Analysts say Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Monday comments in Doha signal the start of a “new, more confrontation chapter in the Obama Administration’s dealings with Iran,” after spending about a year giving lip service to the idea of diplomacy.
In the comments, Clinton declared that Iran’s “Islamic Republic” was at risk from growing military influence, and argued that a new flurry of sanctions against Iran were needed to save the Supreme Leader and the president from the military.
The change in rhetoric was actually surprisingly stark, as only a day before National Security Adviser James Jones argued on Fox News that a new flurry of sanctions against Iran were needed to oust the Supreme Leader and the president and install a more US-friendly government.
Robert Gibbs even chimed in yesterday with his own declaration that the US would not rule out attacking Iran. Though the formal position seems to change by the day, it is clear that the “diplomacy” track is being abandoned in favor of the Bush policy of threats and sanctions.
Not that diplomacy will be abandoned publicly, as officials will continue to insist that they are seeking diplomacy, at least nominally, so they can accuse Iran of refusing to accept talks. Since the Iranian government just got done accepting a Western demand only to have it roundly condemned and the rhetoric stumble along more or less unchanged, it seems officials are already comfortable with ignoring reality when it gets in the way of the narrative.
Iran is a nail because the only tool in the U.S. toolbox is a hammer.
Madness prevails.
A mad President and an even crazier Secretary of State makes the USA a rogue nation.
And these people talk about the Arab States being unstable.
Hillary looks like she took some "angry" pills. Chill out, sister! The world doesn't spin around your gluteus maximus, large as it may be, so give all the rhetorical teeth-gnashing a rest. Sheesh!
Still, more garbage being spewed out of the mouths of the willfully evil State Department.
And to think I voted for Obama over Hillary because I judged O to be a hair less hawkish…sheesh…
Every morning I wake up and put on the news..Is it OVER..??..No.. Bizzaro world has legs it seems. It goes on & on and ON..!! 911 and it's marketing program has forever altered what passed for thinking in the Western World.. NOW, it's: We gotta get rid of the symptoms.. NOT the germ itself..!!
Like Nelson, I can't help but wonder just WHAT is going on… Who's AGENDA is it…WHY, WHY, WHY..?? I've got an idea, instead of PAYING the hegemon of the Eastern Mediterranean and fighting their battles, WHY not either take the gloves off and charge everyone there tribute under threat of nuclear attack, or demand some normalization of practice and the end to the bloodshed in the disputed area that is causing all the problems that America is going broke trying to suppress.. Yes, we all know, it's the elephant in the room that explains the absolute disconnect between what course of action is best for America and the one she seems fixated upon pursuing. Is there anyone that believes that a policy arming white apartheid South Africa with thermonuclear weapons and attacking all their neighbors at the cost of a trillion dollars is good policy… OOOO you say… this is G-ds regime, our regime, They must prevail against those heathen black people…. Why, the entire fate of the world depends on it, just ask Pat Robertson… Yaa, we gotta follow someones vision of the fuiture, why not his…..
If it were the 1950s I would say this was the set up for a military coup. Iran is a US ally in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, perhaps the only US ally. Adm Mullin almost blurted that out when he talk of unforeseen consequences to attacking Iran, like Iran not supporting the US in its wars. The state department has not had much power since the first Bush the senoir. Basically Sec Clinton is trying keep US bomb Iran factions happy without actually doing anything. For the most part the last time the State department had any power was under Bush the Elder, after than the 3 women were mostly spokespersons there to win points with domestic constituencies, feminists, war mongers, whatever.
To the neocon warmongers that might be visiting this site, a question: Don't we have enough on our plate already? We've got hot (undeclared) wars raging in three nearby countries. Do you think we can launch an air raid against a fourth and call it a day?
Maybe you ought to do something novel and actually think beyond the initial shock and awe campaign. Given any thought to the unintended consequences? Forget about the thousands of Iranians who might die from the bombings, as you clearly don't give a damn about them. But how about taking into consideration the prospects for US soldiers fighting and dying throughout the Middle East. Might they be subject to counterattacks? What happens if their supply lines are cut?
Further, what happens to our economy when fuel prices skyrocket? Care to explain to the unemployed how they are to manage with no income and major inflation? What good does it do to protect Israel (can we all agree that this is the real reason for the saber-rattling?) if we destroy our own country in the process?
Just asking.
Our immediate rulers are merely doing what their Zionist Masters are telling them to do. There is an agenda, and they're pursuing it. That was the deal. Since for all practical purposes our rulers have no will of their own, they're not even "people", but robots. Thus the "hawkishness" and the "madness" you see is not theirs per se but that of their Masters.
Is the USA foreign policy that certain countries should never benefit from the potential advances that derive from modern science? To impede or deny Iran the rightt process uranium to levels suitable for nuclear power production or medical isotope production is very sinister. And yes, if they can do that they should be able to purify uranium to a level that could be used to manufacture bombs. And if the USA and Europe insist on this course, you can be sure that the value of nuclear weapons will surely become one of their goals. Some countries in the world have manufactured nuclear power plants and produced medical isotopes without going to the extreme of bomb making. As a biophysicist, I can think of much more sinister strategies involving molecular genetics to inflict harm on other people than you could do with nuclear weapons. Does this mean that some counties should not be allowed to operate molecular biology labs? Get real.