No, we are not commenting on Wile E. Coyote's latest plot to do in the Roadrunner...
An analysis of the Islamic Cartoon Riots has been posted over at America Under Attack, which was originally authored by Stratfor.com. I think it does provide a fair analysis of the situation minus a lot of the emotion that this situation has created.
One of my concerns is that these cartoons were published approximately five months ago, and are now just causing all sorts of trouble. Why now?
President Bush has fingered Iran and Syria for raising the issue to a world-wide level. Why would these countries do that?
My best guess is to focus attention on something relatively trivial rather than Iran building a nuclear weapon and/or Syria having a lot of Saddam's WMDs. But the problem is now that rioting, burning, and even murder have been the result of this escalation. Adding to the furor is Iran's president can't seem to make a speech without making statements that target Israel and other non-Muslim countries with untold violence to hasten the realization of an Islamic-based world.
If we are smart, (and I know the Israelis are doing it), we should be planning on hitting Iran with more than just sanctions and resolutions if they make a nuclear weapon. Same for Syria if they are complicit in this mess. The United Nations, to my surprise, actually voted overwhelmingly to ban Iran from making nuclear weapons. If Iran suceeds in making a nuclear weapon, they will use it with Israel as target number one.
Even without the bomb, what this entire situation is doing is dividing the world into Muslim and non-Muslim factions. The radicals will eventually get their bloody holy war, and lots of innocent people will be hurt or killed by fanatics.
And that will be the real tragedy...
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Cartoon Violence
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4 comments:
There is another reason for inciting this violence against the West. Remember the Islamic Revolution of the '80's? They are trying to re-create this revolution and they want to be at the forefront. Al Qaeda has stolen some of their thunder lately and they want it back in a bad way.
Great post Tom!
I think we are headed to some sort of showdown with the Muslim radicals, although I have no idea (OK, some ideas) of how this will play out. Europe will definitely need to say enough is enough to the protesters & do something about them. Asia rim countries will need to do the same if they expect to stay above it all.
If Iran does successfully make the bomb, it will be interesting to see if the UN will go beyond the sanctions & resolutions stage. Ultimately, I think the US will be involved in a big way since we seem to be the only superpower left, which is bad because we are going to be asked to "contribute" the most. But Israel may not want to wait for the ponderous UN bureaucracy to get to the intervention stage - they just might say an APV comment (f*** it) and take care of business themselves. They have done it in the past, and I have no doubt that they would do it again if they feel that their backs are against the wall.
On Foxnews this morning according to the talking heads, China and Russia probably won't go for sanctions and what are the odds France will, so it may have to be the US once again as you say Tom. I don't think the Israelis should have to do this alone. Best option would be NATO.
It's going to be a race between the US and Israel to see who pulls the trigger first. I'm sure they're already wanting to but we want to give the Useless Nations a chance to do things their way.
Rest assured that Iran will never actually develop the bomb. If they do (by some quirk), they won't have it long. We will launch an air attack from the Gulf, eliminate what we can from the sky. If necessary, troops will be launched from amphibious craft into southern Iran. Airborn troops will go ahead to pave the way with recon and light demolitions work.
Extraction will likely be by heli-vac or by having mobile units (light armor like Bradley's and Strikers) go to either Iraq or Afghanistan, depending on the location of their targets.
I don't believe nuclear weapons will be brought to bear by the United States or Israel. It is nobody's best interest to take this route.
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