Props to Biden for his clarity on Iran

[Armstead]

Kudos and a tip of the Hatlo Hat to Joe Biden for succinctly summing up the problem with the whole "Iran is a dangerous menace" meme.

"It’s not about not advocating ‘a rush to war.’ I’m advocating no war. A rush to war means that war, taken slowly, going slowly, is possible. I’m advocating no war, no justification for war."

I wish he'd recognized that in 02-03 regarding Iraq, but better late than never.

The whole problem with our approach to diplomacy these days is that raising war as a possibility has become business as usual.

"Concerned that Iran might possibly be developing nuclear weapons? Simple, just declare them to be terrorists and rattle the saber for war."

The problem with following Bushian conventional wisdom is that it's too easy to get sucked into the vortex.

P.S. If you remember the Hatlo Hat you're officially a fellow member of the Old Fart Club.

[Steely_Dan]

1. Well, I agree...

I know that he has been holding this opinion for a long time. Not sure why he wasn't heard. Now that he has threatened impeachment, suddenly he IS being heard.

-P

[bdamomma]

2. Just wish more of Biden's colleagues have to saying the same thing

Enough is enough.

[frogcycle]

3. I almost remember

it was Jimmy Hatlo - and I think it was in a comic strip or newspaper column

I think it was the cartoonist's acknowledgement to readers who had written in

but beyond that - blank

does that make me a REALLY old fart?

edit:
O-Tay! I googled it. "They'll Do It Every Time" it all comes back to me now...

Now what's "O-Tay?"

[Armstead]

4. "They'll Do It Every Time"

Was a Sunday morning ritual at our house when I was a tyke.

Sort of remembering it makes you a semi-old fart.

[Armstead]

5. Kick

trying to give a little positive support to candidates.

[gateley]

6. He'd mentioned in a debate that the brouhaha over Iraq was not valid, and

that we needed to keep an eye on Pakistan (this was a couple of days before the crises in Pakistan). At that time he actually said he thought Iran was probably about 10 years out from being able to manufacture a weapon.

He knows his stuff.

[1corona4u]

7. Almost uncanny...

kind of like what he said the day before 911....

[Armstead]

9. Which was?.....

[1corona4u]

10. Note the date...

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, warned in a speech Monday that the administration was de-emphasizing threats other than a missile attack at its peril.

"Even the Joint Chiefs say that a strategic nuclear attack is less likely than a regional conflict, a major theater war, terrorist attacks at home or abroad, or any number of other real issues," Biden said.

If the administration proceeds with building a missile-defense system, he said, the country will have "diverted all that money to address the least likely threat, while the real threat comes to this country in the hold of a ship, the belly of a plane, or smuggled into a city in the middle of the night in a vial in a backpack."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001/09/11/security.htm

[Jennifer C]

8. K&R

[Tom Rinaldo]

11. ditto n/t

[babylonsister]

12. Agreed! Thanks, and rec'd! Biden was great today! nt

[IndianaGreen]

13. and kudos to Biden for his low tolerance of bullshit

whether it is neocon bullshit on Iran, or Hillary's bullshit on Iran.