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07-04-2008, 01:19 AM
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Political Mastermind
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Canada
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Any summit between Obama and Ahmadinejad would be a repeat of the Kennedy-Khrushchev Summit. Scott Johnson had a good piece on this in The Daily Standard:
The Kennedy-Khrushchev Conference for Dummies
If Obama goes in there without a firm and realistic agenda, Ahmadinejad is going to perceive him as weak and inexperienced and treat him as such - the same way that Khrushchev manhandled Kennedy in Vienna. Obama will then be forced to prove that he is strong and escalate the confrontation and provoke a greater crisis as Kennedy did or he will have to turn passive and become another Jimmy Carter. Given that he already seems committed on reducing the US presence in the region, I can't see him turning course and becoming another Kennedy, can you?
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07-04-2008, 01:21 AM
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Political Mastermind
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: East Coast
Posts: 1,090
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cat's meow
Clinton had a full on military strike with Desert Fox, it was successful.
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Only at postponing his impeachment hearing. The UN inspectors never returned to Iraq for the remainder of his Presidency, which was the stated reason for the attacks in the first place.
__________________
Has there ever been a presidential nominee with a wider gap between his estimation of himself and the sum total of his lifetime achievements?
Charles Krauthammer
History Lesson: Obama's Iraq Documentary
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07-04-2008, 01:22 AM
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Machiavelli Incarnate
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 13,600
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The Weekly Standard is a Neocon propaganda rag, and it's editorrs should be taken to task for their lies.
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07-04-2008, 01:24 AM
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Political Mastermind
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: East Coast
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cordelier
If Obama goes in there without a firm and realistic agenda, Ahmadinejad is going to perceive him as weak and inexperienced and treat him as such
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I don't even think he needs a meeting with Obama to come to that conclusion. He probably already has.
__________________
Has there ever been a presidential nominee with a wider gap between his estimation of himself and the sum total of his lifetime achievements?
Charles Krauthammer
History Lesson: Obama's Iraq Documentary
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07-04-2008, 01:26 AM
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Political Mastermind
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Canada
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Quote:
Originally Posted by A. Crowley
If Israel thinks it's prudent to bomb Iranian nuke facilities in the absence of actionable intelligence about a weapons program we should cut the country out of our foreign aid program and isolate them in the interest of world peace.
Iran would be remiss in its duty to the people not to develop alternative energy sources, and the ME makes as good a place as any for such things.
The world will become an especially ugly place if some fool drops a "usable nuke" or starts a bombing campaign on Iran.
Plenty of time for diplomacy; and Neocons are proven liars.
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Ahmadinejad has talked about wiping Israel off the map... what are they supposed to do? Write it off as rhetoric? Israel can't afford to wait until it's clear that Iran has a nuclear weapon - if the US loses it's resolve to deal from a position of strength, Israel's choices are stark: either Iran desists in it's nuclear program or Israel has to act.
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07-04-2008, 01:28 AM
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Machiavelli Incarnate
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Mid-south
Posts: 11,158
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cordelier
The stakes are a lot different, but the dynamics are the same. In the end, it's all about perceived strength, bluff, and backbone.
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There is no way this is a one on one fight. Just as GHWBush got a coalition to deal with Saddam in Kuwait, Obama would need to (and is smart enough to) get backing from other sources to be there with any Iranian talks. This is in no way monolithic because the real issue is getting the Israelis to the table just as much as the Iranians. That is just one part of this, there are other factors too.
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07-04-2008, 01:28 AM
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Political Mastermind
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Join Date: Apr 2006
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Obama's Empty Suit
I don't even think he needs a meeting with Obama to come to that conclusion. He probably already has.
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All the more reason not to reinforce the perception.
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07-04-2008, 01:30 AM
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Political Mastermind
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Canada
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cat's meow
There is no way this is a one on one fight. Just as GHWBush got a coalition to deal with Saddam in Kuwait, Obama would need to (and is smart enough to) get backing from other sources to be there with any Iranian talks. This is in no way monolithic because the real issue is getting the Israelis to the table just as much as the Iranians. That is just one part of this, there are other factors too.
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I thought Obama was in favour of unconditional one-on-one talks with Iran?
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07-04-2008, 01:30 AM
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Machiavelli Incarnate
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 13,600
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Any attack by Iran on Israel intending to destroy the nation is suicide, period.
Ahmadinijad's actual words were interpreted incorrectly.
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07-04-2008, 01:32 AM
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Political Mastermind
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 1,823
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Quote:
Originally Posted by A. Crowley
The Weekly Standard is a Neocon propaganda rag, and it's editorrs should be taken to task for their lies.
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Hate the game, not the player... judge the article on it's own merits.
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