Saturday, January 28, 2006

Sides are lining up and digging in their heels

2006 is shaping up to be a strange/frightening year. There have been several events recently that indicate power shifts or expressions of will across the globe. It feels like the chess pieces are placing themselves on the board, standing resolutely, and preparing for the start of the big game.

  • Sharon's stroke
  • Damadola strike and fallout for Pakistan
  • bin laden tape
  • Iran's nuclear rhetoric heats up
  • Canadian elections give conservative govt
  • Portugal elects a right of center govt. First time in decades
  • Chirac talks tough on terrorism and sponsors. Threatens to use nukes
  • Iraqi insurgency turns against al Qaeda
  • Palestinians elect Hamas
  • American people poll in favor of military strikes on Iran with no prodding from Administration
  • Saudi Arabia boycotts Danish companies over publication of cartoons portraying Mohammed

And it's only January.

8 comments:

Barry Dauphin said...

Yes, the Iranian situation is more perilous than the Iraq war IMHO. Iran is daring the world to stop them. They almost seem to want a fight. We don't know how good/bad our intelligence is and what the Iranians already have by way of weapons as well as plots in place.

Given all the talk about OBL being in Iran and his latest tape, it is as if the Iranians desire the west to throw the first punch, so they can do whatever is being planned. I thought too many folks were casually dismissing OBLs latest screed, although his offering a truce would seem to be coming from a weakened position. At this point the Iranians haven't quite splintered the west the way Saddam was able to, although they are trying. At this point I agree with you Syl, that it is shaping up to be a strange year, possibly a very consequential year.

Syl said...

barry

People concentrate on the 'truce' bit and forget that it is bin laden's obligation under Islam to warn his enemies and he claimed he had now met that obligation.

(Though I didn't hear the warning before 9/11.)

And if it's true he's in Iran (sometimes I truly believe it) then he may very well have died shortly after he made the tape. (There's nothing in the tape that would pur the record date after the date he supposedly died.)

But, well, who knows. Ahmenidejad seems quite confident, however. Which gives one pause. Though his fierce determination not to be referred to the UNSC shows that it would shame him. So maybe his confidence is a bluff.

Barry Dauphin said...

As far as Ahmenidejad goes, there is something even weirder about an Islamofascist who prefers to dress like Jimmy Kimmel. When you're the Iranian President, it's always casual Friday.

Morgan said...

markg8:

Anything to add to Syl's list? I'm curious whether the circles you run in give you insight into the "events...that indicate power shifts or expressions of will..." that we (right wing nutcases?) don't have.

Morgan said...

Markg8:

Your list seems a little narrowly focused on US politics, but I suppose that "as goes the US, so goes the world" isn't an entirely irrational point of view.

Unknown said...

Europe survived the dark ages, the Crusades and two world wars...I don't think it is over with yet.

I do think that the unrelenting nuttiness of the Islamists will make the whole Abramoff thing slide back a little. Will it be enough? I dunno.

I do think the Democrats should also worry about Reid [among others] and Abramoff. The Democrats' hands are not clean, far from it.

But I think we could add, shakiness for the encumbents all over the world to the list. People are getting a little antsy out there.

Syl said...

mark

Quite trolling and STICK TO THE POINT!

This is not your personal sandbox.

Syl said...

You're on one-trick pony, Mark.

You couple that with the brewing scandals here at home and it's no wonder his popularity has sunk to the low 40s, high 30s.

Bush approval at 50% at Rasmussen today. You can't even get that part right, let alone anything else.