DU = WMD

[arisbe]

"Of course, even when they knew it wasn’t true that Iraq had imported yellow cake – thanks to Joseph Wilson, husband of Valerie Plame – the administration continued to cynically hype the fear. They knew that only a threatened and credulous public would support this war. But the cynicism that allows elected leaders to use a false fear of nuclear weapons to manipulate people doesn’t begin to match the cynicism of those same leaders who are using nuclear weapons themselves and lying about it." --Kim Hawkins and Robert Shetterly

Comments

[sparkle-shortz.livejournal.com]

God, how disturbing.

[arisbe.livejournal.com]

This is nothing new. We were using the stuff against the Serbs.

I'll tell you what upset me yesterday. It was a paragraph in The American Conservative (yes, you should read it, three dollars at Borders or B and N) to the effect that there is a contingency plan for a first use of nuclear bombs against Iran in case of any major terrorist attack against the US, whether the Iranis were involved or not. Which is an open invitation to those who desire such a war to make such an attack. My worst fantasy is that this will happen just in time to cancel the 2008 elections...

[bela.livejournal.com]

That contingency plan may exist -- I'm skeptical -- but I can't imagine it would ever be implemented. Is Dubya so foolish as to believe that the United States wouldn't be instantly isolated?
Even if the U.S. were to opt for a 'conventional' war against Iran, the American economy wwould be sunk in a matter of weeks:

- having seen two of it members attacked, OPEC would probably stop pricing oil in $USD and start pricing it in Euros
- other nations would follow suit, dumping their dollars in favor of other currencies
- east Asia (in particular Japan and China) would dump their American paper or at the very least stop re-financing America's debt

Those measures alone would be catastrophic. Yes, it would hurt the Chinese in particular, who export most of their goods to the U.S., but the kinds of problems generated by sudden, mass unemployment are easy to deal with when a repressive state apparatus is in place. (Don't believe me? You need only look to the DPRK for proof that economic collapse need not lead to a change in government/government policy.)
There would be a level of inflation in the U.S. that would rival Weimar Germany's hyperinflation of the 1920s. The Great Depression would look like good times by comparison.
Speaking of the DPRK, they've learned some very important lessons from the attack on Iraq, namely that if a foreign power determines you're part of some fantasy-inspired Axis of Evil, it helps to mention that you have nuclear weapons, along with a formidable chemical/biological arsenal that could kill millions within a matter of minutes. (Needless to say, those factors combined with the proximity of China mean that the U.S. won't be launching attacks on the DPRK anytime soon.) Also, the DPRK has been selling missiles to Iran. Wanna bet they're cooperating on nuclear technology as well?
No, I can't imagine the current group of neocons would be so stupid. I've been wrong about these things before, but in this case the cost would be just too damn high.
Eventually Canada, America's largest trading partner -- I'm amazed how few Americans actually know this -- could find other markets in Europe/Asia for our goods. Our imports from the U.S. could be replaced by those from other countries. Our balance sheet is pretty good. Our federal government has run surpluses for more than a decade, and our dollar has proven to be surprisingly stable given our resource-based economy. Hmmm....so in the long-term, Canada might actually benefit from America's geopolitical suicide.
OK, I've changed my mind. Go for it!
Then, if you're lucky, we'll buy you out for, say, five cents on the dollar. Hey....free healthcare! ;-)

[pioneer11.livejournal.com]

Not only this, but I've heard commentary that we should do a
MAD thing with the Muslims. It works like this; if any American
city is attacked with an Al Queda nuke we will use nukes to flatten
Mecca.

Sean Hannity or Neil Bortz on the radio, I'm not sure.