Nothing A Little "Talking" Can't Fix!

The head of the United Nations nuclear "watchdog" agency---the International Atomic Energy Agency---just said that Iran could make a nuclear weapon in six months to a year.

Mohammed El-Baradei went on an Arab television network a few days ago to say that in his judgment and the judgment of his inspectors, Iran is a lot closer to having an operational nuclear weapon than most people think. "If Iran wants to turn to the production of nuclear weapons, it must leave the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty), expel the IAEA inspectors, and then it would need at least, considering the number of centrifuges and the quantity of uranium Iran has...It would need at least six months to one year," he said.

Six to twelve months? In nuclear terms, that's tomorrow.

El-Baradei has been "pleading with Iran to accept a new package of incentives before another round of sanctions would be imposed," according to CBS.

The United States, who took the lead in packaging the new bundle o' goodies for Iran, has also been "pleading" with the Iranians to take it.

The Iranians' response?

Take a powder!

They have blown us and the UN off: take your package of incentives and shove it, they've said. Over and over again. How many more times do we need to hear it before we get it?

The Iranians just aren't that into us.

When the Ayotollah Khomenei seized power by leading the Islamic revolution in 1979, he said about the taking of American hostages, "America can't do a damned thing."

And we couldn't----until we elected a president named Ronald Reagan.

Today, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the exact same thing about us as they develop a nuke: "America can't do a damned thing."

Barack Obama wants to do more talking with the Iranians, because it's gotten such great results already.

President Bush remains inscrutable: he's pursuing longstanding diplomacy with Iran through the Europeans, he supports the UN's efforts to monitor their nuclear development, he's supporting sanctions.

The last question is: when none of this works (and none of it has or will), will this President do what President Reagan was prepared to do in 1980?

Comments

[FredK2929]

I do not want Bush messing with Iran. The jerk has already done enough damage.

[gringoman]

from GRINGORELLA,

Hello, Monica:

Hon', you know, I've taken a lot from the Gringo Advisory Board, agreeing to be its designated (ha-ha) girly-man. And I'm not really up on politics, or the Imams and all that. I'm more into man to man, or girly to girly. You know?

But there probably is some liberal coding in my DNA. That's why, on this issue, I could never say 'Better Dead Than Fred.'

Sure, maybe these liberals don't know anything except "Bush lied, people died."

But maybe that's enough? So what happens if the 12th Immamies get what gringoman calls The Mullah Bomb?

We'll have the liberals to show us how it was all Bush's fault, won't we?

And would the muslims still hate us if our President's name is Hussein?

Monica, I know, it's complicated. Isn't this a job for Hamlet? To be or not to be, to do or not to do, to jawbone or not to jawbone, to strike or not to strike?

Hon', I'm so glad there's someone like you who will think about it so I and the liberals don't have to.

[FredK2929]

Nothing else will be Bush's fault if he rides out the rest of his term without doing anything. That's the best move for him because he fails at anything he tries.

[gringoman]

from GRINGOBABA.

Greetings Dear Moniqa:

You are educated wooman. I admire. I picture you with or without veil, with or without burqa. I picture you on camel. Yes. Desert Princess on leave from Harvard, with camel. In Lawrence of Arabia you prefer mirage of Peter O'Toole or Omar Sharif? (Our faith does not permit twofer.)

But Moniqa, you forget one thing about President Boosh.

You know, gringoBaba is moderate. He is not one who wishes to deal a mighty blow. Many are like me. Read Koran. Read Sura. Talk to Imam. Visit Mosque.

Yes, the farsi-speakers in Iran talk. Yes, 12th Imam coming soon, like Apocalypse. Yes, Great Satan will get what is coming to him. Yes, Joos, Israel will disappear.

Moniqa, you know how they talk. You are kufar, true, but very educated wooman. The farsi talk, talk, talk.

So they get bomb. Pakistan have bomb now, yes? These brother mooslims all pray.

Moniqa, you forget President Boosh? He tell to his Government, Stop say 'Jihad.' Stop say 'Islamic terror.' Stop say 'Mujahadeen.'

Why he say that? He say that because he tell you what Barack Hussein Obama already know.

"Islam is a religion of peace."

.......from your humble and faithful GringoBaba.

[SteveOk]

(MSNBC: 110207)WASHINGTON - Democrat Barack Obama introduced a Senate resolution late Thursday that says President Bush does not have authority to use military force against Iran, the latest move in a debate with presidential rival Hillary Rodham Clinton about how to respond to that country's nuclear ambitions.

Clinton's campaign accused Obama of playing politics instead of taking a leadership role from the outset.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the Illinois senator drafted the measure in an effort to "nullify the vote the Senate took to give the president the benefit of the doubt on Iran."

Burton was referring to an amendment sponsored by Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, that passed 76-22 on Sept. 26 and designates Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.

Clinton's Iran vote
Clinton was the only Senate Democrat running for president to support the measure, and her rivals have argued that Bush could use it to justify war with Iran. Clinton insists her vote would not support military strikes and instead was a vote for stepped-up diplomacy.
-------------------------------------
Obama wouldn't even vote to declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization and says Iran is not a big threat to America anyway. He introduced a resolution declaring Bush had no authority to attack Iran. This is the type of foreign policy that comes straight out of the Jimmy Carter playbook and is extremely dangerous to our national security. He would agree to meet, without preconditions with a terrorist, Ahmaddinnerjacket, and even Hillary said that was dopey. The man is dangerous.

[Tracktim]

The truth no one wants to acknowledge;is that Israel will take care of this problem if the west won't.

That's something the world doesn't need.

[Truther]

It is not clear that Israel can handle the task alone. The US may already be involved in planning this, along with them.

My guess, is that Bush will certainly want to do this, to clean up what has started on his watch. Besides he seems to like the fireworks. He does not need Congressional approval for this operation, only for the sake of a protracted war. If hostilities would rise, and threaten the region, there really would be no choice other than to stop them if possible.

My guess : Iran would throw up some "save face" missiles.

[Ummah Gummah]

Wow.. Barack HUSSEIN Obama is really an islamist stooge..

God ( yes, I mean the REAL one - not the Satan aka "alla" ) help us all if Hussein gets the Presidency.

I hope Obama's grandmother is busy knitting him some nice Dhimmi Cuttah sweaters.. We know his WIFE isn't ready to knit something for him.

He'll be needing a whole lot more than a sweater if he ever reaches office cuz things are gonnna get mighty tough.

Or maybe he WANTS to see Israel nuked so he wants to tie the President's hands now before January.

My guess is if Obama wins the election that will force Bush's hand to strike.

[Ummah Gummah]

Talk talk talk talk to Iran

Talk talk talk talk to Iran

Talk talk talk talk to Ira-han..

BOOM!

[whocares]

I have to say Monica is one of the many people I point to as an inspiration to my children. My children will come to me on occasion with uncertainty in their eyes and maybe a little self doubt and they’ll say something like. “Hey Dad I don’t know if I’m going to be able to finish. I just don’t know if I’ve got what it takes.” That’s when I put my arm around them, hold them tight, look into their eyes and confidently reassure them of their own ability and implore them to just work a little harder. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work. Children need examples, they need role models. That’s when I try to inspire them with the knowledge of Monica’s achievements. I don’t point to the bright lights of intelligence, freedom and integrity such as Jefferson, Lincoln or King for inspiration, no I point to the achievements of Ms. Crowley the dim oil lamp of mediocrity that burns so weakly in the barn. I’ll set ‘em down look ‘em square in the eye and say something to the effect that if Monica Crowley can get a doctoral degree then you can too if that’s what you want! It just can’t be that hard. Apparently, as someone once said, ninety percent of intelligence is just showing up. Never has there have been a more spot on example of this pearl of wisdom than Ms. Crowley. Keep on showing up and let someone else take care of the other ten percent.

Oh how they laugh when they watch or listen to her. To this day they are never anything less than amazed when I tell them the story of Ms. Crowley the doctor. Yes children gather ‘round, she actually has a doctoral degree in international relations and from Columbia no less. They always ask if I mean the university or the Country. I always respond, “Good question, I hope someone checked.”

Does she even check sources or verify what she is talking about other than when she is plagiarizing someone? Apparently she couldn’t do that correctly either. I don’t usually respond or even get riled up by the likes of her ilk but come on, really using phony quotes (oxymoron) that are easily proven to be so. Why? I guess the real quote from Barack Obama’s brother regarding the brothers own faith not having anything to do with Barack being President was just a little to hard to find. I totally understand it could have taken five minutes or lees.

[emineid]

I remember back in the 80s when Hans Blix was at the helm of IAEA. I still have the interview of Hans Blix from 1984 on my bookshelf.

It was the same old story: Bureaucratic suits headquartered in Vienna fly all over the world and stick their nose in some nuclear reactor. "Hey, why is this seal damaged?" "Why is the video tape recording from this date missing?" "Is this reactor burning uranium faster than design calculations, or is someone smuggling some of it out?"

Three hundred million dollars a year so these glorified civil servants can live in a nice condo overlooking the Wien.

And the result? A smashing success in curbing nuclear proliferation. I'm just kidding. Reality is: Failure in South Africa? Check. Failure in Israel? Check. Failure in India? Check. Failure in Pakistan? Check. Failure in North Korea? Check.

No wonder Ahmadinejad thinks it's all one big joke.

One thing is for certain. If Obama gets elected, he is gonna get invited to a lot of fancy dinner parties. Nothing like a nice glass of Five Star Hennessy's to wash down the disarmament creed.

Michael Avari, the Federalist papers are something you need to know forward and backward--especially if your life ambition is to become a Supreme Court Justice.

For the rest of us, Federalism, Separation of Powers, need for a Republic, dangers of Democracy, we GET that.

Next thing you are going to tell me is that you are against the Bill of Rights, because Alexander Hamilton argued against it.

The Federalist Papers was just a sophisticated sales brochure to sell the Constitution to some rambunctious New Yorkers.

Kind of like the epistles of St. Paul "selling" the Jesus of the Gospels.

As for relevancy, yes, dead people have plenty to teach us. I've grown up with kids who were like, "I'm not going to read Hamlet in high school because it's a bunch of dead white guys." A few years later, I would run into some of them working behind the cash register at the hardware store, and you could see the light had dimmed in their eyes. They weren't so vehement about what they were or weren't going to read.

But come on. You think Einstein or Feynman even dreamed of the lambda-CDM model? You can't ignore the old stuff, but you've gotta build on it (or refute it) based on what you are observing, today.

Like you are going to hand your internist the first edition of Harrison's from 1950 and tell him, "Here, read this, and then I want you to treat me using what's in there."

Now, the way I see it:

Goldwater--Irrelevant (he never was the evangelical type, and when the Ralph Reeds were bringing in the votes, got sidelined)

Buchanan--Irrelevant (keeps bringing up what he read about WWII and tries to apply it to current situation)

Buckley--Irrelevant (had a fallout with the Bush clan, sold out his protege Buchanan, and bizarrely started advocating legalizing pot)

Noonan--Not quite a fossil yet, but bones are starting to dessicate. (worked her hind off for Bush in 2004, didn't get a nice job offer in the administration, and went off the rails)

These people all wrote great stuff back in the days, but for now, I've relegated them to the bookshelf, where they belong, because they don't give me any fresh insight about what is going on in the world today.

Michael Avari, I can certainly understand your consternation. You got your party hijacked by a bunch of Bible-pushers in the 80s, and you still haven't got over it. Kind of like the Cuban community in Miami who are still screaming that they are the legitimate government of Cuba. They lost, and that's that.

As for you, Fred, I could mistaken you for Michael Avari's ventriloquist dummy.

[timothy_d11]

You people are really sick. That's not an attack - that's a fair observation.

12+ years US Navy as an "AE" (Aviation Electrician's Mate) Discharged as an AE2 in 1999. Boot camp in Great Lakes, IL. "A" school in Memphis, TN. SH-60B Seahawk FRAMP North Island, CA. First squadron - HSL-42 Mayport, FL. Reenlisted. Shore duty at Rotary Wing Aircraft Test Directorate, Patuxent River Naval Air Warfare Center Lexington Park, MD. Reenlisted. P-3C Framp Jacksonville Florida. VP-11 Brunswick, Maine. Decomissioned. VP-10 Brunswick, Maine.

You people are clueless losers.

Except for Fred.

And maybe Michael has some sanity left.

[emineid]

No doubt Timothy got an A+ in the resume-padding class in the Navy.

I wonder what exactly Timothy did in the military? Fly Seahawks?

Perhaps he was the guy who made sure the "Jesus nut" was put on really tight.

Surely, it's not the same Timothy who trolls on Air America website talking about: If only people would buy Celtic Sea Salt like the advertisement says, liberal talk radio could really take off.

I mean, it isn't the same Timothy who resorts to vile profanity to make a point?

Surely not. I would like to think our servicemen and ex-servicemen have more class than that.

[Michael Avari]

Whocares: that was not nice, not nice at all. Columbia doesn't sell Ph.D.'s We don't do ad hominems on this site. At least not most of us. One reason I was attracted to Monica was because I always thought she was a progenitor of the intellectual Conservative set, as much as that may consternate Emineid.

Emineid: that was not nice, not nice at all. In one evening you managed to insult Goldwater, Buchanan, Buckley, Noonan, Einstein, Feynman, Hamilton, Madison, Jay, St. Paul, Jesus and a veteran. Not bad for one night's work.

As a follower of all these cats, I refuse (but boy am I tempted) to follow you down to the level you elected.

Peace, as St. Paul would say.

[FredK2929]

I'm Michael's ventriloquist dummy now? That's funny, because usually he and I are on opposite sides. He's just one of the ones I'm willing to listen to and find some common ground with because he's reasonable. I believe there must have been a time when conservatives and liberals could debate without insulting each other. I guess Michael is a throwback to that time.

Timothy -- You are getting the typical treatment on this blog. Cute, isn't it? Now that you gave them the bio info they wanted, they throw it in your face. Michael is not a part of that, as you can see by his response to Emineid.

Whocares -- I thought your post was funny and accurate.

[Electrian]

Barack Hussein Obama's motto ' Vero Possumus ' apparently means that when confronted with a threat he will "play 'possum" and hope that if he remains REAL still and doesn't move a muscle the threat will go away. That is why the highway is littered with 'sleeping' opossums. Barack Hussein Opossum.

[SteveOk]

"No doubt Timothy got an A+ in the resume-padding class in the Navy."

EMINEID, those of us who are ex-Navy are not impressed by his AE2 rank. If fact for someone who was in the Navy for 12 years active duty and all you got promoted to was AE2 is not impressive at all. Actually it's pretty mediocre. Maybe it impresses his leftie friends, afterall J. Kerry made a big deal about his three months in Vietnam until the Swift Boat Vets for Truth told us the real story.

[FredK2929]

You asked for his military background. You got it. Now he wasn't high-ranking enough for you? Geez.

Nice try on Kerry, Steveok. He was in the Navy from 1966 to 1970. He was in Vietnam from 1968 to 1970. His LAST TOUR in Vietnam was on a Swift Boat for 4 months.

You DO NOT want to ally yourself with the Swift Boat Vets for Truth, whose lies led to another 4 years of GWB.

This is where I can't believe that I come to this web site. You are all so ridiculous.

[gringoman]

Timothy,

Thank you for the resume and your service to the same Armed Force that John McCain served. Point of curiosity: When did your anger about the oppression of the proletariat in capitalist America really take off? Did that happen before, during or after you served the imperialist Navy? Did it have anything to do with never becoming an officer and a gentleman? We know what BDR did to make Fred an Angry Prog Man. Does that explain you too and your vitriol against we the lunatics?

-------------------------------------

On Emenied and Michael Avari: GAB, while reserving the right to disagree with either of them at any time, finds them both to be impressive contributors at Monica's (which in no way slights any other seekers of the Grail.) Even their differences are of interest. And they seem ready to jab like Sugar Ray.

=====================================

Fred objects to Emenied's description of him as Michael's "ventriloquist dummy." I (surprising myself) sympathize with Fred on this. Fred tends to be what he is. With more experience here, Emeneid might very well decide to revise "ventriloquist dummy," I.e., he might decide to leave off the adjective.

======================================

Re the Monica slandering troll: So the leftniki want to get into qualifications? Really? Will the Soros workers and other proggies be able to hide the embarrassing dreck of Michelle
Obama's senior thesis, with syntax that couldn't pass high school in a former era, but was somehow accepted by Princeton in the time of Affirmative Action and Social Promotion? Do the leftniki really want to talk debasement of standards in a once formidable educational system in a country becoming increasingly Third World dependent on imports over the debased home-grown product of dishonest "self-esteem"?

[FredK2929]

I don't care if Michelle Obama's senior thesis was written in finger paint on construction paper. She's not running for president.

You and Emineid can call me whatever you want. Hey, Ummah is now calling me a "self-hating Jew". Your insults say more about who you are than who I am.

[gringoman]

I don't care if Michelle Obama's senior thesis was written in finger paint on construction paper. She's not running for president.

You and Emineid can call me whatever you want. Hey, Ummah is now calling me a "self-hating Jew". Your insults say more about who you are than who I am.

Posted by: FredK2929 | June 25, 2008 at 10:54 AM

=====================================

Finger paints for Obamamama? Judging by the atrocious tripe that Michelle Obama wrote at Princeton--and what the white libs will cover up in their increasingly cheesy Lamestream power play---Michelle might have been more impressive with finger paints. She could not have been worse.

Earth to Leftniki Trolls: Monica is not running for President either. And if you want to be stupid enough to bring up a very minor so-called plagiarism, wake up enough to realize what your Obambi has done with speeches of current Massachusetts Governor.

ps Obama IS running for President, I hear.

pps "Self-hating Jew" is clearly different from calling Bush a Nazi. The latter is clearly a factual fallacy, even if Bush acted like Genghis Khan. "Self-hating Jew," in your case, it appears, would not rise to the same level of impossibility. Whether it fairly describes you or not is probably between you and your shrink. You are both free to dispute Ummah's opinion. From what I've seen, Ummah doesn't just throw out what you call an "insult." He follows a line of reasoning, a dialectic, if you will, sometimes colorfully stated. In this process he lays out facts and observations showing why he believes you flunk most of the time.

Hey, I agree with you that insults say more about the insulter than anyone else. Thanks for the proof when you do your dumb "you right-wing idiots," You lunatics," "masturbatory" etc etc.

[FredK2929]

Gringoman --

Although you are right that Monica is a plagiarist, I am not the one who brought it up recently, and, presumably, the person to whom you are responding.

I am indeed guilty of throwing out insults here, and I should try to resist that temptation, as Michael does. But it does become very frustrating to deal with you guys. Perhaps if you could tone it down, I will be able to follow suit. But I'm not going to just sit here and take it from you without responding.

"Self-hating Jew" is an offensive term because it is used often to describe secular Jews. If I am born Jewish, but don't think that all the traditions and stories make sense, other Jews feel threatened by me. It's like how rightwingers feel if someone questions whether the country has acted properly in some of its decisions, and that person is immediately branded a traitor. It's absurd. I can't help that I have independent thought, and I wouldn't trade that.

By the way, congratulations. Your last couple of posts have not been so self-indulgent, and therefore do not fit within the description of "masturbatory".

[FredK2929]

You are wrong about Ummah, and I think it's because you just agree with his views. He tosses out insults constantly without any consideration of whether it's appropriate, and I don't think he follows anything approaching a "line of reasoning". As I've said, there's just something not right about that guy.

[Ummah Gummah]

test

[Ummah Gummah]

This is where I can't believe that I come to this web site. You are all so ridiculous.

Posted by: FredK2929

--

THEN PLEASE DO US ALL A GIANT FAVOR AND ***GO***!!!

Don't let the door hit ya..