Kristol: Bush Might Bomb Iran If He ‘Thinks Senator Obama’s Going To Win’»

[deminks]

On Fox News Sunday this morning, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol said that President Bush is more likely to attack Iran if he believes Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) is going to be elected.

However, “if the president thought John McCain was going to be the next president, he would think it more appropriate to let the next president make that decision than do it on his way out,” Kristol said, reinforcing the fact that McCain is offering a third Bush term on Iran.

“I do wonder with Senator Obama, if President Bush thinks Senator Obama’s going to win, does he somehow think — does he worry that Obama won’t follow through on that policy,” Kristol added. Host Chris Wallace then asked if Kristol was suggesting that Bush might “launch a military strike” before or after the election:

WALLACE: So, you’re suggesting that he might in fact, if Obama’s going to win the election, either before or after the election, launch a military strike?

KRISTOL: I don’t know. I mean, I think he would worry about it. On the other hand, you can’t — it’s hard to make foreign policy based on guesses of election results. I think Israel is worried though. I mean, what is, what signal goes to Ahmadinejad if Obama wins on a platform of unconditional negotiations and with an obvious reluctance to even talk about using military force.


(end snip)

From day one of Bushco, we have been run by a cult.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/22/kristol-bush-iran/

[polichick]

1. And yet Congressional Dems sit on their hands - IMPEACH!

[indepat]

14. How can a bunch of enablers and complitors impeach?

:shrug: :mad:

[polichick]

16. I know - it's maddening! We have to clean all three houses.

[AntiFascist]

38. Oh, but that would be too divisive...

better to let the Bush Admin self-destruct, waste 100s $billions more on military spending, kill more soldiers and innocents, and really quickly bring the country to the edge of economic ruin...not to mention setting the Middle East on fire and starting WWIII.

[Bandit]

2. Kristol has openly admitted he is a LIAR yet they keep putting him on the air.

On the Daily Show Kristol told Jon that since he was not in Washington he could tell the truth. In my mind that was an open admission to being an out an out LIAR.....

[K8-EEE]

3. K&R.....creepy n/t

[Echo In Light]

5. No shit

[opihimoimoi]

4. This Kristol dude has been wrong from Day 1....they all have been...

and they still put the MF on TV? WTF?

[Ichingcarpenter]

6. And they never call him on all the things he has been wrong about

NEVER. I can't think of one thing he's been right about.

[opihimoimoi]

11. More confirmation the media is influenced by Big Money(GOP)

[shanti]

35. what do you expect?

he was one of the original signators of PNAC! he's totally invested in this.

[two gun sid]

7. I'd say he's more likely to attack Iran

if it looks like McFuckstick's gonna win.

More bullshit scare tactics by the neocons.

[jmowreader]

46. He's much LESS likely to do it if McSame looks like he's going to win

Bush knows how serious a hawk John McCain is. I don't think there's a country in the world McCain doesn't want to either bomb or invade. This being the case, if McCain wins the election Bush can leave office confident in the notion that McCain will do PNAC's bidding. Obama won't do it unless he absolutely has to--yes, if Iran does something stupid like attacking the Green Zone (they're not stupid enough to attack Israel, who has nuclear weapons already and would LOVE to have a reason to drop a few of them on an Islamic nation) Obama will fight back, but the doctrine of preemptive war will be shelved in an Obama administration.

I also think Iran is Shrub's Somalia. Think back to 1992, when Bush's father was wrapping up a term in which he won two wars against tinhorn dictators he installed himself, but lost his war against the Democratic Party. As retaliation, Poppy started an unwinnable war against Mohamad Farah Aidid in Somalia. This is what I think will be Shrub's decision tree regarding Iran:

Pre-November: Bush is going to spend a lot of time telling America how bad Iran is and how they're going to invade any second now. (His advisors hope this won't bring back memories of pre-Iraq...you remember, the intercontinental UAVs that were made by Cox, the mobile bioweapons labs that were made to blow up weather balloons, the huge find of chemical weapons that turned out to be three artillery rounds some gun crew accidentally lost in the desert that contained three drops of agent each..."OMG! Saddam could have killed NINE people with these terrible weapons of mass destruction! We grieve with the families of the nine people whose lives would have been casually yet cruelly snuffed out if the evil dictator Saddam with his torture chambers and rape rooms had used these horrific weapons of mass destruction!")

November: Either Obama or McCain is going to win the election.

If Obama wins: invade right before Christmas. If anything goes wrong, he'll blame it all on Obama. I can't see why not: he's still blaming his mistakes on Bill Clinton, who's been a private citizen for seven and a half years.
If McCain wins: let him invade in March.

[two gun sid]

51. I don't see Iran as Bush II's Somalia

Look, I hear Kristol, Daniel Pipes and John Bolton out there this week talking up the fact that, if Obama looks like our next president, Bush attacks Iran. I think it's all bullshit and it's meant to scare voters that are maybe not as well informed or as intelligent as the average DUer. Bolton is talking up a variation on the "Bush attacks Iran if Obama..." theme. He claims Israel attacks and we support them after the election. But, that doesn't matter. The whole point of these goofballs talking up a US strike against Iran is to scare the voters about an Obama victory. And maybe to scare the Iranian government.

We can't invade. We don't have the military power to be able to invade Iran and hold onto the oil in Iraq also. Could we just bomb some installations in Iran? Yes, but I think that makes our position in Iraq untenable and we will not give up the oil in Iraq for any reason. I think Israel is handcuffed by their own problems and will not attack either. In any event, they won't telegraph their moves like they seem to be doing now with the recent military exercises they just completed with Greece.

An Obama victory means a return to sensible diplomacy. Not that Bush wouldn't attack Iran and leave Obama with a mess. He would. But he can't. And I don't really think McCain can attack Iran either. I think McCain is more whore than hawk.

I just think it's all fear-mongering by the repubs.

[leftofthedial]

8. that's treason

[Fire Walk With Me]

10. So was Iran/Contra, the October Surprise, etc.

(edit)

US corporate interests combined with intelligence agencies used power and leverage to give their political figureheads power and office. It occured outside the political arena, and such things are both fascist and IIRC quite clearly in violation of the laws of government.

[Echo In Light]

12. As American as apple pie and phony war$

[Wizard777]

36. So was Reagans official declaration of war on drugs.

The war was directed in large part against americans. That is treason. It is Constitutionally defined treason.

[Supersedeas]

48. what does Pissyboots have to lose?

[leftofthedial]

55. nothing

he's already gotten away scot-free

[Fovea]

9. The dichotomous thinking of NeoCons

who seemingly cannot see gray.

If not bomb, then capitulate.

WTF, over?

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. WILL YOU PEOPLE IN CONGRESS IMPEACH THIS SON OF A BITCH

BEFORE HE STARTS WORLD WAR III.

[norepubsin08]

15. Bush and Cheney

Both should be declared insane and taken out of the oval office in a net....why won't this country wake up to the fact that we are in mortal danger of global conflict...it's because Bush has us where he wants us...the vast majority are just comfortable enough to survive with out fear of the next meal, but fearful enough of being two paychecks away from destitution...keeps the masses in their place. It's also because we don't have an independent press anymore and couple that with the short attention span and dumbing down of American discourse...we're in serious trouble!!!

[elehhhhna]

17. So they are outright threatening us? Enough already.

[Eurobabe]

18. Just another serving of Terra.

I'm stuffed. Had enough. :mad:

[TahitiNut]

19. It's one of their options for an "October Surprise."

The mind boggles at the more extreme options. :scared:

[EstimatedProphet]

20. So the argument is that we should elect McCain to keep Bush from bombing Iran?

Kristol really is one of the stupidest people on Earth if he thinks we're going to fall for that!

[UTUSN]

21. The "up" side: Billy "William" KRISTOL is wrong about *everything*!1 n/t

[lonestarnot]

22. That little sonofabitch should be arrested for that remark!

[Mz Pip]

23. I agree with him

and that is a scary thing. I have thought that an attack on Iran would come beofre Bush leaves office if Barack is the next president but would wait and let McCain do it if he wins.

It's a cynical point of view but BushCo has made me very very cynical.

[Art_from_Ark]

45. bu$h Sr. got the US militarily involved in Somalia

just after Clinton was elected...

[Faygo Kid]

24. Kristol lets the cat out of the bag, Of COURSE Bush will bomb Iran.

Obama might be his excuse, but it's going to happen.

Unless you have faith in this Administration doing the right thing. In which case you are certifiably insane.

[TwilightGardener]

25. This is a blatant threat from the Neocons: Support Obama, we start WW3.

[GreenPartyVoter]

52. Sure sounds like it. At the very least, they are threatening Obama with yet 1 more mess to clean up

[Fire Walk With Me]

26. Anything that weakens America, strengthens BushCo.

They Enron'd Carter, they Enron'd Gray Davis, they'll Enron America until they're in complete control.

Their energy monopoly certainly doesn't hurt their chances of controlling America utterly.

[lutefisk]

27. So is this a variation on the "good cop- bad cop" routine?

"I don't know if I can control that crazy son-of-a-bitch. I'll try, but you have to work with me here. Give up Obama and I might be able to keep Dubya from doing something crazy...Think about your kids- you don't want them getting hurt, do you?"

And this kind of crap is only going to intensify over the next 5 months.

edit: oops, I thought I was replying to the main topic...

[gratuitous]

39. It's called the "bad cop, crazy cop" variation

Can you imagine how batshit the hate wingers would go if someone on the left said this? Instead, it's their very own Smilin' William Kristol explaining how, if we don't all vote for Fossil John, the terrorists in the White House will make us regret it.

Of course, now I feel free to say it, just quoting Mr. Kristol, you know.

[JerseygirlCT]

28. So he's just being open about the fact that the entire country

is in a hostage situation?

Do as I say, or you'll all get hurt?

[Fire Walk With Me]

30. They've made that clear with 9/11, anthrax letters, Dan Rather, swiftboating, etc.

They are the kind of mean which requires mockery of their victims (because they were victims themselves, and now are in control, or the illusion of control).

Much of what they've done is create the illusion of control, and the illusion of our powerlessness. Let's get some guts and start taking back our country, beginning with impeachment and prosecution.

It is OUR country, when we say it. When we demand it.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

29. HE IS A VERY DANGEROUS PERSON

HERE IS WHAT MY DAUGHTER THINKS OF REPUBLICANS
http://www.youtube.com/user/yebbacom

[Uncle Joe]

31. Kristol should be a character witness for Bush after this is all over.

Waging war against a nation because of a new incoming administration should go over well at the war crimes trial.

[nancyr]

32. He'll do it for pure spite.

There doesn't have to be a pretext for this lunatic. He's gotten away with murder, so what's to stop him???

[BadgerKid]

33. Arrest Kristol for terrorism, please. n/t

[Joanie Baloney]

34. The Mouth(piece) That Roared

Hopefully, because it was a Wallace-Kristol tete-a-tete on Faux, this is just more of their usual sychophantic ass-inflating rhetoric. But, it is truly unnerving to think bombing Iran can be bandied about on air as if it were 2 adolescents discussing Stratego game moves.

:shudder:

-JB

[Wizard777]

37. I think you can bank on that.

[bluedawg12]

40. Clever use of words, deft spin

"platform of unconditional negotiations and with an obvious reluctance to even talk about using military force."

One part is not true and the other a clear over statement.

[BREMPRO]

41. Kristol is one of the biggest, most foul pieces of shit human beings ever created

(same pile as Cheney&Bush). He's a hypocritical smarmy pompous neo-con ner-do-well. Every time I watch him speak on the issues, I've observed he's never had any empathy or understanding of the human consequences of the neo-con agenda- thinks it's all a talking head game. If anyone should be bombed, it should be Kristol.

[Swamp Rat]

42. Fascist!

[Krashkopf]

43. "If you DON'T buy this magazine, we'll kill this DOG"

If you don't vote for McCain, we'll start another war!! Doesn't this remind you of the famous National Lampoon cover? Except that the hard Right wing nuts have become a deadly dangerous parody.

[boomerbust]

50. Great post Krashkopf

The look on that dogs face reminds of about 95% of the American people.

[bunkerbuster1]

44. I love hearing whiny shits like Kristol telling America what "Israel is worried" about

What's even more amazing is that there are some Americans stupid enough to believe the little shit.

[TornadoTN]

47. While his point has some truth to it, he's a still a pathetic "journalist" - look at his words

Look at this quote: "what signal goes to Ahmadinejad if Obama wins on a platform of unconditional negotiations and with an obvious reluctance to even talk about using military force."

Obama has never taken military options out of the equation. The fact is, he doesn't even have to say it - Iran knows that they can't play fast and loose with the UN and the US with regards to their nuke program without this entering the picture. The fact that Obama wants to negotiate with no pre-existing issues tying them up speaks volumes for his leadership and statesmanship. We need a government that is willing to talk and compromise with the world. It will get us further than taking the bully approach and bombing the shit out of everyone we don't like (brown people).


As for the Bush taking military action - it doesn't take too much to imagine a scenario where they would try something like that. But would that really help the Repub's? With the country's distaste for war apparent (aside from the 20%'ers), I don't think they've thought their cunning plan through.

[spanone]

49. can this kind of shit even be said?????? what kind of nation have we become???

[Kablooie]

53. He hasn't done it yet, so don't even think about impeachment until he has.

So one week before the election, when he has actually bombed Iran and our country has fallen into chaos and is suddenly under martial law,
we'll have plenty of time to think about impeachment then.

Of course martial law nullifies the constitution that allows impeachment, so we'll have to wait until it's over before we start, but you can't have everything.

[electropop]

54. And that's coming from a major Bush collaborator.

He's probably right. We are so screwed.