Armed action against Iran would be a 'catastrophe' »
Posted By gamahuche 1 year ago in Political News
These were the words of Karel Schwarzenberg, currently Czech Foreign Minister, and a strong supporter of Israel, during a 30 hour visit to Israel and Palestine. Previously he was an important adviser to former Czech President Vaclav Havel.
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gamahuche
"I would rather be a square peg than fit in a pigeon hole" -
an essay which won me the "Lamb Essay Prize" at the Religious ...
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gamahuche1 year ago
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Karel Schwarzenberg is no lightweight, nor is he anybody's hired gun. He played a very important role prior to and during President Havel's tenure of office - having returned from many years of exile in Austria, from 1948. As a scion of one of the most distinguished former aristocratic families of Central Europe he brings considerable dignity to his position.
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He is also, personally, clearly a "friend-of-Israel", having chosen to spend his 70th birthday there last year.
I mention these details to try to give as clear an impression on where he is coming from with this strong opinion - and that with the Czech Republic about to take over the Presidency of the EU for 6 months, his voice will be carrying added weight. -
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gamahuche1 year ago
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I would also like to thank berkeley for the heads-up on this story, with encouragement to post it, and my favourite monkey, opiczka [means monkey], my eminence grise in certain details, since she was in the Czech Republic through many years when I was gone.
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For anyone who is interested in the modern history of the Czech lands "Citizen Havel" is excellent viewing [Schwarzenberg is also a key player in that]. -
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gamahuche1 year ago
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FTA
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Regarding Iran's nuclear program, he [Schwarzenberg] has urged the EU to increase its pressure on Tehran while avoiding the use of force.
"If we pass the next petrol station here, we will see a sign that says, don't come near the gas station with an open fire," he explained.
"In this area [the Middle East], which is the gas station of the whole world, you don't walk with an open fire," he said.
"A war is only justified in very, very extreme conditions. War is not something that should be easily started and this I mean very seriously." -
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Thinker221 year ago
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I can only repeat what I've said several times in the past:
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Israel and/or the US will use force against Iran only in case there will be no other option to prevent an imminent Iranian attack on Israel, on US forces in the area or if it will become absolutely clear that only use of force will prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Those who think differently should try to prove me wrong by listing the benefits Israel and/or the US will possibly gain from attacking PEACEFUL Iran. These benefits must be sufficiently big to justify the risk of attacking a country which is 80 times (EIGHTY TIMES!) larger than Israel and which has 10 times (TEN TIMES!) larger population.
Suggesting that the Israelis or Americans (or yours truly) are idiots is not a good enough answer.-
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Candida1 year ago
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Thinker22: "Those who think differently should try to prove me wrong by listing the benefits Israel and/or the US will possibly gain from attacking PEACEFUL Iran."
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I don't know whether they will or won't attack Iran and under what circumstances, but can you tell me what exactly are the benefits stemming from the attack on Afghanistan and Iraq? These decisions are not always made rationally.
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Georgia501 year ago
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I personally do not want to see Israel launch an attack in Iran. However, even moreso, I don't want to see Israel end up like Czechoslovakia did for 50 years. Oh wait...Iran has not threatened to OCCUPY Israel; it has threatened to wipe Israel off the map.
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If Iran forces Israel to make a decision, then Israel has no decision to make. It cannot allow a maniac who denies one holocaust while preparing for the next to proceed according to his blood-fetish Islamofascist fantasies.
The irony here is that Iranians are not Arabs and they have no border with Israel. The have a dog in this hunt because they choose to have a dog in this hunt. All the better for Israel because Iran owns the consequences of their actions. -
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canadianrancher571 year ago
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Karel Schwarzenberg is making a statement that shows a different attitude about the Mid East than is share by some of Israels allies. American policy in regards to Iran is a policy that like many of its other policies is very short sighted, it is a policy that would cause a situation that would expand to a very large area and include other countries such as Russia and no doubt other Arab countries.
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Thinker- in your comment you used the word imminent attack and also aquiring nuclear arms, these terms are similiar to the term Weapons of Mass Destruction which was used to attack Iraq and proved unfounded in the end, I have no problem with a country going to war if atttacked but anything short of that basically puts us in the same camp as those you oppose such as the Humas in Palistine.
This comment might be off topic but there are cities in the US that have very high levels of crime which means the average person stands a great chance of being a victim also people are allowed to own weapons to protect themselves but society is still ruled by the idea of law and order, in other words you are not allowed to shoot people just because you preceive them as a threat, should not this idea also apply in a world situation.-
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Thinker221 year ago
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> ...in your comment you used the word imminent attack and also aquiring nuclear arms, these terms are similiar to the term Weapons of Mass Destruction which was used to attack Iraq and proved unfounded in the end...
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I have to remind you that IT WAS NOT "proved unfounded in the end". You see, Saddam USED weapons of mass destructions in the past which is a good enough proof that he HAD these weapons. These weapons were not found yet but this is NOT a good enough proof that they did not exist. No one have seen quarks or black holes, for example, but this does not prove that quarks and black holes do not exist.
> I have no problem with a country going to war if atttacked but anything short of that basically puts us in the same camp...
Unfortunately, in the real world it is too late to go to war if attacked. If Israel will wait for Iran to actually attack it using nuclear weapons there will be no one left there to go to war. For this reason Israelis would prefer to be "put in the same camp" than to be murdered in millions.
> ...you are not allowed to shoot people just because you preceive them as a threat, should not this idea also apply in a world situation.
Yes, it should to an extent but I'm afraid that you don't know what you're talking about. The purpose of being allowed to bear arms for self-defense is just that, to allow people to defend themselves in case they're being attacked. It is perfectly lawful to shoot someone in case he/she/them pointed a loaded gun at you yelling "I'm going to kill you". Iran was and continues to call for destruction of Israel ("yelling "I'm going to kill you"). It acquired hundreds of suitable guns (long-range nuclear-capable missiles) and it is busy preparing to make suitable bullets to fit these guns (nuclear warheads).
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Mutainia1 year ago
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ETproductions1 year ago
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The nuclear threshold will be crossed the moment Iran tests a nuclear device. Since such a test cannot possible be hidden, there is no need to "assume" that Iran's uranium enrichment program is for something other than peaceful purposes. Let's take them at their word unless they test a bomb and thereby prove they were lying. We will have plenty of time to stop development of a nuclear weapons capacity if they ever do test.
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beavith11 year ago
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once they have a working bomb, there is no proof of the number that they actually have.
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what if they build 10 and test one? what if they build 100?
trying to 'stop' them at that point becomes very dangerous.
the NNPT needs to be reworked.
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Daylight1 year ago
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Thinker22
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None of these countries declared that they're going to destroy another state, Candida.
You see, it's not HAVING a weapon that bothers most people, it's the WILLINGNESS TO USE THEM. Most law abiding citizens do not have a problem with policemen having guns but they DO HAVE a problem when the very same guns are in the hands of violent murderers.
Only those who are friends of America and Israel are the ones who can have nuclear weapon or any other weapons and all the others are not supposed to have them in their possessions and if they have them,then they might use them, this is what the Zionists want the world to believe. America has used atom bomb twice and Israel has used all kinds of weapons except nuclear weapon but both Israel and America used depleted uranium in those countries that they invaded and occupied.The Israel and America being the bully should not have these weapon in their hands because they always threaten to use them. Iran never said it wanted to wipe Israel out but what they said was that the Zionism would be dead in the passage of time but the Zionists want to distort everything that their enemy say to start a war but the Israel has no balls to start anything unless America support them. Peaceful world is an enemy of Israel and they don't want peace but war all the time and that has been their survival and the Israelis are cowards they use their Israeli lobby to force the United States to their advantage in everything they do in the Middle East. The day Americans realize that the Zionism is the root of all the evil on the face of the earth and that is the day the Israel will die. Hey Thinker, nobody needs to wipe them out, they are self destructive. -
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CHAM1 year ago
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Thinker, you and you're ilk are a impediment to peace in this world. Someday this type thinking ( or lack of thinking ) will cause the United States to get into a war it will lose.
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I believe in defending what is mine, that includes my country, but I've noticed that when there is talk that involves "threats" to the United States, the Nation Israel always comes up, that we have to be enemies of Iran, Iraq, any Muslim majority country to "defend Israel".
You have my permission to go over there and grab you weapon and start shooting, but I don't think this country should go to war to back up war mongers with an agenda against Muslim peoples. That's what I see here. Lot of hatred toward a lot of Muslim people.
If we want war against Muslim people sooner or later we will get it.
Once China's Defense Minister opined that the United States will be led into a war that will include China on the opposite side of the US, he said it wasn't whether it would happen, he said it was only when it would happen.
I think that would be a mistake.-
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Thinker221 year ago
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> I've noticed that when there is talk that involves "threats" to the United States, the Nation Israel always comes up, that we have to be enemies of Iran, Iraq, any Muslim majority country to "defend Israel".
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No, my friend. You see, the "Nation Israel" always comes up for the one and only simple reason and it is the simple fact that Israel, the US and most of the world have the very same enemies, the fanatic mass murderers who are using Islam as an excuse for mass murder of innocent men, women and children anywhere on the globe.
Do you really believe that 9/11 would not happen if Israel did not exist?
...and, by the way, no American soldier was EVER involved in a battle to "defend Israel".
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