Iran.

It appears that behind closed doors the sabres are beginning to rattle in the Whitehouse. The focus for this attention seems to be Iran. A country that have not hidden the fact that they are now on the brink of being able to produce nuclear energy. In addition their leader holds no great affection for the west.
This of course has led to warnings and threats by the U.S. government as they see the natural step that Iran will want to take is to make nuclear weapons which they will turn on the western world.

Is America correct to act this way? Knowing full well that if they decide to attack Iran....Britain will be involved. Is there really a more sinister plot afoot by the Americans themselves...all that lovely oil in that region? Does America appreciate that Iran will be a far different force to reckon with than what was available to Sadam Husain in Iraq?

Is it only America,(and it appears Britain) and Israel that can be allowed to ignore all normal procedures and international law? Are the Americans correct to look after our long term future in this manner?

Please discuss.

It's ok Peter. God is on our side. He tells Tony what to do. We're in safe hands

Pete,

I notice that you have certainly got into non biking posts recently. I'm now becoming concerned that either senility has finally caught up with you or the Mrs has sold your 749.

There is also the option that you're undercover agent for the American Secret Service on a "black ops" mission to try and work out whether, in general, SV owners should be considered a clear and present danger on the US government.....

Whatever it is, get back on the program please mate

.

I think George Galloway has got it right when he asks,

"would you trust George Bush with his finger on the nuclear button when he cant be trusted with a bottle of beer" :P

His bike riding skills are not up to much either

[Supervox]

I think the whole thing can be summed by a quote I was told some years ago by an American college professor I knew :-

"America has gone from infancy to senility without ever achieving maturity" !!

January 20, 2009 - still plenty of time left to change the world, and no doubt he will.

I cant see how the US will continue to compete against the emerging world leaders such as China and India without tying up the middle east. They are fat and lazy and they know they are in for a fall very soon.

[northwind]

Whether it's crusading zeal, idiocy or some actual belief that it'd improve the world. the practicality of invading Iran is bound to prevent it... The US is having enough trouble and spending enough moey and effort in Iraq already, and Iran could be a lot worse. Unless they seriously consider the nuclear option, which some sources say they are.

There are some serious games being played out there at the moment.

So, Ahmadinejad is a nutcase. He is also clearly wanting to prod the US, and try to force the issue with his announcements ie they have managed to actually spin down Uranium to the point that it is eniriched to nuclear grade. (This is tricky, but still a long way off a fission weapon.) So, he is (attempting to at least) to wave sticks around the place.

The thing is Bush et al are equally mad. And, have no problem with killing lots of people. But, they are sort of in a bit of a situation now, what with the back to back screw-ups in the last couple of years. They are not as strong as they could be.

I think Ahmadinejad has seen what North Korea has been up to, and quite reasonabley might think that if he can make as much noise and appear to be as insane as KIM Jong Il tries to appear, then the US might just treat them in a similar way.

The thing is,,, this is the Middle east. So, its not really the same kettle of fish.

The over-riding problem of all of this is... no one playing these games gives a flying **** about massive body counts. The UN are a joke at this point, and no matter what this administration does (ie nuclear weapons), the US public can be whipped into line.

And, a US President at war has never lost an election.

There is somthing interesting here though. This is what PH is really asking, why does the US act as the world police man? (With all due repsect, the UK lends not much more than moral support, and a desperate attempt at legitimacy. US troops love the Brit troops, and the SAS SBS are serious boys, but war is not really about this so much any more. Shock and Awe (which means terrorise the population))
Do they really gain more than they spend on this work? Why do they want to do it? There are no other contenders for this position. Say if it were China. Say China was the world policeman, and the US just kept to itself. Its almost hard to imagine.

I think I would prefer to be policed by the US than China though.

Its such a strange thing though for a country to want to do. If it is for monetary gain, how come there are no other contenders even looking at the job. There is more to it than money. And, I personally dont believe the US is empire building.

I dont get it. Is it pride? Or, as Northy said, does the US think they can genuinely make the world a better place?

EDIT: Last thing, and this is the weirdest thing of all. The US has no real need for middle eastern oil. Calgary has vast reserves, comparable to Middle east amounts, and so does Venezuala, and so does Russia. For the money they are spending on bombing the crap out of the middle east, they could have plowed that into Russian oil production, and been all set. Why bother with the Middle east?

Its a game amigos. And, its a game that we cannot understand, because we do not know anyones cards. We can't even directly see the game. All we can do is look at the shadows on the wall made by the players, and draw our little potted solutions that fit into our little reality. Its like looking sv650.org every day and nowhere else, and then attempting to figure out what the WWW is.

Originally Posted by philipMac

All we can do is look at the shadows on the wall made by the players, and draw our little potted solutions that fit into our little reality. Its like looking sv650.org every day and nowhere else, and then attempting to figure out what the WWW is.

Couldn't agree more. 99% of the population never really knows what the whole picture is. If they did, then they would be sitting next to one of the world leaders.

[Supervox]

Originally Posted by philipMac

. . . Last thing, and this is the weirdest thing of all. The US has no real need for middle eastern oil. Calgary has vast reserves, comparable to Middle east amounts, and so does Venezuala, and so does Russia. For the money they are spending on bombing the crap out of the middle east, they could have plowed that into Russian oil production, and been all set. Why bother with the Middle east?

Is this not the main crux of it ?

If the U.S. were to use any of the above sources for its oil, they'd have to PAY for it - & not just monetarily either, there'd be Favoured Nation status deals to be negotiated, trading agreements to be drawn up etc, - a general you-scratch-our-back sort of thing - it's much 'easier' to invade a country & then under the guise of 'rebuilding' give the contracts to American companies who'll just charge the consumer.