6 Comments

I’m fascinated by the sparring match between Iran and her protagonists, and the media’s portrayal, sometimes prominent, sometimes only in passing, of events.

So you have something like the second US carrier battle group deployed to the gulf (which I think may be a head-fake, a distraction) and the media goes nuts about the possibility of our attacking Iran.

Then, you have Iran capturing these British marines and sailors in Iraqi waters, and threatening to try them as spies (which, as Ed Morressey points out, would be against the Geneva Conventions even if they actually had been in Iranian waters, because the Brits were in uniform, and therefore lawful combatants). Yet we hear nothing about violations of the Geneva Conventions, or potential ones, by the Iranians, even as every US action is measured against them.

I expect we’ll hear much more about negotiations to free the Brits in the days to come, and the striking of some sort of compromise to achieve that end. It is, above all, a human interest story, and that’s much more of interest to the media than stories of strategery and the give and take of power blows.

But lost (under the category of “flash in the pan” events) is a background of all kinds of interesting things: the bombing of the Quds busses in Iran by insurgents accused by the Iranians of being sponsored by the US and British (I would hope so — and that the Saudis, Jordanians and Egyptians are helping out as well!); the “disappearance” of high ranking Iranian military/governmental people, and all that implies from an intelligence point of view; the mass demonstrations against the mullocracy throughout Iran; the Russians slowing or stopping construction of the reactor they are building for the Iranians, allegedly because the latter failed to pay their bills (the Iranians say the Russians are reneging); the rationing of petrol within Iran; the recent (but largely symbolic IMO) UN vote to increase the severity of mild, unenforceable sanctions; and the plan under consideration to remove the Straights of Hormuz as a choke-point for oil, one essentially under real threat of closure by the Iranians, by building a pipeline from Iraq to the Omani capital of Huscat via Saudi Arabia and the UAE; the capture of one of the more important al Quds leaders in Iraq, and the recent revelation that we have captured 300 or more Iranians in Iraq to boot.

There’s a lot going on here that we don’t get from the MSM, though we do seem well supplied with the kinds of PC pablum that is the subject of your post.

I don’t know quite what to make of all this, other than from a strategic (as opposed to political) point of view, Iran has perhaps more problems than we do. But we don’t hear that.

Garbage.

This regime arrests those who oppose it with so much as the lethal weapon of speech, publicly hangs teenagers from cranes, and advocates burrying women up to their necks and stoning them to death.

So if there were ‘rogue forces’ within THIS regime’s Qods/IRGC ranks, one can be absolutely certain that very public examples would be made of them, just as with others.

None are made.

Why?

None are ‘rogues.’

Apologies for the unfortunate nature of our enemy. But one cannot will it (or report it) to be any other way than that which it is.

ML:

Those of you who haven’t learned to follow Steve Schippert’s terrific work should do it every day on threats watch blog. http://www.threatswatch.com

The Iranians are all against us. Hit em and hit em hard. Pelosi can’t even command her own troops in the House. Murtha volunteered for service in Korea and Vietnam, but he has gone soft. What can an ex Marine Drill Instructor and combat vet possibly know about running a war?

ML:

It’s just the mullahs, not “all” the Iranians. Most Iranians are all for us.

“It’s just the mullahs, not “all” the Iranians. Most Iranians are all for us.” But the day you will start bombing them, they will turn against you like the Iraqi population is currently doing.

ML:

Well you’re quite wrong about the Iraqis, and nobody knows what the Iranians would do. Not even the Canadians know.

I offer these historically analogies…
First, many believe that the appeasement of Hitler ended with the invasion of Czechoslovakia. However, this is not true. UK PM Churchill could get the government just weeks from the start of the UK’s Minister for Defence Procurement. You see, Churchill was such a “warmonger” that he believed that the country should start equipping itself for war before London was being bombed. Those “doves” believed war could still be avoided…
How about 1904, when Greek-American businessman Eden Pedecaris is kidnapped by the “the last of the Barbary Pirates’- led by Great Raisuli, Lord of the Rif and Defender of the Faithful. Roosevelt said “..give me Pedecaris or give me Raisuli.”
Or this bit of personal history, I remember when I was 12 another boy was about to get into a fight with a class bully. I told the boy to raise his hands to protect himself before the instigator punched him…. he never did and he hit the ground hard after the first punch.

Don’t be surprised to hear the US, UK and Canadians put a halt on all gasoline shipments to Iran. You see, OPEC’s 2nd largest oil producer can’t make their own gasoline (they import 40% of their need). This will be just another element in the 30yr war with the Mullahs.

Michael,

Please recall that I sent you this comment on March 26, 2007 at 5:15pm which you were so kind to publish:

“Don’t be surprised to hear the US, UK and Canadians put a halt on all gasoline shipments to Iran. You see, OPEC’s 2nd largest oil producer can’t make their own gasoline (they import 40% of their need). This will be just another element in the 30yr war with the Mullahs.”

I just want to pass along this comment just hitting the wires NOW from a US Energy Dept official which is a clear warning…
“Iran’s dependence on oil product imports is a vulnerability”- U.S. Energy Dept Official

An ultimatum will be issued soon: release the British hostages or a gasoline embargo against Iran will be instituted.
The Japanese viewed such an embargo as an act of war and i would predict so will the Iranians….

Regards,
Terje…