Thursday, November 13, 2008

Iran test-fires new missile, Israel within reach

Iran said it test-fired a new generation of surface-to-surface missile on Wednesday and that the Islamic Republic was ready to defend itself against any attacker.

Iran's latest missile test followed persistent speculation in recent months of possible U.S. or Israeli strikes against its nuclear facilities, which the West suspects form part of a covert atomic weapons program, a charge Tehran denies.

4 comments:

Tony F. said...

Why do we care what happens to Israel? Is it a case of if Israel goes down, the world and all our lives as we know it will end?

I'm only being partially facetious; I'd really like to know what the big deal is. Are they our only political ally in the Middle East?

Henry Baum said...

Yeah, Tony, it's not like it would start a World War or anything.

Anonymous said...

The whole thing is a joke. Iran has the right to defend itself just as Israel does. That said, I wish a giant UFO would swoop down and pound both Iranian & Israeli missile sites into the ground.

Both sides need a slap in the forehead if you ask me.

-Denny

Anonymous said...

Well, Tony, Israel is, in fact, our only long-term, real ally in the Middle East, so, yeah, they are kind of important. They also ought to, one of these decades, return some of the land stolen from the Palestinians by fiat (via the Big 3 powers and extremist Zionist "terrorists" right after WWII), as its only right to at least restore sovereignty, and a nation, to a refugee people who have suffered for decades under Israeli hubris and counter-terror for over 60 years now. We, and the world, ought to be able to get at least that from Israel, and the Arabs, after all the billions in foreign aid we give them each year. That's the crux of it, actually.

That right there, essentially, would resolve much of the tension in the middle east, particularly with Iran, Syria, and other Arab nations, and against Israeli and US influence and interference for their own self-serving interests.

Pretty damn simple, conceptually. Practically, near impossible with the extremist political, ethnic, and conflicting religious factions involved. But, that problem must be resolved, soon, or there will eventually be a nuclear conflict that could turn into world nuclear armageddon, which some seem to actually hope for, oddly enough. Mega-meta bad.

But, yeah, I'd like it, too, for a big, ol' UFO to swoop down and pound all nuclear launch, storage, and development sites worldwide down into the ground, if it could done without killing anyone. Until then, yes, Iran has as much right to nukes and missles as anyone else playing war games, like Israel (with several hundred nuclear and hydrogen weapons), or the U.S. There are now at least 10, and perhaps a few more (either having or capable of quickly producing) nations with nukes. While they should all reduce, if not eliminate, nukes, until that deus ex machina shows up in UFO form to either disable or take them all away, the world continues to be in increasing, imminent danger from such planet destroying technologies and our potential use of them in a time of crisis.

(Oh, and btw, no UFO will save us from ourselves or our nuclear toys--part of the "admission test" is to learn, on your own, somehow, not to destroy yourselves, at least, lest you be tempted to destroy any potential "others." So, no UFO for you! [thank you, Soup Nazi and Jerry Seinfeld])

Israel is a political and strategic lynchpin in regard to positional geopolitics, as a possible basing or staging location, and military ally in case things get rough, and, most critically, due to the energy problem, i.e., oil, and its primary location in the surrounding middle eastern countries that really are not true allies or reliable strategic partners. Kind of a dilemma all around, I guess. World Problem #4,813,293. Among others....

I do like the idea of a diplomatic slap to the forehead, though. Maybe add a biff to the back of the head, too, and they should also be made to beg for the cheese; of human kindness? 8^}