Soon ?

9/22/2008

This has been one of the most fascinating past months I can remember in a long time. There has been so much going on it is almost information overload. The presidential races, with the conventions, hurricane Gustav then hurricane Ike and the financial melt down, all have occurred in less than a month. And this all occurred just after the Russian invasion of Georgia during the Olympics on August 8th!

Each of these are what you would consider major news stories, with all sorts of intertwining sub-stories many of which have been major in their own right, first African American nominee, Palin, evacuation of NOLA, destruction of Galveston, on and on it has gone. To show how truly active our world has become lately, I will point out a story that is almost overlooked in all the flood of other stories.

This story is much like the financial melt down story that happened this week. For all those that were paying attention it was pretty much inevitable only drastic actions, which nobody expected to be taken because nobody wanted to make things worse, would have forestalled or prevented it, it was just a matter of time. So to is this, it has been building for years, the writing has been on the wall and nobody is quite sure how to stop the inevitable, lest they make things worse.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Iran, Israel on 'collision course'

TEHRAN -- Iran's highest authority lashed out against Israel on Friday with some of his harshest comments in recent memory about the Jewish state.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is Iran's top political and military figure, said his country's hostility to Israel extended beyond the government to the Israeli people as well. In saying so, he was brushing aside recent overtures by top Iranian officials to the Israeli public.
Khamenei said Iran and Israel were on a "collision course," a statement that could further increase tensions in a Middle East already fearful of a conflict between the two countries....

Please do read the entire article. The reason I point this out is we should have learned to take religious fanatics at their word, but I doubt we have. I am sure the Bush administration does, but I doubt the American people do. It is almost inevitable that before this year is out, Israel will bomb Iran's nuclear facilities and there could be war in the Middle East. Why do I say that?

Column One: It is time to act


Iran is just a heartbeat away from the A-bomb.Last Friday the Daily Telegraph reported Teheran has surreptitiously removed a sufficient amount of uranium from its nuclear production facility in Isfahan to produce six nuclear bombs. Given Iran's already acknowledged uranium enrichment capabilities, the Telegraph's report indicates that the Islamic Republic is now in the late stages of assembling nuclear bombs.

It would be a simple matter for Iran to assemble those bombs without anyone noticing. US spy satellites recently discovered what the US believes are covert nuclear facilities in Iran. The mullocracy has not disclosed these sites to the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, which is charged with inspecting Iran's nuclear sites.

As to the IAEA, this week it presented its latest report on Teheran's nuclear program to its board members in Vienna. The IAEA's report claimed that Iran has taken steps to enable its Shihab-3 ballistic missiles to carry nuclear warheads. With their range of 1,300 kilometers, Shihab-3 missiles are capable of reaching Israel and other countries throughout the region.

In support of its swiftly progressing nuclear program, Iran has escalated both its conventional military and terroristic adventurism. It has also ratcheted up its diplomatic assault on the US. This week, Teheran conducted a countrywide air defense exercise. Gen. Khatim al-Anbiaa, the commander of Iran's Air Defense Corps, explained that the exercise was aimed at defending against both electronic jamming systems and actual bombing strikes....

AND

...IN LIGHT of Iran's unrelenting and rapid progress toward the nuclear finish line, it is clear today that while positive in their own rights, none of the actions the West is taking will succeed in blocking its path to the atomic bomb.

For that matter, the one option short of war that might have put an end to the mullahs' race to the bomb three years ago - namely supporting the Iranian people in their wish to overthrow their regime - cannot be adopted fast enough to prevent the likes of Khamenei and Ahmadinejad from pushing the button now.

Today, there is only one way to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Israel must bomb Iran's nuclear installations. Such a strike will not end Iran's nuclear program. It will not overthrow the regime. It will not cripple Iran's economy. It will not end Iran's active support for international terrorist groups...

Please do read the entire article. I will not even get into how are own presidential elections play into this, some would call that unfair, I would call it realism, but they do.

A couple of recent developments may forestall the inevitable for a while longer; there is a new leader of the ruling party in Israel the current Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. In order to form a government she will probably have to join up with the left parties. If so there will be less of a chance of Israel taking action. However Israel has always done what they saw was necessary to survive, regardless of the political parties in power. They will not allow Iran to have nuclear weapons whatever the consequences.

For a variety of reasons, this is coming to a head rather quickly and people should pay attention if for no other reason than $4.00 a gallon gas will look like a luxury if Iran cuts off or even attempts to cut off the Strait of Hormuz.