Iran. Keep pushing those buttons.

The BBQ Pit
1

What the fuck are you thinking? Keep pushing the buttons. Eventually you’ll hit the righ combination of numbers that will make the phone in Washington ring. And the US will always answer the phone.

We already have publicly stated that you are on the short list of regimes that are under serious consideration of an attack. You’re more a threat than Iraq was and look what happened with that. A lot of this thread, should it continue beyond personal insults, will be arguments of the Iraq war. I’m hoping everyone can focus on the issue of Iran. It’s a different animal entirely.

This article mentions the off-hand, unimportant claim by the Iranian President that Isreal should be wiped of the face of Earth. There is a small hint that the Jews should also be eliminated. But what do I know? Maybe I’m reading too much into it.

What if an American President said the same? We’d have 846 Pit threads referencing the other 8323 threads calling for impeachment.

Then we get the typical “We was misunderstood” blather from the Iranians. That claim no ill will while saying killing Jews and wiping out Israel is a valid stance. Hitler was less vehement in this idea. At the very least he tried to hide it.

And of course, we get the quote of the year proving world peace will never be achieved as long as these fucks are in charge.

Good to know. Since you (Iran) are the final say in all things fair, we at least have a starting point. Christ, when Russia is pimp-slapping you over this shit, maybe it’s time you rethink your strategy.

For the love of Pete, even North Korea and Kim Jung Mentally-Il have learned that playing the game can get some concessions. Iran is just tempting a shitstorm since 1979. How can they not see this one coming from a bunker-buster away? And yet again the UN gets pie in the face for even trying to deal with these psychos.

2

My guess is that somebody is gonna get nuked in the next 10 years.

3

Perhaps the Iranians figure that, given they can cause serious difficulties for the occupation in Iraq just by showing a few guys how to build bombs, that they might be enough of a threat that America daren’t go near them?

Or maybe they figure that as they’ve been saying this stuff for decades, the sudden bizarre focus by the western media is nothing other than just that?

4

The Western Media isn’t the group calling for the extermination of the Jewish state. The country actively persuing nuclear weapons is. Small difference, sure. But still a cause for concern. I wonder what kind of uproar we’d see if Bush said outright that Muslims need to be wiped off the face of the Earth.

Eh, never mind. Even without going that far it seems Bush is still worse. Where the fuck is the outrage around here about a head of state calling for the extermination of Isreal? What the fuck validity is there in this stance from Tehran? Why the fuck does it take little ole me to bring this up on the vaunted SDMB?

Maybe the Jews don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Maybe Scooter is more important in the overall picture of world politics? How this is missed by so many is beyond me. The President of Iran is calling for the destruction of Isreal, yet it’s a blip on the radar to so many.

I’d say shocking, but it’s almost expected.

5

They have Russia behind them. They feel they can say whatever they wish.

Lonesome

6

Nothing to see here. Move along. :rolleyes:

7

What buttons? You mean these ones with “Launch” written on them?

OK…

…

8

No, no, no. That says “lunch”.

9

Sure, it’s not as if any other middle eastern nation has ever called for the annihilation of Israel. You didn’t actually think our shining democracy in Iraq would force Iran to moderate its behaviour, did you? We invaded the country next door, and in response, the Iranian’s elected a reactionary hardass.

10

Ah, the real reason for this thread becomes clear. It’s not about Iran at all. It’s about how all the crazy leftists and liberals on the SDMB, by their conspiratorial silence on this issue, are tacitly supporting the reactionary regime in Iran. And of course we also believe that the only person in the world who should be criticized for anything is George Bush.

Seriously duffer, get the fuck over ourself.

If it makes you any happier, let me officially and formally agree with you that the comments by the Iranian President about Israel were barbaric and unacceptable and deserve the condemnation of the entire civilized world. Happy now?

What more do you want? Are we supposed to express shock or surprise that Iran has reactionary leaders who say shit like this? Perhaps if your vaunted leader hadn’t spent the last four years doing everything possible to antagonize Iran, the forces of moderation that were beginning to have some success in that country might now be the ones in charge.

And your whole schtick about Bush is stupid. As has been pointed out on a multitude of occasions before, despite its large international contingent this is, primarily, an American message board. It stands to reason that we spend more time arguing about things that we actually have some say in (i.e., the presidency of the United States) than about things that we can’t do very much about (the presidency of Iran).

Also, the fact that there was no thread about this issue suggests to me that most Dopers probably feel that there’s not much to argue about. The president of Iran called for wiping Israel off the map. What’s to argue about? Do you seriously think that someone is going to come on here and defend the statement. It strikes me that this is one of those things where most intelligent people just look at the evidence, say “OK, the guy’s a fucking raving lunatic,” and move on.

That’s not to say, of course, that there’s nothing to talk about on this issue. For example, we could have a good discussion about what this might or might not mean for past and future US policy in the region. We could ask whether a hard line is the best one to take in the interests of future peace, or whether a more conciliatory tone is likely to do the job better. We could discuss the question of other countries in the region, and how they are likely to react to the statement, and what this might mean for the alliances and friendships in the area. There are myriad important questions and issues to talk about.

But your self-righteous twaddle and thinly-veiled accusations that the liberals and leftists of the Straight Dope are somehow tacitly supporting Ahmadinejad is not the way to instigate an intelligent discussion.

Actually, come to think of it, maybe you’re the wrong person to instigate such a discussion under any circumstances.

11

Ah good thing we have you duffer or we would have missed Iran saying the same damn thing every country in the region has been saying for the past 50 years.

12

Well, that’s valid if Isreal came under serious attack only after the Iraq war. I seem to recall a story or three before even the first Gulf War that mentioned Iran spouting desire of not only obliterating the Isreali state, but also the destruction of Western governments overall. Including, but not limited to, the US, England, France, Germany, Russia, et al, etc and myriad other “those not mentioned”.

When they burn the flags in effigy of the countries they oppose, it sends a serious message of what they hope to accomplish. There is a serious reason some Americans see flag burning as a problem. The burner’s are equated to these people.

I wonder what kind of press I’d get, and how much support I’d garner here, if I went out tomorrow and burned an Iranian flag? I can only guess what would be said of me for doing so.

Yet, the Iranian government has gotten away with sanctioning it for more than 25 years. And the UN keeps them in the highest regard. Iran hates the US. Sorry, lefties, they hate you as well. It isn’t about politics to them. They hate you and want to kill you. If you haven’t figured that one out by now, there is no hope getting it through your skulls. It doesn’t fucking matter what you hold near and dear in US politics. Iranians want to kill you.

Yes, I’m aware those apologists will come in and tell me I’m wrong. I simply refer you to the official statements coming out of Tehran. They want you dead.

Defend them if you want. I’m sure they will have a grand ole time using your words against you. The fact remains, they want you dead.

How anyone here can defend this regime is beyond me. Even those that insist Bush is the anti-Christ, yet defend anything Tehran says, baffles me. The fact that so many here think Bush is worse than a leader advocating and outright calling for the end of Isreal says a lot about fighting the percieved ignorance. If nothing else, at least Hitler tried to hide the fact he was trying to eliminate destroying the Jews. Sure, he made no bones about he death camps, but he also tried to hide it. He never went before the League of Nations calling for the destruction of the Jewish State.

Iran should be applauded for standing up for itself. They want the Jews dead and they aren’t afraid to say so. And they get to say it in The UN. And the UN is in a tizzy about what is being said. And the UN isn’t sure if they should condemn it and pimp-slap them for saying it. Or if they should just chalk it up to the US being the bad guy.

Iran, and many others, want every Jew dead. The fact that Hitler is oft quoted as an evil person, yet a current administration is allowed to say and do the same things, says a lot about the current state of affairs. Iran still gets a say in the UN. Would anyone, these days, accept Hitler’s words in anything involving Jews? There is no fucking difference in what Tehran is saying now and what Hitler said 70 years ago.

How there isn’t universal outrage about this is beyond comprehension. We have a UN-recognized regime that puts Hitler to shame, and they are defended. Any idea why the UN is seen as a pointless, overblown, bloated, non-entity?

13

duffer? Minor nitpick. It’s petty of me, but I can’t help it, after too many times seeing it.

It’s Israel. Not Isreal. Israel.

Carry on.

14

Well, speaking only for myself, i’d give you exactly the same reaction as if you burned a US flag—indifference. Burn a piece of cloth if you want. I don’t give a flying fuck.

I can’t recall any leftists arguing otherwise, particularly about the hard-liners currently in power.

Why do you feel the need to make pre-emptive statements implying that us “lefties” are interested in defending Iran or these recent statements? Why not wait until such defenses are made, and then address them? I have the feeling you’ll be waiting for quite a while.

Could you point out these defenders for me, because i must confess that i can’t recall seeing any around here.

Again, who said that? Put up, or shut up.

15

It sort of reminds me of the whole China/Taiwan thing actually. Whenever China needs to stir things up for whatever obscure political reasons they rattle the old sabres at Taiwan. I think that Iran has less chance than China of successfully wiping out Israel…while conversely Israel probably could put Iran’s crank in the golf shoes a hell of a lot more effectively than Taiwan could China’s. YMMV but I think this was just Iran’s annual rant for political reasons. Even if Iran gets the bomb lets not forget that Israel already has more than one. Also, its hard for me to believe that Iran would drop a bomb on Israel and perhaps risk making access to Jerusalem become problematic (leaving aside the fact that doing so would probably see multiple Iranian cities instantly turned to glass). Isn’t that the whole point of kicking the Jews out after all?

-XT

16

Obviously it is a good thing I said it. There is a country calling for the destruction of not only another country, but a race of people. Yet this isn’t a big deal around here.

I’ll keep that in mind in the future. Jews being decimated an obliterated = OK! Good to know.

Of course, I made a typo in spelling Isreal, so anything I say is invalid. :rolleyes:

17

This is a good point. Jerusalem is perhaps the third most holy city in Islam. Iran would make no friends by destroying it.

That said, I utterly and contemptfully dismiss Mr. Ahmadinejad’s comments as unworthy of the leader of a civilized nation. (Does that make you feel better, duffer?)

18

I plugged “isreal” into google and got 2.2 million hits.

19

XT don’t forget that we have along with Iran the usual players of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, various factions in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UAE, et al. All in a rabid frenzy trying to kill the Jewish state. But the rest of you can defend Iran. No reason to read anything into killing off as many Jews as possible.

Can any of you cite one fucking thing more prevalent than killing Jews in the Middle East? It’s a hallmark and has been for decades. Stay in denial. Keep telling yourselves that killing Jews isn’t the primary goal of these regimes. Say hi to the pixie fairies while you’re there.

20

Now who said that? You just consistantly spell Israel incorrectly.

Personally I think the Iranian government needs to go stick its collective head in a non-halal porcine mammal until they start acting rationally. I trust them as far as I can comfortably spit a rat (notice the emphasis on the word comfortably), and I’m worried as hell that they’ll be making a close confederation with the Iraqi Shi’ites. But the EU needs their oil, so they won’t get too uptight with Iran’s comments.

Just like the US needs Saudi oil so badly, so our government doesn’t get too uptight with the Saudi government (remember the picture of Bush holding hands with the current Saudi president). That Saudi government is at least as loony as the Iranian government.