Obama Continues to Appease Iran

Appeasing Iran

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

If the President of the US sits down, in a face to face meeting with the President of Iran, and discusses Iran’s attempt to develop an Atomic Bomb, discusses Iran’s meddling in Iraq… including the training and supplying of insurgents in Iraq who are killing America military personnel, discusses Iran’s declared intention of wiping Israel from the map, discusses Iran’s threatening of shipping through the Straits of Hormuz, discusses Iran’s arming and training of terrorists in Gaza and Lebanon and sundry other places around the globe, … would that be appeasement ?

Of COURSE it would be appeasement! Why? Because… it would raise Iran’s President up to the level of the US President in perceived prestige and power around the world (I mean, of course, the “OFFICE” of the President). Plus, it would embolden the terrorist organizations that would read it as “bringing the US to heel”.

There is nothing to discuss with Iran. We have demands to make, but there is nothing to discuss.

Look, Iran is skating on very thin ice. Their arrogance is either covering for their stupidity, or a national death wish. Either way the life of their country is in the balance.

Iran is setting itself up for a preemptory military strike by Israel… or the United States, or (most likely), both.

The fact that the US has been fighting a ground war against Iran, for many months now, is not lost on the intelligence communities of Israel, Great Britain and the United States. Although it has not been spoken of by the press in the US, to any great degree, the British press printed the facts about the 12,000 man Iranian force which flooded across the Iraq/Iran border shortly after the US and British Invasion of Iraq. It is certainly a contributing factor in the continuing battle to knock down the so-called “Insurgency” within Iraq.

The plain fact is, folks, we are fighting Iran on the ground, and all over the world right now. If the troops we are fighting against aren’t Iranian in blood, then they are Iranian by proxy.

Iran has a huge bulls eye painted on her today. If the people of Iran do not rise up and overthrow the mullahs and the Imams and whoever is running that pitiful excuse for a country then they can expect to be attacked by outside forces and their regime changed by force. Iran’s hand is raised toward every man and every man’s hand is raised toward Iran.

Iran’s leadership continues to boast of going after Israel. It is the worst mistake they could possibly make.

Israel has a first, and second, strike nuclear capability. She has nuclear-armed subs, at sea, as a back up to her ground based nuclear arsenal. If attacked, she will certainly strike back and… she has the capability to take out the entire metropolitan population of Iran a number of times over.

For many years, now, Israel has warned that she will use her nuclear option rather than be the recipients of another holocaust. Israel is not just whistling Dixie. She will do it as surely as the sun will rise tomorrow.

Iran finds a democratic Iraq unacceptable as a neighbor. Therefore, they intend to do, and are doing, anything within their power to cripple all efforts to establish such a government in Iraq. In the meantime, their effort to create a nuclear bomb, missiles, etc, is on track and is due to be realized well before the ten years our misled intelligence services led themselves to believe several years ago.

All of this we know. And some in our government want to negotiate??? Some of our presidential candidates want to TALK to Iran? At this point, talking is nothing more than a sign of weakness. On the other hand, if Iran wishes to send an emissary, through back channels, to talk to OUR people in search of a way to save their own behinds, well, that is a different story. We might entertain an offer from Iran to lay down here arms, remove her troops from Iraq, back away from the Straits of Hormuz, stop threatening the free flow of oil from the Middle East, cut off funding and supplying terrorists in Gaza and Lebanon and the other trouble spots around the globe, and basically, behaving themselves… then, we might be open to listening.

But, as long as Iran’s mad mullahs and hallucinating henchmen continue to prance and preen, shine their shields and rattle their sabers, any attempt, on the part of the US (or any other nation at which their vitriol is directed) to talk with them is viewed as appeasement… and rightly so.

Since the beginning of warfare between tribes there has always been those who want to try talking to the enemy tribe in an attempt avoiding open combat. They are, inevitably, the weakest members of the threatened tribe. Unfortunately, it is their protestations that “peace at any price” has cost more lives, in the long run, than would have been lost had the battle begun immediately and ended quickly with one tribe, or the other, wining decisively.

Appeasement does two things: It demonstrates the appeasing side’s weakness and fear and it allows the threatening side to grow stronger and bolder and even more determined to put the pip-squeak nation, begging for peace out of it’s misery.

Even inferring that one might talk to Iran, if one were in a position of power from which to do so, does the nation a disservice. It demonstrates the naiveté, the inexperience, and the lack of security in one’s ability to lead a nation of free people who went to war against a world superpower to gain their freedom and have fought ever since to maintain their freedom.

A great nation does not negotiate peace with another nation threatening war against it. A great nation swats the offending nation, as one would a fly, then dictates the terms of peace to THEM. Great leaders understand that. “Pretenders to Greatness” have never understood that. History records great nations and great leaders. Pretenders to greatness MAY gain mention in the footnotes of history.

So, as our diplomatic elite urge appeasement of Iran by “talking” understand they are not representative of the vast majority of the American people who had much rather act as men, standing on their feet in defense of their nation, than as weaklings on their knees, exposing their necks to the sword of the enemy.

Courage begets greatness. Fear begets timidity. Timidity gives birth to acts of appeasement. There is no place for timidity in the Office of the President of the United States.

J. D. Longstreet

How I Learned to Love the Bomb ... Alan Caruba

How I Learned to Love the Bomb
By Alan Caruba

As a child in the 1950s, I learned how to “duck and cover” in order to protect myself from an atomic bomb explosion. Little did I know that the instruction should have been “Kiss your asterisk goodbye.”

The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when the Soviets wanted to put nuclear-tipped long range missiles there, led to a confrontation between President John F. Kennedy and Nikita Krushchev that had both sides changing their underwear after it was over.

What do the United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea in common? They all have nuclear weapons and, of course, Iran has been working toward that goal and is now very close to achieving it.

Some will argue that Israel should not be on the list because it has never acknowledged its nuclear capabilities, but everyone knows they have them. Presumably the Iranian mullahs do as well, but they are a bunch of nuts waiting for the mythical Twelfth Imam to come out of a well and smite the enemies of Islam.

It is instructive that both Pakistan and India acquired their nuclear weapons without anyone being aware of it until after the fact. At CIA headquarters, when India announced its successful test, it came as a very big surprise. These days, the U.S. is busy reassuring Israel that Iran is “at least a year away” from nuclear status and you can imagine how relieved they are to hear that.

North Korea is a wild card and, given the lack of success the U.S. and anyone else has had to get them to abandon their nukes, the same can be assumed for Iran when they make their announcement. Meanwhile they have to content themselves with announcing new missiles, the latest of which they dubbed “the ambassador of death.”

The Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization has designated Sunday, August 29, as “The International Day against Nuclear Tests.” Given the total lack of success in thwarting any nation that wants a nuke, my confidence in the United Nations’ treaty is zero.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, a UN component, has been kicked out of North Korea, Iraq and Iran on several occasions, so one might rationally assume it is useless when it comes to stopping the manufacture of A-bombs.

Olli Heinonen, the former chief of UN nuclear inspections worldwide, told Le Monde, a French newspaper, that Iran has stockpiled enough low-enriched uranium for 1-2 nuclear arms, but he thought doing so made no sense. Betting on the rationality of the Iranian ayatollahs is not a good idea.

Who doesn’t want a ban on nuclear weapons testing? The United States Senate for one.

While the U.S. has “signed” a number of the test ban treaties that have been around since the 1960s, the Senate has not ratified any of them, thus avoiding having to commit the nation to no longer testing new nuclear weapons. For some reason, the U.S. Senate does not trust Russia or the other nuke nations.

In April, our ever-hopeful President Barack Obama journeyed to Russia to sign a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Dmitry Medvedev dubbed “New Start.” For Obama it was another empty photo opportunity on a par with accepting the Nobel Peace Prize (soon to be available everywhere in boxes of Cracker Jack). For the Russians it was a reason to break out the vodka.

Robert R. Monroe, a retired vice admiral in the U.S. Navy and former director of the Defense Nuclear Agency from 1977-1980 explains why. “The treaty has many problems from being unverifiable to giving Russia virtual veto power over U.S. missile defense, and more.” That’s bad enough, but it’s worse than that.

Two days before meeting with the Russians, the Obama administration released its Nuclear Posture Review (NPR). Monroe says, “The NPR is joined at the hip with New Start, and together they take this country down a dangerous path. For 65 years, the very existence of our nation has depended upon a strong nuclear deterrent. The new NPR wipes out this proven policy, substituting one of weakness in its place.”

Liberals love test ban treaties. They love the idea of unilaterally disarming the United States in a world where there are nations who may not love us.

Not surprisingly, the nations with nukes have not signed onto anything that would take away their deterrent factor and, of course, Iran is hell-bent on getting them for itself.

Not a single conflict since the U.S. dropped two A-bombs on Japan in 1945 to end a war they started has used nuclear weapons. Rational people, even if they have nuclear weapons know that using them is probably suicidal. Irrational people like the Iranian ayatollahs are probably the exception.

Alan Caruba blogs daily at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/. An author, business and science writer, he is the founder of The National Anxiety Center.

(c) Alan Caruba, 2010

Obama Bows to Iranian Nuclear Ambitions

Obama Bows to Iranian Nuclear Ambitions
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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In a few days it is quite possible that Iran will load its nuclear plants with nuclear fuel supplied by Russia. If that happens, as we expect, there’s nothing to worry about – really. Nothing much changes – except – the world.

The Muslim embracing President of the United States deliberately allowed Iran to go nuclear. I wish I was wrong about this, but I hold that I am right.

As I see it, Obama doesn’t give a fig if the nation of Israel is wiped off the face of the earth so long as it is the “Islam Bomb” that smashes the land held holy by Jews and Christians alike.

Obama’s affinity for Islam is not endearing him to the American electorate. His poll numbers are plunging and many commentators who originally thought we would have to gear up to defeat Obama in 2012 have now reconsidered. Honestly, I am beginning to consider the possibility that Obama will not even complete his first term. There is a glimmer of hope that his own party, the Democratic Party, will be so decimated by their political massacre in the Mid-Term Election, in just a few weeks, that they will pressure him to resign, move Biden into the Oval Office, and appoint Hillary Clinton as Vice-President, providing here with the perfect platform from which to launch her bid for the Presidency in 2012.

For those of you who wish to disagree with me, I warn you, I won’t argue my point, because I realize how far-fetched this scenario is. However, this is the Democratic Party we are speaking of -- and that means “expediency” rules.

Look, when most Americans cannot tell you which faith President Obama subscribes to – that is not good. Obama’s proclivity for all things Islamic has certainly fueled the suspicion of many, including a number of conservative commentators, with whom I am acquainted, to conclude that he, Obama, is a “closest Muslim.”

Prior to his becoming President, Obama had been a member of a church where Black Liberation Theology was taught and preached. Black Liberation Theology has little in common with Christianity.

Since Obama has been in the Oval Office, he has yet to choose a church to attend as presidents traditionally do. Note also that he has refused to take part in any number of Christian events such as the annual Prayer Breakfast, and most recently the Boy Scouts National Jamboree in the Washington, DC. These are events at which the President of the United States, traditionally, puts in an appearance and makes a few remarks. Not Obama.

On the other hand, Obama appeared to go out of his way to demonstrate his affection for Muslims, Muslim countries, and Islamic events and institutions including Mosques planned for hallowed ground in America, namely -- the Ground Zero Mosque in New York City. Remember, too, His very first television interview, after becoming President, was with an Islamic TV station -- Al Jazeera. You will forgive me, if I feel that I have reason enough, ample reason, more than ample reason, to join others who now believe that Obama is, indeed, a closet Muslim.

And now Iran. Iran’s acquisition of the Atomic Bomb could have been stopped – had Obama wanted it stopped. It is apparent -- he did not.

I am convinced Israel would have already taken out Iran’s nuclear facilities had Obama done nothing more that get out of the way.

Unless Israel acts within an extremely short time, Iran will acquire the atomic bomb. Then, much of that hemisphere will come under the atomic gun of Iran and be subject to nuclear blackmail at Iran’s whim.

The really sad thing is all of this could have been avoided had Obama simply supported Israel, the only reliable friend America has in the Middle East.

J. D. Longstreet

(Note: We do not publish anonymous comments. -- JDL)

Iran Draws Ever Closer to the “Islam Bomb”

Iran Draws Ever Closer to the “Islam Bomb”
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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Over the past few months, there have been a few shrugged shoulders, and a few mutters, about allowing Iran to acquire the atomic bomb rather than have a third front in the War on Terror. Granted, those shrugs and mutterings have been emanating from those with, shall we say… less “constitution,” than most? But, still, whispers of that nature tend to grow into cacophonies among, as we said, those with, uh, less constitution.

“But, J. D., doesn’t that make sense?” you may ask. “I mean, it’s only one more country in the Middle East,” you may continue.

Well, while it is true that Pakistan has the bomb, and Israel has the bomb, Iran is a whole ‘nuther story.

Pakistan is a constant worry for the US. There is little doubt that at some point, in the not too distant future, the US will have to deal with an overthrow of the current regime in Pakistan and the possibility that some, less than stable, individuals will gain control of that country’s nuclear arsenal. It’s going to happen. Bet money on it. That could be years down the road, or it could be tomorrow. The fact that we have troops next door is not a coincidence. You can bet the Pentagon has burned the midnight oil, on numerous long nights, planning, and then re-planning, how to rectify that situation… when if happens.

Israel has a nuclear arsenal. You know… the one they don’t have. Right… that one! The thing is, Israel has no plans to wipe anyone out, save for those who may attempt to do her and her people harm.

From the media we learn this: “Earlier this week, Iran state television reported that the Islamic Republic has successfully test-fired the Sejil-2 missile, whose range outstrips the Shahab, a missile said to be capable of striking Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf. Al Alam, Iran's Arabic-language satellite television, said the Sejil missile had a longer range than the Shahab missile, which Iranian officials in the past have said can reach targets 2,000 km (1,250 miles) away, which would put Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf within reach.” Read the entire article HERE.

Which brings us back to Iran. Iran has yet to acquire the bomb. At least… we THINK they haven’t. If not, they are certainly on the threshold of obtaining what some are calling the “Islam Bomb”.

For those “shoulder shruggers,” please consider… Iran is the instigator of much of the terror around the globe today with training, and with money, munitions, material, and in a number of cases, personnel. It is one thing for Iran, alone, to have the bomb, it is quite another for Iran to begin handing those nuclear bombs off to bands of terrorists, all over the planet, who have absolutely no qualms about setting one of them off in Berlin, Paris, Lisbon, London, or New York! And therein lies the greatest threat posed by Iran’s ownership of The Bomb.

Too often we have adjusted our national blinders so that we are seeing only an atomic attack upon Israel instigated by Iran. I must tell you, the likelihood of Iran arming terrorists with A-bombs is far more likely and, far and away, more dangerous to the US and the world.

Some of us in America understand that it will take a nuclear disaster in one of our large cities to get the attention of that portion of Americans who normally do not take part in the daily grind of everyday politics in the country and the world. They are those folks who will ask: “Now why would anyone want to bomb one of our great cities”? They are the folks who will STILL be puzzled as the mushroom cloud rears it’s dark, ugly, countenance above the ruins of what was formally a thriving metropolis with hundreds of thousand of Americans minding their own business, just like them, before the blinding flash that took their lives.

We have always had those folks with us. Historians tell us that when the 13 American Colonies girded for war against Great Britain, 1/3 were for the war for Independence, 1/3 were against the war, and 1/3 didn’t care, one way or the other.

In the days of yesteryear it was gallant, chivalrous even, to allow the opponent to get off the first shot before America took them out. Today… there will be no chance to strike back. The weapons of war are so powerful that he who gets of the first shot, most likely, will be the winner (if there is such a thing as a “winner” in a nuclear war.)

The point of my rambling is this: We have to take the reins in our teeth, dear reader, and do what must be done… before it is too late. Iran must be stopped. And the deed must be done sooner, rather than later. Americans, befuddled by all the politics in the air, both day and night for the past few years, are NOT paying attention to the gathering threat. While we are in the midst of the so-called GREAT RECESSION, Americans are, indeed, distracted. Dear reader, “distracted” is not a good thing when a country is at war for it’s very existence.

It is more likely now that Israel will attack Iran with the current Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in charge. Netanyahu, himself a former member of the Israeli Special Forces, is acutely aware of the danger posed by Iran’s acquisition of the Islam Bomb. Remember the former government’s bungling of the war in Lebanon? Many in the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) are still smarting from that fiasco. And, it is becoming ever more clear that the US, under the Obama Regime, cannot be counted on to stand with Israel if, when, the “War with Iran” begins. This scribe had originally thought a series of bombing raids on Iran’s nuclear facilities might be able to, at least, set back the Iranian race for the bomb a few years. Now, however, I am convinced a few air raids will not do it. It now appears, at least to this scribe, that there will be a protracted war between Iran and Israel with many casualties and, quite possibly, an exchange of missiles with major cities of both countries being destroyed in the conflagration. In other words there will be little “surgical” about it. It will be a brawl.

No, I have no idea when the strike will come, but come it will. Iran is showing all the signs that it is spoiling for a war with Israel. Israel will have no choice. Well, actually, there is a choice. Europe and America can get behind Israel and assist Israel in taking out the nuclear threat from Iran and continue to enjoy a life of freedom. Or Europe and America can allow Iran to build the bomb, disseminate it to terrorist bands around the globe, and live in fear and trembling as slaves to the Islamofacists. Those are the choices. There is NO MIDDLE GROUND… contrary to what some leading politicians would have us believe.

Now, understand. I am not “warmongering” here. What I AM trying to do is redirect the spotlight onto the very REAL, and possibly worse, threat emanating from Iran’s possession of an Atomic Bomb. And that is… again… arming terrorists with it.

America has had it rather easy, as a nation. We’ve had our wars, even amongst ourselves, but we have had periods of peace. But, I fear that is over.

I hate to break it to some of you, but the war on terror is a never-ending war. It is not likely we will ever again have a world without US troops in the Middle East. But, even if it comes to pass, that we DO manage to dampen the hostilities there, it will be only temporary. In the meantime, wars all over the globe will flare-up and US troops will be required and called into combat in diverse places. It will be a constant struggle; waged from day to day, as young Americans spill their blood in an attempt to keep the death and destruction from our shores. But, eventually, it will arrive here, in America, and we, too, will live then as Israel does today. We’ll not be able to board a municipal bus without worrying if it has a bomb affixed to it, or enter the doors of a shopping mall without the same fear, or attend a sporting event, without that same dark worry tugging at our conscious minds. It will become a way of life and we will yearn for these days of relative peace. Hardly an American family will survive without a death, or multiple deaths, of their young as a result of these wars.

Gloomy? Yes, it is, very. But as I approach my seventieth decade on this earth, I can look ahead and base this prediction on my experience of the 5 wars in my lifetime (so far) in which we have engaged the enemy and found that we have won, lost, or “tied” at the conclusion.

It is said in the Holy Scriptures that in the latter days, or “end times” as some refer to those days, “men will cry peace, peace, but there will be no peace”. Those Scriptures have proven time and time again to be right on target. I see no reason to doubt them, or their wisdom, as we stand at the threshold of a war without end.

The future is going to be difficult. But, it CAN be easier, If the Obama Regime, gets behind Israel in the coming conflict with Iran. Unfortunately, it appears to all who care to observe objectively the Obama Regime’s maneuvering in the Middle East, that the President’s sympathies tend to lie more with the Islamic faction, than with the Israeli faction and, by extension, with the American and European factions.

J. D. Longstreet