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Title: Is the GOP Stupid or Evil?: GOP Blank Check for War?
Source:
Lew Rockwell
URL Source: http://www.lewrockwell.com/buchanan/buchanan143.html
Published: Aug 4, 2010
Author: Patrick J. Buchanan
Post Date: 2010-08-04 11:00:28 by Eric Stratton
Keywords: None
Views: 190
Comments: 14
GOP Blank Check for War? High among the blunders of history was the "blank cheque" Kaiser Wilhelm gave Vienna, after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, to deal with the Serbs as they saw fit. Five weeks later, Vienna cashed the check and declared war, after Belgrade refused to submit to all 10 demands of an ultimatum. Russia mobilized; Germany and France followed. And war came, the bloodiest in all of European history with 9 million soldiers in their graves. Since June 1914, a "blank check" given by one nation to another for war has been regarded as strategic folly. Thus it is startling to learn 47 House Republicans just signed on to H.R. 1553 declaring unequivocal "support for Israel's right to use all means necessary to confront and eliminate nuclear threats posed by Iran ... including the use of military force." These Republicans have just given Tel Aviv a blank check for a preemptive war that Israel, unless it uses its nuclear weapons, can start but not finish. Fighting and finishing that war would fall to the armed forces of the United States. Who do these Republicans represent? The Pentagon has made clear that with two wars of nearly a decade's duration bleeding us, we do not want a third war with Iran. For while easy to predict how such a war begins, with air and missile strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, no one can know how it ends. Indeed, how would Israel reach its targets in Iran? Turkey would not allow Israeli over-flights. The route over Jordan and Iraq would require U.S. military complicity, for we control Iraqi air space. Would Riyadh permit Israel to use its airspace to attack Iran, knowing Tehran could create havoc in the Gulf states and oil patch of northeastern Arabia? The Israeli air force could destroy the nuclear power plant at Bushehr, the heavy water reactor at Arak and uranium enrichment facility at Natanz. But Israel cannot follow up and destroy all the dispersed nuclear facilities and missile sites of Iran. And no one knows what would follow. How would Iran retaliate? Missile strikes on Tel Aviv? A missile barrage from Hezbollah igniting another Israeli-Lebanon war? How long could the United States stand by and watch Israel bombarded? Indeed, the principal purpose and result of an Israeli pre-emptive war on Iran, bringing retaliation on Israel, would be to drag America in to fight and finish a war Israel had begun. In whose interest is that? And who dreamed this resolution up? If America joined the attack, we would have to complete the destruction of Iran's nuclear facilities and destroy its missile sites, coastal defenses, navy, air force and hundreds of speedboats to prevent attacks on U.S. warships and tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz. We would have to strike all the Republican Guard bases near Iraq and Afghanistan to protect our troops. We would have to kill thousands of Iranians. Would Iran retaliate by inciting the Mahdi Army to kill our men in Iraq? Would it set Hezbollah to kidnap or kill Americans in Lebanon? Would Iran retaliate for its civilian dead by activating agents to commit terrorism in the United States? No one knows. In 1986, Ronald Reagan ordered air strikes on Libya to retaliate for Qaddafi's bombing of the Berlin discotheque. In 1989, in retaliation, Qaddafi blew up Pan Am 103. Death toll: 270 men, women and children. It's called blowback. The House Republican resolution supports Israel's use of "all means necessary" to "eliminate nuclear threats" that represent an "immediate and existential threat to the State of Israel." What "immediate and existential threat" are they talking about? It is Israel that has hundreds of atomic bombs. Iran has no atom bombs, has tested no atomic device, has diverted none of its low-enriched uranium out of the sight of U.N. inspectors and has offered to ship half of its LEU to Turkey in exchange for fuel rods for a U.S.-built reactor that makes medical isotopes. And half of the centrifuges at Natanz have broken down. Undeniably, Iran is gaining knowledge of how to build a bomb. But such a decision would seem idiotic from Iran's standpoint, risking Israeli or U.S. nuclear strikes and provoking Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt to follow suit and acquire the bomb, leaving Iran even more isolated and vulnerable, Three years ago, 16 U.S. intelligence agencies reached a consensus that Iran had given up on the project of building a bomb. Do these Republicans have hard evidence Iran is diverting its enriched uranium to such a bomb? If so, where is it? Have these Republicans forgotten what happened to their colleagues in 2006, who voted Bush that blank check for war on Iraq in 2002? Why, with all the issues going for them, House Republicans would announce full-throated support for a pre-emptive war on Iran that Americans would have to fight and finish, escapes me. But if this is where a Republican House would take America, into yet another war, best that we know it before voting this fall.
by Patrick J. Buchanan
August 4, 2010
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#1. To: Eric Stratton (#0)
Answer: EVIL!
deleted
The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one.
Evil smothered with an extra big helping of Arroganace.
__________________________________________________________ I vote "stupid." No matter how many times the GOP show their support for Precious, they only get about 25% of the Jewish vote. They are the minority party right now and just 3 months away from an election. The Dems are in trouble due to their 2 years of pulling despotic crap on US voters. So thusly if the GOP were smart, which they ARE NOT, they would learn tokeep their yaps shut 24/7 at this delicate time so they don't get associated with something as revolting as this bill. It would be smooth sailing in November if they said and did nothing controversial and they'd be looking good WITH THE REST OF THE US VOTERS WHO COMPRISE 94% OF THE GENERAL POPULATION. But no..... Evil? Yes, the GOP are evil but in this instance they are STUPID more than evil, imo.
I noticed Tom McClinton's name on the list of sponsors - shish! That definitely tells me that stupid is in play - he does not strike me as being an evil defense industry related type of guy - so he must be thinking if he postures himself as pro Israel he's going to pick up some extra Jewish votes in SoCal - rrrright...or a juicy committee assignment in the future.
deleted
The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one.
And topped with a Zionist cherry.
"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. ... We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of." Edward Bernays, Father of Public Relations
While you are correct, in practice most US Jews support Israel regardless if they are full-bodied Zionists or not.
This requires some perspective. We are talking about 2% of the voters. The lefty Jewish college prof. supports Israel in a MUCH different manner than David Horowitz.
"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. ... We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of." Edward Bernays, Father of Public Relations
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The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one.
abraxas: This requires some perspective. We are talking about 2% of the voters. The lefty Jewish college prof. supports Israel in a MUCH different manner than David Horowitz. Eric S: Perhaps, but IMO not to extents that are problematic. Neocon "christians" actually support it more since they don't understand that when Jesus said that his kingdom was not of this earth, that what he really meant that it was not of this earth. I draw both of your attentions to the findings of Professors Mearsheimer and Walt regarding the unqualified support of Israel by US Jewish voters and though moderates and hardliner ( died in the wool Zionists) may differ in how they view specific Israeli policies, the bottom line when push comes to shove is that their support of Israel is the same. I agree that Christian evangelicals' support of Israel is certainly problematic because their votes are important to the GOP. BUT imo the US Jewish pro-Israel support is even more problematic because of the wealth held by that group of Americans- the campaign donations they are able to make to both parties as individuals and to the great number of organized pro Israel lobby groups to influence US foreign policy and also the indirect but effective general influence held by pro-Israel Jewish members in the media, college campuses, think tank policy institutes. Christian evangelicals do not have the wealth or influence in afore-mentioned sectors in America and their pro-Israel lobby group is pretty much limited to church related groups that are narrow in scope (and often shown disrespect by mainstream Americans so they're not positively influencing other voter groups and in fact their particular Christian sect- church affiliation may serve as turn-offs to the general public). www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/joh...rsheimer/the-israel-lobby Some cut and paste: ...Despite these differences, moderates and hardliners both favour giving steadfast support to Israel.... ...Thanks in part to the influence Jewish voters have on presidential elections, the Lobby also has significant leverage over the executive branch. Although they make up fewer than 3 per cent of the population, they make large campaign donations to candidates from both parties. The Washington Post once estimated that Democratic presidential candidates ‘depend on Jewish supporters to supply as much as 60 per cent of the money’. And because Jewish voters have high turn-out rates and are concentrated in key states like California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania, presidential candidates go to great lengths not to antagonise them....
GOP not necessarily evil. It's one blank check for another. When Repubs vote funds to keep the Afghan war going, even this being detrimental to US interests, the GOP is assured of "unlimited" financial, media and manpower support at election time from the Israeli lobby. Organized Jewry can easily afford to spend a billion or two on candidates campaigns because it gets Congress to vote a $3-billion gift to Israel each year. That's in addition to millions granted Israel for military hardware. Until American taxpayers realize they are being shafted by the criminal Zionist regime and take complete control of the national election process this nonsense will just keep going on.
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The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one.
I have got to agree. And many are religiously insane. And support another nation crazed interests before their own.
"Satan / Cheney in "08" Is the GOP Stupid or Evil?
#2. To: echo5sierra (#1)
#3. To: Eric Stratton (#0)
"This man is Jesus,” shouted one man, spilling his Guinness as Barack Obama began his inaugural address. “When will he come to Kenya to save us?"
-Schweizerische Schuetzenzeitung (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941
#4. To: Eric Stratton (#0)
#5. To: All (#4)
#6. To: scrapper2 (#5)
#7. To: X-15 (#3)
Evil smothered with an extra big helping of Arroganace.
#8. To: Eric Stratton (#6)
Thing is that all Jewish people are not Zionists.
#9. To: scrapper2 (#8)
in practice most US Jews support Israel regardless if they are full-bodied Zionists or not.
#10. To: scrapper2 (#8)
#11. To: abraxas, Eric Stratton (#9)
scrapper: in practice most US Jews support Israel regardless if they are full-bodied Zionists or not.
#12. To: echo5sierra (#1)
#13. To: scrapper2 (#11)
#14. To: echo5sierra (#1)
Answer: EVIL!
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