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ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

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Except when the oil stops flowing the US and the West will be fucked.

No, Polite, that's when we'll get down to seriously trashing the environment as we collect the oil from shales and sands. Once that tipping point is reached, the whole game changes.

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ORIGINAL: DarkSteven

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/28/opinion/ayoob-iran-iraq-sectarian-strife/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

The bad news - it's Iran.

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ORIGINAL: Sanity


The really good news is that we stabilized Iraq prior to leaving it to the Iraqi people

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ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam

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ORIGINAL: Sanity


The really good news is that we stabilized Iraq prior to leaving it to the Iraqi people

Do you actually believe that?

Yes or no?

Do stable countries have a warrant out for the vice president's arrest and daily car bombs?

Yes or no?

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Sanity
The really good news is that we stabilized Iraq prior to leaving it to the Iraqi people

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ORIGINAL: Politesub53

Oh great, another war you cant afford.

We must have a much better news service in the UK because I saw a US Spokesman warning Iran not to try and blockade the Straights of Hormuz only yesterday.

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It's harder to end a war than begin one. Indeed, everything that American troops have done in Iraq - all the fighting and all the dying, the bleeding and the building, and the training and the partnering - all of it has led to this moment of success.

Now, Iraq is not a perfect place. It has many challenges ahead. But we're leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq, with a representative government that was elected by its people.


We're building a new partnership between our nations. And we are ending a war not with a final battle, but with a final march toward home.

This is an extraordinary achievement, nearly nine years in the making. And today we remember everything that you did to make it possible.

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

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Sanity
The really good news is that we stabilized Iraq prior to leaving it to the Iraqi people

Puh-leeeeaaazzeee!

The country is hopelessly split into rival sectarian factions, each armed to the teeth. The Kurds are operating a quasi independent State. There are killings, bomb attacks and suicide bombings almost daily. There are genuine fears of a return to civil war, which can be expected to be at least as bloodthirsty as the worst days of the Occupation. If Iraq is still one country in a decade it will be a minor miracle.

This is stability?

Not to worry though, if things get really baaaaad we can always send in Chuck Norris, Bruce Willis and a couple more of the 'boys'. They'll sort it out in no time. And it will all be on prime time TV! How good is that?

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Sanity
Warning against another overt act of war is one thing. Addressing the war itself which has been ongoing since 1979 is another entirely

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

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Sanity
Warning against another overt act of war is one thing. Addressing the war itself which has been ongoing since 1979 is another entirely

If Sanity's claim that the US is at war with Iran is valid, then all those involved in supplying the enemy with arms as part of the Iran-Contra affair are guilty of treason, including then-President and Commander-in-Chief Reagan.

To say the least, I'm surprised to hear Sanity implicitly accusing Reagan of treason. /derail

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ORIGINAL: Sanity


No, you fail to understand

I am merely pointing out the obvious, that Iran has been at a state of war against the US, since its initial act of war in 1979

And certain politicians (ahem) deliberately ignore this fact

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

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Sanity
Warning against another overt act of war is one thing. Addressing the war itself which has been ongoing since 1979 is another entirely

If Sanity's claim that the US is at war with Iran is valid, then all those involved in supplying the enemy with arms as part of the Iran-Contra affair are guilty of treason, including then-President and Commander-in-Chief Reagan.

To say the least, I'm surprised to hear Sanity implicitly accusing Reagan of treason. /derail

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I am merely pointing out the obvious, that Iran has been at a state of war against the US, since its initial act of war in 1979

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ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam

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ORIGINAL: Sanity


No, you fail to understand

I am merely pointing out the obvious, that Iran has been at a state of war against the US, since its initial act of war in 1979

And certain politicians (ahem) deliberately ignore this fact

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

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Sanity
Warning against another overt act of war is one thing. Addressing the war itself which has been ongoing since 1979 is another entirely

If Sanity's claim that the US is at war with Iran is valid, then all those involved in supplying the enemy with arms as part of the Iran-Contra affair are guilty of treason, including then-President and Commander-in-Chief Reagan.

To say the least, I'm surprised to hear Sanity implicitly accusing Reagan of treason. /derail

Like Reagan who sold them arms.

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

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I am merely pointing out the obvious, that Iran has been at a state of war against the US, since its initial act of war in 1979

If any military action takes place, it will take place in Iran or its territorial waters and/or airspace. Iran's sovereignty will be violated not the US's, which is thousands of kms away. Such action will almost certainly be initiated by the US or its proxy Israel

As things stand, Iran presents no "current and immediate threat" to the US, or its vital interests. Ditto Israel.

Since the Islamic Revolution, Iran has invaded precisely none (zero, 0) countries. We cannot say the same for the US or its proxies.

It will be another case of Western aggression against a Muslim county, in Muslim lands thousands of kms away from mainland USA. Just like Iraq. Just as indefensible. How many terrorists will it create?

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ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam

You're the one who hijacked the thread to 1979. I was just trying to ease it a bit closer to the present.

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Its Iran that's been beating the war drums

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Its as if you completely ignore everything the Iranians say and do...

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

Kindly list all the things those infernal Iranians have done that earn Iran the fate of being bombed back into the Stone age - the strategy that has proved so successful in Iraq and Afghanistan. Please confine yourself to demonstrable facts (with supporting evidence), not imaginary events thank.

I'm sure the facts will speak for themselves.