 Renowned American journalist Eric Margolis has said that the US will “go for” Pakistan and Saudi Arabia after Iraq and Iran.
| I certainly hope so. The Saoodis have the money and the Paks have, well, Pakland, and millions of crazy people ... |
| Margolis is the nutcake foreign correspondent of the Toronto Sun... |
“We have leaks from reliable sources that after Iraq and Iran, the US plans to go for Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,” Margolis said in an interview with IWT NEWS on Saturday.
| I doubt Bush is going to be able to get around to Soddy Arabia before his term expires. He'll probably leave that for President Rice to attend to. I doubt he has any plans for an attack on Pakland unless they nuke someone. Once the Soddy Princes are thrown out the roots of jihad will have been pulled and Pakland will wither on the vine, breaking up into a handful of greatgaming ministates jockeying for "strategic depth" while looking for another cause to believe in fanatically. |
Margolis supported IranÂ’s nuclear weapons programme, saying that it poses no threat to the world community.
| Easy to say from Toronto. |
US President George W Bush’s statements on Iran’s nuclear programme were “ridiculous and nonsense”, he said. “Iran has no nuclear bombs and no capability to bomb a country with these weapons,” Margolis said. He said that Iran’s longest-range missile, Shahab-III, had a maximum range of 1,200-1,500 kilometres, which meant that Iran could not attack North America or Western Europe.
| "Israel, yeah, but who cares about them? Turkey, yeah, but what are the Turks really worth?" |
| And when Iran finally gets nukes, Margolis will point out that it's suicidal to attack them 'because they have nukes, you know'. |
“No substantial evidence has yet been found that Iran has nuclear weapons, and anyone saying that Iran is a threat to the world is lying and deceiving the world,” Margolis said.
| Nobody's said they have them. Everyone's saying they're developing them. |
He said that Bush’s statement about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction had “proved baseless”.
| Sammy played his silly games with the inspectors for years. They weren't able to verify that he didn't have them due to his own machinations. I guess there was only one way to find out for sure, wasn't there? |
The US and Israel were planning to attack IranÂ’s nuclear infrastructure and major military installations, he said.
| You can't say Iran hasn't been given plenty of chances to back down. The Euros have been jawing with them for years and nothing's come of it but bluster, bombast, and vitriol. |
| Sorta showed the limits of 'soft power', didn't it? |
Margolis said that Iran had been trying to acquire nuclear weapons since 1970, when it signed an agreement with Israel to provide it with nuclear warheads and medium range missiles. He said that Pakistani intelligence sources had told him that decades ago, Iran had offered to pay for Pakistan’s entire defence budget for 10 years in exchange for nuclear technology. “Why shouldn’t Iran have nuclear weapons? It is surrounded by nuclear powers like Pakistan, Russia, Israel and India,” Margolis said.
| And they want to exterminate Israel. |
| But he just said they didn't have nuclear weapons and it was all puffery and lies that they wanted them. |
He said that the US was providing India with nuclear secrets and the latest nuclear technology in spite of the fact that the latter had not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. He said that India is developing submarine-launched missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles with a range of 7,000 miles. “With these weapons, India can strike even the US, but the Bush administration is still providing India with modern nuclear technology,” he said.
| Somehow, when I think of India, I don't think "threat." I suppose that could turn around if the Naxalites come to power, but I have my doubts about that happening. When I think of Pakland, I do think "threat." That could have something to do with the thought of Islamists coming to power there, which is a distinct possibility. |
He said that the US had supplied Israel with bomber airplanes, which could travel to Iran and even Pakistan. It had also given Israel around 500 “penetrating bombs, which are very lethal”.
| Damn us! We're an irresponsible lot, aren't we?... What are "penetrating bombs"? Bunker busters? |
He said that a US or Israeli attack on Iran could be “very dangerous”, as Iran had the ability to “punish American forces in Iraq”.
| I'm sure they'll try to do so. I'm also sure we'll try to keep them busy with other things. |
He said that the present Iraqi government was a Shia government which is very close to Iran.
| "They're all Shias, you know. The ones in Iraq are Arabs and the ones in Iran are Persians, but you know, that's all the same thing..." |
“So an attack on Iran can outrage the Shia community of Iraq,” he said.
| Part of it, anyway. The other part will watch with a certain among of interest, and maybe cheer as Qom is reduced to rubble... |
Margolis said that Iran had the ability to launch “commando attacks” on US forces in the gulf. “Iran can attack US bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Iran can hamper oil exports from the area, which will create a major panic in the world and in the US,” he said.
| Isn't that another reason to take them out now? |
“Iranians are prepared to take huge casualties (to defend themselves) because they are a dedicated and nationalistic nation, whereas the US lacks this advantage,” Margolis said, adding that Iran can even send troops to Iraq.
| They can form them up to send them to Iraq, anyway. |
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