If Israel attacks Iran...

I just read this NY Times Op Ed article.

Is it just me, or in this day and age are we so bad at attacking and destroying, we have to HOPE things go well?

There is so much in this article that bothers me. It's as though possible outcomes were written on index cards, stapled to a wall and darts were thrown at them, then jumbled up into this.

I'll break it down for you.

Options:

Israel can wait until they are nuclear ready and see what happens... see if the US diplomat has any luck.

Israel can attack now.

... isn't that it?

"It is in the interest of neither Iran nor the United States (nor, for that matter, the rest of the world) that Iran be savaged by a nuclear strike, or that both Israel and Iran suffer such a fate. We know what would ensue: a traumatic destabilization of the Middle East with resounding political and military consequences around the globe, serious injury to the West’s oil supply and radioactive pollution of the earth’s atmosphere and water."

Hold on a second.

It is not in Iran's best interests to get bombed by nuclear... bombs?

This guy is a fucking genius.

Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but from my days as a journalist*, you write down things in order of importance.

Fuck the oil. Sorry, but going back to the first sentence, I doubt that the rest of the world gives a shit about whether or not it's in the best interest of THE UNITED STATES if Iran gets nuked or not. I seriously don't think that the people of Europe are saying "God, if they bomb Iran, what's going to happen to the United States?!?"

While I don't know enough about Al Gore's 10 year program, I think it's pretty clear that, regardless of any ADDITIONAL war/conflict/police action in the region, we should be reducing our dependence on foreign oil already.

The oil in the region should be the least of our concerns, where nuclear war is a factor.

The resounding military consequences would be justified. If someone bombed us because we were doing something that someone didn't like, I'm sure we would react, as much in kind as possible, and we would get their families, their friends, their cats and dogs.

I won't even get into the political consequences because, obviously, if it got to that point, all of the politics would have failed, and the people responsible would be denounced (gosh, that's such a bullshit word) all over the world.

A global denouncement. Who gives a shit.

Radioactive pollution. Hmmm... yeah. Is that really a concern? I mean, it's all the way at the bottom there. It's almost like it's a given, you know, cause they used nuclear weapons.

Forget about future generations born with a third eye, or skinless children walking around, breathing through holes in their fingers.

SAVE THE OIL!

So, to sum up (and I'll let you read the article yourself, because my heart stopped for a second, I grabbed a chocolate bar and said "Fuck exercising if these assholes are going to use nukes.")...

Since we gave Israel the AMBER light, we're accessories to yet another destruction. And the world has to sit back and wait while Israel goes and does their business. And we all have to hold our breath and HOPE, for christ sake, that they do it right.

Either that or hope the US diplomat does the right thing.

I'm going to go buy some more candy bars, some milk shakes, ice cream, brownies... you know, just in case.

* I have never been a journalist.