Home » Blogs » vastleft's blog

Arthur!

Tue, 09/29/2009 - 5:42pm — vastleft

Go, read.

I'm bracing myself to find out how far "progressives" will go in, well, sanctioning a program of draconian sanctions against Iran. Maybe a "strategic" strike or two. Or more?

If The One ratchets it all the way up to full-scale invasion, don't worry. He'll lubricate it, and us, with the Greatest War Speech Evah.

Who knows, the Lightbringer may be satisfied just to starve the Iraqi people and create powerful alliances among countries with resources we covet. That may be 11-dimensional genius enough to seal his legacy. But don't count on it.

»

Comments

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

I'll support sanctions (not that the UN needs my vote)

By tedraicer on Tue, 09/29/2009 - 7:33pm

The spread of nukes to any additional nation is not A Good Thing, and certainly not in the case of Iran. Would I support a military action to stop them getting nukes? No, for the very simple reason there it almost certainly wouldn't work. But will I support whatever sanctions the world community can agree on to express its displeasure? Yes I will. While recognizing that they are unlikely to work either, and eventually we'll have to deal with an Iran with nukes, the statement such sanctions represent is worth making.

—

Tdraicer

»

like Madeleine Albright?

By windy on Wed, 09/30/2009 - 6:11am

"we think the price is worth it"

»

Abusing Middle-Eastern countries has been working so well

By vastleft on Tue, 09/29/2009 - 9:56pm

Why stop now, I guess.

»

Rather than a pointless

By tedraicer on Tue, 09/29/2009 - 10:35pm

Rather than a pointless argument, I'll suggest two excellent recent books dealing with the Middle East:

A Choice of Enemies by Lawrence Freedman and Israel Is Real by Rich Cohen.

—

Tdraicer

»

I'm afraid my reading list is woefully backed up

By vastleft on Tue, 09/29/2009 - 10:52pm

Could you favor us with a synopsis of their arguments?

»

>Could you favor us with a

By tedraicer on Wed, 09/30/2009 - 10:44am

>Could you favor us with a synopsis of their arguments?

Not trying to be evasive, but a paragraph or two by me would not do either of them justice-their arguments are in the details; they are works of history more than polemics. Freedman examines the US involvement in the MidEast from Carter to today, while Cohen examines the history of Zionism and Israel.

—

Tdraicer

»