What Is This World Coming To?

The specter of a nuclear Iran will not go away and the current Global Financial crisis only exacerbates this concern. Stephen Brown from FrontPageMagazine discusses what may lie ahead for Israel and the US in light of president-elect Obama taking office in January:

An International Atomic Energy Agency report last week escalated the debate concerning whether the United States or its ally, Israel, will soon launch a military strike against Iran. Experts determined from the report, which was sent to the United Nations, that the Islamic Republic now has enough enriched uranium for at least one nuclear weapon. Just as disturbing, the report states the Iranians intend to install “thousands more” of the machines that enrich uranium gas.

They clearly have enough material for a bomb,” said Richard L. Garwin, a respected nuclear physicist and government advisor, in the New York Times. “They know how to do the enrichment. Whether they know how to design a bomb, well, that’s another matter.

Brown concludes with the following, sobering observation:

With no regime change in Iran, it is inevitable the religious fanatics in Tehran will possess a nuclear weapon in the next few years. Looking through Israeli eyes, such a horrible eventuality does not bear thinking. So if Israel and the United States intend to end this nightmare scenario by military action, expect it to happen soon.

Stephen Brown is a contributing editor at Frontpagemag.com. He has a graduate degree in Russian and Eastern European history.

Only time will tell how president-elect Obama will tackle the Iran nuclear problem. We really do live in interesting times.

Russia continues its push well beyond the borders of South Ossetia and into Georgia itself. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says that all Russia is trying to do is bring its ‘peacekeeping mission to its logical conclusion.” Whether that logical conclusion includes the existence of an independent state called Georgia remains to be seen.

Noted one blogger, Georgia certainly identifies with — and considered itself an ally of — the West. After fighting broke out, Georgian state television even switched from the national news to the anti-Russian, Cold War classic flick “Red Dawn.” So it’s understandable that the people there are begging for Western help — they’re even looking for Israel to pressure Russia. But despite strong words from U.S. bigwigs, it’s become increasingly clear that nobody is coming to Georgia’s aid. “Georgians are wondering, where is NATO? NATO isn’t coming. Deal with it. Saakashvilli staked his presidency on it and failed.”

Now that the campaigning is over, it’s payback time for all those that Bill and Hillary think have ‘wronged’ them. Or so argues the International Herald Tribune. It’s not good to be on a Clinton ‘list’ — any Clinton list.

There are a lot of Clinton lists; including the infamous list of those close to the Clintons who have died under mysterious circumstances; Clinton associates who ended up convicted felons; the infamous FOB [Friends of Bill] list (which included half the members of Chinese intelligence community) and other lesser-known enemies lists.

Then, there is the Clinton ‘Bimbo’ List. That list includes Clinton rape victim Juanita Broadrick, mistress Gennifer Flowers, innocent victim Paula Jones and starry-eyed intern Monica Lewinsky, (who had the double misfortune of entering the American lexicon as a euphemism for a sex act.

The newest list is the ‘traitor’s list’ — those former Clintonistas who instead supported Barack Obama. It’s a long list:

Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico; Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, the House Democ ratic whip; Gregory Craig, Bill Clinton’s lawyer in his impeachment and trial; David Axelrod, Obama’s chief strategist; Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri; and several Kennedys.

The news media have already focused on some list entries, including the online gossip purveyor Matt Drudge (who had the nerve to show up at Hillary Clinton’s departure speech on Saturday), Todd Purdum of Vanity Fair (the author of a recent profile of Bill Clinton) and the cable network MSNBC (whose hosts Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann are charter list members, Clinton associates said).

The lists are also reported to include lesser-known Obama-supporting members of Congress (for whom the Clintons campaigned), former ambassadors (appointed by Bill Clinton) or Clinton White House officials turned Obama advisers (like Anthony Lake, a former national security adviser, and Susan Rice, a former White House and State Department official)

In the bygone Clinton era, getting on one of the Clinton lists got you jailed, killed, socially destroyed, investigated by the FBI or audited by the IRS. Paula Jones, who never made more than minimum wage, was audited at least three times.

But now, (at least for now,) being on a Clinton list is like being on the KGB’s list. The KGB might be gone, but still, you can’t help but look over your shoulder. You just never know. . .