We have had a good relationship with Israel for a long time. It's in both of our best interests to maintain this.

Iran is a viable threat to Israel, especially if they get a nuclear weapon. We need to have Israel's back in these times.

We need not rush into war, but take every diplomatic path available until there is no options left.

We have nukes. Israel has nukes. Iran can have nukes, or we can ditch ours... one or the other. Otherwise, we're continuing this ignorant hypocrisy of forcing others to follow our rules while we flagrantly violate the same rules right in front of them.

@ Alan: True we have them but our country is not repeatedly on record as saying we intend to wipe another country and culture off the face of the earth and stupidly denying the Holocaust ever existed. As great as a world without that kind of threat would be, it is important for a responsible country like the US reducing their stockpile but also remaining vigilant for the unstable countries out there. I'm looking at you, N Korea and Iran.

The emotional response is "Bomb, bomb, bomb....bomb, bomb Iran (John McCain) and other "hawks" which appear prevalent in the GOP ranks (obviously pandering for the American Jewish vote in November) and if and when that times come so be it but hopefully we are a long way from that. Some people fail to understand and comprehend the scope of such an undertaking not the least of which is more American lives. In fact should nuclear weapons ever be used millions in that region would be killed and the message it would send to the Chinese and Russians let alone other nuclear states (Pakistan comes to mind) is that the USA will use such weapons thus causing a "first strike mentality" to once again rear its head and bring us back to the brink. Hopefully responsible people are not foolish enough to risk the human race on this matter. But it goes to show how radical the GOP have become where they seemingly agitate for these types of actions. I hope Netanyahu and his party got the message that the US will not be dragged into a conflict which Israel starts.

Iran doesn't have nukes. Iran isn't close to having nukes. Iran doesn't even have enough material yet to make a nuclear reactor, let alone nukes. And if in 10-20 years Iran manages to make two or three nukes, we have nukes that use their kind of nukes as fuses.

Even the hype of this issue is over-hyped.

Aside from all of this, if you seriously claim that Iran is willing to risk complete annihilation, then you are part of the problem yourself. The rise in the price of oil that is being caused by this hype is a serious problem to our economy. Not Iran. Get a grip, people.

An attack on Iran would start the exact type of west vs. Islam war that osama bin laden was hoping for, i know he's watching from hell with his fingers crossed.

"Those folks don't have a lot of responsibilities," Obama said. "They are not commander in chief."

Thank goodness! Could you imagine, having Romney, Santorum or Gingcrich in charge right now?

it is election year; obama is mending fences with the jewish community; the republican candidates (except romney) are courting the jewish vote; when israel has the proof that they have enough fissionable grade material to start producing nuclear warheads; they will strike, with or without the united states; we upset the balance of power in the middle east with our iraqi war, so bush could redeem his fathers failed legacy.

its crazy to me how many people here use "what they said" as an excuse to attack, bomb and kill people. Israelis kill 1500 innocent men, women and children in cast lead, their response - "oh ya?!? well they said we dont have the right to exist!" Israel tries to start a war that will involve the entire middle east and probably cost tens of thousands of real human lives, their rationale - "that guy's a jerk and said we should get wiped off the map!". what are you Israel? a bunch of teenage girls? when are we going to stop starting wars based on what some guy said, when are we going to realize that its America and Israel that are STARTING THESE WARS, remember the day when America used to end wars? used to argue against war? have we just become that bored as a society that we just cant wait to tune in to the next conflict? as long as its not us that has to go? or our sons? we need to re-institute the draft in America, lets see how excited the people are for war when its their lives or their children's lives on the line.

Alan, America has a full six pack but Iran is at least 4 cans short ...... They will kill indiscriminately so we can all meet Allah ... Do you really think they will not use it and keep it as only a deterrent?, Well We are not about to take that chance ...

Stewie Langdon,

What an evil soul you have. You write, "Honesly I'd love to see Iran nuked off the face of the planet. Take Syria, Lybia, Iraq and all the others with them." So, you believe that perpetrating a mass murder, of about 200 million lives, is what, justified? You make Hitler seem like a pretender. After all, he was only responsible for about 45 million deaths all told. Or, are you the "good guy" who knows which people deserve to die? Just Like whom? Oh yeah, Hitler.

Get a grip, will you?! People like you are disgusting.

Rick that is the horribly unstable thinking that will make this all a mess. The 99% of Iranians do not want to die for allah, and would not support a nuclear war in any way because they know the rest of the world would instantly wipe them and their families off the map in a blinding nuclear fireball! Even ahmedinajad (prolly spelled wrong) would not nuke israel, hes rich and definitely would not die for allah either. They even know that if the supply terrorists with a bomb that we know they were responsible and we will destroy them. STOP your idiot fear mongering its going to ruin our country!!

As long as Iran is still exporting fuel to Pakistan, Germany, China, and a host of other countires, those sanctions can hardly be described as crippling. and we all know what years of crippling sanctions did to North Korea in regards to preventing weapons development. The only people who suffer are the folks under the regimes thumb. At any rate, a peaceful resolution would be better for the world.

DisabledVeteran, every President since Johnson has been saying Israel needs to go back to pre-1967 borders. Which was demanded by UN Security Council Resolution 242, which we voted to adopt. Why is it when Iran refuses to give up its nuclear program, which does not violate the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, we say they are thumbing their noses at the "International community," and Israel violates UN resolution after resolution and we say nothing? And, you wonder why The Arabic community thinks we favor Israel?

Welcome to America's capital. The United State of Israel. They say to jump and we ask them how high.

I don't care about Israel or Iran; when Israel soldiers have died to defend America? Why we would "need" Israel? More likely Israel needs us.

Chris-1266664@ Alan: True we have them but our country is not repeatedly on record as saying we intend to wipe another country and culture off the face of the earth and stupidly denying the Holocaust ever existed. As great as a world without that kind of threat would be, it is important for a responsible country like the US reducing their stockpile but also remaining vigilant for the unstable countries out there. I'm looking at you, N Korea and Iran

Iran is also not on record saying they intend to wipe Israel off the map. The President of Iran said he would erase the Zionist regime of Israel from history.

I don't know of anything that Republicans love more than war, except for maybe Oil.

Obama / Biden 2012

I would too especially after that embarassing exchange in the White House with Netanyahu last year that caused a huge rift in the American Jewish Community (and they all vote too!).........November 6th is just 8 very short months away.......Oy.....time to schmooze Mr. President!

Are you as stupid as that sounds?

american girl - I'll tell you what we love more - less government.

Ron Paul doesn't like war, His approach is what I appreciate, let them do what they want as long as we are not attacked. Go Ron

it is election year; obama is mending fences with the jewish community; the republican candidates (except romney) are courting the jewish vote; when israel has the proof that they have enough fissionable grade material to start producing nuclear warheads; they will strike, with or without the united states; we upset the balance of power in the middle east with our iraqi war, so bush could redeem his fathers failed legacy.

Obama is playing it smart, actually. (GASP!) Close to the vest. He knows Israel is an important ally. He also knows the Saudis, Kuwaitis, UAE, et al. are all secretly hoping Israel strikes Iran. He payed lip service to Netty last night yet we all know he's calling his bluff. All the while telling the GOP warmongering machine to eff off.

Can you imagine if McStain were President? EGAD, we'd be in World War III by now.

After all we've been through it's amazing how many people want to jump into another war. Do they even stop and think about the men that will die? Some people treat war like it's a video game you can turn off when you are tired of it. War sucks and we've had enough.

Why don't we just pull our troops out of every Middle East country and keep our focus exclusively on defending our own borders? Israel, for its size, is arguably the best-equipped and best-trained fighting force on the face of the Earth. Just let Israel take care of its own affairs in the fashion it sees fit! By all accounts, Israel will make short work of Iran and its fledgling nuclear capabilities. They'll go in, get the job done, and get out.....and dare Russia, China and any other Muslim country to try to come to Iran's defense. Israel is now what the U.S. armed forces used to be....lean, mean, extremely capable of obliterating the enemy in short order, with as few casualties as possible. Now, though, we send in troops by the tens of thousands, spend billions EVERY MONTH in a long, drawn out siege that has has little chance of succeeding, to try to eliminate a terrorist entity that CANNOT be totally eliminated as long as the enemy is taught from the youngest ages that America is evil and is hellbent on our utter destruction as a nation.

Let Israel do what it has trained its military to do.....LET THE BIG DOG EAT!!!

Really, Republicans... you want ANOTHER war? Really?

And how, pray tell, do you propose we pay for this one? Oh, let me guess... another round of tax cuts.

Who is the party of spend, spend, spend again?

So much dog wagging... "We need a war."

"...With who?"

"Albania."

"Albania? Why, Albania?"

"Why not? What do you know about Albania?"

"Nothing..."

"Exactly!..."

Iran is not a third world country.

There is not cause for us to water the sand with the blood of our military on Israel's behalf, they can send their own sons and daughters to start Wrld Wr 3.

We would likely not need an "ally" in the ME if we were a little less abusive to the surrounding countries. PS- I would hardly call our relationship with Israel "good". Perhaps 'tense' or 'volatile,' but not "good."

If Johnnie has a gun and Pete has a Gun and neither likes TYRONE then Tyrone
should not have one but two guns.
Just in case either Johnnie or Pete tries something.
Especially when Johnnie and Pete has a Bad Track record with their own moral positions.

Iran like many gun owners have a right to carry a weapon even if Johnnie and Pete doesn't like it.

We should have the correct ideology of don't mess with me and I won't mess with you.
But, if Johnnie and Pete are always threatening TYRONE with force and not fairness then I TYRONE has the RIGHT to defend himself.

America, we are a powerful country and to abuse this power for self serving purposes when an act has not been committed by our foes is WRONG!!!!!

There is no common sense in these actions that many of you would like to see carried out.

Now if you are gullible enough to believe that they will actually use the weapons if they get them then you are sadly misguided.
They aren't even going to use them on Israel because if used they will decimate everyone including the Palestinians.

So, yes it can only be used as a detour-ant and will carry only a little weight once they have a nuclear weapon.
So, think before you come with all of the Armageddon talk.

What Isreal is doing is trying to impact the elections here with tough talk about a war but, Obama just Doused That fire.

bscol...don't forget the GOP's love for other men in public restrooms while thier wives are home with the kids! Oh yeah OIL, and WAR!!!!!!!

@ raddave

Our president may not be threatening to wipe out an entire ethnicity of people but plenty of others in this country are calling for the demise of ALL Muslims. The USA has destroyed 2 countries in the past 10 years. Seems to me like that's worse than a threat to all Arab countries. (Iraq and Afghanistan.)

Iranians bleed like the rest of us. They are not all terrorists and soldiers. Preemptive strikes are wrong without solid intelligence. Iran "might" develop nuclear reactors, they "might" someday be able to make weapons, they "might" use those weapons. This is not worth taking one innocent life. Lets take the high road in the country for once.

Let the one take out the other.

kraynlex - that's just such a ridiculous statement. and I'm betting you love driving your car - what would YOU do without oil?

Ahmadoesjunk sucks..and if we take away his plutonium enrichment process he'll find another way to suck..I don't trust him with a ten foot pole he has dirty bomb written all over him.

I firmly believe that, should Iran get a nuke, they would only use it as a deterrent like every other country on the planet. The people in power in Iran want to stay in power; they do not want their country turned into sheets of glass.

So, in the conservative arguments we have three key ingredients (helpful if read with an overly pronounced southern accent): 1.) Islam is bad 2.) Iran can't have nukes cuz their terrorists 3.) Israel is our awesome BFF <3

Conservatives, I present to you Pakistan. They 1.) are an Islamic nation 2.) harbored Osama Bin Laden who was definitely 3.) anti-Israel. Did I mention they have nuclear weapons? Guess you fumbled that one, and now Israel is a crater. Oh, wait, it's not? Well, Iran will definitely be different, right?

Why do democratic presidents always wait till the last fricken minute before they're moved to do anything? It took the sinking of the Lufthansa before Woodrow Wilson declared war despite aggressions from Germany. I don't think Roosevelt did much either until after pearl harbor. Case in point, diplomacy isn't always the answer when the signs give strong indication otherwise.

Let me get this straight Mr. President, you mean to say that you want your daughters to use extortion and deceit, over hard work, to obtain a convenience? Sandra Fluke's argument is in the same vain as me demanding the government provide me with the latest bowflex model because my local gym is overcrowded, and the cost of membership is going to put me out on the street. It is after all cheaper for the government to pay for a bowflex than any hospital bills I acquire if I am injured for failure to get off my butt and exercise. *3 blinks*

Teddy Roosevelt: "Speak softly and carry a big stick."

Mitt Romney: "Why, if I wuz President, I'd show ya nukes, you big lunkhead! I made my dog puke ya know, so you'd just better watch out. Cuz I'll show ya nukes all right!"

Does anyone here know how long it would take Iran to develop a delivery system that would threaten the US? Obviously non of the bloodlusters on the right do. Answer, many years after the weapon itself. Oh lets jump to conclusions that cost millions of people their lives so I can then turn around and bitch about how Obama did exactly what I wanted him to do, and paddle about in my political baby pool. You folks are a pack of scared little twits. I thought you all were supposed to be so tough. Yea tough like a post surgical kitten. The strongest part about you is your tolerance for denial. POTUS is on track and Israel can handle this for now.

With an air base at Diego Garcia, two carrier groups in the northern Arabian Sea, a third carrier group on the way, access to air bases in Afghanistan, Iraq, and potentially access to air bases in Kuwait and/or Saudi Arabia...

Will somebedy please tell me why Mitt Romney thinks that changing the equation to one carrier group in the Arabian Sea and one carrier group in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea represents a stronger military threat to Iran? Isn't three carrier groups more of a threat than two? Isn't it better to put them in the northern Arabian Sea, where they don't need anyone's permission to fly over sovereign air space to get to Iran?

And this guy wants to be Commander in Chief?

Go back to France, where you hid out during the Vietnam War, Mitt.

It's about time he embraced his position! Now direct it and drive exactly that point home to our 87% DISAPPROVED OF CONGRESS! The American People didn't send him there to be CONGRESS's convertible Dishrag to Doormat for them! (The People)

DisabledVeteran,

"Hey, Commander in Chief ----- When you spoke with/to the Israeli Prime Minister, did you follow up your rhetoric about dedication to Israel with a reassertion that Israel should go back to pre 1967 borders? You like being President, with the pomp, dinners and photo ops, not to mention the travel and ancillary benefits. You just don't want to do the work required of the office. Your job is to work on behalf of ALL of the people, not just your union supporters and those looking for handouts. SPREAD THE WEALTH, is a catchphrase of communism. In the United States, the VAST MAJORITY of citizens believe that the individual can work as long and as hard as he/she wishes and is entitled to whatever benefits thereby EARNED. Your redistribution plans and programs run counter to the founding principals of our nation. If you don't work, you do not eat. Hopefully, the citizenry will rise up this November and sweep you and your ilk out of power and set this country back on the course we once followed, that of EARNED PROSPERITY."

You don't speak for the vast majority of citizens in the US. I believe people should get jobs and pay their own way, but I would rather spead the wealth a little than see people starving and homeless who aren't all in their situation because they are lazy. Most of us hate this rich get richer while the poor stays poor bull@!$%#.

Unions are there to keep the work place safe with appropriate regulations (which is needed when the job is risky) and the pay fair and protect workers rights. Without, workers wouldn't be able to negotiate wages or complain about harrassment or discrimination without risking losing their jobs.

The Tea Party openly wants the Bush tax cuts to be extended indefinitely leaving the lower classes to pay 15% more. Romney has also made suggestions of this and this is someone who would give more to his church than to the people who really needs it. Mega churches nationwide would sooner kick the collection cup from someone than put a dime in it. It isn't communist to hate this "let them eat cake" attitude of the blue bloods. Go ahead, vote Republican and watch the poverty level grow with the religious fascism and cold relations with other countries.

A "window of opportunity?" There's been a window of opportunity for over 3 years. Obama had promised that he could "talk" sense into Iran and that they would love us. If he can't drive through a 3 years window of opportunity he shouldn't be given any further time to be more of a failure. But, you have to admit he is consistent. The US economy is down the tubes and he still thinks that all he has to do is tell us that all is well, and the economy is booming and we should therefore re-elect him. Of course Obama is succeeding. It's just that what his idea of succeeding is not what Americans think of succeeding.

Itiswhatitis.....for every example you come up with in respect to "last fricken minute" I can come up with one where a President or Administration jumped in to the water with out checking the depth..... let's just start with Viet Nam....and some 55000 young Americans (not to mention all of the others) later the result was ZIP, Iraq, Afghanistan....result ZIP. Let's just holster those sidearms Tex and see if we can't work this out over a beer or 2 before we start shootin' up the place and wind up with a whole lot of dead people for no particular reason.

On the other matter you do realise that no one was actually asking anybody or the government to stick their hands in their pockets to pay for someones prescribed contraceptives...it was a matter of what will be covered under an insurance policy that the person who was effected by that policy has no choice but to take up. When one goes to University these days one is forced to take up membership in the University's Health Care Insurance Program (I know I had to pay for my daughter at the U of Wisconsin).

The Repubs tried to turn this into "Obama demanding that the government pay for Contraceptives for single women to be promiscuous" which of course it never was or any thing remotely similar to that (go ask your insurer or any insurer to see what the premium increase would be if every health care insurer were required to provide contraceptives ((most already do)) to every woman in the US.....I have checked ....so small you could not calculate it). However now the whole thing has blown up in their faces beside the fact that they have been caught out manufacturing the issue in the first place....they have made up the consequences which do not exist....established a judging panel of all males....then thanks to Rush have had the whole thing exploded in to a "shyt hit the fan" escapade.....and as a result lost any women independents who may have been hanging around looking for some sign from the GOP that they were anything more than womanising, gender bias, rat bags ....KABAMMMMM. Who is running the show up there at GOP Land....Bozo the Clown?

Witchrunner....not sure you are the sole entity authorised to determine what Americans think in respect to success, or otherwise. That is, according to my recollection, determined by an election which I believe one is coming up soon....let's leave it till November to make that determination. That is unless I have missed something being down here and you have been authorised to make that determination on behalf of all Americans ?

Otherwise, we're continuing this ignorant hypocrisy of forcing others to follow our rules while we flagrantly violate the same rules right in front of them.

Totally agree.....

Time to start the draft if we do another war. Funny how the Republicans want to get rid of services for the old and the poor "because we are broke" but they have deep pockets for WAR..

There is a name for that: Talking on both sides of the mouth and BS the American People

And this guy wants to be Commander in Chief?

Go back to France, where you hid out during the Vietnam War, Mitt.

Amen...The guy could start by sending his FIVE SONS to war, instead of having them comfortably living out of VULTURE CAPITALISM.

Notice the majority of those GOP war-mongering types have never served a moment in combat and most have never served their country in any capacity except for the lobbyist they represent in Washington and their own districts. Most seasoned war vets, especially those in strategic and tactical capacities of leadership (The Colonels and generals) will stave off war until the bitter end. Swarzkoff, Powell, MacKafree and most others that have any war service, short of a stint in the USO and make millions off of trumped up ass-kicking songs about our military might would opt for exhausting diplomacy before committing our resources and men and women to war.

The 1% never have to send their families to war they always leave it up to the uneducated 18 to 24 years old and if the 1% do serve in the military they are standing beside the generals in bomb proof shelter in some country that is miles from the action. I would like to see 1 general leading the troops on the front lines in any war and I mean the front lines. It will never happen the closest the generals come to war is in the class room at some military college and they could really care less about the troops, they are more interested in the "body count" of the enemy. We all have to remember that the generals and admirals are all part of the 1% and their family members will never go to the front line of a war.

yank: It's probably a good thing you're down under. But, in all fairness to you, you are right that there are a lot of people in this country who agree with Obama and are not comfortable with us being the leader of the free world and the superpower of the world. So, yes, you are right that Obama will get a lot of votes. As for me being an "authority"? Well, you are once again right. It is quite possible that I'm ignorant in world affairs and we have already reached agreement with Iran and they have dropped their nuclear ambitions and we have verified that thoroughly. If that is the case, I would appreciate you enlightening me and clue me in to the facts to the contrary. As to whether the economy is booming or not, well you aren't here are you? Well, it's possible that you are and you have just used a name to purposely misrepresent yourself. Do I speak for all Americans? Of course not. There are awful lot of people who want the government to take care of them and make their decisions for them. As long as their are those who think the politicians are smarter than they are then will will be dems.

Netenyahu has stated on several occasions that his first and primary objective is teh security of Israel. It should be. President Obama's primary objective is the security of the US. In Israel, we have an ally who apparently feels that Iran is a threat even though there is no conclusive evidence to support that fear. It is not clear that Iran has the nucleur capability to make a bomb or to deliver them. The Isralis have the firepower to blow Iran off the map if they so choose.

However, to drag the US into this mess without considering the implications to our military and economy, is soemwhat selfish on the part of Israel. Given the history of Israel in the Middle East, they should be working on diplomatic solutions double time. Forget the rhetoric and stop using the rantings of Ahmedinejead as an excuse to invade.

But, beyond that, when we start to take preemptive strikes or condone them we are going down a slippery slope. Anticipating what a country will or will not do based on their ability to do it seems unseemly at best.

The word to Iran fromt he US and Israel should be this simple. Develop as many nukes as you want, but if you take any action that indicates an imminent threat to our country, we will respond harshly.

Many countries that we do not agree with have nukes. Israel has nukes. The US has nukes. Let's stop being hypocritical and deal with this issue from a position of strength.

We do not need another boots on the ground war while we are spending trillions for sophistcated weaponry that we won't use.

I know lots of Iranians and none of them are the crazy war mongers that politicians make them out to be. (News Media as well).

If I was surrounded by a hundred hostile bases I would likely be a little nervous as well.

trevor: I do believe that you are partially right. I suspect that most Iranians are not the crazy war mongers... The thing is that politicians haven't made the citizens out to be the crazy war mongers. It's the "leadership" that is crazy. First of all, the leadership has proven themselves to be thugs. They keep such a tight control over it's citizens that you can't be of a different religion without threat of being beheaded. Plus, it's President has made it clear that he is for the destruction of Israel. That has been supported by it's ties to Hamas and other terrorist organizations. Thus, it matters not what the people in that country are like, they have no say over anything. They do not have the power to vote the thugs out and replace them with reasonable people.

If you were the Iranian leadership and surrounded by hostile bases, I do imagine you would be a little nervous. Also, if you were the Iranian leadership, as it now exists, and there were no "hostile" bases, you would probably control all of the area and Israel would cease to exist.

Remember, even Iran's muslim neighbors aren't too thrilled about the Iran leadership. The fact is that with all its oil, there is no real reason for Iran to have nuclear power. With all the threats Iran has made against the rest of the world there is good reason for the rest of the world to make sure Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons. Iran has consistently refused to let the world verify. Sure, they are a sovereign nation. But, that doesn't mean the rest of the world has to be fools and let them go on doing whatever they want until it is too late.

kraynlex-You must be speaking from experience.

Witchrunner... We hear this all the time "Americans believe this or that" "The Majority of Americans feel this way about that", "All Australians are behind this or that".....whenever that is said, stated, printed no matter by whom or which side.....it's BS....that was my point. People in general should stop speaking in those terms because it only tends to sensationalise a position which may in fact be a creditable position but the manner in which it is presented hardens any opposing positions to a point where the argument is no longer about the position....but about the presentation.

In the same sense people should not say things like "the government should pay for that" the government does not pay for anything, last time I checked it was the taxpayers who pay for everything....if everyone thought in terms of "the taxpayers should pay for that" or "the taxpayers are going to have to pay for that" we might keep a little better control over government spending, waste, snouts in the trough, earmarks, contractor rip offs....and our expectations as to what government via the taxpayers should be funding, I am sure there will always be argument about that.

As for your final statement ...." As long as their are those who think the politicians are smarter than they are then will will be dems" you seem to link a thought that politicians are smarter than the average person with a "liberal" mindset....is that only since the election of the current administration or was it true during the previous administration? As an independent thinker myself I do not believe that many politicians are somehow wiser than I, and I certainly do not believe that any party, block or mindset can truly represent my position on issues 100% of the time. I do seem to remember that lots of people believed that the politicians were "smarter than them" when they recommended that we invade Iraq on the basis that they were going to do all kinds of mean nasty ulgy things to us if we didn't. I didn't fall for that one but as old Abe said "you can fool some of the people".......well you know how the rest goes.

So are you indicating that if you believe that Republican Politicians are smarter it's OK but if you believe that those other politicians are smarter then you are a Democrat????? Does that mean they you think that Sarah Palin would have made a good President??????

Oh and just so you know I am here....it is Thurs. 8 March 2012 weather in Melbourne is cloudy around 20 Degrees C, light winds, with showers expected later.....do you want me to hold up the newspaper. I also have a fair understanding of world issues and economics and don't know that America is not still the preceived leader of the "Free World". Now if they could just continue to be, as they have shown recently, to be the leaders of the "Smart and Restrained World" I think they will continue to be preceived as the leader of the Free World....but if they insist on resorting to bloodshed at every opportunity as your "smarter politician" Crash McCain would have you do.....then I am not so sure.

jmonarchy

Notice the majority of those GOP war-mongering types have never served a moment in combat and most have never served their country in any capacity except for the lobbyist they represent in Washington and their own districts.

Yeah those darn armchair quarterbacks like McCain who don't know anything about war should just leave it up to Obama, Biden, Reid, and Pelosi.

Calmbeforethestorm....I assume you mean Crash McCain who single-handedly kept the profits of the aircraft industry up by crashing no less than 5 planes in his less than distinguished career....who never saw 1 day of actual combat as he was dropping bombs from a mile up....who was shot down over Hanoi on a sight seeing trip according to the accounts of his squad....who was well treated by the North Vietnamese because he was the son of an admiral and a good propaganda tool.....who even though he was well treated aided and abetted the enemy by making propaganda statements....who has claimed his arm was injured by the North Vietnamese when he was a POW which has always been denied and claimed that his injuries were as a result of the crash and have provided proof that he was given the best medical care available....who has been living off his POW status while many POWs who were much worse off are denied benefits....and to top it all off wanted the American People to accept Sarah Palin as the next in line to the Presidency......You want us to put the fate of the nation in to his hands????? You have got to be kidding me!!!!!!!

Yank: A problem with political discussion is that everything that is said usually has to deal with the intended audience. This year if you are any sort of a conservative, fiscal or social, then the objective is to make sure that Obama is not re-elected. The fact is that any one of the repubs is better than Obama if you are a conservative. If you've seen the news then you know that Obama has no opposition in the dem party. Thus, he has been above reproach. He also has the so-called "main stream media" in his pocket as they are libs and have done most anything to show Obama in a good light. As such, they are doing their best to show all repubs in a bad light. They think that they have been having a pretty easy time because the repubs have been going after each other.

If you've read posts on this site by the libs, then you will have noticed that they attack every one of the repubs. Anyone who points out a comparison to Obama, they try to hide the post and there are always posts saying that such and such isn't the point of the article. Well, intelligent people understand that nature of the game. You don't want anyone to speak for anyone other than themselves. The fact is that anyone who talks politics and starts out saying "No one else may agree with me, but I think...." isn't going to get anywhere.

Personally, :), I don't think any politician knows more than I do. Certainly not to the point that I would agree that they should have a say over my life and I'd just quietly go along with it. That's why I'm a very "strict constructionist" when it comes to the Constitution. We have a Constitutional Republic that is unique in world history. The fact is that most of the world has been ruled by thugs over the ages. If one has studied history, then they are aware that great nations rise and fall. The fall begins when they people decide that they are willing to trade freedom for security. In every situation in the past, when people decide to do that, they shortly end up with neither. Our Constitution is designed to limit the powers of the federal government. If Obamacare is upheld, then those who are against individual freedom will have succeeded in erasing the Constitution. The politicians will have succeeded in officially controlling the populace. I find that very scary. I've never looked at whether I agree with whether what the politicians want to accomplish is "good" or "desirable." I've always looked at whether the delegation of the power to the politicians is Constitutional or not. Once you decide that the government should have the power to force people to buy a product such as an insurance policy, the power isn't limited to that product. If the government can decide what an insurance policy has to cover, then there is no freedom left. The theory is that it is good for the government to take care of the people and to do their best to keep people healthy. It doesn't take a genius to take the next step that drinking beer isn't good or eating potato chips isn't good for your health. So, if the government, and thus the taxpayers, have to pay for one's care, then they should be able to make sure that you aren't going to run up the costs by eating unhealthy foods. And the snowball grows and grows......

wichrunner....I was raised in a very political, very conservative household, my mother registered voters and ran polling places at all levels of government, my father was a campaign manager for Richard Nixon when he ran for Gov. in Calif. I was educated in a time when we were taught about loaded words, yellow journalism, media bias etc, I have lived through Vietnam, Watergate, The Iran Hostages, Bill Clinton etc you are not telling me anything I don't know or understand.

As a strict constructionist....you know that the Constitution was written over 200 years ago and a lot has changed since that time, you know it can be amended, you know there is a Supreme Court to adjudicate on matters of Constitutionality. I am sure you do know all these things you just don't like Obama as President and that is that. No problem don't vote for him....but this is a majority rules with due regard for the rights of the minority type country and some times its a bitch. What Constitutional Protection was afforded me against having fund the useless loss of life in Iraq and Afghanistan, there wasn't any because the majority put Cheney and his side-kick Bush in office and they just pulled out the six-shooters and started blasting and 6500 American lives not to mention the Australians and the rest later.....nothing has been achieved but to pad the bank accounts of the Offensive Contractors. So you are going to have to pay for Healthcare and I had to pay (yes I still pay US Taxes) for a useless, unfunded, undeclared slaughter of human beings...given the options I would have preferred to be in your shoes....but life's a bitch.

Further on many issues I am slightly to the right of Attila the Hun sometimes to the left of Karl Marx...but mostly in the middle somewhere.....the truth can be found somewhere between right and wrong. We get news down here...Faux, CNN, ABC .... but I think the Repubs are doing a pretty good job of showing themselves in a bad light the media is just helping themselves to the headlines.

If only on the basis of the alternative I voted for the current President, and on the same basis I will again....there were many other reasons but given the option .... well there was no option. I suspect he will win again with more of a landslide than he had last time....he will have the support of the majority of the voters and I hope he gets some good things done.

McCain scared over half of the nation off. he is a dumb ass. He was a single pilot that got caught. Would stormin Norman go into Syria? Powell? MacCafree? Not likely.

Yank, you're personal opinion does not match many non-biased accounts of John McCains service. You mention that he was well treated. I'd like to see you do 51/2 years as a POW, 31/2 of them in solitary confinement. What do you consider well treated? I like the way pacifists like you tend to diminish the sacrifices to our country that our servicemen and women have provided so that you can spew your drivel. McCain won the Silver and Bronze Stars, Purple Heart, and Distinguished Flying Cross. What have you done?

McCain volunteered for combat and flew carrier-based, low altitude bombing runs. You should do a little research on non-biased sites before you dog on American war heroes. And don't try to paint yourself as an independent. I don't care who your parents supported, your claims don't match your rhetoric.

The Palestinians could easily negotiate a peace and be recognized at the same time.

You call Israel unreasonable, but yet the Palestinians are equally unreasonable.

Peace has not been possible for decades.

SO how does letting a nutjob like Iran's president have nuclear weapons promote peace? If this guy were in the US, we'd probably have him committed to an institution, but he's running a country and developing a nuclear weapon that he's already said he will use on Israel. It takes TWO sides to have peace, and in this case I don't see how that's possible as long as Iran's current president is in power... And the clock is ticking. Yes, a strike by Israel may provoke war, but at this point it's a war they can win. Better now than AFTER the nuclear bombs detonate in Jerusalem (and we all say, "Gee, I guess they were serious about that bomb thing."

It's real easy for us to sit over here safe in our warm houses and criticize Israel. Meanwhile, they are surrounded by people who want them dead and probably getting tired of hearing us babble on about diplomacy while Iran completes work on their bomb.

Try millennia!

Israel is part of the "haves" in this world. The Palestinians are part of the "have nots." For this Israel should know better of the two. This has gone on for decades and centuries if you want to go back that far. True, both need to come to the table and work it out and not based on holy scripture. This is the 21st Century. I'm sick of funding for more "talks" and war.

Rob,

It is sorry to say but most of the reasons for the Palestinians to be "have nots" is their own fault. In the Gaza the leadership will not recognize Israels right to exist which keeps pressure on them If you look at the West Bank their GDP grew 8% last year because they chose to work with Israel.

The Palestinians also moved to Jordan but were forced to leave when they tried to overthrow the King, and they ended up in Lebanon. Look at how they are treated there, which has nothing to do with Israel as this is their own brothers and it is because they tried to start a civil war there.

SO how does letting a nutjob like Iran's president have nuclear weapons promote peace?

In the same way that other countries around Iran already have the tech.

Iran can't shop at the same arms stores?

Disarm every nuclear weapon on the planet. No need for them.

Of the billions in weapons research and the billions in weapons manufacturing, mankind has only used two against one another.

The cold war has been over for a while now. We don't need a nuclear stockpile to intimidate anymore.

In Iran..the jerk with the short tan jacket is the president of Iran..but its the guy with the rag on his head and long white beard who's the real BOSS!

Something like Bush (the puppet) and Cheney running the show.

If rockets were continually launched into your country and the sole intent of your neighbors is to wipe you off the map, I think you would approach the situation a little differently. Peace requires two sides. The first step is to recognize that the other side has a right to exist and stop launching rockets and suicide bombers at them. Pretty simple logic. I don't understand why some people can't comprehend this.

Let Israel fight Iran.

"Grumpy Old McCain"

First, Israel's OWN security does NOT agree with Netanyahu!

Second, The GOP platform: WAR"

Really, I don't remember the GOP bombing Libya!

Nuclear fallout is the main thing to worry about and guess what?

Any nuke detonation in Israel would result in massive amounts of fallout falling on Iran.

Iran would end up wiping itself out.

.

I wish McCain was a democrat. At last I can find something good about the Obama Presidency...it kept McCain out of office.

Both parties seem trigger happy when it comes to starting wars, and they both do a pretty crappy job at winning them. Our state department does a much better job buying peace because it will pay anyone any price to be our friend.

Rob,

My first point was not history but current day. You cannot negotiate with somebody who does not acknowledge that you exist which is the present case of Hamas. The growth in the West Bank was last year so again that is current

Regarding GOP War on Women and Rush Limpballs:

Netflix, Stamps.com, Deere & Co., St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Connecticut, Bethesda Sedation Dentistry, Cascades Dental, Allstate, Sears and Bonobos have all yanked ads from Limbaugh's show.

Thank you!

Eric-913730

The Palestinians could easily negotiate a peace and be recognized at the same time.

You call Israel unreasonable, but yet the Palestinians are equally unreasonable.

Peace has not been possible for decades.

Yeah, those Palestinians are being so unreasonable to want all the land that was promised them and then stolen by Israel.

Grumpy Old McCain- Based on YOUR psychotic post, I would say YOU have a personal WAR against intelligence.

Wake up man, Bush & Cheney have been out of office for over three years now.

I don't care about Israel or Iran; when Israel soldiers have died to defend America? Why we would "need" Israel? More likely Israel needs us.

Radwave,

Who promised them the land? From 1948 to 1967 when it was under Egyptian and Jordanian control they never gave them the land, and since 67 the people who lost the land have not asked for it back, wonder why that is

I agree with Eric…. the Palestinians could also negotiate a peace but they want Jerusalem and Jerusalem is not negotiable.

Who were the people complaining every day when we helped out Libya? Oh right the GOP.

Stay classy my friends.

I don't know of anything that Republicans love more than war, except for maybe Oil.

Obama / Biden 2012

No, wendy, East Jerusalem is not negotiable. By international law it belongs to the Palestinians and was stolen by Israel.

jerry l-1335133

Radwave,

Who promised them the land? From 1948 to 1967 when it was under Egyptian and Jordanian control they never gave them the land, and since 67 the people who lost the land have not asked for it back, wonder why that is

The UN promised them the land when it partitioned the land. The people who did lose the land have asked for it back and that includes land that Israel first stole in 1948.

the middle east always fight'n ...always have always will...f' em...

The Middle East is just one big disease…they have been talking about peace for decades. Heaven forbid but if there is a nuclear war … the wind would carry the fallout throughout the Middle East and the land which they fight for nobody will be able to live in … the irony is we will have peace.

Sorry Rad but Israel accepted the UN division and the Palestinians refused the offer thereby giving their right to the land. Please explain that one one hand you use the UN as your source for the Palestinians but refuse to accept the part they gave to Israel

Wendy - The Palestinians want what is theirs. Jerusalem was never supposed to be part of Israel. The entire international community says West Bank does not belong to Israel. Israel is occupying the West Bank and Jerusalem in violation of international accords written after WW2.

A country is not allowed to take another country's land by conquest, no matter which country started the war. Israel did start the 1967 war, specifically to take land and water.

“The former Commander of the Air Force, General Ezer Weitzman, regarded as a hawk, stated that there was ‘no threat of destruction’ but that the attack on Egypt, Jordan and Syria was nevertheless justified so that Israel could ‘exist according the scale, spirit, and quality she now embodies.’...Menahem Begin had the following remarks to make: ‘In June 1967, we again had a choice. The Egyptian Army concentrations in the Sinai approaches do not prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him.’“ Noam Chomsky, “The Fateful Triangle.”

Was the 1967 war defensive? — continued

“I do not think Nasser wanted war. The two divisions he sent to The Sinai would not have been sufficient to launch an offensive war. He knew it and we knew it.” Yitzhak Rabin, Israel’s Chief of Staff in 1967, in Le Monde, 2/28/68

Moshe Dayan posthumously speaks out on the Golan Heights

“Moshe Dayan, the celebrated commander who, as Defense Minister in 1967, gave the order to conquer the Golan...[said] many of the firefights with the Syrians were deliberately provoked by Israel, and the kibbutz residents who pressed the Government to take the Golan Heights did so less for security than for the farmland...[Dayan stated] ‘They didn’t even try to hide their greed for the land...We would send a tractor to plow some area where it wasn’t possible to do anything, in the demilitarized area, and knew in advance that the Syrians would start to shoot. If they didn’t shoot, we would tell the tractor to advance further, until in the end the Syrians would get annoyed and shoot.

And then we would use artillery and later the air force also, and that’s how it was...The Syrians, on the fourth day of the war, were not a threat to us.’” The New York Times, May 11, 1997

The history of Israeli expansionism

“The acceptance of partition does not commit us to renounce Transjordan; one does not demand from anybody to give up his vision. We shall accept a state in the boundaries fixed today. But the boundaries of Zionist aspirations are the concern of the Jewish people and no external factor will be able to limit them.” David Ben-Gurion, in 1936, quoted in Noam Chomsky, “The Fateful Triangle.”

“Senator [J.William Fulbright] proposed in 1970 that America should guarantee Israel’s security in a formal treaty, protecting her with armed forces if necessary. In return, Israel would retire to the borders of 1967. The UN Security Council would guarantee this arrangement, and thereby bring the Soviet Union — then a supplier of arms and political aid to the Arabs — into compliance. As Israeli troops were withdrawn from the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank they would be replaced by a UN peacekeeping force. Israel would agree to accept a certain number of Palestinians and the rest would be settled in a Palestinian state outside Israel.

“The plan drew favorable editorial support in the United States. The proposal, however, was flatly rejected by Israel. ‘The whole affair disgusted Fulbright,’ writes [his biographer Randall] Woods. ‘The Israelis were not even willing to act in their own self-interest.’” Allan Brownfield in “Issues of the American Council for Judaism.” Fall 1997.[Ed.—This was one of many such proposals]

In violation of international law, Israel has confiscated over 52 percent of the land in the West Bank and 30 percent of the Gaza Strip for military use or for settlement by Jewish civilians...From 1967 to 1982, Israel’s military government demolished 1,338 Palestinian homes on the West Bank. Over this period, more than 300,000 Palestinians were detained without trial for various periods by Israeli security forces. “Intifada: The Palestinian Uprising Against Israeli Occupation,” ed. Lockman and Beinin.

@UnitedStates1776, don't forget who's running Iran: people with ideology much like (not exactly like, granted, but very similar to) al-Qaida and other religious extremist groups. If it furthers their agenda, they will sacrifice themselves and anybody around them. I'd be more concerned with the fallout in other Middle East nations and parts of Europe and Africa. They're the ones who should be pressuring Iran to not build nuclear weapons or, if Iran won't be dissuaded from that, not launching them at Israel. But as far as I know we don't hear so much as a peep out of those nations.

@Grumpy Old McCain, at least your handle is partially accurate, but your information is clearly based entirely on what media has fed you and they are not always correct. To be specific, they are not correct about the GOP being entirely about war. They might jump to it quicker than their "counterparts" but they explore other avenues first. Let's pick one out: let's say the "war" on gays and lesbians. When have you heard a GOP official say people cannot be gay or lesbian? When have you heard them say they are not granted rights that, for all intents and purposes, is exactly the same as everyone else? Now when have you heard the LGBT groups protest, badmouth and otherwise berate religions that don't allow same-sex marriages to be conducted in their churches/chapels/temples or whatever else it may be because of some mis-notion that the government is supposed to force these organizations to allow these things? Is this not First Amendment 101? The government wants to allow same-sex marriages in their civic buildings, that's whatever, but "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" and free exercise of course means that religious organziations are free to do as they please (so long as public safety is not jeopardized) and if they do not wish to perform same-sex marriages then why should they be forced to? This is the point the GOP has been making regarding anything where religious groups have been against the wall, the latest brushfire being the contraceptive debate

Rob99,

It was Mohammed that said, "Blessed are the Peacemaker's, for they shall inherit Jerusalem".

"Obama backs Isreal"????

Good to see MSNBC making up it's own headlines for the ignorant sheep as usual.

"Obama said his critics are forgetting the "cost of war" in their rush to punish Iran and defend Israel, which sees a nuclear Iran as a mortal threat in its Mideast neighborhood...

Obama said his private meetings with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu this week carried the same message as his public pronouncements. And he implied that Israeli pressure for urgent action was not supported by the facts, saying that a decision was not necessary within the next weeks or months."

I didn't realize that disagreeing with people who want to defend Isreal, and telling Isreal they are not using facts is actually "backing Isreal", thanks for teching us MSNObama.(sarcasm)

The only thing Obama is "backing" is himself as he knows entering in yet another war will be unpopular with the liberal voters. Why do you think he has not sent resources to Syria?

Smitty,

I never said the GOP bombed Libya!

But, go back and read McCain, Graham and the rest of the GOP's criticism of Obama... "leading from the rear." In other words, he let others take the lead for a change. Shame on him.

He was criticized soundly for doing way "too little" too "late."

Read up on the facts Smitty!

SO how does letting a nutjob like Iran's president have nuclear weapons promote peace? If this guy were in the US, we'd probably have him committed to an institution, but he's running a country and developing a nuclear weapon that he's already said he will use on Israel. It takes TWO sides to have peace, and in this case I don't see how that's possible as long as Iran's current president is in power... And the clock is ticking. Yes, a strike by Israel may provoke war, but at this point it's a war they can win. Better now than AFTER the nuclear bombs detonate in Jerusalem (and we all say, "Gee, I guess they were serious about that bomb thing."

You want World War III that badly, Bruce? Seriously??? Because you know China, India, Russia and Pakistan will get involved and side with Iran.

No thanks. PASS, Brucie Boy.

Over this period, more than 300,000 Palestinians were detained without trial for various periods by Israeli security forces.

Any figures on Israel's calualty/death rate from terrorists over this time?

jerry l-1335133

Sorry Rad but Israel accepted the UN division and the Palestinians refused the offer thereby giving their right to the land. Please explain that one one hand you use the UN as your source for the Palestinians but refuse to accept the part they gave to Israel

Neither Israel, not Palestine were countries when the land was divided. Israel declared itself on, on the day after the expiration of the British Mandate, which was not allowed under the UN resolution that partitioned the land. I don't refuse to accept the part that was given to Israel either. I never mentioned it to begin with, so I am not sure how you made that assumption. But the fact is that once Israel declared itself a nation, it started evicting Palestinians and Arabs from their homes and confiscated their property. They also took land from Palestine in the 1948 war, and since then has been illegally settling this land. They also annexed land taken in the Six Day war, to include East Jerusalem, and illegally settled it. They also declared Jerusalem their capital city, even though it was never suppose to be a part of Israel.

justoneguy

Over this period, more than 300,000 Palestinians were detained without trial for various periods by Israeli security forces.

Any figures on Israel's calualty/death rate from terrorists over this time?

Any figures on Palestine's casualty/death rate from Israeli terrorists over this time?

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama declared Tuesday that diplomacy can still resolve the crisis over Iran's possible pursuit of nuclear weapons, and he accused his Republican critics of "beating the drums of war."

"Those folks don't have a lot of responsibilities," Obama said. "They are not commander in chief."

I think you have beaten those drums of war just fine oh mighty O'bama. ...bows to the Messiah....

A Commander In-Chief does not apolozige to terrorist that murder U.S. Troops. The Palestinians and Hamas have bombed Israel citizens everyday. Israel has a "Right to Protect Themselves" against Hamas, Iran and any other country or group that kills its citizens.

Rad,

The UN vote in 1948 was to make 2 countries one Israel and one Palestine. Palestine refused their country and declared war on Israel the next day after the UN accepted Israel as a country, your facts are wrong.

Israel did take land in 67 and you state before that Jordan and Egypt have asked for the land back, can you please quote your source for that

I see Obama claiming Republicans are "beating the drums of war", but I can't find anything in the article quoting such an act by the Republicans. Everything I find when I google 'Iran War 2012' is about Obama stating "all options are on the table". What in the world is he talking about? Is he playing political games with something this serious?

"They are not Commander in Chief"? Um, nobody said they thought that. However, the Constitution has some words about the role of Congress in declaring war that the left was quite happy to quote for 8 yrs before Obama was elected.

On gas prices on Tuesday, Obama dismissed as laughable the suggestion by some Republican critics that he actually wants increases.

Remember when O'bama told us we should fill up our tires and get tune ups when the prices were high under Bush? hehe. Make no mistake about it, libs want them higher to make green alternatives more viable...I'm just stating fact here

He said no president facing re-election would want to see gas prices rise because of the hardship that would cause to American families, and that he's asking his attorney general to examine whether speculation in the oil markets is driving up oil prices.

Big DUUUH, the only thing driving up the price of gas is greed, damn right it's speculation with a sprinkling of war mongering.

"...he accused his Republican critics of "beating the drums of war." So said our President. Excuse me, sir, but didn't I hear you saying we might go to war, just yesterday? Oh, well....

"He (Mr. Obama) said no president facing re-election would want to see gas prices rise because of the hardship that would cause to American families, and that he's asking his attorney general to examine whether speculation in the oil markets is driving up oil prices."

Makes sense, but then why hasn't he, in order to help consumers, returned our drivers to the old "double nickel" speed limits? Why hasn't he told the refineries to get their machinery operating instead of letting them lie fallow? Why hasn't he put stringent limits on speculation in the oil industry? Why hasn't he asked for a new Taft Hartley Act stopping the vicious growth of necessary industries destroying the American spirit? Why does he now start what can only be a long drawn out "investigation" to show what is generally recognized as the truth? The cows are out of the barn, Mr. President, so there's not much use in locking the barn door.

There's a lot more things he could do, or at least try to do. Unless, of course, he might be beholden to the gargantuans of industry.

BTW, I'm a Democrat.

Just saying'

At O'bama's press conference today, he was asked about Bill Maher's contribution to his campaign; O'bama ignored him, and called upon a CNN reporter hahaha.

Peace has not been possible for decades

Peace is possible. It will take better leadership on both sides to bring it about, though.

President Obama laid out the basis that everyone already knows MUST be the basis for a peaceful solution, wiexcept that a THREE state solution (Israel, Palestine, Gaza) is probably more workable that a TWO state solution.

... Republicans are "beating the drums of war", but I can't find anything in the article quoting such an act

Check out Mitt Romney's editorial in the New York Times. I think it's his first since wishing for Detroit to FAIL.

Peace is possible. It will take better leadership on both sides to bring it about, though.

Agreed, but unfortunately, we in the US don't get to choose the leadership on EITHER side. Iran WANTS war. Their prez believes it's his moral responsibility to usher in the "big conflict" so that the prophecies of the end times from his holy books will be fulfilled. It's hard to negotiate peace with someone who doesn't WANT peace. While the world negotiated treaties and agreements with Hitler, he used the time to build up his armies and ready his plans. I am sure that just prior to WWII and Hitler's invasion of Poland, everyone felt really good about the fact that we were actually negotiating quite successfully with a tyrant. Iran's leader is no different. For him, negotiation is good because it buys him time, and right now time is what he needs. The best thing to do is take him completely out of the equation, one way or the other. Peace is a lot more than just the absence of war.

Bruce - You make many claims about what Iran wants to do and what they will do. Do you pull those claims out of your anus, or do you have a grain of proof to substanciate anything you post?

Your comparisons of Iran to Nazi Germany are laughable. Nazi Germany had an army, navy and an air force comparable to or superior to any nation in the world at that time. Iran has no viable air force, no deep water navy and no long range missiles. They also do not have any nuclear weapons, whereas their enemy Israel sits on a large nuclear arsenal. Any attack by Iran would result in its total annihilation.

You liberals just love to talk down to people you deem less worthy than yourselves, don't you? Do you treat anyone well?

At the end of WW1, Germany was in shambles and pretty much being punished by the rest of the world for being the aggressors in the world conflict. They had hyper inflation, staggering unemployment, and everything was in shambles. Hitler built up those massive arsenals right under all our noses while we negotiated with him, in much the same way that Ahmadinejad works on his nuclear program while we talk of diplomacy. Yes, Israel has a nuclear stockpile, but they also have the restraint and common sense to know that it's primarily a deterrent just to have them. I don't for a second believe that Ahmadinejad views having nukes that way.

Now are you capable of disagreeing with me without calling names and deriding, or is that just part of what all liberals do?

The name calling and insults are what most liberals do. It is part of their makeup. It is one of the symptoms of their disease....

Subjects like Israel are fraught with disagreements on what should and shouldn't happen. This doesn't change any of that.

Eric: Dershowitz' opposition could change plenty in a key Democratic voting block. The Presidents "deeply caring about Israel's security" has far more to do with pacifying Jewish-American voters than with Israeli security.

It's not about pacifying voters as much as maintaining a strong policy to deter Iran from getting nukes.

The Jewish voter block won't decide the 2012 elections.

Eric

It's about pacifying voters...and Dershowitz, who would be one big pain if he went off the reservation. Obama has been trying to pacify Jewish donors since last June...(http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/57398.html) One can't simply ignore this dynamic.

In the upcoming election, jewish voters will split 80% democratic and 20% republican. This is always the case. Give it some thought... Every jewish person that I know is a liberal (except one - but he is dominated by his Israeli wife). Generally speaking, jewish persons are even more liberal than anything that I support. In the case of Dershowitz, he'll be supporting Obama this year. You can bank on that.

That is just the way it is. The jewish voters will stay with the democrats. That dynamic will not change. There is the raw politics element though of courting the significant jewish financial donors. That is information that is still not known in a comprehensive way at this time. Some will break for the GOP. Only bits and pieces of this process leak to the press now and then. By and large though, they are sticking with the president.

Eric-913730.....(1) It's not about pacifying voters as much as maintaining a strong policy to deter Iran from getting nukes. (2) The Jewish voter block won't decide the 2012 elections.

1. Yep, that strong policy of "sanctions" are really going to keep Iran from getting a Nuke. That is like saying Bubba, who has 10 felony convictions for armed robbery, will not obtain a weapon.

2. Your are CORRECT (for once). The Jewish vote will NOT DETERMINE the 2012 elections.....the Independents will. And Mr. Obama will lose his "I deserve to be re-elected" bid because of his FAILED Domestic and International policies, in addition to his Czars and Liberal Cabinet members promulgating economy busting regulations which will not be forgotten by the voters.

The Israeli Secret Service (Mossad) are the most successful organization for fighting the terrorists on this planet. They pretty much know exactly what is going on in their neck of the woods. I certainly consider them to be IMPORTANT allies. Apparently so does the POTUS..........

name one economy busting regulation and show how it bust the economy

nafta...self evident...

Another war could banrupt the country ( just stop for a moment and look RUSSIA). Now,

• If we haven't waste around FIVE TRILLIONS PRETENDING TO CHASE OSAMA....

I have paid my share of taxes and am ECSTATIC that we "chased" and "caught" the evil, America hating Osama Bin Laden. If anyone deserved to die it was him. Some of us share that way of thinking on a personal level: you mess with me I'm going to get you, one way, or another. Trust me, you cannot let those who would kill you do so; you've got to take them out before they take you out.

yup...those cat piss smell'n wall-mart shoppers are after me to...got's to get more bullets...less cat food...LOL...

Gee, it appears the Republicans were war mongering about Iran back in 1992. Read this:

Though Israel had secretly done business with the Islamic Republic after the 1979 revolution, seeking to cultivate a Persian wedge against its local Arab enemies, the early 1990s saw a concerted effort by Tel Aviv to portray Iran as a new and existential threat.

1992: Israeli parliamentarian Benjamin Netanyahu tells his colleagues that Iran is 3 to 5 years from being able to produce a nuclear weapon – and that the threat had to be "uprooted by an international front headed by the US."

1992: Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres tells French TV that Iran was set to have nuclear warheads by 1999. "Iran is the greatest threat and greatest problem in the Middle East," Peres warned, "because it seeks the nuclear option while holding a highly dangerous stance of extreme religious militancy." Here it is 2012 and iran still does not have a nuclear weapon. The Israeli intelligence agencies must really suck.

1992: Joseph Alpher, a former official of Israel's Mossad spy agency, says "Iran has to be identified as Enemy No. 1." Iran's nascent nuclear program, he told The New York Times, "really gives Israel the jitters."

3. US joins the warnings: 1992-97

The same alarm bells were already ringing in Washington, where in early 1992 a task force of the House Republican Research Committee claimed that there was a "98 percent certainty that Iran already had all (or virtually all) of the components required for two or three operational nuclear weapons." ----I guess they wanted to make Netanyahu happy, just like today.

1992: Leaked copy of the Pentagon's "Defense Strategy for the 1990s" makes little reference to Iran, despite laying out seven scenarios for potential future conflict that stretch from Iraq to North Korea.

It looks like the US intelligence agencies had it right back in 1992. Here in 2012, they are saying Iran does not have a nuclear weapons program.

: National intelligence director James Clapper affirms in testimony before Congress that “Iran is keeping the option open to develop nuclear weapons in part by developing various nuclear capabilities and better position it to produce such weapons, should it choose to do so," Mr. Clapper said. "We do not know, however, if Iran will eventually decide to build nuclear weapons."

Eric-913730

It is exactly about patronizing and fooling Jewish people. Have you not heard of Obama's Narwhal room where they have spent three years gathering data on all of us so he can tell us what he thinks we want to hear? Today, as he was speaking, ironically he was blabbing on about women not voting on one issue even though he had just brought up and carried on about birth control. Bulliten there Obama, there were seven women in the waiting room with me and guess what none have to worry about birth control but everyone of those waiting and with the exception of one the nurses agreed we all won't vote for you in November. Partly because many of us are seniors you want to get rid of by rationing health care and medications. And all of us understand this birth control fiasco has nothing to do with women but has to do with the next big step to wipe out the Christian foundation of our country. We won't stand for it. Narwhal can't tell you how to win us over because it can't be done. We have seen too much in the last three years. It is really insulting to think one rah rah wait wait speech would make all the jewish people forget you said they should go back to the 67 borders before the war that they didn't start.

If Israel attacks Iran without the consent of the WHITE HOUSE then Israel should be forced to go to war ALONE, My dad used to say dont start a fight with your mouth that your ass cant finish

Shaking my Head - you are a fool to believe that - the Repub party will end Medicare as it is today, ration care for the young, including birth control accessibility. The nurse was the smart one in the bunch. We'll find out soon enough - and being in the top 5%, I don't have nearly as much to lose.

also, all of you Reich Wingers wanting war right now, Lets see that you have your sons and daughter go to the nearist enlistment center and sign up for the military, and not in the rear with the gear, I want to see them with a M-16 on the front lines, It was good enough for my progressive family now lets see yours

Obama wants lower gas prices until November. His Energy Sec Stephan Chu said several days ago before a congressional committee that the administration has no interest in lower gas prices. He ( and Obama i believe ) think that higher gas prices will change Americans behavior. Chu also believes that, as he said in 2008, US prices should be more in line with Europe. $8 a gallon.

Pay attention people! Obama is like ALL politicians, if his lips are moving, he's lying.

Ralph, I will spare the details of an argument you refuse to accept regardless of outside standing; the US has Veto'd many of your positions and nullified them in the UN with that VETO. Obama as wonderful he may seem to you Libtards asnd Progressive Agenda pursuers is not capable of overturning American perception on the existence of Israel.

We overwelmingly support Israel's win over the Arab's/Egyptian entity in 1967 - War sucks; it is unfair; the Best military usually wins, and it is this positional argument that supports America's Great Army.

It is simple.

You lost. Now you want the land back. Nope. You LOST it.

In 1973... You lost again.

Over the skies of Beirut... You lost again. A Soviet Air Force versus a Modern Superior American backed Air Force of F-16's.

Then the shameless act; a war via terrorist bombers... splattering themselves over over Jewish coffee shop walls... so concrete containment walls went up. You have no honor. We had to block you from access.

Because you are without shame; the world will not let you obtain a nuclear weapon, and if you reveal you have that capacity; you risk losing all that is dear to you. The Holy City of Qom will be no longer; you will endure Regime Change, and those of you that avoided the leveling of that City will face the People's justice and an awaiting bullet riddled wall.

Burying your facilities underground is proof you are not being forthcoming in honesty to the World.

Getting hungry yet? Can't put gasoline in your cars?

Destroy your facilities.

GOOFBALL ABOVE ^^^^

Willing to put allegiance to Israel over the UNITED STATES of AMERICA

hmmm, obama attacked lybia with no congressional approval (he lied sooo many times) and yet somehow its the GOP that are war-mongers? obama allowed use of our drones in yemem so the yemen goverment can kill opposition forces under the guise of terrorism(just to name 2 illegal actions by obama). you people do know your history right? GOP is not any more a war-mongerer than the dems are, the dems are just better at deceiving the sheep. obama has no verifiable qualification to be president and has lied and manipulated to fool the people. he is a mere puppet, elected for his color and party affiliation.

when have sanctions alone ever worked to curtail a countries plans? did they word in iraq? north korea or any other country, no. sanctions only allow fraud to perpetrate and end up costing us more than it does them. kofi annan made out like a bandit with sanctions on iraq but yet nothing was ever done to him, the list goes on for people who used sanction to pad their pockets and increase their power.

i would fully support israel taking out every crap islamic country that exists because if anyone understands history, its the muslims who try to bring total war. they have declared war against non-muslims since before the crusades and thats exactly why we fought the crusades. we beat them muslims back like the savages they are but like the pansies we have become, we allowed the muslim empire to take control of conquered lands, gave it mostly back to them. muslims have not giving up on their war effort and has not rescinded the declaration of war that has been made dozens of times. anyone who goes against israel is an enemy of mine and i will not stand for a weak america when me and my family served this nation for hundreds of years. i was born a free man i will die a free man.

Dang is there a place to bet on who is going to win the election this year. Because I can make loot. The GOP blew it they cant even decide on anything and just say no. Went out with Nancey R. The crazy part of all of this is the Gas prices. if Israel wants to fight the Iranians so they don't have to live under a threat from Iran let them fight it out or fall off the face of the planet. And no not supporting the Jewish country of Israel does not mean I hate Jewish people. The people are fine. But I don't see us supporting other immigrants the way we support Israel. Hey lets back up Russia they have Russians here. Not going to happen. Sorry if you are Russian just an example.

Am i pro Iran hell no. But I am pro not spending our tax dollars defending the People of Israel. If they want our help they can hire our mercenaries. Other than that the wars in the middle east need to be fought by the people of the middle east. Not US

This Iran worries me bit is pure BS just another way to gouge the gas prices and make money for OPEC Saudi's. And speculators. Obama will win this election due to one thing. The republican congress screwed the pouch when it came time to create jobs for us Americans.

It is the congress and the senate not the POTUS that really can get the economy moving. Yet only Obama has done something and he could not do much with all the votes of no. Today is super Tuesday if Mitt wins the GOP is Done. No average American wants Richie Rich wannabe Mitt running the show. Santorum may have a chance but not Mitt.

shaking my head., you are so uninformed and brainwashed, should the repubs take over forget any reasonable health care and welcome in ww3

Here we are paying 10 Billion a year to Israel from our tax dollars and Israel president orders our president to go to war with Iran over what? Obama thinks he needs the Jewish votes but in reality they don't even make up 1% of the votes. or does he need the $$$?

Name me one nation that takes from its own people and gives it to other nations. The US government tax the poor and give the money directly to Israel, Pakistan, Georgia, and the list goes on. Do we see China giving money or aid to N. Korea while they are so rich? Don't forget China and N. Korea are best of buddies. Its the exact opposite the nations fight for their own gain not to give with so much $$$ and blood.

We pay enough tax that is equivalent to the social countries. The people in social nations get free housing, health insurance and food but here we make sure that other nations get paid.

Americans are the most generous people on the face of this planet. Or naive. I think both.

lol some you people are so lost that there is no sign of intelligence left in that cavity you call a cranium. to repeat a lie is the sign of a sheep.

"No average American wants Richie Rich wannabe Mitt running the show"

hmm so obama is not mr richie rich? did he not say he wants to raise 1 billion dollars for re-election? hows all the big money those dems got for ya? im sure its all the repubs fault that the dems are rich too.

"It is the congress *(house)* and the senate not the POTUS that really can get the economy moving"

your right, but the pres has alot power to get stuff moving (and stop) in the congress. the only things he wants moved is what he is told to move by his masters. how bout a budget? how about we stop borrowing half what we spend? how about obama stop playing the blame game and actually be a leader instead of a community agitator? obama is a failed empty suit with no verifiable skills who was elected based solely on color and party affiliation.

"The republican congress screwed the pouch when it came time to create jobs for us Americans."

really? so its just the repubs that are in congress? are you sure the dems didnt control congress for 4 years before repubs took some that power away? governments job is NOT to create jobs but to provide protection and oversight(an environment of increasing employment), not employment. so how are those dems at created jobs huh? they sure are doing a bang-up job arent they? you do realize government jobs do not stimulate anything, you cant create income when your being paid with tax-payer funds. using taxes to pay people who in-turn pay taxes so you can pay them in taxes, does this make sense to increase employment? if we all worked for the government we would go broke very fast.

"shaking my head., you are so uninformed and brainwashed, should the repubs take over forget any reasonable health care and welcome in ww3"

really guy? you do understand that healthcare is not a right and that its no one responsibility to take care of your health needs but your own. its is not the role of the government to take care of an individuals need nor compel anyone to buy any service or product to be a citizen. how are we to consider ourselves free if we are told how to live? we the people own this country and we created the government to serve our needs as nation, not the other way around. ww3? speculate much do we?

all he is saying is give peace a chance-----obama is using diplomacy. bush might have tried diplomacy instead of fabricating lies. this should remind us as to why we voted for him--now let's do it again.

@ Old Latin school teacher

Eric

It's about pacifying voters...and Dershowitz, who would be one big pain if he went off the reservation. Obama has been trying to pacify Jewish donors since last June...(http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/57398.html) One can't simply ignore this dynamic.

First of all, I doubt that you are actually a TEACHER...If you were, then you probably would be really angry at the GOP for cutting your benefits and not giving you a raise in years.

Second: Stop your desire of having others go to war for you AND ENROLL TODAY IN THE ARMY. How easy to send OTHERS to fight BS WARS

IRESPOND.

FIRST I teach, but am not part of the public school government-forced monopoly. We have to compete for students against "free" public education, meaning we have to be that much better. For over 50 years, the school at which I teach (for over 25 years) has been more than that much better. I understand and sympathize with your tunnelvisioned view of things. Hard to come out of public education any differently when they teach you what to think and not how to think.

SECOND: Where did I say I wanted people to go to war in my post? Quote that for me please. My comment was on the political dynamic of this whole business in the USA. Again, it appears that your own education might have failed you and politically indoctrinated you. Too bad.

BTW: My father did three tours in Vietnam when I was a kid and came out scarred by it in many ways. Perhaps it might be more beneficial for you to receive a better education so that the festering wound beneath your nose might not be so much of an embarassment to you. Have a great day.

I, too resent the assertion that conservative thinkers do not participate in the military. I tend to think that with our all volunteer military, the commitment to service is more motivated by traditional views of loyalty and respect for country and values, because it certainly isn't because of the glamour, the high salaries, the luxurious accomodations and the cutting edge fashion. As a conservative family, our military service is traditional dating back to the civil war....and not as officers, but as enlisted. And every last one of them voluntarily went into service, in the Civil War, in the Spanish American War, in WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Dessert Storm, and Iraq.....Unless you can quote me actual numbers of liberal service personnel vs conservative thinking service personnel, I don't propose that you continue to make sweeping statements about conservatives always wanting to go to war and send somebody else's kids to do it. My father served in Korea, which was a long time ago-and yet he used to talk about his military service and even explored re-enlisting during Vietnam. He also used to say that the hot spot for the whole world was the Middle East, and the next world involving conflict would come from there....and he said that 50 years ago (could it be that the Middle East has been warring and feuding since the beginning of time?)

Well spoken, Sue

Eric-913730....."It's good policy to let the (1) sanctions work, and see where we are. Certainly if Iran is provocative and closes the strait in an effort to shut of oil, (2) we will take swift action."

1. Yep, those sanctions have really worked well. Same goes for Syria, Libya, Somalia, and North Korea.

2. "WE" ? You have a mouse in your pocket ?

Waiting on that famous comment that Mr. Obama's Stimulus of $ 862,000,000,000 WORKED and it saved or created 3,000,000 jobs and also saved the World from a Great Depression.

Very comforting to know you are speaking and commenting for the "world community" Eric. Have you ever been to the Middle East. If not, I suggest you stop commenting on things you only know about from reading blogs. Your liberalism is oozing out of your ear and it looks like puss from a sore...

We do not need to go to war to wipe out Iran's nuclear capability. We have weapons that could do that without a boot on the ground. We need a President who has the strength to say to Iran: Stop the nuclear program or we will stop it for you~! The country's weakest link sits in the White House wanting to negotiate with the Devil in Iran. Definition of Devil: The one who comes to kill, steal and destroy...I believe he frequently says Death to America. And Obama wants to go chit-chat with him. And wants us to believe that's our best path? Insane idea.

As best as I can remember, Clinton only lied to the electorate about Monica! Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction. Obama seems to lie to everyone in the world about everything. I think this garners him the title of most successfufl politican in American History.

You going to sign up Braveheart?

Ido. I am still waiting for that economy busting regulation you spoke of. An how does it bust the economy.

Very comforting to know you are speaking and commenting for the "world community"

I haven't been to the Middle East either, but I've been to several other countries, and they too are affected by war in the Middle East, so can I comment?

And if going to countries in the Middle East is any qualification to know @!$%#, then why is it that I, having not gone to the Iraq or the Middle East was right, and so many people in the past administration were wrong when it came to "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq? Notice how they aren't using that term again? Even though they are referring to the same thing? See they know they can't use it because everyone would call BS on them.

Anyone stupid enough to think that even if Iran were trying to get a weapon and did, they would be suicidal enough to use is is not worth listening to. All this is is the Military Industrial Complex ensuring their survival. There is only one country crazy enough, powerful enough and bold enough to detonate nuclear weapons...and that's the only country that ever has. There may be some suicidal individuals scattered around the place, but the Iranian leadership is certain that if they fired a nuclear weapon, they'd have about an hour left of existence on the planet..and that's not from the nuclear fallout.

All these scare tactics that the weak minded fall for. There are hundreds if not thousands of nuclear weapons roaming around the old Soviet Republics, North Korea has them, as well as crazy leadership, Pakistan has them as well as a history of supporting terrorists, people who are on the side of Hamas and leaders we can't necessarily trust, and we are supposed to believe its the NEXT country to have them that will be so dangerous? Give me a break. Needless to say, after this Iran mess goes away, however it does, there will be some next country that threatens the world and we'll have to invade them, and then there will the next country....

The drums of war keep on beating though...boom, boom, boom.

Clark-3144812......Amen Brother!!!!!!

Clark and Wendy will be the first ones complaining about the cost of war or whatever else keeps their collective lips poked out.

I think any rational human would want to find a peaceful resolution.. that was like first day of Kindergarten..

Preemptive war is a bad idea...

To be honest Obama didn't lie to us, he just forgot to follow through on any of his campaign
promises. 3 years gone and not one has he followed through with. the big promise
was Change.

yea lets change gas from $1.49 to $3.89.

lets raise food cost by 24%.

lets keep everyone in war not pull them out.

lets Double the National debt in 3 years.

lets kill most of the middle class jobs and send them overseas.

lets have unemployment 3x higher then any other president.

lets point out how the Chevy bailout has made them profitable, even though they don't have to
pay tax for 5 years and not pay back the loan we gave money too!

Well has Change been good for you?

I didn't like Bush but at least Americans had jobs, food, homes, money in their pockets.

I want my Vote back, I made a boo boo.

old-pilot

As best as I can remember, Clinton only lied to the electorate about Monica! Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction.

"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop
weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line."
--President Bill Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998

"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program."
--President Bill Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998

"Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face."--Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998 "He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983."
--Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998

"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs."

Letter to President Clinton, signed by:
-- Democratic Senators Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others, Oct. 9, 1998

"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."
- -Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998

"Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces
for his cronies."
-- Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999

I can't believe the blow hard'S on this board. WE WILL TAKE QUICK ACTION???? WHO IS WE??? CERTAINLY NOT "YOU" Its always the grunts that have to pay the price for American greed! Obama's plan is to WIN another CHANCE - "Hey give me another chance - I screwed it up but Hey I deserve your vote." COME ON GIVE THE LITTLE GUY A BREAK!!

Eric-913730

It's good policy to let the sanctions work, and see where we are. Certainly if Iran is provocative and closes the strait in an effort to shut of oil, we will take swift action.

The world community supports negotiation at this point.

Ido

"Waiting on that famous comment that Mr. Obama's Stimulus of $ 862,000,000,000 WORKED and it saved or created 3,000,000 jobs and also saved the World from a Great Depression."

1) First off, it was $787 B, not $862 B. And while it may not have created growth, it definitely shrank contraction.

2) $288 B was tax cuts, not increased spending, for companies and individuals so that would have saved jobs that might have been lost.

3) $224 B was for unemployment bennies, health care and the school training for those that lost their jobs. People went back for educations and now could fill higher skill sets for less money (new and no school debt) which saved many companies.

4) $275 B was for the ARRA. This went into many construction projects like DMVs, schools, fire stations, police stations, roadways, etc. This created many constructio jobs (or replenished depending on your views) and created jobs for services needed.

Obama's own words give away his real attitude. "Those folks don't have a lot of responsibility!" Is he kidding, does he really think he is a dictator. We have three branches of government and "those folks" make up one of the three just as he makes up only one of the three. They have a lot of responsibility, he just chooses to go around the Constitution and do things his way.

He had no problem with out Congress permission to bomb Libya, and to send troops to Africa, does he think we forgot? Of course that wasn't an election year and he thinks we have no memory at all. Not that I'm in favor of a war, I'm not but neither am I in favor of having Iran had over a dirty bomb to terrorists and have it go off in one of our cities. No mention has been made lately about Iran chumming up with Chevez. Anyone watching that? Probably not, no "diplomacy" needed there?

Shaking my head-2479300 He was referring to the responsibility of our Nations Military. The president is called the Commander and Chief because it is his responsibility to lead them. Could you imagine every time we needed a judgement made. The Congress or Senate would have to be called and waited for when he needed to decide to send ships to the Straight.

Not a declaration of war but just moving boats around. And to tell you the truth Congress and the senate have 1 responsibility. To enact the peoples wishes and they cant even get that one right.

Obama bombing a country and going to war are two different things. A declaration of war is way different than a conflict or bombing. We as a country have entered and put boots on the ground in So many countries it would make your head spin. Once over investors losing ground with a Banana companies. Seriously check out Banana Wars. And they were actually conflicts not wars. Despite the term.

bombing a sovereign country is in FACT 1000000000% declaring war on that country, what world do you live in to think that engaging in military action against a sovereign nation is not 'going to war'? conflicts are not wars? lol OMG you must be agenda poster because any sane human knows that once you attack someone else you are starting a fight, not a argument as you make it seem.

why do people keep repeating the lies told by the government? constantly changing definitions to suit their agenda.

Diverdown1

There are Jewish people all over the world in all four corners up down and from east to west. Not just in Isreal!!

Diverdown1 Lets get rid of the pretender in chief first off. Then let Israel take care of business. Pull all US troops out of the middleeast and let them take care of their own dam problems

fknheehaw, Yes, but Israel is their "Homeland" and they will fight for it! Have been for centuries!

Dershowitz, watch what Obama does, not what he says!

fnkheehaw--Of the 7,000,000,000 humans living on this planet today, the Jewish population is 13,300,000 (I checked wikipedia, simpletoremember.com and six other web sites on this). 83% of them live in the United States and Israel.

MrRighteous so what is your point? Are saying that the Jew have no right to protect themselves or exist as a nation? I have this vague recollection of missles being placed in Cuba and our response was to bring the world to the brink of distruction. The Israel has no fall back point and can't wait for the oops sorry did think they would do it response. I can hardly wait for the N. Koreans to get the missle that can't hit say Seattle. I have no problem with that because I don't live there response.

DWC in FL....The trouble is we have been watching Barry sitting on his hands for three years spending money we don't have. The only thing he can do is dance and every time Abadadeemajabe or what ever his name is comes to town he polishes those dancing shoes. and impose sanctions that closes the front door to Iran but remember the back door is wide open and Russia is feeding Iran all it needs.

President Barack Obama - and Wendy just a couple of posts before you were hawking another war.. that's going to cost money you don't have...flop around much?

Where do you get your information? I fear our school system has failed.

I fear you are correct. Otherwise, complete idiots like the Republican candidates would get absolutely NO SUPPORT.

fnkheehaw

There are Jewish people all over the world in all four corners up down and from east to west. Not just in Isreal!!

So that makes it alright to allow the state of Israel to be exterminated.

Guess what?, we are next on their hit list.

Yes, that was a high point.

Oh yes - I thought so too! I loved his purple tie - it matched his lips perfectly! (Complete sarcasm) See how dumb it sounds? Jack sounds like he just watched a Justin Bieber concert...which is about the value BO's pressers provide to US citizens

I believe what confuses people about our President is that he has CLASS and behaves like an ADULT. No name calling, no finger pointing. When our SEALS took out bin laden our President phoned Bush Sr. & Bush Jr to let them know BEFORE telling the American people. (I thought that was a classy thing to do.) He wishes Romney "Good Luck" He does not want to get into another war with anyone because war isnt good for us or our planet. You can sling mud all you want but ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS and I LIKE our President's actions........... (unlike the freak show put on by....well you know who you are)

"We should strike, the people are dying!"

"President Obama is responsible for getting the US into ANOTHER war in the middle east!"

-The GOP's stance on Libya. Now you tell me what military action in Iran or Syria would bring about.

"Obama backs Isreal"????

Good to see MSNBC making up it's own headlines for the ignorant sheep as usual.

"Obama said his critics are forgetting the "cost of war" in their rush to punish Iran and defend Israel, which sees a nuclear Iran as a mortal threat in its Mideast neighborhood...

Obama said his private meetings with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu this week carried the same message as his public pronouncements. And he implied that Israeli pressure for urgent action was not supported by the facts, saying that a decision was not necessary within the next weeks or months."

I didn't realize that disagreeing with people who want to defend Isreal, and telling Isreal they are not using facts is actually "backing Isreal", thanks for teching us MSNObama.(sarcasm)

The only thing Obama is "backing" is himself as he knows entering in yet another war will be unpopular with the liberal voters. Why do you think he has not sent resources to Syria?

the invisible hand will smite them down...do-wa-diddy...dum-diddy-do...

Obie is trying to run out the clock until the election on the many unsolved problems that he has to deal with. He wants to be re-elected so bad he probably would willing to do ANYTHING to stay in office. What frightens me about Obie is the feeling he and his foolish advisors will sooner or later miscalculate so badly (or intentionally to stay in office) that the country or an ally such as Israel will suffer enormously. And I am not talking about an Irag level situation but perhaps a hundred thousand dead US and Israelis. Or perhaps worse..a backing down from the Iranians creating years of problems for us and our allies in the MidEast. Obama should remember the old adage "The US has the means but not the will to eradicate militant Islam" "Militant Islam has the will but not the means to eradicate the west" What will happen when the Iranians and by their assciation with Hezzbolah, Hamas, Syria and the Muslim Brotherhood when Iran acquires the nuclear bomb. If you think the price of gas is high just wait and see if this happens and get ready for some modern day kamakazis. If 20 crazy ass Muslims were willing to crash themselves into the WTC & other places what do you think they will do if they have the opportunity to kill a few million westerners by a nuclear explosion, Germ warfare?

Obama said the incident made him think of his two daughters and his hopes that they can engage in issues they care about in the future. He said he doesn't want his daughters "attacked or called horrible names" for speaking their minds and being good citizens.

Yeah, but he can call every republican daughter "the ENEMY" and that is fine. I guess you have to be in certain groups in order to be able to speak your mind or engage in issues that you care about and still be allowed to be considered a good citizen. God I hope he loses in November. Not looking that way though.

Glad Netanyahu basically told the US that he is not seeking any ones permission to protect Israel.

don't forget he wanted Israel to go back to the 1967 borders. Is that how he cares deeply about Israel security, Lier !!!

David - He isn't actually showing "commitment", commitment would be endorsing Isreal's bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities, he refuses to do so, he actually refuses to do much of anything. Just more pissing off our allies and emboldening our enemies from B.O.

"Obama said his critics are forgetting the "cost of war" in their rush to punish Iran and defend Israel, which sees a nuclear Iran as a mortal threat in its Mideast neighborhood...

Obama said his private meetings with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu this week carried the same message as his public pronouncements. And he implied that Israeli pressure for urgent action was not supported by the facts, saying that a decision was not necessary within the next weeks or months."

I didn't realize that disagreeing with people who want to defend Isreal, and telling Isreal they are not using facts is actually "backing Isreal", thanks for teching us MSNObama.(sarcasm)

Israel,Israel,Israel.All we see on these boards are people posting to support a foreign country,over the interests of their own country,America.Its time to pass a law prohibiting politicians taking money from groups favoring foreign nations.Its past time for American politicians to be America firsters.

Exactly. Just like this talk about more offshore drilling.

Why do you think Obummer wants Netanyahu to postpone any plans to launch an assault on Iran until AFTER the November elections?

The Campaigner in Chief only cares about one thing, keeping his religiously oppressive regime in power for 4 more terrible years.

If you trust anyone to protect your interest you are either foolish or naive. Be they democrat, republican, Jewish, Iranian, Christian, Muslim when the do hits the fan your interest will go out with the bath water.

Democrats are Republicans in sheep's clothing, nothing more. Protect your own interests, unlike the useful idiots.

Just what is the basis for your trust in this failed, incompetent, unqualified president? Certainly, it can't be his actions. He hasn't done a damn thing, one way or the other, since he took office. The day after his inauguration, he started running for re-election, and he hasn't stopped. He knows his supporters only want to either pay no taxes or else to be on the government dole, most of them anyways. Half of the American electorate are lazy and stupid, and want only to be within the entitlement community, where the rest of the country pays their way through life. I have no confidence in Obama. If a real crisis happens, we are doomed, and half of us are too stupid to realize our predicament.

Of course he wants gas prices to go down, it helps him in his campaign. When and IF and thats a big if, he gets reelected, then there will be war at home and abroad with gas prices hitting $5. He has already declared war on the US citizens with NDAA. The district of criminals is so far out of touch with reality it boggles the mind. Vote out all incumbants at the state, local and federal levels.

Remember, "Under my energy policies, the price of energy will necessarily skyrocket!" Remember that little gem from Candidate Obama. Now he wants us to believe that he cares about the middle class's economic struggles! He will care until Nov. 7, 2012!

Road Warrior - go build a refinery if you want prices to come down.

The oil companies have not built one in over 30 years. All the oil in the world won't matter if it can't be refined.

US oil demand is down. US oil supplies are up. US oil prices are up. Most knowledgeable people explain this by pointing out that middle east uncertainty (i.e. the possibility of supply disruptions due to an Iranian-Israeli war) leads to speculators bidding up oil prices in the futures market. The Republicans simultaneously blame Obama for not being sufficiently forceful with Iran and for being responsible for high oil prices. Their calls for war in Iran and/or Syria actually contributes to the problem. These are the same people who blame Obama for "lack of leadership" and then attempt to stymie everything he tries to do. Now George Will is saying the next presidential election is a lost cause for his fellow Republicans and they should instead focus on maintaining control of the House and gaining control of the Senate in order to prevent Obama from enacting the agenda that the people will surely elect him to enact. I, for one, sincerely hope that the American electorate will, in their wisdom, throw the entire lot out of office and on to the street.

Hey--someotherguy--you said it right! All Republicans are slimy scumbags. Their creed is greed, their god is Mammon and their master: Satan. I hope they all join their master soon!

Yes, Someotherguy, exactly. Also, our Justice Dept. is looking at speculators. Remember what they did to us the last time?

You think gas prices are high, try bombing Iran. What in the world are these people thinking?

WTF are you even talking about? Get your head outta your arse.

Obama is always getting caught in his own lies.

Remember the promise to close GITMO?

Or the promise to reduce the debt/deficit?

Or how about the promise to pass a balanced budget? He hasn't proposed a balanced budget since he took office and the Democrats in the Senate won't give him one anyway. They're too busy spending us into oblivion. What's Obama projecting for total national debt by the end of his second term if he gets one? $20 trillion!! That's his number, not mine.

So we should listen to all the RW talking loons. More wars. Just what we need! And BTW genius. This wouldn't be another Iraq or Afghanistan. Iran will fight. The body bags of our children will come back by the 1000s. And for what? For WHAT?

Is this a rhetorical question or are you that stupid as to why we would not want the most hostile country in the world to have nuclear weapons. You tree hugging left wing-nuts are going to get us all killed! We also will fight and fight well. You would know this and not be afraid if you also were a part of the solution instead of the problem. I bet you haven't served this country in the armed services have you! Being afraid of casualties is not the reason for not stopping this or any country to walk all over the United States of America. You sir are a Liberal Coward!

US security needs the same as Israel security - to prevent Iran from reaching nukes. Unfortunately, anti-Semites are incapable to do something good for their country if this might be good also for Jews. Hitler knew this and used anti-Semitism to begin WWII. Now Muslims use anti-Semitism to destroy US and the world.

Anti-Semitism is a poisonous weapon of all worst evil forces against the Free World!

I cannot EVER watch the ignoramus, pea-brained PHONIES and liars on Fox FAKE news. You've got to be a first class useful idiot to watch that piece of feces channel. Frack Fox FAKE news!

Jimee, time for your meds.

jimee whats with u, dont want some one going outside the msnbc propaganda, channel

Me too care deeply about israel's security, because the way they are going, something bad will happen to them and US will have to go in and save their butt...And make more enemies in the process

This is really no different than Obama catering to Afhgans in the past year( especially after that Quran burning). I would personally be more inclined to back up Israel than to go through that crap with the arabs again.

I am sorry to burst your bubble, but you should actually finish the quote if you are going to use it. What he said was "Israel should go back to the 1967 borders as a starting point"

"The 1967 borders as a starting point" has always been the diplomatic negotiating position of the US and is nothing new with Obama but the repubs would like you to think otherwise. Kind of like how mandating insurance was initiated by republicans and now they can't stop screaming about it. They are simply against any policy/position that Obama forwards. If they thought it was a good idea then, then why not now?

Same with the 1967 border starting point issue - just fine under a republican administration but now...?

And who told you he killed Binladen willingly? didn't you see his face while he was watching it.....reluctantly!!!

so, now you are a mind reader to? and by the way, since you guys seem to think he is so powerful that he can walk all over the Constitution, who exactly FORCED him to take out Bin Ladin?

I seriously doubt he willingly did it!!

So then who forced him? Come on now, back up your premise!

What do you think would happen when every one around him knew that it was the perfect opportunity to kill Bibladen and he said no? he is not that stupid. He will be accused of treason. Is that enough reason for you? think harder!!

I guess that same logic aplied to the somolia pirates, the Somalia kidnappers and that other ali something that he had taken out with preditor drones. Right? BTW, an assumption does NOT back up a premise.

Big difference between pirates and Iran or Binladen! you don't need a presidential order to kill pirates !!

You do if you are using Americam Military to do it!

Talk about worldjustice2 grasping at straws - never heard of such a ridiculous assumption in my life. Is that all he's got?

Time to give up.

Brent, you do know that every president has used a teleprompter right? (at least since they were invented)

We have changed .....we have changed into a hated , broken, welfare nation.....Isn't that what everyone wanted?

Jack ....Did the teleprompter tell him to say " I got Israel's back" ? Wise words......Did his advisers come up with that one ? Or was that an ad lib

I don't really know and chose not to make an assumption. It may be alright for others, but I try to back up what I say with documentable facts.

Jack....what have I posted that is not factual ? .....what assumptions have I made ? Did your beloved POTUS not do or say the things I have mentioned ?

Pvaldes, we are broken and broke because this slug of a president gave away so much money to his lazy no working voters. The same ones that will put him back in. Where does that leave you? Moron

Bman ....I did not vote for the slug ....I was simply saying the same thing you were in a different way . I guess you don't understand sarcasm do you .....MORON.

Because he is a fake president!!

If you truly cared about this drivel Why aren't you suited up and ready to go fight? Why won't you pay more taxes to defend your nation? Why do you think we should pander to the jewish state? Why do you think these problems just popped up and something has to be done now?

@ Rick .....Because they are our Allies and have been one of (if not the only one) in the entire region for decades. Because without Israel we would totally lose any influence we have in the middle east.... We would be at the mercy of a unified Arab front .......Do you want to fight PERSIA ? That is what is happening.... Hammas, Hezbola , Al Qaeda, The Taliban, The Muslim Brotherhood. This is why Iran funds and arms these organizations. I cannot believe the lunacy on this vine..... The complete ignorance of the situation and the ability of people like you to NOT see what is right in front of your nose!!!!

Because people with a brain elected him to do just this. By a landslide. Next question?

Leroy ....Is that right ? If people with a brain had voted ....he would not be in office. I can only hope that your brainiacs do not show up in November. Hopefully they will be to busy with their Xboxes and flat screen televisions .....

I am old enough to remember how jackie robinson was talked about when he entered baseball. an it never stoped. yet he continued to show greatness .

Sure PV, that's why Obama gets 65% of postgrads and 30% of people with high school grads!!! You may think you're smart, but in reality you're nothing more than a Faux "News" puppet!! Therefore, I agree with you that we should all hope the brainiacs show up in November.

This is not the time to be hawkish. Try to think through what a military strike on Iran would do to the region. President Obama is handling a difficult situation in the correct way. War is the final option, not the first. Iran is, at best, two years away from a warhead that can be delivered to Israel on a rocket. You actually want boots on the ground? If so, you should be filling those boots.

Continue sanctions, make the option of eventual military prosecution clearly known, calm down Netanyahu so that he does not provoke a war. All the right moves.

the middle east...LOL...religion will kill ya...poor mind washed hate filled space between their ears praying to a invisible ...hows that working out for them...

Let me try and help you all out here - because I know rational thought processes can be difficult.

Why do you continue to downplay the seriousness of the situation?

Because, believe it or not, America was more widely respected when we practiced a form of international persuasion other than Cowboy Diplomacy (a form of diplomacy sponsored by the "yeehaw shoot'em up moron of a President" who thankfully couldn't run for a third term, George W(hy-in-the-hell-are-we-in-another-war) Bush). We've become the school-yard bully who forces kids weaker then us to do what by bloodying some noses to make our case. America is better than that. We don't need to rely on missiles to get done what we want. I don't believe President Obama wants another war (and I think he, correctly, realizes that the average American won't stand for one). If nothing else, he serves as a good counterpoint to Republican warmongering.

Why do you undermine Israel at every turn?

He's not undermining Israel. Even IF Iran develops a nuclear weapon (which could occur in as quickly as two months)... it will take far longer to develop a means by which a nuclear weapon could be attached to a missile (let's say an additional six months). It's not undermining Israel by any means by saying... "hold up here and let's see what we can get done diplomatically". Truth be told, if all accounts are correct and the economic sanctions go into place, you already have some bureaucrats in Iran saying it will be tantamount to war. Let's assume that Iran has no intention of developing nuclear weapons. Then they'll open up to the IAEA and we move forward rather than facing crippling sanctions. I don't care how "on principle" your stance is, you're not going to shut down your economy totally to make a point. They'll either comply, they'll "attack" the US or our interests or they'll accept the economic sanctions and then get ousted by the people of Iran. Out of those three possible outcomes, none of them are losers for our interests. And if intel does show that Iran is getting close to developing a bomb and a missile delivery system... then, as President Obama has said... all options are on the table.

Why do you continue to attempt diplomacy with tyrants?

I'm sure some of these countries ask the same thing of their leaders when conducting diplomacy with us. One person's tyrant is another person's hero. Set that aside. Engagement only works if we continue to keep the lines of communication open. Diplomacy costs nothing. War costs lives. You tell me why we continue to attempt diplomacy.

Why do you play politics with the safety of our friends and allies?

Because the President, believe it or not, is not elected by our "friends and allies". He's responsible to us. When one "friend and ally" asks us to come along to the school yard for an old fashion throw down... and all of our other friends are telling us not to do so - who exactly would you listen to? The UK, France and all of the other traditional friends of the US are not commiting to action here. Personally? I'll listen to the voice of the masses. If Israel is actively being attacked, that's a horse of a different color.

Why do you go out of your way to remove Khadafi and not Assad?

We didn't remove Khadafi. The rebels did that. What the US did do was to enforce a "no fly" zone over Libya. That prevented Khadafi from using his inventory of airplanes to "bomb the opposition" into dust. If the UN Security Council made a similar declaration with regards to Syria, I'm sure that we'd be right there doing our part. The only way that action was cleared in Libya was because Russia and China obstained rather than casting a veto vote (actually, 5 countries abstained... China, Russia, India, Brazil and India). Your real question is why would China and Russia abstain and not veto action in Libya... but threaten to veto such action in Syria. Let me help you understand that... it's because their national interests (read that as profits) weren't so tangled up in Libya. The current regime in Syria is very tied into Chinese and Russian interests and so any action taken to limit Syria's current government will be vetoed quicker than you can sneeze.

Why have you pulled our troops out and destabilized the region?

Because that's what "we the people" have told him we want. The US can no longer afford to be the world's policeman. At some point, other nations have to step up to the plate and take some responsibility. The Arab League - at least in terms of the Middle East - seems better capable and more suited to helping nation states.

Why do you do the things you do???

Because he's the President I elected and apparently, not the one that you elected. Considering where John McCain has come down on this whole issue, thank God for President Obama. If McCain had his way, we'd already been nuts-deep into another war.

The US is trying to restrain Israel from acting with a military solution. Chinese and Russian interests are tangled up very heavily with Syria and Iran. Here's exactly what we're afraid of - and rightfully so...

Israel pre-emptively strikes "nuclear" targets in Iran. The Ayatollah in Iran declares a holy war inciting all Muslim nations to rise up against Israel. The war spreads to other lunatic fringe Muslim nations and, in the interests of protecting our friend, Israel... the US intercedes militarily on behalf of Israel. Since it's no longer Israel against Iran - but Israel and the US against various Muslim nations... you can bet your bippy China and Russia will get involved to protect their interests. Now, a regional conflict has become a worldwide conflict. I'm painting a worst case scenario... but I don't think it's that far out of the realm of possibility should Israel strike.

I wouldn't have as much of a problem with a "nuclear Iran" if they didn't go around threatening to blow Israel off the map everytime that nutjob President of theirs got a bad itch to say something inciting - so I agree with protecting Israel. But I certainly don't think giving diplomacy a chance to work prior to risking an all out world war is such a bad option.

Tired of Stupidity-946705 said it all. Your worst case scenario is not so far-fetched. It is no secret how depleted we are after the last ten years of war. This could easily proliferate outside of the middle east. I used to like McCain, but he has turned into a bit of an old coot. Can you imagine where we would be with a President McCain or Santorum? Chilling.

re 22.10

Well, Quadaffi had to be removed because there was no "Rothschild" owned central bank in Libya. Look out N.Korea; you're next.

I would hardly call the CIA and foreign "Al CIA-duh" forces "rebels."

But we sure got rid of all that people having a stake in the natty resources of Libya, didn't we. Can't be having free housing and electricity... or 0.16 dollars a litre for gasoline. Somebody, somewhere, best be getting paid for that.

That's a dumb analogy.

he didn't sleep in a holiday inn...thats for sure...

Hey TOS! Nicely done! We had all better hope we can solve it diplomatically, if it comes to war and it turns region wide, $8 for a gallon of gas would probably be a bargain. Then again with oil running possibly $200 a barrel or more, our economy would be destroyed and nobody would have any place to go anyway (except for fleeing from the cities).

Then all the super powers (us included) would war over the resources .....That is not a solution ..you're being absurd

Murphy my friend .... what are you talking about ??

Murphy, what half would that be. The top half or the bottom half. SCAM.

Nuke-em! Nuke-em! Nuke-em!

leave them alone i enjoy the comedy...the infidels need to...let them practice their religion...show a little brotherhood...

Yeah nuke the middle east, then we could pay $200 per gallon.