The next Republican President, whenever that happens, is going to go in full throttle.

Because without our tax dollars, there would BE no Israeli army. And that arrogant bastard Netanyahu has never even had the decency to thank us. His heart is so full of hate, there's no room for anything else.

That's what I've thought since his first stint as PM in the '90s.

He is a man of war, and not a man of peace.

Sharon was similar until his last few years. Somehow, as he aged he began to see the futility of the wars that he led.

May Bibi age immediately.

Obama knows what he is doing in the Middle East.

The death of our Ambassador to Libya was a terrible thing, but in the overall chess game that Obama is playing in the region, it was a momentary, if galling, setback.

The days of the belligerency of the current government in Iran are numbered in my opinion.

Netanyahu will really harm Israel if he doesn't end his practice of throwing temper tantrums. He does not know better than Obama. Israel by itself certainly does not have the military power to fight Iran. And the US is not ready to confront Iran. (Though I think we will be before all that long.)

No matter what Netanyahu thinks, Iran has to wait.

Iran needs to understand that it is not the only country in the Middle East that is being asked to cooperate with the rest of the world on ending nuclear proliferation.

And I want to repeat as I have so often on DU that I support Israel. I just don't support Netanyahu's childish temper tantrums.

The US has military power all over the Middle East. If Iran tried to attack, Israel, Iran would be finished and the Iranian military surely knows that.

Do it yourself.

I am not anti Israel but I am anti Netanyahu. The guy is pure evil.

right wing nut needs to stay out of our election. Period. +10000 on the evil. He and robme, evil political opportunists.

If they could do it, then they would have already done it long ago," a senior European diplomat in Israel said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/04/us-israel-iran-idUSBRE8830QO20120904

Attack Iran. Just leave the US out of it you jerk. We are not your servant Mr. Netanyahu - leave us alone and fight your own wars. Apparently our welfare checks to you are not enough. Maybe we should take you off the the taxpayer dole, and let you sink or swin.

This is what happens when you anger your ONLY Muslim ( sort of ally) Turkey. Then they think of Iraq as an American client state. Jordan does not want to get caught in the middle of a shit storm. Syria already has a shit storm and would make a great launching pad for Iran. Oh for the good old days in the Balkans.

Just don't expect us to bail you out when you get in over your head and clean up your messes. Leave us out of it.

Benny, Barry and Mamoud are in the graveyard scene from a well known spagetti western. Benny knows that soon, the Sun will be at Mamoud's back, and it will be impossible to shoot him in a few more minutes. Mamoud is looking for bullets for his empty .45.
Barry has the biggest gun, but no one knows his intentions.
Who will shoot first?

Let's see shut down oil tankers for a couple months should create a monster economic crisis to long for the collapse of finance under George W Bush. Who knows what kind of crap Iran and Israel will hurl at each other as they both commit national suicide? Not to mention animosity among the big dogs who can bite. World go to hell Mitt Romney wants to be President and he may have enlisted a business partner

Iran sits at the edge of the Straits of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. The other side abuts Oman. A huge percentage of Middle East oil transits the Straits. The only other ways to get oil out are the pipeline through Saudi Arabia to a port on the Red Sea. The other is the pipeline that runs from Iraqi Kudistan to Turkey and then to a Turkish Mediterranean port. That pipeline has been known to be shut down by fighting among local groups attempting to gain a ransom for leaving the pipeline alone. That pipeline is not well connected to the oil fields in Shiite controlled southern Iraq near the Persian Gulf.

The Straits are very, very narrow. One sunk oil tanker or large U.S. ship will make the Strait impassable. The Iranians may be able to do such a thing with their small swift boats that do not need to follow shipping chanels which are dredged to accommodate huge oil tankers with a full load. If the Straits are closed by either real military action or by the inability to purchase insurance in a tense stand-off, oil prices will rise. In fact, the price of U.S. light (easily made into gasoline and diesel) crude shot up in the last couple of days by about 7% or so, largely due to the situation in the ME.

How much of this is saber-rattling for domestic consumption?

Really what would happen? I'm sure that there are Think Tanks strategizing this situation. How would Israel do it? What would they attack? What would be the retaliation by the Iranians? What kind of army does Iran have? Are they formidable? I'm sure that they might cut off the Straits of Hormuz and block oil? How would the U.S. react? Would they come to the aid of Israel? Or would they let Israel fend for themselves? Would the U.S. preach restraint and try to stop it or would they join the fray?

When I sit back and think about this - I'm thinking it might not be that bad to let Iran get a nuclear weapon. Might it equalize the situation? Right now Israel is trying to stop them from having one and this seems to be the precipitating factor for all the unrest between Israel and Iran. If Iran gets a nuclear weapon - it seems to me that it might throw up some red flags as now it is a very real threat to Israel and if ever unleashed could mean total destruction of them. Maybe it would help bring the two to the negotiating table to work out differences and normalize things.

I must confess that I don't spend a lot of time thinking about Israel and Iran. All this talk by "Mitt N Yahoo" has got me thinking.

will then elicit a response from the US in order to defend Israel. We haven't been pouring all that "defense" money into Israel for nothing.

Warships have already been sent to Libya.

Gas prices might then shoot sky high and the economy could suddenly tank, just in time for elections and Romney could then have the advantage.

Seems an odd position to take.

Netanyahu is trying to influence our elections, threatening to bomb Iran...time to take all aid away immediately. No more military support, no airplane parts, nothing! Wonder how fast he'd step back in line without all of the financial and military aid?