I try not to write too much about politics here, or to talk about them to any but my most trusted friends as it inevitably leads to misunderstanding and conflict. But today, as the subject of my ire is the normally sane NPR, in which no-one I know is involved, maybe I can vent my anger.
Driving back from site (we've nearly finished sheathing all our walls!) The World on NPR was running an interview with someone on Iran. He was talking about, on the one hand, the grave mistakes made with the invasion of Iraq and the intelligence about WMD that served as the excuse, and on the other how Iran posed the greatest possible threat to the United States of America.
So, according to him, Iran is more dangerous than North Korea. North Korea is stable but Iran is an unstable, irrational place. 'Iran is a country with a very grave and great hatred of our country, and they have the potential to do something about it'. 'We must be pre-emptive about Iran.' OK, so like, because most Iranians hate the American government (which is true) they are going to launch an attack on the US? Uh, I don't think so. As if they are really going to fly/sail all the way to an American base and drop a nuclear missile on it, and then wait for their country to become obliterated. Then he says 'We must make a concerted effort not to repeat the mistakes we made in Iraq. We must improve our intelligence on Iran, on it's leaders and their motives.'. I think so. Go there and talk to the first person that you find on the street. Yes, the hate the American government. So do I. But I challenge you to find the total insanity that would posit that launching an attack on the US would be a good idea. Yes, Iran is a deeply patriotic country and their nuclear programme is symbolic of this. But they are also smart and very far from the totalitarian repression that allowed such delusional leaders as Saddam and Kim Jong-Il to maintain their place. So what kind of GOP paranoia might produce this kind of talk? Hmm, how about Democratic senator Jay Rockefeller, Vice-President of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Driving back from site (we've nearly finished sheathing all our walls!) The World on NPR was running an interview with someone on Iran. He was talking about, on the one hand, the grave mistakes made with the invasion of Iraq and the intelligence about WMD that served as the excuse, and on the other how Iran posed the greatest possible threat to the United States of America.
So, according to him, Iran is more dangerous than North Korea. North Korea is stable but Iran is an unstable, irrational place. 'Iran is a country with a very grave and great hatred of our country, and they have the potential to do something about it'. 'We must be pre-emptive about Iran.' OK, so like, because most Iranians hate the American government (which is true) they are going to launch an attack on the US? Uh, I don't think so. As if they are really going to fly/sail all the way to an American base and drop a nuclear missile on it, and then wait for their country to become obliterated. Then he says 'We must make a concerted effort not to repeat the mistakes we made in Iraq. We must improve our intelligence on Iran, on it's leaders and their motives.'. I think so. Go there and talk to the first person that you find on the street. Yes, the hate the American government. So do I. But I challenge you to find the total insanity that would posit that launching an attack on the US would be a good idea. Yes, Iran is a deeply patriotic country and their nuclear programme is symbolic of this. But they are also smart and very far from the totalitarian repression that allowed such delusional leaders as Saddam and Kim Jong-Il to maintain their place. So what kind of GOP paranoia might produce this kind of talk? Hmm, how about Democratic senator Jay Rockefeller, Vice-President of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
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