This is interesting.. That's three tops Israeli officials who are saying Iran is not a threat.. although this guy seems to be saying that Iran is not a thret to Israel, but a threat to everyone. Also... Head of OPEC just announced they won't get into it with Iran. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4172169,00.html 'Iran does not pose an existential threat ' Contrary to statements made when he was in office, former IDF chief Dan Halutz now negates 'doomsday scenarios' vis-à-vis Iran Shiri Hadar "Iran does not pose an existential threat to Israel," former IDF Chief Dan Halutz said Friday. Halutz spoke at a strategy seminar held in Herzliya. "Iran poses a serious threat to Israel, but there is difference between 'serious' and 'existential,'" he said. Halutz' current position on the matter stands in stark contrast to the one he held when he served as the chief of staff. "We may find ourselves facing an existential threat if Iran continues to pursue its nuclear ambitions it's the only existential threat I can perceive for Israel," he said in 2006. In October of 2006 he reiterated his position, saying: "(Israel) cannot remain indifferent to Iran, it has a combination of radical ideology with an intense desire to obtain nuclear weapons and the desire to destroy Israel." Six year later and Halutz now sports a more moderate position: "I don't think there's room for any doomsday scenarios or comparisons with the Holocaust. I also don't think Israel should be the one to lead any operation against Iran." An existential threat, he explained "is defined as the other side's ability to obliterate us off the face of the earth. That doesnt apply nor do I think it will. "I don't think we should sit idly by, but I don't think Israel should be leading the issue Israel should make sure it remains a high priority on the international agenda, but Iran is a global problem not just Israel's problem. " The public debate on the matter "has crossed the lines. Some things should have never been said," he added. Halutz said that Israel was surprised by the Arab Spring: "We didn't imagine any of what happened over the past year Still, I don't think we'll see democracies pop up in the Middle East very fast, especially in Egypt and Syria." The latter, he added, does not pose an existential threat to Israel either: "A weak Syria is a Syria that weakens Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Iranian-Syrian-Hezbollah-Hamas axis," he said. "A weak Syria is one that weakens Turkey too, and we have to use these changes to our advantage, turn enemies to friends and vice versa even if we have to swallow our pride every once in a while." 'Women's exclusion worse than terror' Halutz also addressed the recent phenomenon of excluding women from the public sphere and called it: "Worse than any form of terrorist as it divides and weakens." "We cannot have an army within an army; where every group has a different patron." He added that this created uncertainty over the correct chain of command and authority on a day to day basis. He believes that this situation is worse than "the war of Gog and Magog." Halutz added that the situation was very challenging for the IDF: "It's divisive and it causes us to be weaker. Now it's the singer on the stage, tomorrow it's the female fighter pilot. What happens if the female pilot will have to fly with a yarmulke wearing pilot? We might reach a point where we have to exclude from there as well." Halutz stressed that the question of the shared burden of service is not disconnected from the operational challenges. "The nature of wars of army versus army has changed right before our eyes. The battles are longer and exhausting and require patience. The places us with a major challenge that is becoming more and more difficult and complicated."
You know the upshot of all this posturing may just be higher gas prices. Oil is at $113 a barrel today.
LOL... ya think? I've noticed Ahmadinejad starts getting pretty mouthy at $100 per barrel. The higher it goes, the mouthier he gets. Now, about Iran not being a threat? Oh sure. He was just kidding when he spoke of nuclear war and wiping Israel off the map. He's really just a warm, fuzzy guy who's misunderstood by Neocons. Thank god we have reasonable, rational people like you to talk us down.
LOLOL.. He does get mouthier as the ppb goes up. They aren't going to nuke Israel EVER. They have too much to lose.
The rumor is that Amadinejad really got a bachelor's degree in Marketing... Too bad he didn't take any courses in military history... if he had he would know what the rest of the world knows: that any supposition that Iran is, or even could be a threat to the United States is pure idiocy on the grandest scale....
You're probably right. However, we are dealing with Muslim extremists who want to bring about Armageddon. As such, potential targets should protect themselves. I don't think a nut like Ahmadinejad should have a nuclear weapon. That would be like giving Barack Obama and Democrats control over our nation's finances. And look how that turned out.
They don't want to bring about Armageddon.. and I don't think Ajmahdinejad is nuts.... This 12 Imam stuff is like talking about Christian Zionists wanting to bring on the Rapture.
...there is one person that worries me, any religious extremist...christian or muslim makes no difference to me, they both will do something for a higher power...so, if some wacked out muslim has his/her finger on the button, they won't think twice about pushing the button...whereas a sane person (liberals excluded) won't... Kabuki Joe
Which of course is anti-free market bull(*)(*)(*)(*). Has demand suddenly increased? Has the supply dropped? No. People are gouging the price based of the bull(*)(*)(*)(*) excuse of what might happen someday in the future.
The world should be fortunate that Iran is greedy enough to not be suicidal. As long as nations deal with them for oil, they have not one thing to gain from being a violent threat. Having said that, they will always talk a tough ideological game, simply because the deranged leadership of the country can't show weakness to its deranged citizenship, and Iranian elite demand certain specific lifestyles (which include religious oppression and indoctrination, dominance over women, racial and cultural bias and exclusivity, etc). The only time to really take threats from Iran seriously is when all nations stop dealing with them for oil. If the foreign money dries up, then they become a threat to the world out of shear desperation. Right now, they are only a threat to their own citizens, which is what really drives most international ire.
He's nuttier than a fruitcake, but Iranians on the whole are somewhat culturally sophiscated....I don't think they want collective suicide. The real danger here is the fruitcake selling nuclear weapon technology to terrorist groups who would have no qualms using it..either in Israel, Europe or the United States. That is a very real potential threat. Iran had no problems selling weaponry to Iraqi insurgents...weaponry used to kill American troops. Make no mistake, Iran is our enemy...however America is in no position to wage yet another Middle Eastern war....
And yet again more anti Iran propaganda... If China was Islamic the focus would be on China. It's about religion (Islam), not about a nuclear threat (thats the fear mongering part) Post 9/11, and all countries in the Middle East need to be joined under one umbrella, one big union (like the Sowiet Union) This union and another Roman/German type empire (will be the USA within a few year of the people are going to vote in mass and become euforic) is what they need to start a big war between the two empires (same situation as NS Germany and communist Russia), this time a hundred times bigger. The wo biggest religions in the world must pay attention for this part in history, Christianity and Islam. This is were it is all about (a super wealthy world elite is trying to cause the biggest religious war in the history of the world)
True, in a sense - the Iranian regime is obviously trying to manipulate the oil market. On the other hand, the markets hate instability, so this is the natural result of how the free market operates. I'm not happy with the traders and speculators, either, because it's obvious to me that Tehran isn't going to try and close the Straits of Hormuz. However, in all fairness, I don't expect these people to play geostrategist - I expect them to play it safe with theirs and other people's money.
Say what? They have too much to lose? Lose what, lives? When did the thought of danger to one's own live ever stopped suicide bombers? think Margot, think...
...no more then Bachmann, I wouldn't want either one of those 2 in control of my personal fate... Kabuki Joe
Ol' Amajnutjob will be out of a job soon enough. There seems to be a pretty big rift growing between him and the Clerics, who really run the country.
