To hang: Here you go

You asked for it, and I'm pleased to deliver.

It's just too bad that Dan Rather and Peter Jennings don't bother with stuff like this

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/gunning/interviews/khodada.html

Now here is a IKONOS satellite picture of a tight bend in the Tigris River, about 26km south of Baghdad:



Zooming in, we begin to see a complex of buildings here. Walmart? Pick and Pay? Who can say?



(Continued due to BS two-picture limit)

 

Whoa, wait a minute. That looks for all the world like the fuselage of a 727, as described by the guy in the article, used for training foreign terrorists to hijack American planes.

 

Amen to that.

Watch the Kurds: they're key to all this.

They're the big problem with Turkey right now; Turkey hates Saddam's ass and would like nothing better than to see us mount his head on a pole BUT they're worried that the Kurds in Northern Iraq will get some juice with the US in all this and combine with the Kurds in southren Turkey and Western Iran to start Nationalist rumblings.

And frenkly, they should; they've been abused long enough.

So if the Kurds in Iraq rise up as one, you'll know the fix is in and we've made a deal. Frankly, I hope we have.

The other group to watch is the Shiites in Southern Iraq. They are actually the majority in the country; Hussein is a Sunni as are most of the government - essentially a monrity.

But the Shiites follow the lead of the Persians - Iran. Again, if the Shiites rise up,we're in bed with Iran over this. And the bet here is that we are. The Ayatollah notwithstanding, Iran has always liked the Americans.

The wild card is the Saudis; their big role here, and it's huge, is that they are literally standing by the spigots. If world oil markets begin to freak, they will open them wide and flood the globe with cheap oil. In short, they are insulating us from the oil weapon. Ten divisions would not be anywhere near as valuable.

Their concern: they want the threat of Iraq/Isreali war to go away. They would have no choice but to side with Iraq, and there would be a disaster. The whole region would go up in flames, maybe WWIII, and that would wreck thier profits. They want this over so they can go after the Russians.

France is betting everything on Saddam holding out long enough for the UN to try and impose a cease-fire. It's a huge gamble, but it's their last chance at any sort of world leadership. They aren't even particularly important in Europe anymore.

The unnoticed effect though is in Palestine. If Saddam goes down quickly, there'll be a compreensive MidEast peace Treaty within six months.

Which is what this is really all about. Too bad the idiots in the streets just don't get it. It's about a permanent peace eliminating the constant threat of war over Isreal. Not that they really care.

In any case, look for an early occupation of Basrah, the largest city in the South.

Scenes of US Marines rolling through wildly cheering crowds, which is what will happen in this staunch Shiite city, will go a long ways towards firming up support and silencing some critics.

This in turn will help sustain public opinion through the loss of 500 men when Saddam starts pitching nerve gas. My bet is that America will be so outraged that we'll let the Air Force flatten Baghdad.


God Bless our boys. Let's get it over with and bring them home.

 

Re: Basrah, that one's a no brainer. Absolute lock. They'll be VERY happy to see us. The Twelver Shi'i have never liked being ruled by hick Sunni thugs. Watch and see.

As for Palestine, stop listening to the self-involved clowns who sit around passing the bong and telling each other that President Bush is some kind of an imbecile.

This is an extremely bright guy with a very clear world view and a very definite plan, and this Iraq thing is part of an overall deal, not just some silly impulse. It's a geopolitical movement designed to shift the Middle East paradigm.

Because to end terrorism, we have to solve the Middle East. Iraq is the key: everybody else can be dealt with or bought off.

Too bad all the snobs who think they're so much smarter than the Administration haven't got the first damn clue. Stupidest bunch of fools in recorded history.

I just pray that the anti-American and Anti-Bush rhetoric in the streets ("Peace" hasn't got a damn thing to do with it) hasn't made it impossible for us to succeed. Without all that, this would already be over, Saddam would be living in Morocco and Arafat would be shopping for a beachfront condo in West Palm.

I'm reasonably convinced that we can still get there, but a bunch of AMerican men are going to die to make it so. And it didn't have to be that way.

 

You have to go with the odds here.

Saddam is a shrewd guy. For a sadistic animal.

Going biochem on the US only assures that he dies. Nothing could save him then; President Bush wouldn't care if every snot nosed college kid in America took to the streets. No matter what the cost, it would have to be a fight to the death.

Saddam has billions in Swiss accounts, and reportedly his personal bagman was in Thailand this week buying half a billion in diamonds.

This is not a guy who plans on dying.

Israel is another matter. He'll do whatever he can to hit Israel because it's doubtful Israel can be prevented from responding. And when Israel strikes Iraq, all hell will break loose. The Arab Brotherhood will have to respond in kind. Armageddon.

The only hope of preventing it is for the US to be so close to nailing the guy that there's nothing for Israel to do. Speed is essential.

As for a response from the US, we've made it clear that nothing is off the table. One way or another, we have to win.

 

I'm betting he waits to see how it goes. Killing thousands of people, even Israeli people let alone Paletinians or Kuwaitis, right out of the chute only seals his coffin.

The WMD are his hole cards, and he's not gonna play them on day one.

As for us incinerating Baghdad will a thermonuclear firestorm, it appears doubtful. Not our style.