002015-07-08T00:37:21.704-04:00Kit, Excellent article! :D
I think you are spot o...Kit, Excellent article! :D<br /><br />I think you are spot on about Obama's utter lack of achievement, his desire to get something he can point to, and how his foreign policy is essentially "the path of least resistance." He's not a communist, a secret Muslim or a neocolonialist... he's just incredibly lazy.<br /><br />In fact, go all the way back to Honduras and you will see the pattern. Make some big noise about his demands. When the other guy flips him the bird, he sends someone to offer them a sweetheart deal. When they still resist, he walks away and does something else. He has essentially left the "to do list" from Hell for whoever follows him.<br /><br />In terms of Castro, what we should do is simply drop all the restrictions on our businesses going there but ignore Cuba's demands... treat the regime as irrelevant. Then we let the free market crush the regime.<br /><br />In terms of Iran, I had to laugh the other day. After Kerry so smugly claimed to have put in place the perfect deal last year, he's now talking about being close to a deal. Huh? So he lied when he claimed he reached a deal? How strange...AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.com