There is one glaringly obvious conclusion from all that has been said, written and promoted by bus$hCo. YOU know it ...WE know it..Everything you are going to hear and read from them is going to be a... WHAT?..you said it.. Count on it... we do! It's also a runnaway train and here comes the wreck...

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Bush, Cheney, and Co., in cahoots with the corporate media, have a long history of invoking fear and insecurity right before elections. They know that fear and uncertainty prompt people to vote to maintain the status quo. Primary elections are coming up, and what better time for Bush to terrorize Americans into voting for incumbents?

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How can people keep backing this administration? This administration won the presidential election by convincing america they were compassionate christians. As a person of faith, i have seen little compassion in them. If Chirst were here on this earth today, he would be vocal in speaking against the agression of war and fear that our government is so quick to administer. I don't think those in charge would be able to tolerate the critisism that Christ would be speaking out about them, and they would have him put in prison for treason. Kind of what happened 2000 years ago.
War is not the answer.

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First, as always we must secure Iran's oil fields! It doesn't make sense to blow up Iran's Nuclear Research Facilities, leave these for our Ally later. Destroy all other infrastructure except any that would impede our expediency in constructing more Mega Military Bases. China and Russia didn't bother about Iraq either and now Bush can install his semblance of a democratic government and we're home Free - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

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Don't tell me that just because Iran happens to be the number one country in proven reserves of oil and natural gas, in combination, they can't suddenly also be the number one threat to the US (of nearly 200 countries in the world).

Sure the probability is vanishingly small that these two facts would fall upon them simultaneously (about 0.0025%), but I don't see why we can't continue talking about (more) non-existent nuclear WMDs. Keep up the good work!

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On PBS News last night a pundit spoke about his belief that Iran is hiding things from International Inspectors and only allowing them into certain facilities while others remain hidden and their existence denied.

I thought it ironic that nobody mentioned Israel's Nuclear Ambiguity and the fact that no inspectors have ever been allowed into the dinosaur of a nuclear reactor that is the Dimona.

"Mr. Bush has remained steadfast in his statements that a nuclear Iran is unacceptable and "no option is off the table" to prevent it...
[april 12, 2006 Christian Science Monitor]

"During the past five years the United States has abandoned many of the nuclear arms control agreements negotiated since the administration of Dwight Eisenhower."-[march 29, 2006 Washington Post]

ALL the above is excerpted from April 12 WAWA BLOG:
http://www.wearewideawake.org

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"That's Cambodia, Captain"
"That's classified. We're not supposed to be in Cambodia, but that's where I'm going."

That's a scene from the movie Apocalypse Now; change the word Cambodia to Iran and it could be an one-the-ground US Special Forces captain on the Iraq-Iran border.

A bombing campaign is likely on the horizon. It should be stopped; it should be made clear to the idiotic Bush Administration and their bloodthirsty neocon / Israeli / Saudi / arms merchant / oil tycoon / financier backers that this will be a total disaster.

Who is insuring this mess? I doubt any company would back it up - but wait, let me guess - the U.S. taxpayers have agreed, via their 'elected representatives' to hold the bag when things go wrong, as they assuredly will. Aren't you tired of getting screwed over yet?

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Even the thought that Bush might invade Iran is frightening. Perhaps it would behoove us to get him and his cronies out of the White House before he takes us further into this Holy War in the middle east. He truly opened Pandora's box with Iraq, and his deal with India for nuclear knowhow for them, mangos for us, only escalated the situation in Iran. How much longer before this country says enough is enough and calls for an investigation and impeachment? This is no government like I have seen in my decades as an American citizen, and never did I think that I would have to be more afraid of my own government than of our so-called enemies. Maybe if we could get Bush and his "gang of eight" out, we would show the world that U.S. is still good. It's just that sometimes we get leaders who haven't the foggiest idea of what they're doing. At least, for our own peace of mind, we need to take action.

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It's like a flashback to 2002 - the same PR strategy to take our eyes off the actual ball, the same questionable reasoning and selective evidence, the same threats, the same boogey man scare tactics from the Bush imperialists. Can anyone say "foreign policy blunder"?

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Iran should continue to be a serious, potential nuclear threat right up to the 2006 election. After that, if the neoCONS have ensconced themselves into power for another four years, the threat will miraculously lessen.

In the meantime, pray that today's sabre-rattling in Washington is a bluff. Compared to Iraq, Iran is the junkyard dog of the Middle East, and it is run by someone with about the same mind-set. All we would need is to plop a couple of atomic bunker-busters into Iran's nuclear facilities, releasing God-only-knows how much radioactivity to poison the Iranian countryside, prompting Iran to retaliate by dumping a few warheads on, say, Tel Aviv or Saudi oil fields, or crank up their terrorist organizations and go at us here at home. What then keemosabee? A few MORE nukes into Iran? A ground invasion by our depleted military? They know how overextended we are, and their standing army makes Iraq's before our invasion look like a girl scout troop.

This thing could spiral out of control very quickly, possibly engulfing the entire Middle East – all because Artful-Vietnam-dodger Bush and his neo-wackos want to puff up their little chests. Pray that he does not follow the path of Caesar Agustus, who had similar megalomanic dreams and lost his entire military because of them. This time, arrogance coupled with idiocy could cost us and the world far more than something as minute as the Roman Empire.

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When you consider the perverse psychopathological nature of the players, and then throw PNAC's stated plans for global hegemony and an occupied Middle East into the mix, the scale tips so far so fast as to throw the 'bluffing' concept out the window with extreme prejudice.

For a rational person, bluffing is a logical explanation, and it would be nice if the leaders of the coup functioned as rational people. Let's not forget, however, that we are dealing with psychopaths - or rather, let's not forget to assume we are dealing with psychopaths.

Would be nice if they were bluffing, but I suspect their yearning for a nuclear wargasm is overwhelming. And easy enough to make popular if they turn Dick Vice loose with a dirty bomb in an American city.

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This is all part of the madness of King George. IMPEACH THE SON OF A BITCH. Do all Americans have to be killed before Congress does it's damn constitutional duty?

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All they really need to do is convince a majority of the American public that an unprovoked attack on Iran- probably with non-nuclear cruise missiles- is both justified and necessary. Then when Iran inevitably retaliates- and does real damage- they will support the need for total war. And that is when the nukes start falling.

Living in another country, or even a predominantly liberal town in the U.S.- or just by talking more to AlterNet users than to your neighbors on your own street... it's easy to forget how big the pro-war movement is in this country. You can get some idea by the bumper stickers- the yellow ribbon / stars & stripes, "these colors don't run," "support our troops," "freedom isn't free," "power of pride," or the popular "W'04".
There's a "bring-em-on," "let's roll" attitude. That liberals are "traitors," and pacifists "fags" and "pussies." There's a shocking percentage of both people in the military, and chickenhawk couch-potato fans of the military, who think of everyone in that region of the world as 'sand niggers' and would love to turn it into a 'glass parking lot.'

Yes, to anyone who doesn't have their head up their ass, starting a war with Iran is a Very Bad Idea of the sort requiring capitilization... but these Americans DO have their heads up their asses. They have no idea what a disaster it would be. Do you expect Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity to clue them in? You have to understand that the country's now split into two isolated echo chambers, two alternate realities- if you're reading this, you're living in the same one I am- but make yourself go visit those sites, watch those TV programs, and see inside theirs. And I think that even watching TV talkshows and visiting rightwing blogaganda sites is way more political than a lot of Americans want to get. They just want to be entertained and live comfortably.

"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."

Yes, the Bush administration knows it would be disastrous- but their sort of government thrives on disaster.
The war on Iran would be fought entirely from the air, and the bombing would be indiscriminate. There would be ZERO mainstream media coverage in the US of the resulting horrors on the ground, (probably through direct 'national-security' legal intimidation of the press,) and reports of attacks on US troops in bases in Iraq or Israel or on ships in the Gulf would be released as necessary to keep the public anger burning against Iran.
As for Iraq? If they go to war with Iran, they will just walk away and let it continue its plunge into hell. How did they stabilize and rebuild Afghanistan in time for the Iraq war...? (Huh? Afwhereistan...?)
Oh, right. They didn't.

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there was a little prince, who loved to play. His parents were busy with affairs of the kingdom, so they had little time for him. But since they were wealthy from taxes collected from their subjects, they bought him whatever toys he wanted.

The little prince liked to play toy soldiers, so the king and queen bought him a large box of them, as well as trucks, and airplanes and other things that soldiers wanted. Often the little prince would invite some of his friends to play with him. They played roughly so many soldiers were broken, and were thrown away; others were just hurt a little so they were thrown into the toy box to use in emergencies. After a while one of his friends decided he wanted to be the general but let the little prince think that he was still in charge since it was his parents who would buy the toys.

Eventurally so many toy solders had been thrown out or damaged, that more were needed. He was afraid that his parents would scold him, so he told them that his friends had taken them home since he couldn't find them. Now, when his parents didn't do what he wanted, the little prince threw a temper tantrum. Therefore the king and queen gave him whatever he wanted just to keep peace in the castle. And so he got another big box of toy soldiers, and could ignore the damaged ones in the box

The little prince also like to play treasure hunt. He told his friends that there were prizes buried in the gardens that they could have if they could find them. Since the little prince had lots of monopoly money, they believed him, and dug up the queen's roses and the king's special formal gardens. The king and queen smiled at their son, saying "boys will be boys and isn't he creative!"

And so the little prince grew up and became king. His toy soldiers became real, and the kingdom was his to do with as he wished. His subjects talked about how good he was to them.

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Crazy George has a hard time telling reality from the inside of his secret bubble. Considering his administration's record on warping the truth with complete lies. How can anyone believe what this Demented Gerbil pontificates? The man and his administration are liars. End of Story.

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Interesting that this time there is no need felt to bring in the threat of the Bin Laden's association as in Iraq.

Perhaps it is now politic not to mention Bin Laden and maybe we'll forget we haven't captured him.

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Anybody who has contact with the military can tell you these plans have been in the works for a long time. The pilots have been trained for this mission and the weapons developed. The only missing element is the 'go!' word.

The administration has more than prepared and shaped the environment to justify the attack. We have seen more admonishments by Condi than even with Iraq, we have seen greater number of reports etc. Iran is now surrounded and being penetrated by special forces.

The difference this time is that NATO is fully on board. For a clue as to how 'on board' look at the mysterious statement by Jacque Chirac a few months ago. Out of the blue he said France would not hesitate taking out a state with nuclear weapons if they judged a substantial threat or attempt to strike a French city. That wasn't just hot air. It was aimed at a specific region and a specific country. Europe know how bad the threat is and is willing to back the US up on this.

I recommend going to Montana, get a lot of beer, get the cable and satellite sub re-newed, get some broadband, and sit back and watch the show.

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...assumes there are minds on both sides... LOL

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