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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bentway who wrote (246984)	10/30/2007 12:09:28 PM
From: michael97123	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Without having seen it, upon reading it Podhoretz sounds like a madman himself. The personal nature of his attack on Zacharia who i believe supported the iraq war is notable. The Hitler thing is nuts. I think the more apt comparison is with stalin and mao. If it were bin laden podhoretz was talking about, i would agree with him. That is not to say that there are some in iran who are nuts. That is not to say that iran will be difficult to contain and deter. I will say one thing that i think you might agree with Chris. If we fail to deter iran and somewhere along the way they use a nuke, it needs to be made quite clear to them that they will be turned into a parking lot and that threat must be credible and carried out. That is the heart of what deterrence was back in the good old days of the Cold War. MAD.

To: bentway who wrote (246984)	10/30/2007 3:33:40 PM
From: cnyndwllr	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

It has to be intellectually embarrassing for Podhoretz to base his entire "attack Iran" argument on the dual theories that "Hitler was appeased" plus a few scary one liner quotes from the current radical president of Iraq. Those "Chicken Little" arguments were easily rebutted by the former Iraqi war supporter, Zakaria, and Podhoretz was surely aware that his peers would see the weakness of his opinions. We have to assume that he's not stupid and that he understands that his points will not be taken seriously by other "experts." He even acknowledges that, saying, "Well, unlike Fareed Zakaria and the foreign policy establishment that is complacent and irresponsible..." But he keeps making those same weak arguments in op-ed pieces and whenever someone will let him have air time. So who is his intended audience? Here's a hint; it's someone who doesn't have the desire or the intellect to follow complex, real world arguments where the answers involve understanding "others," it's someone who's prone to panic and it's someone who places their own "safety" far above such abstract concepts as the rule of law, live and let live, and the opinions of experts in the field. Now who could that be? The obvious answer is that he's talking to the Republican base but here's an additional clue; the rest of the above quoted sentence is: "Well, unlike Fareed Zakaria and the foreign policy establishment that is complacent and irresponsible, in my opinion, I think the president recognizes the danger." So there it is; spout all kinds of end-of-world rhetoric that will earn you the derision of your peers but don't give up on keeping the base energized and on keeping our pathetically dim president pumped up. That does, of course, leave the question unanswered; given that Podhoritz is not as dumb as his intended audience and doesn't buy into the end of the world argument, what is his true motive for agitating for an American attack on Iran? Ed

To: bentway who wrote (246984)	10/30/2007 4:28:06 PM
From: Don Hurst	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

>>" NORMAN PODHORETZ: God help us if we follow that counsel. "<< My gosh, nutty Podhoretz who swung violently from the far left to the far right is now a believer too and he advises Giuliani on foreign policy and Giuliani is the same guy who wanted Kerik to be Homeland Defense Sec and Giuliani, thrice married, gay friendly, pro choice and anti gun is the leading Repug presidential candidate...ohmigosh!!! Wait till they find out he wants to give "illegals" driver's licenses. He hasn't already come out with that one yet, has he? Oh yeah, is there anything to the rumor I am just starting that he is secretly taking Scientology classes to learn more about Mormonism? And the Repugs are afraid of Hillary????? This is almost too funny