Rob Hebert of NYT had an interesting editoral today entitled
"The Fear Factor". You'll need a subscription to view the whole article.
It is time for the American people to wise up. From the very beginning, the so-called war on terror was viewed by the Bush crowd as a magical smoke screen, a political gift from the gods that could be endlessly manipulated to justify all kinds of policies and behavior -- including the senseless war in Iraq -- that otherwise would never have been tolerated by the American people.
Rob states what he believes the invasion of Iraq was really about:
That fear, and the patriotism felt by so many millions of Americans, have been systematically exploited by the administration. The invasion of Iraq was not about terror. It was about oil and schoolboy fantasies of empire and whatever weird oedipal dynamics were at work in the Bush family.
My question: What is the plan to use nuclear weapons against Iran really all about?
I fully acknowledge that Bush and associates were criminal and crazy enough to actually invade Iraq.
But the nuclear option against Iran?
Is this really the next step of the neocon plan, or is it just more media manipulation?
I'd be interested in discussing what you all think the response would be to this action, internationally and within America. I personally believe Bush and associates know this game of chicken is madness, and they're just rattling our cage.
On the side of arguing that this is all media manipulation:
I've observed in the last week or two the amount of energy that has been consumed by the news and blogging communities over this topic.
If you look at the front page of Crooks and Liars, for example, the majority of articles cover pundits debating the 'Nuke Iran' issue, while other stories more directly critical of the administration have been pushed to the periphery.
If we score news stories in terms of how much fear they generate, and perhaps consequently how much they trigger an almost involuntary demand on our attention:
Bush & Cheney's abysmal approval ratings. Score: 40
Fitzgerald investigation now pointing to Cheney and Bush. Score: 60
Feingold calling for censure. Score: 23
New hampshire phone jamming scam. Score: 27
Government sanctioned torture. Score: 87
Global thermonuclear war, all out total chaos. Score: 1934883
You get the idea.
So, questions:
What is the real probability of Bush using nukes in Iran?
What if we decided it was none?
What if we saw this as just another example of media and message manipulation?
What if we called his bluff?
