Saber-rattling on Iran is no way to win my vote.

[More Than A Feeling]

Poll question: Saber-rattling on Iran is no way to win my vote.

It doesn't endear any of the candidates (who do it) to me. Frankly, Bush does enough of that for every politician in America, so everyone else should probably lay off. What do you think?

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

1. lovely...

Going into the 2008 election the Republicans are DOA and the Democrats are whipping out their tape measures to see who can out-tough W. Iraq all over again!

[illinoisprogressive]

2. I don't approve of Saber rattling. I don't know where my candidate stands

on this at the moment but, I think it's stupid to do so and it provokes more tensions.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. the mere mention of Iran as a target sets my blood on boil.

they contacted us after 9/11, they offered to give us all AQ warriors in their prisons, to make peace with Israel, and to share intel and cooperate in finding other terra-ists.

Bush responded by labeling them the axis of evil.


any ANY democrat that swallows, follows and spews the line about Iran being Israel's enemy worthy of our invasion is a paid, bribed, unbelievable bought, purchased, soul-less agent of AIPAC and AEI and I will NEVER support them. to the contrary, I will financially, socially, time-wise support those who refuse to be corrupted by AEI and AIPAC. And I swear to fight any AIPAC and AEi approved democratic candidate with all my might. Evil must be fought, and AIPAC and AEI are the personification of utter evil. Their policies will destroy the US.

[Union Thug]

4. Saber rattling magically turns a candidate into a joke.

I will not vote for a saber rattler, unless said saber rattler has balls enough to lead his (or her) warrior minions into battle. If they don't have the courage to do that, they should shut the fuck up.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. Fear and saber-rattling are mother's milk to politicians.

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” H.L. Mencken

I find it downright insulting to have some ambitious political hack telling us how much we need them to throw their weight around, via the military, to keep us "safe" from the bogeymen they erect.

[Nutmegger]

6. If they still don't get it

then there's no hope at all. After the Iraq debacle, they all should know better.

NO WAR WITH IRAN!

[More Than A Feeling]

7. Agreed. Democrats better stop Bush this time around.

If they don't, and Bush gets his Gulf of Tonkin incident...Iraq as it stands today will look like a walk in the park. We'll WISH we had things this easy!

[pinto]

8. I think Iran deserves to be engaged in talks about the future of the Mid East and

the Caucasus and Southwestern Asia. They are going to play a big role in the region's future. And rightly so, it's their neighborhood. We want a role as well. As does the EU, Russia, China and any number of other players. Everyone knows that.

I support a worldwide ban on nuclear armament and a dismantling of established arsenals. That *includes* Iran, imho.

To your point about American political saber rattling and voter support - I don't buy much of it. We don't have the sabers, for one, and we don't have the political (public) support to make any chest thumping mean much.

To be honest, I look for a realistic assessment of Iran in the world arena and an approach that recognizes the global need for some stability in the Mid East, the disparate interests at play, the right of Iran to a place at the table, diplomacy over stand off, a nod to the Iranian history of multiculturalism, and Iran's desire to be a world power.

Is Iran a threat? They very well could be. That's not saber rattling, that's just what it is, imho. Do they need to be a threat? Not in my opinion. There's much we can do to meet them half way, diffuse some of the rhetoric, and form some larger regional alliances. The EU and Russia are very aware of the opportunity, even as the UN works to ascertain their nuclear ambitions.

We all have some time here, all of us. Let's not let the chance slip by for a peaceful start toward a resolution. Couldn't hurt.