Steely Dan

So it's Santorum or Gingrich 2012, unless Obama decides to steal their thunder.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/santorum-says-he-would-bomb-irans-nuclear-plants/

Iran announced today that it had created the country’s first nuclear fuel rod, a key component in a reactor that can also be used to produce weapons grade uranium.

Read into this thread what you may, but the OP says "by an international group of hackers." Unless someone has information to the contrary, it does not appear that the Saudi gov't had anything to do with this.

Yes, that seems correct. The hacker claims to be from the Wahhabi Saudi Internet group, part of an international Anonymous hacking group. See attached link for more info.

http://www.jpost.com....aspx?id=252094

The key word is Wahhabi, nuff said.

I honestly believe that Iran have no interest in a nuke as contrary to the belief of some members on here, they have no wish for complete destruction, and that would be the end result of having nukes. I think the Iranian government are a bunch of tools that need replacing for the sake of the people, but the people will do that. There is absolutely no need for the current sanctions on Iran. There is not even an objective or end goal of the sanctions, they are just being imposed. The way it is going the game has been played to draw Iran in to a conflict to justify a war. The lengths that governments are going to to install the Bank of Rothschild's as the Central Bank of Iran is simply amazing. If we would just leave them alone they wouldn't bother us at all.

I didn't bother to copy the first part of your diatribe, save to comment the U.S seems to have left China in control of the extraction of all rare earth metals, so here's an Octopus which encapsulates everything including Rothchild's.

The Iranian currency is 40% down aginst the dollar in one month and the currency exchanges are closed, the nuclear facilities have been moved deep underground and Iran is posturing about it's missile capabilities. To argue that Iran is taking the flak it is just out of stubbornness is utterly ridiculous, of course it's a weapons program. As for the sanctions imho the U.S has known full well Iran would have to be stopped for ages, but they left it extremely late to take action probably due to Obama's election considerations.

iran having nukes would stop war with them.

You assume Iran has rational leadership. I reckon you are pro Iran. That's OK. I detest their regime and would love to see it toppled. Saudi doesn't trust Iran and thus would begin a major proliferation of such weapons in the region.

certainly not pro iran's government but certainly not pro starting a war with them either. If you are pro war you should sign up.

Perhaps the US is not the real aggressor in this instance...

Iran threatens action if U.S. carrier returns: IRNATEHRAN

(Reuters) - Iran will take action if a U.S. aircraft carrierwhich left the area because of Iranian naval exercises returns to the Gulf, the state news agency quoted army chief Ataollah Salehi as saying on Tuesday.

"Iran will not repeat its warning ... the enemy's carrier has been moved to the Sea of Oman because of our drill. I recommend and emphasize to the American carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf," Salehi told IRNA.

"I advise, recommend and warn them (the Americans) over the return of this carrier to the Persian Gulf because we are not in the habit of warning more than once," the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Salehi as saying.

Salehi did not name the aircraft carrier or give details of the action Iran might take if it returned.

http://news.yahoo.co...-082124042.html

If Obama expects to have any credibility in the Arab world, he will turn that Carrier Battle Group around and head back to Bahrain. Now is the time to call their bluff.

It should really be obvious to people that Iran is actually seeking a military engagement, though this may seem crazy judged through western eyes I believe this is down to our lack of comprehension of the radical Shiite mindset and the doomsday cult they subscribe to.

As I have written before, war is inevitable the details are the only question to be addressed.

It seems Iran is feeling the heat. When will the wonderful Iranian PEOPLE revolt against their real oppressors, their own regime!

But in Tehran, people said they were bleeding money. Currency traders stopped writing exchange rates on the whiteboards propped against their shop windows as residents were trying to buy foreign currency.

http://www.washingto...8MWP_story.html

It's a shame your man ducked the issue when there was a golden opportunity in the aftermath of Iran's last fraudulent elections.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/5556155/Iran-election-Barack-Obama-refuses-to-meddle-over-protests.html

Barack Obama, the US president, is refusing to "meddle" in the disputed Iranian elections, despite mass protests over the result which returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power.

Yet it doesn't seem to deter atheists from trying to force feed their own particular brand of religion on the planet either.

Force feed The crux of the matter is compulsion, and I don't recall atheists ever proscribing a death penalty for former atheists who suddenly discover they believe in a sky fairy after all. People are welcome to their own faiths and can dress like the natives of Papua NG for all I care, it's when they start impacting on the lives of others based on their beliefs that I have a problem.

This has happened on two separate occassions to Australian troops as well. You can't really trust the people who you are fighting alongside of. A lot like the vietnam war, you just don't know who is friend or who is foe.

If you take a gun and invade a foreign country and kill the locals its very clear who is the the enemy.

What was your other TV member name? I mean, who joins the Thai Visa forum and goes directly to the World News forum? You have 10 posts - ALL in World News. Normally a new user will find the World News section after posting a while in the visa section, or one of the local forums. Did you get banned or something and you are trying to trick the mods?

Hello BKK Eddy.

Not sure about 'Hero' but he's certainly one of the X-Men.

I refer you to an earlier post

Post number 9

Maybe Turkeys admission of error and its apology has silenced all the normal critics. Maybe it's a strategy that Israel and the USA should consider now and again when they screw things up.

Hmm, I found your too busy celebrating hypothesis more convincing though it still fails to explain the lack of interest in say Assad turning his tanks on his own people without so much as a 'whoops'. Still the next time the U.S or Israel accidentally smoke 40 cigarette smugglers in one day we can road test your theory.

The PKK, which has been labeled as a terrorist organizations by the United States, Turkey and the European Union, was established in 1984 in its efforts to establish the eastern and southeastern regions of Turkey as an autonomous Kurdish state. Over 40,000 soldiers and civilians have been killed in violent clashes since the group took arms. The PKK maintains its military bases across the Iraqi border.

^^ keep that in mind.

Interesting how some develop here a soft spot for a stalinist/marxist terror organisation as long they can bitch about Turkey.

Perhaps it's not so much the 'bitching' about Turkey as the opportunity to point out the contrast in certain posters lack of interest here in marked contrast to what we get when the U.S uses drones in Afpak or Israel retaliates with air strikes in Gaza.

I know some folks who generally refer to themselves as anti-semites. None of those individuals hate all Jews.

Maybe your friends don't. but most anti-Semites do and many will not admit what they are.

And the worst Anti-semites hates Jews only when they are 'jewish' too much.

Like in this case. If they see a Jew in traditional dress the bad thought come up in their minds. They love Jews only when they are not in their neighboorhood and but should all immigrate to Israel and fight there with the Arabs, that are the other people they hate.

I am certain that the percentage of Jews who are anti-goyim excedes the percentage of Goyim who are anti-semites.

Again interesting theory, if somewhat off topic. I would just observe that since 1948 the Christian population in Israel has increased 400% yet decreased dramatically everywhere in the middle east so replace the words Jews and goyim with Muslims and infidels and you would possibly be onto something.

Not long now.

http://www.debka.com/article/21609/

On the last day of 2011, US President Barack Obama Saturday signed into law measures penalizing foreign financial institutions doing business with Iran's central bank, Bank Markazi - the toughest sanctions imposed yet over Iran's development of a nuclear weapon. In recent weeks Tehran has repeatedly warned that it would deem the signing of this measure an act of war and respond with drastic steps including the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Perhaps they should have sent a drone with a sign attached to the back saying 'Sorry!'.

I think Israel has far more pressing existential threats to worry about than some zealots resembling ZZ Top on a tour of 19th century Russia.

I see, old school antisemitism is still alive and kicking.

I suggest you look at the following post I made to the one you quoted, I normally back Israel to the hilt, however I do have a problem with the behaviour of some orthodox Jews. If you read the link I refer to you will be aware that this may actually be down to extreme leftist groups deliberately trying to spread discord. As for their attire, I would also state that the traditional Islamic tendency to dress women like walking post boxes is funny, so do try to view things in context.

P.S It is a refreshing change being called an antisemite though as I normally get accused of Islamophobia, whatever that means.

Ok, we are all against religious intolerance, however the strange juxtaposition of an unflattering photo of a religious zealot on the BBC main news page and the far less prominent coverage of 40 Christians blown to pieces on Christmas eve in Nigeria alerted me to the fact something stank. Well here it is.

http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2011/12/soros-latest-israel-project.html

If you have been seeing coverage of gender segregation issues in Israel then you may not be aware that you are actually seeing another Soros project in motion. The name of the game, as usual, is divide and conquer. Soros funded NGO's embed themselves into a society and leverage its weakness to create confrontations that empower its activists and agendas.

An easy start would be all the folks selling on eBay. Easy to catch (read: tax 500 Baht a pop) too, just set up checkpoints outside of all the major post offices.

I'm not saying they couldn't do this, however it would be overall counter productive for the Thai economy until of course the English skills of locals improved sufficiently for them to cut out the middle man. Ebay sellers may be operating outside the law, but I'll bet the people they buy from are perfectly happy with the arrangement.

Perhaps the Pope should fire from the hip and speak the truth for once, we really do need an Emperor's new clothes moment in order to wake up to this insanity. How about simply stating we have a clash of good against evil of a forgiving benevolent God and the indescribable evil of Satan - Though it may sound better in Latin.

I think Israel has far more pressing existential threats to worry about than some zealots resembling ZZ Top on a tour of 19th century Russia.

It will be interesting to see what will upset the apple cart. The whole country will implode, it's just a matter of when. East Germany crumbled not long ago, and just a week before the wall fell, Dr. $350/hour Kissinger was saying in an interview that it would be impossible for that to happen. Also not long ago, China went from being a country of lock-step personality worshipers, to a somewhat sane country.

Currently, all the interested countries keep repeating the mantra "we hope there's no instability" in N.Korea. Au contraire, I hope there is instability, as big or bigger than anything currently happening in the dune countries. I don't want to see people getting hurt (yet it's inevitable, if N.Korea were to become a less insane place), yet the prospect of its people getting some freedoms (and nutrition) would be worth the instability and pain it will cause. Sometimes a cure takes some nasty medicine.

I would hope North Korea implodes soon under the weight of it's own absurdity, but this can take ages to happen, when it does they have one thing going for them, namely South Korea setting an example of how a democracy can function and no dreadful theocracy waiting in the wings to replace the cult of Kim with another cult.

No takers? Well I guess had the aggressors and victims been different several of our esteemed members would have been venting their spleen about this regrettable event. At least admission of guilt and an apology is a small step in the right direction.

I never realized that mental illness could be so verbose.

Maybe the Pope should revert back a thousand years and call for the destruction of the enemies of Christianity and send "missionairies" down there to wipe them out.

Coincidentally I was just reading about the crusades, and contrary to popular misconceptions the 463 years between Mohammad's death and the first crusade was not a period of peaceful coexistence but one of persistent incursions into Europe as far as Southern France, during which time countless cities were sacked and looted.

Returning to Nigeria, the motive for Boko Haram can hardly be clearer, yet denial and complacency still reign.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/286672/christmas-bombings-nigeria-paul-marshall

I'm amazed that anyone could for a moment have expected anything different. The left have been useful in getting the ball rolling with the demos in Tahrir square, but now they have served their usefulness.

http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/43555

All it takes to understand why the Arab Spring was doomed to turn into an Islamic Winter is that Muslims in the Middle East and North Africa were being asked to choose between a Socialist left and an Islamic right. The left has consistently lost open elections in Europe and America, it lost the battle of ideas in Russia and China, and unsurprisingly it also lost the Arab Spring.

So it's bye bye NGO's and thanks for the leg up.

All fundamentalists of any religion are dangerous. Peres's call to arms against extremism will just fuel their self belief even more. It's a no win situation.

Is it my imagination or is religious fundamentalism in all it's ugly manifestations on the rise over the last few years?

I know it's sort of off topic, but this is priceless.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/12/2011122903512593882.html

13 pages of flogging a dead horse, the decision regarding his extradition can't come soon enough.