If Iran disappeared, would anyone really care?

[cjwilhelmi]

Holocaust cartoon fair opens in Iran

TEHRAN (AFP) - An international contest of cartoons on the Holocaust opened in Tehran in response to the publication in Western papers last September of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.

"We staged this fair to explore the limits of freedom Westerners believe in," Masoud Shojai, head of the country's "Iran Cartoon" association and the fair organizer, said.

[sohotrightnow]

I don't know if anybody watched it, but the president of Iran was on 60 Minutes last night. It was a fairly interesting interview, although he did evade some questions. He responded to his previous claim that the Holocaust was a myth, by essentially admitting that it did in fact happen (duh). His main contention was if these atrocities happened in Europe, then why didn't Europe or the United States provide a place for Jewish people in Europe or the United States as opposed to displacing Palestinians.

[Hackalicious]

I'd care. Great history. Hot women. Good food. The Iranians I've met have all been cool, but do all come from the educated upper-middle class. I've had no exposure to the large, uneducated, rural population who elected their nutjob president and supports the supreme council.

I wish we hadn't toppled their democracy back in the day. Iranians didn't forget that one.

[KnoxVegas]

I'd care. Great history. Hot women. Good food. The Iranians I've met have all been cool, but do all come from the educated upper-middle class.

Persians rock! My best friend growing up was Iranian and his family are some of the warmest peole I have ever been around.

[yourmom]

The people are great the gov't sucks. PERIOD

Mark my words there is going to be another world war, and soon. As in withing the next 15 years. It's just headed that way.

Iran's Gov't is just trying to piss off the rest of the world and China is helping them do it by providing weapons, etc. But I still think that our corrupt gov't is to blame. As right wing as I am, I believe all gov't is corrupt to some extent how could it not be.

What's sad is that the little man pays the price. (see current oil prices, and deaths caused by political wars.)

[Zeuslax]

I can't help but think that fighting in Lebanon was a litmus test for an Iranian invasion. The US pushed Israel into this recent affair.

[FLAK]

I can't help but think that fighting in Lebanon was a litmus test for an Iranian invasion. The US pushed Israel into this recent affair.

Correct me if I'm wrong but didnt Lebanon draw first blood in this instance? I mean, they did bomb Israel first. Unless your referring to the notion of us actually helping to establish Israel in the first place, then yes this is our fault for sure.

[Sonny]

The US pushed Israel into this recent affair.

Yeah, it had nothing to do with the fact that Hizbollah went across the border to kidnap two Israel soldiers or the ~4000 missles (supplied by Iran & Syria) that have rained down on Isreal in the last month or so.

[DanGenck]

That's a fairly short fuse for a war. I hope someone tough like China never steals one of our soldiers from South Korea or something... then we'd all be in trouble.

[StrykerFSU]

Unless your referring to the notion of us actually helping to establish Israel in the first place, then yes this is our fault for sure.

Stupid Greatest Generation, thanks for getting us into this mess.

In all seriousness though, let's remember what happened here. Israel withdrew from Lebanese territory because the UN promised to help the Lebanese government control the area and maintain the border. The UN instead did what it does best...nothing and Hezbollah, that terrorist organization responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans you may have heard of it, was allowed to gain control of southern Lebanon. In the meantime, our friends the Iranians, who have publicly called for the destruction of a sovereign state, armed Hez. with tens of thousands of rockets and drones. As Bush would say, "Heckuva job, UN".

Hez. then crosses an international border and murders (I say murder because terrorists are not members of nation's military and therefore are civilians who murder other people) Israeli soldiers and kidnaps two more. Israel then attacks Hez. in response. Innocent Lebanese citizens are killed because the Lebanese govt. has allowed Hez. to become entrenched within their civilian population and the terrorist group hides their weapons in population centers, ensuring high civilian casualties in the hopes that the international community will concentrate on this loss of innocent life rather than the initial terrorism that sparked the incident. That strategy is successful.

One month later, a toothless cease fire is agreed upon. Hez. is not destroyed. Iran is not even mentioned in the UN resolution though there is no question that the Iranian govt. is responsible for the actions of Hez. Hez. claims a great victory and retains the ability to further terrorize our Israeli allies. Much like Clinton's failed Middle East "peace" accords, this resolution ensures there will be more violence in the future.

[sohotrightnow]

Can I ask the conservatives on this board something? Why do you feel the need to support Israelis thousands of miles away, when the Jewish people in the U.S. primarily could give two craps about, a.k.a. despise, your policies domestically? Yes, I know there are some conservative Jewish people, but they are few and far between. Is all your unadulterated support for Israel based on religious principles?

[Zeuslax]

Let me rephrase what I meant. When I said that the US pushed Israel into this affair I didn't give a full story. The response by the Israeli's and the subsequent ground war were very intense. I just believe their total response was more than meets the eye. The Israeli's for weeks have been saying the US and they have been discussing a possible military response to Iran.

I'm not sure if Israel was successful in it's efforts to "defang" Hezbollah. Each time they upped the ante, Hezzbollah responded with increased rocket attacks. Hezbollah won the media war, and were shooting fireworks in celebration of thier supposed victory last night. Israel basically accepted a cease fire plan that they rejected a few weeks ago. Olmert had overwhelming support for this campaign and now is in trouble. Even though Hezbollah was taking 9 to 1 losses for ever Israeli, they deem it to be a victory. It's a very tense cease fire. Don't get me wrong. The UN did a terrible job and I support Israel in their efforts. In this case.

[StrykerFSU]

No doubt our govt. encouraged the Israelis to go full bore after Hez. but neutralizing Hez. is in the Israelis best interest anyway. I'm also not surprised that our govt and theirs would be discussing military action against Iran, that's the way defense works. We probably have plans for invading Canada and planned responses to repel attacks from UFOs. That's just what those guys do...Iran being a more realistic threat of course.

I tend to agree with yourmom on this one. I see Iran much like Germany in the 1930s. Of course, this world war would have a religious component that is infinitely more frightening than what occurred in WWII.

[Riss]

Can I ask the conservatives on this board something? Why do you feel the need to support Israelis thousands of miles away, when the Jewish people in the U.S. primarily could give two craps about, a.k.a. despise, your policies domestically? Yes, I know there are some conservative Jewish people, but they are few and far between. Is all your unadulterated support for Israel based on religious principles?

As a Jewish liberal, I can tell you that the number of Jewish Conservatives has increased rapidly in the last years. While still not the majority, many switched sides because they believed taking out Saddam was good for Israel and that Bush deserved their support. Saddam certainly was a threat to Israel: he payed the families of Palestinian suicide bombers $25,000 and we all remember the scud missiles hitting Tel Aviv in the first gulf war. However, in the long term the war in Iraq has hurt Israel. Extremism in all Muslim countries is on the rise and many see the US and Israel as western crusaders. The countries Israel has made progress with (Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Emirates....) are seeing their support diminish due to the dramatically rising popularity of Islamic fundamentalism. So, yes Jews still support a progressive domestic agenda, but some in the community have become neo-cons in terms of foreign policy.

I think everyone should be very concerned about Iran in the coming years. The chain of events that have unfolded is absolutely planned. You start with demanding "peaceful" nuclear energy, make strong statements against Israel, start a war via Hezbollah proxy making Israel to look like the aggressor, become champion of Muslim countries against the US/Israeli alliance and then justify needing a nuclear weapon to combat the "Israeli aggression." The last two haven't happened yet, but keep your eyes open. Iran is taking advantage of Muslim anger toward the US, the instability in the region and the inability of the US to attack Iran should it be necessary due to 90 percent of troops occupied in Iraq.

[Beta]

Can I ask the conservatives on this board something? Why do you feel the need to support Israelis thousands of miles away, when the Jewish people in the U.S. primarily could give two craps about, a.k.a. despise, your policies domestically? Yes, I know there are some conservative Jewish people, but they are few and far between. Is all your unadulterated support for Israel based on religious principles?

I personally don't believe our support of Israel is based upon regligious reasons. Because if it were, wouldn't the United States (mostly a Christian-region), be more supportive of a culture that respects Jesus (that culture being Muslim, Islam, etc) or of a culture that doesn't believe in him (Jewish).

I think it has to do with the fact that the middle eastern region is ridiculously unstable. And Israel is a nation that is easier to deal with politically, as well as doesn't put up with anyone's crap (see 6-Day "War", Yom Kippur War, War of Attrition).