Monday, February 4, 2008

Milestones in Iraq and Iran

Or, 'there's good news, and there's bad news.'

First, the good news.

Iraq's leaders decided to let people who worked for Saddam Hussein work for the new Iraqi government. That's another benchmark passed by Iraq. (More at "Truth and News: How Success Gets Marketed as Failure" (February 4, 2008).)

Now, the bad news.

Iran joined the ranks of countries with space technology. With the construction and successful test-firing of a rocket that could put a satellite in orbit "... Iran has joined the world's top 11 countries possessing space technology to build satellites and launch rockets into space." That's what Iran's official television channel says.

'Ayatollah TV' ("Islamic Republic of Iran News Network") also announced the opening of Iran's first space center.

Like Iran's civilian nuclear program, Iran's civilian space program is strictly for scientific and civilian missions. It's pure coincidence that its missiles will be able to carry nuclear warheads. According to Iranian television.

I don't mind another nation being able to launch communications satellites and conduct research in space.

I do have serious concerns about Iran's "death to Israel! Death to the great Satan America!" Ayatollahs getting first-strike nuclear capabilities.
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually I wouldn't be too concerned. Those "death to.." and "down with.." slogans are mainly for their domestic use. That's how Iranian government defines itself, by guarding against "imaginary" enemies and Bush's aggressive approach makes it that much easier for them. They never invaded or threatened other countries. I lived in Iran and to me even thinking about their attacking Israel or US sounds like a joke. Let's hope I'm not wrong!

February 5, 2008 at 2:47 AM
Brian H. Gill said...

Anonymous,

True. The Ayatollahs certainly do appear to be using Jews and America as a means to maintain power.

As for Iran never having invaded or threatened other countries, people on the east side of Iraq might have a different opinion.

Another point: I make a distinction between the Iranian people and the Ayatollahs who are running the place.

Finally, a tyrannical government is using the Jews and foreigners as a rallying point does not necessarily indicate pacific intentions. A German chancellor and his party once made effective use of Jews, Poles, and other groups as a rallying point.

Then, despite the best efforts of European diplomacy, Germany invaded Belgium, France, Norway, and generally made life unpleasant in the western hemisphere.

I'm not quaking in fear of Iranian ballistic or cruise missiles with nuclear warheads: but I think the threat is plausible.

As for its being the fault of Bush, I acknowledge that this is part of the belief system of many people.

February 5, 2008 at 4:46 PM

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Blogroll

Note! Although I believe that these websites and blogs are useful resources for understanding the War on Terror, I do not necessarily agree with their opinions. 1 1 Given a recent misunderstanding of the phrase "useful resources," a clarification: I do not limit my reading to resources which support my views, or even to those which appear to be accurate. Reading opinions contrary to what I believed has been very useful at times: sometimes verifying my previous assumptions, sometimes encouraging me to change them.

Even resources which, in my opinion, are simply inaccurate are sometimes useful: these can give valuable insights into why some people or groups believe what they do.

In short, It is my opinion that some of the resources in this blogroll are neither accurate, nor unbiased. I do, however, believe that they are useful in understanding the War on Terror, the many versions of Islam, terrorism, and related topics.