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Iran War Advocate Admits War Would ‘Unleash A Wave’ Of Anti-Americanism

thinkprogress.org — (Video) Prominent neocon Norman Podhoretz, who has just published an essay titled “The Case For Bombing Iran," admits in an interview that "if we were to bomb the Iranians as I hope and pray we will, we’ll unleash a wave of anti-Americanism all over the world that will make the anti-Americanism we’ve experienced so far look like a lovefest.”

Who dugg this? Made popular Jun 21, 2007

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  • williamdyer, on 10/11/2007, -6/+74They don't hate us for our freedom, whatever is left of it. They hate us for sending F-16s, cluster bombs, and jet fuel to Israel. Israel is one expensive girlfriend, too.
  • shawnfassett, on 10/11/2007, -15/+76These are the "true" Americans that conservatives chose to follow. Look what their goals really are...they want us to be attacked. Somehow it helps Israel. Still feel voting for an anti-gay candidate is really in you and your family's best interest?
  • Albionshores, on 10/11/2007, -8/+66I love his line a couple of minutes in...

    "Its often hard in a totalitarian system for dissenting voices to make themselves heard. These regimes are very brutal in suppressing dissent. They arrest, they torture, they threaten."

    Who does that remind you of? Is he accidentally implying that the US is becoming a totalitarian state?
  • Sterango, on 10/11/2007, -7/+52Wow, amazing nutjobs like this are in power.

    It's like this guy has fantasies of living in a post nuclear wasteland and being in a mad max gang.
  • diggerydood, on 10/11/2007, -4/+43Whose side is he on?
  • thepeacemaker, on 10/11/2007, -13/+49Why is it that almost every "expert" advocating a war with Iran is Jewish? Whose interests are they looking out for - US or Israel?
  • sbrown123, on 10/11/2007, -3/+38Israel puts lots of money in the hopes we will attack Iran. Christian religious nutjobs think its part of some biblical prophecy to start the end of days (which they want to start to kill all you evil doers). Military contractors put tons of money in with the hope of a new war to increase their profits. Lots of people pushing for a war with lots of money and a docile population means: we will probably bomb Iran.
  • g30ff, on 10/11/2007, -9/+37Because the army of evangelical christian fruitcakes hoping to fulfill some crazy biblical prophecy who are the real reason why Israel gets a blank cheque to do as it pleases aren't educated or intelligent enought to be considered "experts"

    Seriously though, what does it matter what religion the guy is? If he's suggesting you do something stupid, don't do it. Just because he's Jewish doesn't mean he's putting Israel first and your country second. Personally, I don't think a war with Iran is in anyone's best interest.
  • Orion682, on 10/11/2007, -5/+33Errr, I'm Jewish and I don't give a ***** about Iran. I live here, not there.

    To me, the biggest problem is that I travel a lot, and frankly, admitting to being an American abroad nowadays is crazy. I'd rather not get the ***** beaten out of me when I travel just because of our ***** administration, Israel be damned. Those idiots who obsess over holy sites and relics might as well be idolaters in violation of the first ***** commandment.
  • SPECOPS, on 10/11/2007, -2/+26"WTF does anti-gay have to do with it" - some people, blind (metaphorically speaking), will vote for-or-against a person just on the 'anti-gay' part.
  • BrainInAJar, on 10/11/2007, -6/+30chalkboy:

    You can think of another reason why people vote for lunatic conservatives?
  • thepeacemaker, on 10/11/2007, -3/+25Of course his religion is not an issue but individuals like him are only harming the image and interests of the American Jewish community. Thank heavens for Amy Goodman and Ira Glass for standing up to these neocon tactics.
  • miketrin, on 10/11/2007, -14/+36Conservatives that PRAY FOR WAR???? What religion are they that they can pray for a war? Is he really just and atheist using the word symbolically because my Christian beliefs tell me that I can not kill and praying for a war would basically be praying for a one way ticket to hell.

  • Akronos, on 10/11/2007, -3/+25"Family values" has been the most important aspect of getting the poor and middle class to vote for republican when they really shouldn't be. Neocon's have an economic policy that greatly favors the rich and yet, the poor and the middle class choose to vote republican just because they are anti-gay. Essentially they are going against their own self interests so that gays don't get rights.
  • inactive, on 10/11/2007, -7/+28God, I hate the Jewish Lobbies.

    Anyone who funds a foreign lobby is NOT American.
  • argusbargus, on 10/11/2007, -4/+22A wave? It'll be a ***** tsunami!
  • Waiting2awake, on 10/11/2007, -3/+21 OK, so it is official. Everyone agree's that if the US attack Iran, the US will be the ones that take the short stick in the long run...Much like Iraq...we all know how those warnings were heeded - lets see if these have better luck. I doubt it though...

  • bemenaker, on 10/11/2007, -4/+21Does the word TREASON mean anything?
  • swavalier711, on 10/11/2007, -2/+18I know that anything with the words "Ron Paul" is taken as spam, but... Ron Paul did say this in the first debate on FOX news. They attack us because we've been over there, bombing Iraq for 10 years, and putting bases in Saudi Arabia.

    What's the difference between Iraq and Iran? If we attack both, we'll get the same result; mass terrorist recruitment drives and anti-American sentiment.
  • krebcycle, on 10/11/2007, -1/+17I give it 50/50 that it happens before Bush leaves office. They're doing everything they can right now to get the rest of the G8 and the big players in the UN psychologically ready for it so it's not a big surprise when we attack. I don't think they're even trying to win anyone over, just sort of slowly breaking it to them that yes, we're going to attack Iran, get used to the idea. Once they think they've warned everyone, expect the air strikes to begin.
  • NikoKun, on 10/11/2007, -2/+17What's the point of going after an enemy... when all that will do is turn the whole world into our enemy? We must look like some kind of tyrannical conquerer at this point... -_-

    Why the hell can't we stay out of other country's business? why does this guy pray for war... ***** *****...
  • RyanBlueThunder, on 10/11/2007, -0/+15up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, Select, Start.

    Well funded contras.
  • HexeL, on 10/11/2007, -3/+17Ah! I get it now. They DO hate us for our freedoms. If we get rid of all of them we'll be left alone. Bush is genius!

    Bush and his cronies are domestic enemies of the Constitution. What does that document say about traitors again?
  • BESTenemy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+14 To paraphrase Robert Newman:

    Nothing can unite the rest of the world better than its hate towards America. It is almost as if they had formed one big country called "The Rest Of The World". They even have their own flag. It's just like ours, only on fire.
  • Foamator, on 10/11/2007, -1/+14A wave of Anti-Americanism? Gee, I wonder what that would be like.
  • Schpariel, on 10/11/2007, -2/+15"They hate everyone because they think they have a god given right to the world. They can't even live in peace with the guys next to them."

    They hate you (your government) because you destroyed their democracy, installed a puppet dictator, attacked an Iranian airliner, funded and provided Saddam with weapons to attack them, threatened them with sanctions and calling them "Axis of Evil"

    And you're still asking why they hate you?. The USA is the aggressor here, not Iran

  • zyl0x, on 10/11/2007, -5/+18Big ***** surprise.
  • mythandros, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13Good God! What the hell are we doing? Please forgive my crassness but if you stick your dick in the hornet's nest, you're going to get stung! First, we support Israel, the least popular middle eastern nation. Then, we attack Iraq after supplying them with weapons against Iran. Twice. We hold Iraqi soldiers hostage for years, denying them due process in ways that are horrifyingly paralell with the Spanish Inquisition. Now, we're actually contemplating an Iran invasion because they really don't like us? If you think you've seen Jyhad, you haven't seen anything yet. This is going to galvanize every muslim extremist across the globe against us. Democratic reticence to intervene constitutes a tacit endorsement of this Republican scheme. Meanwhile, buildings across the country are going to start crashing to the ground like so many games of Jenga while politicians descend upon our last freedoms and consolidate ultimate power in the name of "National Security".

    [sarcasm]...but I'M the crackpot...[/sarcasm]
  • angusm, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13"War would unleash a wave of anti-Americanism."

    I think I speak for all of us here when I say "No *****? You think so?"

    Whether or not the war goes ahead may depend at least in part on whether the present administration figures that the damage to our international standing (and their domestic support) done by the war on Iraq is already so bad that bombing Iran won't really make things that much worse. I don't think that Iraq has changed their basic faith in the theory of "They'd do it to us if they could, so we must do it to them before they can". In their minds, it's probably not a question of "Should we?" so much as a question of "How?" and "When?".
  • ripstuntz, on 10/11/2007, -3/+14The problems that the U.S. has with the middle-east will increase 10 fold if they do something this stupid.

    Worst thing about the whole situation is that Bush would have no problem doing it.
  • FredFredrickson, on 10/11/2007, -2/+13Of course they want us to be attacked... then the fear of being attacked continues to fuel their argument that we need a "protective" conservative war president, and not a more diplomatic democrat (or other party).It's cyclical; when your power nears it's end, you provoke the enemy again, they attack you, your citizens run scared, and you use their fears to keep yourself in power.
  • chris9902, on 10/11/2007, -12/+22They hate everyone because they think they have a god given right to the world. They can't even live in peace with the guys next to them.
  • unknownunknowns, on 10/11/2007, -3/+13"Yea, lets ratchet up some good ole classic anti-semitic talking points."

    Yeah, or we could ratchet up some talking points that conflate criticism of the Israeli government's policies with anti-semitism.
  • Orion682, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11@norman:
    It depends. But I'll say this: walk into a pub in Europe at 1AM and see how many drunks like you for being American ;)

    A lot of people are irrational, but then again, that's the same as thinking that all Muslims are terrorists, yet many people here still think that.
  • CheckPlease, on 10/11/2007, -2/+12Yeah, 'cos he likes to take his time and think things out about before taking action, as his record has shown.
  • evil-doer, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11"By Way of Deception, thou shalt do War"
  • HexeL, on 10/11/2007, -4/+14The best way to expose Bush's Napoleonic fantasies to all Americans is to boycott CNN, MSNBC, FOXNEWS and all the 24/7 news channels until they start covering the real ***** that's going on.

    Reporters have become a bunch of ***** scribes.
  • angusm, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11dangercollie wrote: "Isn't it odd that supposedly Christian conservatives get so much advice from people of Jewish heritage? ... it's just odd for evangelical Christians to take so much guidance from a group they've historically been at odds with."

    Many of the evangelical Christian groups see the coming of the End Times in the very near future. A precondition for all that to take place - according to their reading of scripture - is that the Temple must be rebuilt in Jerusalem. They view the establishment of the Jewish state in Israel as the first step towards fulfilling that requirement. In short, no state of Israel, no Temple. No Temple, no Judgment Day. No Judgment Day, no getting to laugh at the atheists and unbelievers as the Big Dude tosses us all into the Lake of Fire. Thus while the evangelicals may believe that the Jews are deeply misguided (the Conversion of the Jews is another scheduled event to be ticked off the big checklist), they're firmly behind the state of Israel for programmatic reasons. And if that means listening to people who support Israel for their own reasons, so be it.
  • FredFredrickson, on 10/11/2007, -3/+13Just because an ocean separates us from them, doesn't mean it's okay to bomb the hell out of them. The US HAS to get along with people too - or it'll end up like Germany - or worse yet, Japan - from WWII.
  • CheckPlease, on 10/11/2007, -2/+12Agreed. Let fundamentalists from all walks of life have a war and kill each other off in order for the rest of us to evolve, since they don't believe in that sort of thing anyway.
  • inactive, on 10/11/2007, -15/+25"my Christian beliefs tell me that I can not kill"

    Actually your beliefs tell you its ok to kill, as long as they are in a different religion, Thats the main problem with all religions
  • fuzzmeister, on 10/11/2007, -3/+12I know many Jews who are opposed to Israel and its policies. Don't overgeneralize.
  • g0nzilla, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10Bloody Hell! when are Americans going to wake up and demand the Democratic controlled senate Impeach that idiot you call a leader. From our (British - outsiders) perspective it looks like US is being run by religious fundamentalists intent on bringing about the second coming! If you guys attack Iran you will be well on track. I do not for a second believe the Iranians pose any threat to the US or Europe and as for Israel they will surely get what they deserve, Karma demands it. Has anyone sat back and wondered why it is every time the US "intervenes" the reality on the ground always deteriorates? The US will destroy itself like every other empire in history only this time it will be death by 1000 cuts.
  • DangerCollie, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10Isn't it odd that supposedly Christian conservatives get so much advice from people of Jewish heritage? There's nothing wrong with being Jewish, it's just odd for evangelical Christians to take so much guidance from a group they've historically been at odds with. And when Bush and many of his top level advisers went to the pope's funeral. Evangelical conservatives lining up with the papacy. There was a time, not that long ago, when evangelicals would have been storming the capitol with pitch forks for either one of those. But now they're all making happy-happy. Very strange from a historical perspective.

    Of course, Bush is a poster child for evangelical Christianity the same way Jenna Jamison is a poster child for celibacy.
  • bemenaker, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10Because Isreal is smarter than President Gumby, they understand what bombing Iran brings.
  • P5ycHo, on 10/11/2007, -2/+11@Norman.

    Israel was given to the jews by the english in the 20's.
    However, I missed the part in history where the english were in possession of Palestine before giving it away...

    Now, how come Israel is a legitimate country again?
    Because you say so?
  • kaiwai, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10You do realise that Iran actually *HAD* an elected government; it was a western style democracy that was actually advocating a neutral stance to Russia etc. It was the western powers imposition of the Shah ahead of an elected government which pissed Iran off. If that never happened, there would never have been the 'Islamic Revolution' in Iran.

    The US created the monster that is Iran.
  • bemenaker, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10Cuz the CIA has botched that everytime. Well, not really, they have very successfully toppled gov'ts around the world, it's just the new leader, always cuts his ties soon as he has power. It NEVER turns out as planned.
  • casek, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10true conservatives don't think like this. it's the neo-cons that come from the straussian school of thought.

  • HexeL, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9@dalexandruz

    I don't believe in the divinity of Jesus and I don't hate Jews. But there certainly are powerful Jewish leaders in this country who put the interest of Israel ahead of the United States, and for the matter, the world.

    Are we to hate all Jews because of this? I advocate No. But the human tendency to block people of similar ilk together is very real. And the actions of these Jewish leaders are certainly not helping the cause to end anti-semitism.
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