The question isn't "Is Iran Supporting the Iraq Insurgency?" It's the kind of crap they would do, and Econo-Girl has no information to say they aren't. The question is "Why is the U.S. advertising this?"
The U.S. could be setting the stage for a real confrontation with Iran to let them know their rhetoric against Israel needs to calm down a few notches. Reminding them of what a real problem could look like in the headlines of the world's leading newspapers is a great way to get it across.
Or maybe the Administration has been planning a war with Iran all along. All the intelligence agencies agree, and that's suspicious right off the bat. The logic expressed in the New York Times article is something like "We were wrong before and we admit that. So you got to believe us now." OK, so you finally admitted the obvious when it was impossible to do anything else. That doesn't give you credibility.
One thing is certain: a lot of this bandying of headlines could stop if we would just have some kind of dialog with Iran directly. Remember, you don't have to be able to look into someone's eyes and declare you can do business with this man, to do business with this man. You just need to get over yourself.
See "Deadliest Bomb in Iraq Is Made by Iran, U.S. Says " today in the New York Times.
Showing posts with label Shiite. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shiite. Show all posts
2.10.2007
1.30.2007
Predictions for the 21st Century
Econo-Girl is relisting her predictions at the end of this post for reference.
In my family's little German village of Bad Kissingen in 1899, a group of people became convinced that the world would end in 1900. So they gave away their possessions and walked to the top of the mountain, waiting for the inevitable. And waited. And waited.
You can guess the ending.
In a sense, those doomsayers were right, though. The world was ending, but just the world as they knew it.
We are in a similar situation now. We can't see what will happen next. We think the world will end. It won't. It just will be inexplicably and unpredictably different. I don't think its horrible that the Western world is forced to turn to alternative fuels quickly. There is no other way they would do it. Venezuela and Brazil will be in ascendancy and the U.S. will have to change how we deal with them. Not horrible, just different. Russia will be like a nasty old man whose time on the stage is ending. There will be a brief blip from oil and space technology, but it won't last. Every nation in the Middle East will be forced to confront the internal struggles it masks by fighting one another. It may or may not be violent.
Taken in another light, these are not horrible things. Just things to adapt to.
PREDICTIONS:
Centrufigal forces within Islam are now unstoppable, and every nation is going to be affected.
Europe and the U.S. will find fuel efficiency and alternative fuels to be fascinating very soon, and worthy of their attention and resources like never before. It will be amazing how quickly alternative fuels become cost-effective.
Russia will see its interests rise again. The immediate demand for oil will have them strutting around again like the old days. Maybe then Putin will smile. Europe will not be as calm the next time Putin throws a tantrum.
Venezuela will become even more insufferable. Brazil will join them.
The trade embargo against Cuba will be lifted.
Israel will have to confront its own problems and grapple with a potential civil war. The religious right will not be a winner in that one.
The political force that is modern Islam is a powerful one. Now let's watch them use that power to kill each other.
In my family's little German village of Bad Kissingen in 1899, a group of people became convinced that the world would end in 1900. So they gave away their possessions and walked to the top of the mountain, waiting for the inevitable. And waited. And waited.
You can guess the ending.
In a sense, those doomsayers were right, though. The world was ending, but just the world as they knew it.
We are in a similar situation now. We can't see what will happen next. We think the world will end. It won't. It just will be inexplicably and unpredictably different. I don't think its horrible that the Western world is forced to turn to alternative fuels quickly. There is no other way they would do it. Venezuela and Brazil will be in ascendancy and the U.S. will have to change how we deal with them. Not horrible, just different. Russia will be like a nasty old man whose time on the stage is ending. There will be a brief blip from oil and space technology, but it won't last. Every nation in the Middle East will be forced to confront the internal struggles it masks by fighting one another. It may or may not be violent.
Taken in another light, these are not horrible things. Just things to adapt to.
PREDICTIONS:
Centrufigal forces within Islam are now unstoppable, and every nation is going to be affected.
Europe and the U.S. will find fuel efficiency and alternative fuels to be fascinating very soon, and worthy of their attention and resources like never before. It will be amazing how quickly alternative fuels become cost-effective.
Russia will see its interests rise again. The immediate demand for oil will have them strutting around again like the old days. Maybe then Putin will smile. Europe will not be as calm the next time Putin throws a tantrum.
Venezuela will become even more insufferable. Brazil will join them.
The trade embargo against Cuba will be lifted.
Israel will have to confront its own problems and grapple with a potential civil war. The religious right will not be a winner in that one.
The political force that is modern Islam is a powerful one. Now let's watch them use that power to kill each other.
1.28.2007
Sunni vs. Shiite
The bloodshed in the Palestinian Authority is the beginning of the entire region disintegrating. Centrufigal forces within Islam are now unstoppable, and every nation is going to be affected.
Europe and the U.S. will find fuel efficiency and alternative fuels to be fascinating very soon, and worthy of their attention and resources like never before. It will be amazing how quickly alternative fuels become cost-effective.
Russia will see its interests rise again. The immediate demand for oil will have them strutting around again like the old days. Maybe then Putin will smile. Europe will not be as calm the next time Putin throws a tantrum.
Venezuela will become even more insufferable. Brazil will join them.
The trade embargo against Cuba will be lifted.
Israel will have to confront its own problems and grapple with a potential civil war. The religious right will not be a winner in that one.
The political force that is modern Islam is a powerful one. Now let's watch them use that power to kill each other.
Usama bin Laden to Allah: I could have been a contender!
Europe and the U.S. will find fuel efficiency and alternative fuels to be fascinating very soon, and worthy of their attention and resources like never before. It will be amazing how quickly alternative fuels become cost-effective.
Russia will see its interests rise again. The immediate demand for oil will have them strutting around again like the old days. Maybe then Putin will smile. Europe will not be as calm the next time Putin throws a tantrum.
Venezuela will become even more insufferable. Brazil will join them.
The trade embargo against Cuba will be lifted.
Israel will have to confront its own problems and grapple with a potential civil war. The religious right will not be a winner in that one.
The political force that is modern Islam is a powerful one. Now let's watch them use that power to kill each other.
Usama bin Laden to Allah: I could have been a contender!
1.12.2007
The End of Al Qaida II
Econo-Girl feels the need to expand on her earlier analysis. Al Qaida had the idea that the cause of their brand of Islam could be advanced better if other Muslims weren't at their throats. A good idea, if hardly original.
So that's how they started out. If Sunni and Shiite were not exactly co-recruiting, then at least they weren't killing each other. The new dynamic allowed Al Qaida to focus on attacking the West.
Then came Iraq. To take on the U.S. in Iraq, Al Qaida started fighting between the Shiite and the Sunni by attacking the Sunni. Yes, that has hurt U.S. success in rebuilding Iraq. But it has eliminated Al Qaida as a global political force.
By attacking Shiites in Iraq through Zarqawi, Al Qaida has opened the door to sectarian attacks on themselves. Their ostensible goal of an Islamic caliphate in the Middle East is gone.
Econo-Girl has said it before, and she means it. There will be high level assassinations within the radical Islamic community. Maybe not immediately, but it is coming.
So that's how they started out. If Sunni and Shiite were not exactly co-recruiting, then at least they weren't killing each other. The new dynamic allowed Al Qaida to focus on attacking the West.
Then came Iraq. To take on the U.S. in Iraq, Al Qaida started fighting between the Shiite and the Sunni by attacking the Sunni. Yes, that has hurt U.S. success in rebuilding Iraq. But it has eliminated Al Qaida as a global political force.
By attacking Shiites in Iraq through Zarqawi, Al Qaida has opened the door to sectarian attacks on themselves. Their ostensible goal of an Islamic caliphate in the Middle East is gone.
Econo-Girl has said it before, and she means it. There will be high level assassinations within the radical Islamic community. Maybe not immediately, but it is coming.
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