Jack Straw Says "Be Cool, Relax, Nobody is Going to Nuke Iran"

we don't need to worry, because Jack says it's "completely nuts".

that's exactly why we DO need to worry.

Why does anyone think that Jack Straw makes the decisions? George makes the decisions, having consulted God, who then drops a word in Tony's ear. Tony writes Jack a memo telling him what to think. Meanwhile George is on the phone to Condi, who then rings up Jack and breathes sexily into his ear, after which Jack goes weak at the knees and forgets everything he ever said about Iran. Thus the urgent need of both Islamic and Christian fundamentalists for Armaggeddon is brought to you on a plate by our democratically elected leadership.

I know this has been pointed out *much* earlier, but many better brains than mine. But compare and contrast:
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0614-20.htm
and
http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1750680,00.html

Mad, indeed...

Jack Straw did not assert that there are no plans to nuke (thats what bunker busters are) Iran that the UK was not privy to or aware of. He said the idea was 'completely nuts'. That is very different from saying that its unlikely to occur.

Currently the oil companies have sewn up Iraq's oil deposits with contracts that guarantee them first buyer options at cost of production rather than at the going market rate for the next 40 years in exchange for providing the finance capital to keep them functioning. There is a problem in that Iraq has no functioning government to ratify these contracts. US and UK have been fingering the Iranian regime in having an undue (ie, not toeing the US line) influence on the Shia communities in the south. By nuking, rather than occupying Iran, the US reckons it is likely to undermine such malevolent Iranian influence.

That may or may not be the case. The US is perfectly capable of doing that. The US military machine and national culture do not have the expertise to occupy a far away strange country. Its military machine is, however, superbly trained and equipped to carry out 'shock and awe'. This was demonstrated in Korea, Vietnam, Kampuchea, the 1991 Gulf War and Kosovo. That last almost spun out of control but the Russians saved that debacle.

Delivering to the oil companies is the primary concern of the Bush-Cheney team and it has until 2008 to deliver. Other longer term consequences, including an implausible Republican win in the 2008 Federal elections (though you never know in a country that refuses to extend medicare coverage for antiviral shots against the human papilloma virus, the prevalent cause of deaths from uterean cancer, for young females, as that is deemed to encourage lax morals) or blow backs (likely dwarfing September 11 2001).

If I was an Iraqi, I would not be interested in forming any government to sign away the revenues from a resource which is likely to be exhausted by the time these contracts mature.

I'd just like to comment on the two articles Richard showed us.
As far as i'm concerned one is about a president who played out being the mad man, the other is about an actual madman. What is truely horrific is the resources the current madman has, two influential governments, ties with millitary contractors and, in the same breath, petro-chemical industries, basically the most powerful bunch of fellows the western world has to offer. Who are they vs.? A bunch of placard waving liberals, a suppressed nation with small arms and faith and arm chair middle class crusaders with good intentions but zero realistic chances. I dont know why I even bother.....

The storm troopers had very little, in fact even less than most of us 'armchair' liberals today, when they stormed the Bastille in 1789.