Well I'm shocked too! I'm shocked that the American people put up with the flawed empire building policy.

Empire building?

Stopping a madman from getting nukes is "empire building"?

You liberals are seriously insane.

empire building lol. moonbats crack me up

Funny how no one mentions that Iran didn't start seeking nukes until we invaded the Middle East...

True, we don't want the mad man leading Iran to have nukes. But doesn't that make us hypocrites, considering that our mad man has nukes?

There's a precedent, though: The press ignored the White House's request they not divulge secrets concerning monitoring terrorist groups' electronic transactions in offshore accounts. Even if the White House HAD told ABC news that harm was going to be done to national security, they'd have run with the story anyways.

The Mainstream Media: Not so much the Fourth Estate as a Fifth Column.

This is all President Bush's fault. Just remember, everything that goes wrong in our country is President Bush's fault. The main-stream media is invested in destroying this administration. Just think of the ratings the media will get after the next attack on the U.S. They have successfully lulled the vast majority of America back to sleep with all of this liberal garbage about how the war on terror is over and the threats are exagerrated, etc.

The real story today is that Danny Glover is campaigning for John Edwards...that really says it all.

Boy, the right wingnut sychophants are out in force today. It is clear they have not heard of the First Amendment and Freedom of the Press as the founding fathers, distrustful of too much power concentrated in one brach of government, envisioned as essential 'counter balances' to Executive, Legislative or Judicial overreaches of power? Oh, right - to them the Constitution is just a "quaint" document - unless it suits their own purposes, like the Second Amendment. Then all of a sudden the Constitution becomes conveniently sacred.

Hands off freedom of the press, boys. It's time for some adult leadership now that the frat boys have messed things up so well. I have a suggestion: how's about a Congressional investigation into who the VP has been scheming with using the official places and resources provided by the taxpayers of this nation, to pervert the Constitution? Isn't that actually called treason?

Given the known history of CIA covert operations, it is difficult to believe that the government of Iran would not already have suspected that such operations were underway. All ABC News did was enlighten the American public about this issue.

Enough bashing of Israel and the US already. Some might say my views are "liberal" but some of the people on this site just seem way pro-Arab and UnAmerican. The administration needs to be more transparent, and people need to stop bashing the US for all the problems in the Middle East-especially nut jobs like the president of Iran

The lapdog media will do anything to help their masters. Did Harry Reid come over and rub your belly after you damaged national security? Did Nancy Pelosi feed you an extra treat? Good doggies, bite Bush.

Pathetic

Empire Building? That's what it should be called. Have you seen the vast scope of the new US Embassy in Iraq? It's larger than Vatican City. Have you heard that Bush has said he wants us to have a permanent force in Iraq 50 years into the future like we have in Korea? Although the two situations could not be more different. Sure sounds like the first steps of Empire Building to me.

Damage National Security!? You have to be kidding. The bumbling CIA itself is a threat to national security. Typically, hypocritical Republicans want an investigation yet when President Cheney releases classified info, or better yet, outs a CIA agent, its all AOK with the NeoCon doofs. Boo Hoo Hoo.

This is no worse than President Cheney releasing classified for his political purposes. Out outing a CIA agent. Give it a rest, its old and tired.

Excuse me, Cannis?

Iran's current nuke program started in 1990, in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. They bought 1,000 kgr of natural uranium hexafluoride, 400 kgr of uranium tetrafluoride, and 400 kgr of uranium dioxide from China and didn't tell the IAEA.

You can claim that Iran did that in response to our driving Iraq out of Kuwait - but remember, Iran had just come off an 8 year war with Iraq. They hated Iraq more than the Kuwaitis did. The were happy to see us give Saddam a hit, and just as happy to see us leave.

If Iraq hadn't bombed out Iran's reactors at Bushehr between 1984 and 1987 (they weren't yet completed when Iraq destroyed them) Iran would have a very different nuke program right now - and would certainly have operational devices now.

The real issue here is why is Bush authorizing a secret invaasion of Iran. Once again we are jeopardizing our respect in the world by letting this madman President invade countries who don't invade us first. We have just as mad a President as Iran does.

So you want an investigation into ABC TV for reporting on a known Iranian story? fine lets start an investigation. Along with that investigation we will also investigate the role the president has played in the escalation of nuclear weapons here on earth and potentially in space, the reason the mission statement for NASA was changed, the underhanded methods to gut the EPA, the prevention of private companies to test 100% of cattle for mad-cow disease, the willful rejection of every international agreement or WMD treaty, the treat posed by creating a useless missile defense system in Europe, the impact globalization has had on food safety, the lack of leadership at FEMA and DHS, the JD attorney firing scandal, the controversial political and incompetent job appointments, the Iraq war, and the CIA agent outing.

You can add your issue to the list, and maybe will get around to ya.

Sorry, but if ABC checked with the White House and gave them every opportunity to amend or delete anything they wanted, then it smells more like a deliberate leak the Bush administration wanted out, more than they wanted it hidden.
I think it is also time that some people consider that if you are going to complain about this, then you treat all leaks equally and not just whether they come from a media source you may not happen to like or whether it was Bush declassifying secret info so he could speak at a graduation. Either secret info is secret or not. Let's not play games with it being okay one day and not the next depending on who is doing the deciding. It is not as if this admistration has follwed the classified rules to the letter in their previous dealings.

Foreign Visitor, that's the truth. Its not like the White House didn't have every chance to kill this story. Sounds like another deliberate leak by President Cheney.

It's amazing.

The wingnuts haven't been right one time. Not on Iraq, not on Al Qaeda, not on the economy. But THEY think other people are INSANE?!?

Chimpletons, attention!!! Facts don't change, and your rhetoric will never turn wrong into right! Why do you think your numbers have gone to about 20%?

"Isn't it funny how we can cherry pick all the 'mad men' and 'tyants' and make the decision about who can or cannot have nuclear power?"

I'd call that more "fortunate" than "funny".
Israel and India can have nukes because they won't use them on us. Iran can't because they will.
9/11 proved that the Atlantic Ocean is not the barrier to religious barbarism that it once was. It doesn't take advanced missiles to hit us, just a few people willing to die for their cause. Give those people nukes and we'd be in real trouble.
Likewise, however, the Atlantic Ocean is not a barrier to us, either. Our only barrier is our dull and attenuated survival instinct. Terrorists have been banging on the windows since the 70's, but it took 9/11 to trip the sensor and sound the alarm. Now that we recognize the threat nothing will stop us from dealing with it. That includes keeping nukes out of the hands of countries that would share them with terrorists.

it seems that many are agreeing with the leak of the story from the sole perspective that it is going to hurt president bush. aren't you the same ones who are screaming for the safe return of our troops immediately? would publicizing where are troops are going to be and when they are going to be there not further endanger our troops. there is a limit to freedom of speech, and the safety of others, in this case, is where the line is drawn.

as for iran wanting israel wiped off the map, it would also stand to reason that if they are making nuclear weapons, that would be a quick, and complete, way of doing it.

there has to be a new standard for journalism. they were given the information with the professional understanding that the info would not be released. on top of it, i just read a story on this outlet about proof that iran is supplying the taliban with weapons from raids that took place on april 11th and may 3rd. why has it taken so long to get this news? because that would start to validate what the administration has been saying about iran?

i can only hope that as i write this the not-so-covert troops we have in iran have completed their mission and are on their way to safety. hopefully abc news is doing the same.

We have two dictators? Decider? which stole the elections and are building an private conservative republican mercenary force which has no rules or laws to govern them.
Now I wonder why on one hand Bush & Cheney are destroying our military , while build their own private mercenary army that reports to no one but them??
We are an open nation and our two decider are changing this very fast.
Anyone with an once of sense understands this , but you always have a handful of people that shout loud and try to made it look like they are the majority.
Bush and Cheney has shut down our news media , our democracy , our constitution , freedom and laws and has no respect for anything except power and wealth.
They step on any law that they do not like and this is the most corrupted administration in our history , it you wish to call it an administration , a better name for it is a dictatorship which tortures , steals tax dollars and is destroying our nation at leaps an bounds.
Only a person that has ties to this type of government or a lack of knowledge on what a dictatorship is can support them.....

Remember the good old days when right wingers were suspicious of the government and not all their fellow citizens? I guess they abandoned that libertarian streak in favor of blind allegiance when Georgey-boy announced he was born-again!

"Do we have evidence to prove that Iran is making nuclear weapons? None at all."

Actually, Iran's enormous effort to obtain a complete nuclear fuel cycle is ample evidence in and of itself. The declared nuclear powers have an enormous overcapacity in their nuclear fuel industries, and have made a practice of providing reactor grade uranium to international customers at prices below cost of production. Iran could buy all the reactor grade fuel it conceivably needs for the next century at a lower cost than building its own fuel cycle. And Russia has essentially offered to provide Iran with all the reactor grade fuel it wants for free. The only reason any nation would want its own industrial level centrifuge assembly is that it is not satisfied with acquiring reactor grade fuel. And even if Iran was merely seeking to produce reactor grade fuel, the system it has built is already exceeds any plausible peaceful use....and it is expanding its abilities at great expense despite serious budget problems.

Iran will acquire nuclear weapons, probably within the next 5-10 years, unless the current regime can be convinced to desist..or is overthrown.

Give me a tiny...little...break. This highlights the need to put these criminally insane morons behind bars, for life.

Is mainstream media going to allow this? Instead of Dan's head now it's ABC?

Man do I love liberals... Nothing makes me laugh harder than reading all this crying about big bad evil Bush. Please wright more

These leaks of intelligence, whether to ABC news or the NYT are immensely more threatening, not to mention illegal and harmful to the American people than anything Scooter Libbey said or didn't say to a Grand Jury.

ABC asked about a highly classified operation. Of course, when asked if releasing details of this highly classified operations would jeopardize lives, an answer in the affirmative would be revealing classified information in that you have acknowledged the information ABC is asking about is now valid. It's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" dilemma. And the rules on safeguarding classified information all unanimously require that you NOT acknowledge such a request from an outsider by verifying the story. It's simple OPSEC. The government was REQUIRED to not acknowledge the story. ABC should be investigated, it sources revealed (who obviously has access to classified information) and BOTH prosecuted for leaking and disseminating the information.

The U.S. has about 150 military bases spread around the world. That' a fact. For those who object to the word: "empire," what would you call it?

wow i don't know when i've been so entertained with the back and forth on this post. sure beats the dry as toast stuff i read up here in the frozen north.

Let's take this test: if the president's name was Obama, would the left just wave off yet another article blowing the lid off yet another classified intelligence program?

What is it about the left that they are unconcerned about -- if not take unabashed comfort in -- this sort of thing? Do they really identify more with America's enemies than with America? Or is it just that they hate Bush so much that nothing else matters except harming the administration?

It's pathetic to watch as the lunatic Right circles the drain. Compare the 37 years from 1970 (Nixon) to present to the 37 years (New Deal) 1933-1970. !st 37yearperiod: Fought the depression, WW2, and the Cold War. Built the Interstate hiway system (biggest public works project in history), California aquaduct (biggest irrigation project in history), half of the world's largest dams, 500 airports, sidewalks, bridges, and roads all over America. Murals still on display at post offices from coast to coast and theater projects that launched the careers of Humphrey Bogart and Orson Wells (inter alia). Virtually every school I attended in the '50's and 60's was new, with new books and a full menu of after-school activities. Went to the moon in 9 years w/ computers that, today, wouldn't run your wristwatch. Social movements brought full rights as citizens to Blacks (11-14%), women (51%), and Gays (5-?%), welcoming them into the culture as equals and, every year a raise in the median wage......2nd37yearperiod:Can't keep the hiways paved, haven't been to the moon since...well...democrats were in power. Students roomed in temporary classrooms in decrepit schools with NO after-school activities or functioning bathrooms. Massive public and private debt.First full generation in American history w/o a raise (in the 80 years btwn the Revolution and the Civil War, incomes rose 3X.)Industrial capacity transferred from the "Arsenal of Democracy" to the third world, leaving behind the "Rust Belt{"}...Ask yourself: Which system performed better?

Rep. Patrick McHenry is your classic republican right wing criminal jerk. Its a pity hes from North Carolina.

The White House knew about the repot and had 5 days to respond to keep it from being run. They didn't. They have no one to blame but themselves - unless of course President Cheney wanted it leaked out as propaganda. I mean, after all, he did out a CIA agent for the same reason.....

The press has a right to report this. The government works for us, and follows our orders, or they get voted out, like the Republicans just were. ABC / Disney has a lot of conservative opinion on their networks. Glen Beck, Mark Halperin. They're fair and balanced in the opinion department, and THIS is merely facts.

I think in all fairness it should be pointed out that the CIA is renown for its strict observance of international law and the laws of the nations in which its agents operate. ABC would do well to guided by ethical standards and moral integrity of the CIA!

"The U.S. has about 150 military bases spread around the world. That' a fact. For those who object to the word: "empire," what would you call it?"

Allies.

The US does not control those places, and has a presence there with the cooperation and consent of the sovereign governments.

Beating each other up is a not an effective way of dealing with common enemies from abroad.

When did GOP start to pretend to care about the rule of law again anyways ? Hilarious

These damn foreign governments. Trying to bully the United States. They better watch it. At any moment Bush might launch one of his stealth backrubs on one of their leaders.

Why are all the Left-Leaning Ladies fronting for Iran? Have you seen what they do to women in Iran? Have you read Azar Nafisi's "Reading Lolita in Iran" or Marjane Satrapi's "Persopolis?" Look it up on the 'net, it may change your view of these vicious misogynist homophobes.

Reminds me of Operation Ajax. For those too busy laughing at "liberals" to know what Operation Ajax was, try Googling it.

Each time there is a leak, the criminals want to punish the leakers and just forget about their crimes.
I hope there will be more and more whistleblowers...

Funny how no one mentions that Iran didn't start seeking nukes until we invaded the Middle East...

-----------
Try Googling the history of the Iranian nuke program. Hint....it did not begin in 2003.

Where's Ellsberg; what's he doing now? We need a hundred whistleblowers like him making the the American People get the truth from inside the halls of government.

Under crass ideals department...

Quote:

"The U.S. has about 150 military bases spread around the world. That' a fact. For those who object to the word: "empire," what would you call it?"

Allies.

The US does not control those places, and has a presence there with the cooperation and consent of the sovereign governments"

Hey Cowboy. Put this in your Pickup...

Most of those places are dictatorships...don't you understand what that means! This is not done with the consent of the ordinary people. Just the rich and well connected who screw their own people and give us part of the "take"

The fact you brag about it shows how shallow you are.

Man, many of your comments sounds much like what people in Khomeini's Iran were saying in 1980s.

Is this the level of democracy you have in the US? That the media is free as long as they do not say or write anything that the government have problem with?

And as far as Iran seeking nukes goes, why wouldn't they? If your country was surrounded by people who openly advocate the destruction of your regime, and 2 of your neighbors were invaded and toppled by them, then wouldn't you start thinking in those terms?

Does any of you remember Iran Contra? Helping Saddam in the 80s and other fabulous acts of your beloved Reagan who created the monster Saddam as well as Osama and his gang?

You people (both sides) are too funny. Or is it pathetic? La Raza's ready to set up a country in southwestern U.S. in a generation, the Senate is debating a worthless immigration bill, and you guys wanna yap at each other like little barking dogs. The hatred being exchanged by both sides on this must have the islamic extremists laughing because they see another example of how the U.S. is already divided. They know this will make it much easier to destroy America when they decide to strike. Hope you all have your burkas and prayer rugs ready. Me? Unlike you, I will be a casualty, going down fighting.

look to cheney

Okay, some comments are too stupid NOT to respond to. Consider AZBILL:

"It's pathetic to watch as the lunatic Right circles the drain. Compare the 37 years from 1970 (Nixon) to present to the 37 years (New Deal) 1933-1970. !st 37yearperiod: Fought the depression, WW2, and the Cold War."

Okay, point by point:
New Deal/Depression - President sees a national crisis, grants himself nearly unprecidented executive power, and puts the world on a war footing to handle the crisis (sound familiar? Didn't have a problem with FDR doing it, eh?)

Won WWII: You antiwar libs crack me up. You can't see a threat in Iran, you would have stuck your head in the sand for Hitler, too, as he rose to power. Your party back then is nowhere near your party now -- which would have given Hitler Europe without firing a shot. (Or would have called WWII "already lost" a la Harry Reid after losing thousands on the opening day of the Normandy invasion.)

"Fought the Cold War"?! Okay, you MUST be an idiot if you figure the Dems' record against Communism is superior -- Carter called the Cold War lost, Reagan actually WON IT. "Tear down that wall," anyone?

Speaking for myself, I am not anti-war. i am anti-stupid war. Iran does present a certain level of threat and has to be managed. but constant saber rattling is not bright...

Also should add two important points..

1. Most countries in the world now and in the future, we will not be democracies. Some that are now democracies may not be so in the future.

2. Because the world in losing the battle on energy supplies (most notably oil) and world production is now leveling off or declining, most countries will be forced to go nuclear in the next 20 years. You will not have one Iran,you will have dozens.

So what ever you do now you better know what your doing, if you want to start wars in everyone of these coming situations, the U.S. will never have the resources to do that...

So it's OK for our govt to support terrorist groups (against Iran), and it's also OK for us to invade (and/or nuke) non-nuke countries that BUSH SAYS support terrorist groups. Did you all catch that? The facts of the story CONFIRM that our govt is A STATE SPONSOR OF TERROR.

When ABC first aired the story, exposing US covert activities within the Iranian government, I too was shocked. I wondered why ABC would expose such secrets, jeopardizing the lives of the agents involved and the entire mission. Then came the news that ABC had contacted the CIA and the White House, 6 days prior to the releasing the report. No one from the administration or the CIA objected. In addition, I have yet to hear one person in the Bush administration, CIA Director Hayden or any other intelligence official condemn the ABC report or ask for an investigation to find the source(s) of the leak. Complete silence. Why is this ? It is because the story was never confirmed or denied to begin with. The "powers that be" are following the policies of OPSEC.
True or not, if the information was deliberately leaked for strategic purposes, nothing will happen. If it is true and leaks within the intelligence community are guilty of revealing classified information, they will be dealt with quietly from within.
Representative McHenry is a fool to believe that any investigation to find and prosecute the source(s)of the leak, will yield any answers. In order for this to happen our government would have to publicly confirm the existence of the program. This will not happen as long as there are tensions between the two countries.

tombob Cheney outs a CIA agent? Libbey faces prison time because he did NOT out an NOT covert CIA employee who is now a millionaire as a result! The prosecutor knew the real "outer" before the investigation started! How much tax money did he waste? Can you say witch hunt? Can you say real culture of corruption? Do facts always get in the way of your bigotry, intolerance, hate, and prejudioe?

liberal logic deniers ala TomBob. The first amendment is the most attacked freedom by the left. Ever hear of the "fairness" doctrine? - The left's attempt to end all political debate? It is the left thst considers the constitution "living" and instantly changeable. That is logic negation - ignore reality to feed your prejudice. That is a disease.

No the U.S. does not have more oil than then Iraq and Iran combined, if fact we are running out. Although it's true, that drilling has been prevented in certain areas, the fact that the U.S. burns 1 billion barrels of oil in only 7 weeks means that formerly "big" finds ar no longer big. There are books on this subject, and it is called Peak oil. It is not a liberal foil, it is Geology.

Lyttle - Book - or propaganda? How can we be running out if we are not using it? BP has identified massive reserves in the Gulf of Mexico. Alaska holds decades of oil reserves. The oil shale in our west is well within economic reach, and holds additional decades of potential energy. As the price goes up, so does scientific R&D to find alternatives. Give us 50 years and see what we can accomplish!

Oh no, we might make CO2 if we use it! How insane. Want to limit greenhouse gas production? Put a blanket on the ocean and cork the volcanoes - by far the largest sources of "greenhouse" gases.

WHYEE KAN'TT WINGNUTTSS SPELLLL??

I like how the reporting of the story itself has become the story - good distraction, thus overshadowing the realization that our govt is supporting terrorists to destabilize a soverign nation and overthrow the Iranian regime. 'Noname -- I await your rah- rah- chest-thumping response.

yttle - Book - or propaganda? How can we be running out if we are not using it? BP has identified massive reserves in the Gulf of Mexico. Alaska holds decades of oil reserves. The oil shale in our west is well within economic reach, and holds additional decades of potential energy. As the price goes up, so does scientific R&D to find alternatives. Give us 50 years and see what we can accomplish!

Oh no, we might make CO2 if we use it! How insane. Want to limit greenhouse gas production? Put a blanket on the ocean and cork the volcanoes - by far the largest sources of "greenhouse" gases.

No. Your not understanding this. It's not propaganda We don't have enough reserves in the untapped areas to offset the declines in the lower 48. i am retired from phillips Petroleum. 25 years in the industry. What we hav'nt found is well understood. You can estimate reserves from resevoir size and depth. We will in fact drill off of california and elsewhere, because we will have to. But it will not be enough. Our consumption id exponential. This is what is causing the problem.

I would also add that the oil shales are not within reach. They've been trying for 40 years and abandon this because you have to heat the shale. How do you heat the shale. You burn oil. you burn more oil than you make. that's why we doidn't do this 30 years ago. nothing has changed.

"They bought 1,000 kgr of natural uranium hexafluoride, 400 kgr of uranium tetrafluoride, and 400 kgr of uranium dioxide from China and didn't tell the IAEA."

They were not REQUIRED to tell the IAEA UNTIL they introduced this material into the cascades.

Get a clue. There IS NO Iranian bomb program. The IAEA has repeatedly said that there is NO evidence that ANY nuclear material has been diverted into ANY bomb program - nor do they have ANY evidence that there IS or ever WAS a bomb program.

What the IAEA wants is a complete accounting of certain actions taken YEARS AGO ago that HINTED at an Iranian military interest in the nuclear program.

That's it. Period.

The rest of the so-called "crisis" is a fantasy dreamed up by people like Cheney and the rest of the warmongering war profiteers - and the morons responding to this article are their supporters.

When these morons allow Bush to attack Iran, and gas at the pump goes to $20/gallon, and Islamic terrorists are blowing up car bombs in Times Square in New York and your morning commute transit station, and your son or daughter is dying in Iraq and Iran for NOTHING, know who is to blame.

Richard,
Your absolutely right, if Iran gets bombed oil prices will explode and probably wreck the western economies...

Most people don't appreciate this fact. They think our way of life is a "given" and don't know how precarious it is...

Funny, I thought a madman already had lots of nukes. Doesn't Bush control lots of nukes? His complete lack of contact with reality is a sure sign of a madman. Put the two together and you've got a madman with nukes. Our madman with our nukes.

Does any rational human being really think the Bush Administration would order an unprovoked nuclear strike on Iran, or any other country for that matter? Probably not.

On the other hand, can any rational human being make the same statement about the religious fundamentalists who run Iran? Can we allow nuclear weapons to lay in the hands of people who look forward to martyring themselves in the name of their religion?

Does a nuclear device have to go off in a major US city for people to understand we are at war with a mindset that seeks our ultimate detruction? Our enemies have a face and a name. We are not at war with Terrorism. We are at war with Islamic fundamentalists.

This country has a moral obligation to the people of this country and the rest of the world to keep Iran's ambitions in check.

Anything done to counteract these efforts is not only moronic, but morally degenerate as well.

Scott C.

Israel has by most estimates over 200 nuclear weapons. Does anyone think that the Iranians could launch a strike against Israel and not be turned to glass? Do we really believe the Iranians are suicidal?

What would prevent Iran from selling - or just giving - a nuclear device to an Islamic extremist organization dedicated to our destruction?

Mutually Assured Destruction only inhibits sane people from using nuclear weapons. Do the people who run Iran fall into this category?

Do we wait to find out the hard way whether they do or not?

Scott C.

Scott.
Perhaps your young I don't know but in my lifetime I was assured that Communist were'nt rational. My grandfather was assurred that Germans weren't rational and my father was told the Japanese weren't rational.

As for your concerns about terrorist with Nukes, the real danger is Pakistan. The people there are far more irrational as you say then Iran and we think we have them bought off. Also, clearly, they already have the bomb.

And did you look at the map I posted?

Mark,

I know propaganda is a tool employed in every war. Demonizing your enemy is part of the game. Nevertheless, do you think Hitler would have refrained from using nuclear weapons, if he thought he had been able to get ahold of them? He might have, if he thought we had them too. But, suppose he just didn't care whether we did or we didn't?

The Soviet Union was run by imminently sane and dedicated Communists. But, at the end of the day, they loved life as much as we did. This allowed for the two sides to negotiate in their mutual self interest to avoid their mutual destruction. How do you negotiate with people who would just as soon die, as long as they get to take you with them?

Do we want to risk great destruction by depending on Iranian self-restraint, or do we do everything in our power to make sure they cannot make nuclear weapons?

Scott C.

Scott,
I think you are making the judgement that the Soviets were sane from the comfort of 40 years of distance. I remember Nikita Khruschev taking his shoe off at the U.N. and pounding it crazily on the table screaming and drooling like a madman "We will BURY you!" he shouted. Perhaps you weren't there. Nobody in the United States in 1963 doubted for a momment that the Russian leader was criminally insane.

I don't think you can retoactively reform these people. That said, i think Iran is bluffing as much as Nikita was.
Further I do take issue with this comparing everyone to Hitler. Germany in the 1930's had technology and ecomomic power on the same scale as our own, and our populations were similar also. Now lately, we were told that Iraq was a threat to the world, they have 19 million people, mostly poor.Now Iran is certainly stronger, they have 70 million people and have access to the technology of Russia and China. but this is precisely the point. Hitler did not have to import technology nor was Germany at that time a vassal state of other powers. Iran is. Iran is as different as you can imagine from Germany in the 1930's. and Iraq was different in turn from either of these. Also the Iranians have legtimate grievances agaist us. We overthrough their government in 1954 and installed a dictator, the Shah of Iran. They were a Democracy up to that point, held regular elections. We broke that playing Machievallian games with the Soviets...Before we call them crazy, we need to realise the trmendous damage we did to these peoples at a time when there was no previously existing animosity between their people and ours..

I could go on, but my point is i feel ther has been very little homework down by people who throw the epithet "crazy" around to loosely...

President Cheney wanted it leaked out. The EMPIRE up to something!!! EVIL

Does the name Valerie Plame mean anything to the righteous right?
She was outed by Cheney/Libby.
Contrary to Faux News she WAS a COVERT OPERATIVE.

Now here's a test for GWB

Is he aiming anti-missles at Iran or Russia?
Putins not sure so he has made this proposal...

Putin is testing Bush's veracity here...

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday offered to set up a joint Russian-US anti-missile base to end a crisis between the two countries as Group of Eight leaders agreed a face-saving compromise on climate change. Putin made the startling proposal for a joint base in Azerbaijan during talks with US President George W. Bush aimed at rescuing bilateral relations from a post-Cold War low.

So lets see how this gets handled. if Bush is sincere he should at least consider this....

Pretty obvious that most of the readers of the blotter are liberal conspiracy nuts who are moral relativists and can't tell the difference between friend or foe..... Very sad situation..... Fools and blind.....

Both parties are inept. It amazes me how many people buy into this party dogma. Divide and conquer.

Maybe the parties are not inept after all.

Nuclear weapons don't kill people. People kill people. What if there were an Islamic revolution in Pakistan?

Ya know, this is one time I agree with the government.....this should not have been published......true or not.

The story should not have run. Period. If Iran suspected, which they would, fine...but now they know. That is putting more lives in jeopardy and that is irresponsible. The administration not responding doesn't mean squat. Would ABC have broadcast a story that journalist Bob Woodruff was about to go down a specific road in Iraq in a humvee? I don't think so because that would have greatly increased his chances of getting killed. This should not be about Dem or Republican, war or oil, it is about common sense and irresponsible journalism.