With friends like these, who needs enemies?
 

Couple of Thoughts
 

First of all, thanks, doc, for posting this news item! It does provide some interesting insights into that seismically significant area.

With our planes able to land in Iran for the first time in decades, I can only imagine the numbers of shutters clicking that recorded new features that our analysts at The Company will be able to study for the next several weeks. Current data like this is always helpful.

Irrespective of Khatami's protestations about wanting to maintain the status quo in relations, it will be the average Yousef Achmed who sees who's helping whom, and he won't be too forgetful. The Mullahs can preach and rant from their high minarets, but theological purity tends to play to deaf ears, when those same ears have also heard the empty promises before. Khatami is also playing the cat-and-mouse game, carefully couching his public pronouncements so as not to appear too Western, while at the same time, oozing over to our side just a tad, just to cover his bets.

Tis hypocrisy and contempt in its most pure and accomplished form, that?s all. Iranian Mullah?s export death and brutal murder through at least Hamas and Hezbollah and probably a lot more including Al Qaeda. They wouldn?t blink an eye at the brutal murder of at least as many Americans or others they deem to be supposed ?Satins?. So now that they are burying their dead and tending to their injured the grand mufti/cosmic muffin of death utters a profoundly stupid statement that is just short of ?thanks, but f**k you America, strong letter to follow?. Man-O-man, that is just pure gold and I hope it gets pumped right back into Iran for all to see and hear.
Maybe rather than nukes and lord only knows what else, the Mullahs might want to have a bit of a look at constructing housing that will sustain life in earthquake territory. That isn?t exactly rocket science but the cost would take away from the funds needed to murder innocents in other countries. No self-respecting Iranian Mullah would help their own at the expense of giving up the death of other innocents, of course not. :md:

Scamp

Who woulda thunk it. With US and Coalition troops in Afghanistan and Iraq...with Libya co-operating...and Syria maybe starting to behave...that leaves the Israel / Palestinian mess, Egypt ( life after Mubarak could be very, very interesting ), Saudi Arabia ( I suspect terrorsim there will only escalate..the tighter they try to put the lid on..the higher it will blow... IMHO ), and last but not least.. Iran..we created the Shah and his regime and all the excesses he produced which led directly to 1979 and the 444 days our hostages were held. We have to try, and this gesture to help after the earthquake is a good start, to talk to them. Talking is usually better than fighting. There is a strong undercurrent among the citizens there to change things. I pray that the change is peaceful. A semi-democratic and free Iran could only help peace and stability in the region.

Larry

Larry,

I believe the forces of radical Islamic Fundamentalism have been around for centuries and long before the first European put a foot in the Northwest hemisphere so I would suggest that putting the Iranian Islamic Revolution on the US plate is a bit of a stretch. Give or take the wrong doings of the late Shah and any US enablement, Iran has gone from a despotic regime to a brutal totalitarian/ dictatorial theocracy and terrorist State/international rogue all by themselves. The sometimes pop notion that the US is the root cause and reason for the establishment of the current Iranian commitment to global holocaust and murder is a bridge to far for me.

The Mullah's claim to be the true descendents of the Prophet Mohammed and the only gatekeepers and authority of Islam is the engine that drives their war wagon and has for well over 1000 years.
They would like nothing better than to kill of every Sunni Moslem they can get their hands; as they have done for centuries, and then take out western civilization. That is what makes the Iranian Mullahs so incredibly dangerous and why they probably have a USN Boomer boat lurking about with their cross hairs set. As you suggest wiser minds should prevail but in my opinion that age-old nightmare peg has got to be knocked down the hole again before we get a reasonable Iranian to enter in dialog with.

Scamp

revwardoc -

Quote:

To partially quote Scott Glenn (in Silverado): I can't believe that we still want to ride with people like these?!

Quote:

KERMAN, Iran (Reuters) - President Mohammad Khatami said Tuesday U.S. aid to earthquake victims in Iran, while welcome, would not alter the state of relations between the two arch foes who broke off ties nearly a quarter century ago.

I have heard of biting the hand that feeds you, but not while it is feeding you!

Sorry, but screw these people (Iran and Iraq both)!! :d:

VERITAS

Scamp :

You are correct, mostly. I believe we have created, fostered, subsidized and / or maintained a whole bunch of crooks / dictators worldwide since 1945... Chile, Panama, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Mexico, The Phillipines, and on and on, as it suited our purposes at the time.... Any attempt to gloss over that only gets us back to "those who don't remember history are comdemned to repeat it". Muslim Fundamentalism is by its very nature brutal, murderous, and dangerous. A cursory reading of history, including the Crusades, will make that abundantly clear. The enmity between Sunni and Shiite, and Muslims and Jews, is problematic.... not to mention Muslim hatred of Christians...My point was, and this applies to North Korea, Cuba, China, and any other closed and brutal countries that still exist, it that is always better to keep talking and maintain a dialogue than have a misunderstanding escalate into something that no one wants....You have spent a considerable amount of time up close and personal with the people in that region, whereas my experience is limited to what I have seen on TV and read and by talking to those who have come to this country....I don't blame the USA for all the dictatorships in the world in the past 59 years, but when money was involved and our national purpose was served,we were quick to subsidize brutality with our tax dollars.

Larry

Larry......
 

Pax, agreed (mostly :D ).

Peace and happy New Year to you and yours.

Scamp

Thoughts......
 

Larry,

The thought of up close and personal is a double edged axe. Yes a lot is learned, maybe too much and maybe a different view is gained. So I thought I?d share my views as to how I go about looking at things. In my acquired way of thinking every culture is like a sun and if a prism is carefully used, color stratification is seen. Their are bright colors of every hue and tone and some dark colors as well. In my experience with the Arabs and the Moslem world I have seen all manner of bright and beautiful colors and the dark and sinister colors as well. In the stratification, victims and perpetrators can be easily seen and I see a world of victims being driven and whipped at the hands of merciless perpetrators. I?m told there is such a thing as kind, scholarly, decent, humane and caring Mullahs and I?ll take it on faith that this is true. However, it has been my misfortune to have never seen one in their own environment doing what they normally do and project any humanity that I could discern. Quite the opposite actually and I have seen more human misery than I care to think about. Sometimes I think I have a rip-roaring case of PSD (Permanente Sadness Disorder) from working around the Mid East/North Africa. But what can ya do? Just pull and rack the drill pipe, load the down hole, take the shot, record and move on I suppose. But acts of kindness, humor, generosity and friendliness along the way help to soothe the ache of it all.

And yes you are absolutely spot-on Larry, diplomacy and national interest are blind beyond the top crust of movers and shakers, assorted scoundrels and greedy idiotic bandits that need to be appeased. On the other hand, the US is the most generous, brave and silent of all the international aid givers and I have seen this time and again. The bravest of the brave I have seen are the Mormon Missionaries. At a time I came across a new Mormon Mission in North Africa; were talking about right on the northern fringes of the Sahara about 600 km south from the Mediterranean Sea, and I just had to pull in and ask them if they had a death wish and had fallen out of their frigging tree. Just a Mormon Guy, his wife and their three kiddos were there and their faith and desire to do good things was astounding, breath taking actually. Not knowing what else to do, I just wished them well and luck, gave a nice donation then went on my way but have never forgotten such commitment. I really hope nothing bad happened to them, but I?m not optimistic at all.

Using a prism to view a culture is a mega Liberal no-no, big time, bad dog-bad dog. So I guess by default that makes me a much dreaded, scorned and debunked ?neocon?, whatever the heck that new spiteful buzz label means. In the humor of it all during this destructive, counter productive and hateful political season:
?Cry havoc and unleash the dogs of war. The neocons are coming, the neocons are coming. Woe is us, woe is us.? ;)

Scamp

Scamp,

Excellent posts. Thank you. I wish you would consider placing some of your thoughts and experiences in Commentary under Sections as theytend to get buried in the forums. Youare an excellent teacher and source for allusbecause of your up close and personal work and experience incultures that most of us will neversee or experience.

Sis