You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani warns US and Donald Trump: ‘If you begin the war, we will end it'
2018-07-27
Posted by:Elmerert Hupens2660

#16  #14 - that's simplistic BS in Iran's case. Iranians didn't like SAVAK, I agree, but the country moved into the Westernized tech and culture in teh big cities and among educated Iranians. Khomeini mobilized the ignorant Shia third-world rural population - the same ones protesting now. #FAIL
Posted by: Frank G   2018-07-27 20:07  

#15  Not to worry. We're not going to start the war, so they won't have to worry about ending it.

I suppose there might be a few 'encounters'.
Posted by: Bobby   2018-07-27 16:45  

#14  Yeah, because those projections of power have gone *so* well. Iraq, Syria, Egypt, yaknow there have been so many I can't even remember them all. And all they did was make more people hate us and wish to harm us. You know the whole reason Iran hates us is because we overthrew their government in the 1950s and installed the Shah? So we could steal Iran's oil wealth? Show of hands, who knew this? Yeah, that's why Iran hates us and chants "Death to America". It's why they took the hostages and sponsored terrorism against us.

Fun fact: the CIA op that overthrew Iran's government was so easy and cheap, the CIA got to the idea they could do that everywhere. Boy, that sure worked out well, didn't it? It worked so well they tried the formula against the opposition candidate in the last election.

We've been in Afghanistan for 17 years and the only thing we've managed to accomplish there is to significantly increase the Afghan's opium production. Libya, the most recent NATO incursion, has resulted in a migration crisis and slave trading in the open.

I mention NATO because the US founding fathers consistently warned against being entangled in foreign alliances because interests always change over time.
Posted by: Herb McCoy   2018-07-27 15:53  

#13  "'Neocon' invasions objectively facilitated the conquest of the West by theocratic totalitarians."

What a load of horse shit.


Today Sharia is relevant in the West. The Rushdie rules have been accepted by the Western political class. That wasn't the case before these interventions took place.

They provided the adversaries of free speech with one of their main arguments: Anything that potentially enrages the people in Muslim nations will endanger Western forces.

South Park could depict Mohammed in July of 2001 without anyone taking special notice. In 2010 am attempted depiction was censored. The canary in the coal mine had fallen from its perch.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660   2018-07-27 14:57  

#12  No one seems to remember Desert Storm do they?
Posted by: Shake   2018-07-27 13:47  

#11  I doubt the US goes to war with Iran. But the US can make life unpleasant for the mullahs.
Posted by: jvalentour   2018-07-27 09:57  

#10  "'Neocon' invasions objectively facilitated the conquest of the West by theocratic totalitarians."

What a load of horse shit.
Posted by: Rob Crawford   2018-07-27 08:31  

#9  Since when are we in favor of invading and conquering other countries?

When they declare war on us. Invading one's country (ie storming the embassy) is still an unsettled bit of history. By all measures of history, we've been at war since then, but everyone wants to ignore it. So, its been an unending festering wound compounding one incident after another getting us to this place now, dealing with alligators instead of draining the swamp.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2018-07-27 07:55  

#8  'Neocon' invasions objectively facilitated the conquest of the West by theocratic totalitarians.

The West hasn't conquered anyone or anything. Not even an attempt has been made.

The decision wrt Iran is whether or no to neutralize a threat.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660   2018-07-27 07:49  

#7  Herb gets the vapors over any projection of national will and power outside our borders. Johnny One-Note
Posted by: Frank G   2018-07-27 07:44  

#6  Invading 500lb bombs from 30,000 feet, then return to base. Invasion over.
Posted by: Besoeker   2018-07-27 07:20  

#5  Since when are we in favor of invading and conquering other countries?

Who said anything about conquering?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2018-07-27 06:57  

#4  Did we suddenly have an outbreak of neo conservatism? Since when are we in favor of invading and conquering other countries?
Posted by: Herb McCoy   2018-07-27 06:51  

#3  No Iran, no terror payments, threats evaporate.
Posted by: gorb   2018-07-27 05:27  

#2  “We are near you, where you can’t even imagine ... Come. We are ready. If you begin the war, we will end the war,” Tasnim news agency quoted Soleimani as saying.

He's obviously threatening the US with asymmetrical war i.e. Iranian sponsored terror attacks.

This is one of the reasons he can be reasonably unafraid of bad consequences.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660   2018-07-27 04:42  

#1  Sounds like an invitation to me.
Posted by: gorb   2018-07-27 01:19  

00:00