We have to undo a lot of damage to our reputation in the international community, and that joke doesn't help.

You know, I have to believe if Obama had said this, it would have been repeated ad nauseam in McCain attack ads as proof of how he is unqualified to lead.

It was a crassly stupid remark to make. I realize that it was a joke, but it was in very poor taste, and I was stunned at him making it in such a public forum. This is the level of statesmanship that we can hope to get, with all of that experience that his campaign harps on about?

Who doesn't nowadays?

I think that attacking Iran would be the height of folly. Sometimes I get the impression that the politicians believe that we can attack Iran by air, hit their nuclear reactors, fly home and it will be mission accomplished.  The Iranians simply will not shrug off the attack, we will have another war on our hands, this one regional in nature and much larger than the current conflict in Iraq. Unlike Saddam Hussein's Iraq, Iran has a strong military.  They have an anti-ship missile (supplied by the Russians) that goes faster than anything we have in our arsenals.  They also have plenty of short range to intermediate range missiles.  Their army is estimated to number upwards to 1 million men, including over 120,000 troops focused on unconventional warfare, including guerrilla tactics.  They also have a well equiped navy, with 59 warships and 10 submarines.  This in short is not Iraq or Afghanistan. 

They've been receiving help from Russia and China.  Unlike Iraq, they have not been worn down by years of sanctions and bombings.  They have a good Russian supplied anti-aircraft system that is extremely advanced technologically.  China has major investments in Iran, apparently they need oil to fuel their rapidly growing economy and Iran provide them with petroleum at a decent discount.  If we attack Iran, the Chinese will see it as an attack on their interests as well.  Indeed, China could strike a large blow against the US by dumping those bonds and loans that we have allowed them to pile up, thanks to our large trade deficit with China.  The implications for war with Iran would be global in scope.

Exactly how this will play out no one knows, but the ramifications are significant.  We better hope that McCain didn't really mean it! Iran does have a right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.  All the best intelligence we have been able to gather suggests that Iran gave up its nuclear missiles program in 2003.  So perhaps we shouldn't waste our time attacking a country that doesn't pose a huge threat to US security, nor should we get into a war that we simply cannot afford to. 

 

Don't waste time joking, just get on with it!!

I didn't like the original version either.

Flippant jokes about starting more wars is something we can do without in a chief executive.  Unless he was just having one of his "senior moments."

Yes? And I joke about getting my cat drunk. So, what's the point?