Dan Froomkin: Great Questions to Ask About Attacking Iran
Posted at 4:50 pm, June 29th, 2007
Legendary military correspondent George C. Wilson, writing in his “Forward Observer” column for CongressDaily, raises some essential questions that should be asked about launching an attack on Iran — “before,” as Wilson puts it, “it’s too late”:
“How can you bomb anything nuclear in Iran without spewing radioactive debris into the atmosphere and poisoning it for much of the world? Are you ready for the firestorm of international condemnation that would ensue?
“Do you realize that Iran would be a much bigger quagmire than Iraq for the American military? The CIA’s dispassionate World Factbook for 2007 gives Iran’s military-aged population, 18 to 49, as 36 million compared to Iraq’s 11.5 million. Iran is four times the size of Iraq, 1.65 million square kilometers vs. 437,072 square kilometers. Iran has plenty of reserves of foreign exchange and gold to buy the latest weapons, $58.5 billion compared to Iraq’s $15.7 billion.
“The skies over Iran would thus be far from safe for U.S. helicopters and low-flying aircraft because Iran can afford to buy the latest anti-aircraft missiles to shoot them down.
“Where would the additional U. S. military manpower come from if Bush invaded Iran? Just to stay in the fight in Iraq the armed services, particularly the Army, have had to break their moral contracts with thousands of soldiers and extend their tours. Would the draft have to be reinstated?”
Wilson writes that Congress should ask the president and Joint Chiefs those questions. But the press should also be asking — and demanding answers. Before it’s too late.
June 29th, 2007 at 7:09 pm |
I think the Legendary military correspondent should first ask why on earth do we want to bomb Iran in the first place?
What does it tell about our “civilization” when we would rather bomb a county than talk to them without pre-conditions.
Are we really so premitive in our evolution that we would rather use force than try more sophisticated techniques which humans have developed for dealing with conflict? That’s like husband and wife stabbing each other the first time they had an argument.
May be the Legendary military correspondent should raise the question as to whether Americans deserve better leaders.
Doesn’t the fact that we are discussing military action against Iran justifies Iran considering whatever means necessary to protect itself?
If I was an Iranian leader who hears George Bush saying that the nuclear option against Iran is on the table, I would be duty-bound to seek whatever method at my hand to strike back:
” And no one has written a book on how I should strike back. So when you plan to fly 10,000 miles to drop nuclear weapons on me and I do not have comperable means, I will come up with my own equivalent to paralyze you, and oh by the way since you now advocate preemption, you just authorized me to strike America first, and I assure you, it won’t be with nukes!
Do you remember André Maginot? Probably not, because you do not want to learn from history. Well I will be bypassing your Maginot line. So keep guessing …”
It is cheaper and more productive to sit down and hear our adversary eye ball to eye ball.
June 30th, 2007 at 10:17 am |
Thank you, Dan Froomkin and George Wilson! The tragedy is that that the ‘media’ –not to mention the bulk of the Congress–is essentially silent about the lunatics now dreaming of attacking Iran.
June 30th, 2007 at 1:45 pm |
Russian – American Conspiracy in Maine
On the eve of Putin’s visit to Maine we have come across an uncorroborated rumor – a conspiracy theory. It has been reported…
In Tehran at the residence of the Chief of the Quds, an aspiring analyst, Shahed, reported disturbing which is only now being revealed on dissident websites.
“Shahed, tell me what you have found out about the Russian President’s upcoming visit to America.”
“Chief, we cannot trust the Russians, and I now have proof that Russia and the great Satan, America, are actually working together against us.”
“What nonsense are you talking Shahed? Russia is our partner. America is our mortal enemy. How could they be working together?”
“Oh, they are sneaky, Wise One. They are both clever liars, and at the end of the day they are working together to destroy our revolution and replace us with Sunni apostates and western infidels.
“The Russians have let slip that they want to withdraw from the CFE Treaty and eliminate restrictions on troop deployments in their southern flank. Moreover, their military officers have hinted at withdrawing from the INF treaty to begin building medium range missiles. Some of those missiles will be able to carry nuclear weapons. The media reports that these actions are to threaten America and the West, but these decisions can only be targeted at us. They have been working with their infidel brothers in America all along.”
“What are you babbling about, Shahed? The Russians have announced they might withdraw from the CFE treaty and build medium range missiles again because they are still mad at the Americans for building bases in Central Europe and withdrawing from the ABM treaty. That’s all.”
“And that is the point, Chief. The Americans and Russians have withdrawn from these treaties to threaten us, not each other. Bush and Putin secretly agreed to help each other out several years ago during one of their “soul meetings” in Crawford Texas. end part1
June 30th, 2007 at 2:00 pm |
Part2. Bush told Putin he wanted to build a missile defense against Iranian ICBMs, which we may, God willing, some day build. In exchange Putin said Russia would withdraw from the CFE and INF Treaties so they can have missiles to attack Iran from their southern region. And, Putin noted, medium range missiles would benefit Bush too if he ever got his forces close enough to Iran to use them. And where are the Americans today? On our borders!”
“But, Shahed, Russia has been very helpful to us. They sold us nuclear know-how for our reactors, which we will of course use for other purposes.”
“But Chief, that is part of their nefarious plan also. Russia and America actually want us to build those nuclear facilities in our country. How else could we have gotten this far when Iraq was invaded for just wishing they had nuclear weapons? Russian nuclear plants are notoriously dangerous. Do you not remember Chernobyl? Once the plants are built, they will be like atomic roadside bombs waiting for American and Russian missiles to blow them up from the air.”
“You have been drinking Shahed! What about Afghanistan? Did the Russians and Americans not fight over that country? And, are they not both worse off for it?”
“Sadly no, Chief. Here too the infidels have conspired against us. First, Russia moved into Afghanistan, and America pretended to be upset. When it became clear their Russian friends could not afford to administer the country, the Americans took over the job through a Sunni extremist group – the Taliban – to ensure a hostile neighbor for Iran. But, the Americans miscalculated and paid a heavy price for supporting the Sunnis.
“Now Americans themselves are on our east and west and Russia is in the north. We are surrounded and in grave danger Chief.”
Of course, all of this is pure fantasy, but what is sad is that for many readers, the most unbelievable part of this fairy tale is that Russia and the US would be working together.
June 30th, 2007 at 3:02 pm |
These are all good points about the outcome of a strike on Iran but you should read this blog on why Iranian Americans oppose a strike on Iran:
http://www.iranianamericanjews.blogspot.com/
September 25th, 2007 at 10:58 pm |
Thanks guys for giving hope to the poor american that i am,i thought there was nobody in this country who wasn’t corrupted by the propaganda created by our own government.It seems that most americans blindly support the action of the government;very few of us try to understand where all of this mess comes from,we are always so eager to bomb people for the so called “americam freedom”. Which country on this earth can threaten american freedom?(unless of course if we go to their place and try to impose our will)Even the most ignorant people would feel threatened if anybody was always talking about bombing them.We talk about iranian nukes,but who are we to decide for other countries what kind of technology they should used for their own good.Everybody knows today that nuclear power is the best way to get energy,every single developed country uses it.But i guess only the “civilized world”has the right to use that technology since we won’t use it against anybody. But brothers and sisters americans,let’s not forget who comitted the greatest crimes of our time,the civilized world,yes us;remember? Nazi Germany and the holocaust,they werent outdated arabs dressed in robes;Hiroshima and Nagasaki,sure we were just replying to an attack,but did we have to massacre so many civilians,when u even go as far back as the time of the crusades,yes it was still us,the civilized world;but today we talk about those arabs.
God bless America and no place else