McCain: Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered

4 more years! 4 more years!

She we at all be suprised that McSame has Kagan advising him?

He's bout into the program after all, so why not have the program's designer advise him?

Most of us foolishly persist in underestimating Iran and ignoring its stated intentions.

McCain's in a no-win situation. Campaign conventional wisdom says play to the poles in the primary and to the center in the general. Obama and Hillary are both doing that. McCain -- by circumstances or by design -- is doing just the opposite. Let's hope it's more show than reality; that he is not tempted by the siren call of the neocons. While I increasingly disagree with him on continuing the blank-check for Iraq, I have to believe (perhaps because I can't believe the opposite) that he would not go foolishly pre-emptive on Iran. Stay strongly alert, certainly, as Holly reminds us we should (must) be. But not foolish.

Most of us foolishly persist in underestimating Iran and ignoring its stated intentions.

Which are?

Cause last time I checked we were the ones who overthrew their elected government (Mossadeq 1953) and who armed and supplied Saddam with weapons and intelligence during the Iran/raq war after they got rid of the tyrant we imposed upon them.

Ahmadinejad is the one who "states their intentions," but he is not the one who makes their policy.

If we enter any conflict with Iran, it should not be because some Iranian figurehead liked to beat his chest.

If we're going to believe Ahmadinejad means what he says, why shouldn't we also believe McCain means what he says.

I certainly hope McCain, unlike so many who favor other things and other interests, would defend the United States and US interests over its adversaries and theirs.

would defend the United States and US interests over its adversaries and theirs.

The question here is what are American Interest?

Is ExxonMobil having access to cheap Oil an American Interest?
Is Halliburton getting Oil Contracts an American Interest?
Is United Fruit having access to cheap labor & Cheap real-estate in Central America an American Interest?

Just what we need, four more years of Kagan and Kristol. The neocons were wrong on just about everything in Iraq. So McCain wants to reward their stupidity!!

All we need is another vacuous figurehead being led and advised by fools - this time an old, forgetful and tempermental one. I guess if your're the sort of person who finds some virtue in watching America be led into the crapper, then a segue from Bush into McCain will be just your cup of tea.

"Cause last time I checked we were the ones who overthrew their elected government (Mossadeq 1953) and who armed and supplied Saddam with weapons and intelligence during the Iran/iraq war after they got rid of the tyrant we imposed upon them."


The CIA and MI6 definitely had a part in returning the Shah to power. It is however a gross over simplization to characterize that as overthrowing an elected government. As to the claim that the US armed Iraq, that's absurd. France exported more weapons than the US ever did and everybody combined can't get close to the numbers of weapons that came from the USSR. That doesnt even touch on the 1200 eastern block ad visors in Iraq till 1980 or the 5000 Iraqis that received training in the Soviet Union. France was Iraq's second most important supplier selling jets, missiles, a reactor, but hardly alone with Italy selling Iraq a "navy fleet". Really the only real basis for that claim is in 1982 Iraq was removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, allowing arms purchases to be made at that point, but there were never "given" weapons by the US. Later in the 80's full diplomatic relations were normalized and later Iraq was given planning aid in their war against Iran. As you can see the truth is much different than stated. So why would anyone think anything of any point someone tries to make when the supporting statement is so absurd?

The CIA and MI6 definitely had a part in returning the Shah to power. It is however a gross over simplization to characterize that as overthrowing an elected government.

No it's not, it's a historical fact! We overthrew the Mossadeq Government, and having perfected our technique we then went on to overthrow Arbenz in Guatemala(1954), Sukarno in Indonesia(1965), Allende in Chile(1970)

Electronic Briefing Book: The Secret CIA History of the Iran Coup

And for good measure, Norman Schwarzkopf Sr. organized and trained the SAVAK

As to the claim that the US armed Iraq, that's absurd.

You're right, we only sold them all the goodies needed to produce chemical weapons, showed them how to make them and gave them a few pointers as to how to use them more efficiently.

Arming Iraq: A Chronology of U.S. Involvement

June, 1992. Ted Kopple of ABC Nightline reports: "It is becoming increasingly clear that George Bush Sr., operating largely behind the scenes throughout the 1980's, initiated and supported much of the financing, intelligence, and military help that built Saddam's Iraq into [an aggressive power]." [5]

July, 1992. "The Bush administration deliberately, not inadvertently, helped to arm Iraq by allowing U.S. technology to be shipped to Iraqi military and to Iraqi defense factories... Throughout the course of the Bush administration, U.S. and foreign firms were granted export licenses to ship U.S. technology directly to Iraqi weapons facilities despite ample evidence showing that these factories were producing weapons." Representative Henry Gonzalez, Texas, testimony before the House. [18]

February, 1994. Senator Riegle from Michigan, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, testifies before the senate revealing large US shipments of dual-use biological and chemical agents to Iraq that may have been used against US troops in the Gulf War and probably was the cause of the illness known as Gulf War Syndrome. [7]

August, 2002. "The use of gas [during the Iran-Iraq war] on the battle field by the Iraqis was not a matter of deep strategic concern... We were desperate to make sure that Iraq did not lose". Colonel Walter Lang, former senior US Defense Intelligence officer tells the New York Times. [4]

This chronology of the United States' sordid involvement in the arming of Iraq can be summarized in this way: The United States used methods both legal and illegal to help build Saddam's army into the most powerful army in the Mideast outside of Israel. The US supplied chemical and biological agents and technology to Iraq when it knew Iraq was using chemical weapons against the Iranians. The US supplied the materials and technology for these weapons of mass destruction to Iraq at a time when it was know that Saddam was using this technology to kill his Kurdish citizens. The United States supplied intelligence and battle planning information to Iraq when those battle plans included the use of cyanide, mustard gas and nerve agents. The United States blocked UN censure of Iraq's use of chemical weapons. The United States did not act alone in this effort. The Soviet Union was the largest weapons supplier, but England, France and Germany were also involved in the shipment of arms and technology.