Interesting piece from Israeli news blog

[PimpBlimp]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerBlog.jhtml?itemNo=937480&contrassID=25&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=1&listSrc=Y&art=1




3.

So here is what Paul had to say about Israel and Iran:

What if Iran would "invade" Israel? (This is a somewhat strange framing of the question. The danger people seem to view in a nuclear Iran is that it will bomb Israel, not invade it.)

Paul: "Well, they are not going to. That is like saying that Iran is about to invade Mars. They have nothing, they don't have an army or a navy or an air force. Israelis have 300 nuclear weapons, nobody would touch them... It is an impossible situation."

So far so good. Whatever one thinks of Paul's foreign policy analysis, assuming that Iran will not harm Israel is a legitimate position. But here is where Paul becomes more - well - kooky:

Russert showed him a quote of something he said on CNN: "Israel is dependent on us, you know, for economic means. We send them these billions of dollars and then they depend on us. They say, well, you know, we don't like Iran. You go fight our battles. You bomb Iran for us. And they become dependent on us."

Then the question: "who in Israel says go bomb Iran for us?"

Paul: "Well, I don't know the individual, but we know that the leadership, you read it in the papers daily, that the government of Israel encourages Americans to go into Iran. I don't think that's a top secret..."

Russert: "That the government of Israel wants us to bomb Iran?"

Paul: "I don't think there's a doubt that they've encouraged us to do that. And of course the neoconservatives have been anxious to do that for a long time."


I think Paul is completely correct when he says some Israeli government officials are trying to get the US to go to war with Iran. I can't say I blame them but its time we took care of our own country.

[Arklatex]

You know, if it weren't for Religions, we'd have none of these problems. America would care as much about Israeal as they do the Congo.

[yongrel]

You know, if it weren't for Religions, we'd have none of these problems. America would care as much about Israeal as they do the Congo.

It's far more complicated than that.

It is too easy to blame our issues in the Middle East, or with Israel specifically, solely on religion.

[rooteroa]

what was he talking about with Iran though? they have like half a million soldiers

[StateofTrance]

You know, if it weren't for Religions, we'd have none of these problems.

QFT.

As a supporter of Israel, I'll have to tell this quite frankly - America (the govt.) uses countries such as Israel, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia as CONDOMS. These countries should be dependent on themselves for prosperity. Apparently, in today's world, the more US$ aid you get, the more cooler you look - because, oh, America loves you and will be on your side if somebody harms you.

[Man from La Mancha]

Well lets justsay the Israel Ipac that has boughten off our congress for this war effort would more evident.

.

[angrydragon]

I don't think religion is the huge problem. The big problem is the people who use religion to preach and advocate war and violence.

[pacelli]

August 16, 2002- CBS News:


(CBS) Israel is urging U.S. officials not to delay a military strike against Iraq's Saddam Hussein, an aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Friday.

Israeli intelligence officials have gathered evidence that Iraq is speeding up efforts to produce biological and chemical weapons, said Sharon aide Ranaan Gissin.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/08/18/world/main519037.shtml


March 10/11, 2006- Jerusalem Post:


The United States has until now not done enough to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, a senior Defense Ministry official has told The Jerusalem Post while expressing hope that Wednesday's referral of the Iranian issue to the United Nations Security Council would prove to be effective.

"America needs to get its act together," the official said. "Until now the US administration has just been talking tough but the time has come for the Americans to begin to take tough action."

<snip>

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told reporters in Germany on Wednesday that Israel had all it needed to defend itself against Iran. Asked by reporters if Israel had a military plan handy in a desk drawer to strike Iran, Mofaz said: "Israel has many drawers containing everything it needs to defend its citizens." Israel, Mofaz told senior German officials, would not stand by idly while its very existence was at risk. "We do not plan to turn a blind eye to these threats and we will do everything possible to make sure they do not materialize."

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1139395573059

[hawks4ronpaul]

what was he talking about with Iran though? they have like half a million soldiers

I think he means that Iran does not have the credible capability to march across Iraq and Syria but he should be much more careful in his wording.


http://hawks4ronpaul.blogspot.com/

[PimpBlimp]

I think he means that Iran does not have the credible capability to march across Iraq and Syria but he should be much more careful in his wording.


http://hawks4ronpaul.blogspot.com/

That is what he was trying to get across.

Its like saying China, with their 1 million man army, posses a threat to the mainland US.

[zmall88]

look, israel has the 13th strongest army in the world, and the first 13 countries aren't arab or muslim. Israel can completely wipe out the arab world at the push of a button. The arabs know this and Israel knows this. This isn't 1967 or 1973. The arab countries no longer have any sort of military capability (mainly because of declining revenues and the fall of the USSR) and Israel has grown phenomenally since then.

It is a cornerstone of american foreign policy to give israel a military technological edge over all its neighbours. Heck, most arab countries can't buy any weapons from us even if they wanted to while we GIVE weapons to Israel.

everyone who says arab countries are strong should look at iraq. Iraq was considered to be one of the best armed countries in the arab world. but all the numbers were bloated and misrepresentative. statistically, going into the iraq war, saddam had more tanks, soldiers and almost as many planes as us.
but most of those were old russian planes, they hadn't been serviced or anything. same goes for the tanks. and the soldiers.

Saudi Arabia was documented to have a 150,000 troops but when the gulf war happened they could muster less than 50,000. apparently a 100,000 of the ones listed didn't exist and were just made up by beauracrats to get money.

so called big threat iran? do you know the foreign minister of iran was almost killed because his plane's engine died? why? because they can't even get airplane parts to service their planes. we don't sell them weapons, parts or anything and nobody else in the world does. everything they have is what they developed in house or what was left over from what we gave the Shah.

please, nobody can threaten the US. the only way al qaeda can defeat us is by overextending the army and fighting guerilla wars.
thats exactly what they're doing.
harks of the USSR.

[Proemio]

I think he means that Iran does not have the credible capability to march across Iraq and Syria but he should be much more careful in his wording.

In the contrary, Rosner is extremely 'careful' in his wording:

"C. Mentioning the "neoconservatives" in this context doesn't seem innocent. Is it Paul's way of hinting that there's a cabal ("Jewish cabal") dragging America to war with Iran?"

"Well, is it - is it? Can I call him <name> now, instead of just implying it thick and heavy?"

The whole thing is a perfect study in the playing of word games - well worth the time.

For example: Point A is a six line version of the "have a link?" game - calling Ron Paul in effect a liar - nice - when hundreds of news reports support Ron's conclusion, not to mention off-the-record stuff members of congress have access to. The whole SMEAR depends on the confidence (and hope) that no "official" ever said explicitly "America, use your blood and treasure to destroy Iran for our benefit." - duh