Re: Test Fire

1

Wow, after they test fired some missiles, the price of oil went up $2 a barrel. It's like a license to print money. (I suppose that as a sovereign nation Iran already has a license to print money, but you know.)


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 11:23 AM
horizontal rule
2

I hear the Iranians have another missile that goes underwater with a mighty "dolphin kick."


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 11:26 AM
horizontal rule
3

They've had this missile for a while, I think. In Ogged's pants. (No, but the part about this not being a surprise is true as far as I know.)


Posted by: FL | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 11:26 AM
horizontal rule
4

I'm with the Gayatollah - I think they've had this for a while. I think it's more the coordinated launching that's the ...exciting... part.


Posted by: mike d | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 11:32 AM
horizontal rule
5

I think it's more the coordinated launching that's the ...exciting... part.

Coordinated "launch" is one of those things they say is exciting in books, but in practice isn't that important.


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 11:35 AM
horizontal rule
6

From what I heard, the Iranians can deliver a lot of low-yield material very, very quickly.


Posted by: FL | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 11:35 AM
horizontal rule
7

How do you know ogged's sperm count, FL?

I guess we can assume, from wearing the speedo all the time.


Posted by: peter | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 11:41 AM
horizontal rule
8

6: Like most people, I've heard "low-yield" and "very, very quickly" about Iranians, but "a lot" is news to me. But I acknowledge that you're better situated to know.


Posted by: SomeCallMeTim | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 11:43 AM
horizontal rule
9

Oh Fuck some concern over fucking Iran. Fuck us. We have no right or responsibility to even be fucking involved. Fucking outlaw country of fucking hooligans, best we could do is get out and let Europe fuck it up.

But really I mean it, fuck any American who feels they have any right to any "legitimate" concern over this development. Bad mood today, let Realpolitik discussion proceed.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 11:44 AM
horizontal rule
10

I put my face on the line for you people and this is the thanks I get?


Posted by: FL | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 11:44 AM
horizontal rule
11

Illuminating chart of US vs Iranian military resources.


Posted by: Not Ogged | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 11:46 AM
horizontal rule
12

Just finished Shah of Shahs last night (a lovely book, despite nagging doubts a reader might have about Kapuscinski's veracity). It's impossible for me to think about the Iran issue without cursing the monumental fuck-up that was Operation Ajax.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 12:02 PM
horizontal rule
13

What 9 said.


Posted by: Ugh | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 12:02 PM
horizontal rule
14

It's a fallen world, FL.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 12:05 PM
horizontal rule
15

10: I thought there was a moratorium on that form of missile testing...


Posted by: zadfrack | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 12:07 PM
horizontal rule
16

Iran has tested the this exact missile before. In fact this weapon doesn't even require testing--I think BBC said it became part of the arsenal in 2003. But in 2006 Iran launched a missle days after the United States carried out a training exercise for blocking transport of materiel to Iran; today's test comes maybe two weeks after Israel conducted whatever military exercise it was they conducted.


Posted by: Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 12:09 PM
horizontal rule
17

This is another sign we are entering the End of Times. Otherwise, what JP said in 9. Except I am more worried about the threat from Americans and Israelis, well some Americans & Israelis, well Likudniks and Rethuglicans, than about the non-existent threat from Iran.

If we can make it to February everything will be better than fine. Obama won't disappoint us.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 12:15 PM
horizontal rule
18

But really I mean it, fuck any American who feels they have any right to any "legitimate" concern over this development.

Absolutely fucking right.


Posted by: strasmangelo jones | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 12:16 PM
horizontal rule
19

If we can make it to February everything will be better than fine. Obama won't disappoint us.

You're adorable, bob.


Posted by: strasmangelo jones | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 12:17 PM
horizontal rule
20

I think it's more the coordinated launching that's the ...exciting... part.

I agree, but they bulldozed the forest behind the school that we usually used.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 12:18 PM
horizontal rule
21

Word on the street is that Iran is pretty much overstating their advanced weaponry. Still, they've got their social dominators and authoritarian followers just like we do.

So both sides will say and do whatever gives their leaders an advantage. All we can do is watch.


Posted by: Tripp the Crazed | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 12:23 PM
horizontal rule
22

Can't we just establish what weapons they can and can't have so we can get back to negotiating over how much they'll pay us to provide them? We've got an economy to prop up, after all.


Posted by: babble | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 12:52 PM
horizontal rule
23

I just had this great idea for an HBO movie. Bush/Israel go all-in on Iran at the end of September, oil foes to 300 and gas to 7.50, markets crash/spike, Iraq, Lebanon, and I/P all go choatic...

...and Obama & McCain spend the month of October each trying to to lose the election.

"My opponent says he will listen to your phone calls. Well, I will install cameras in your bedroom. My opponent says he used cocaine and heroin in his youth, well I not only use still drugs every day, I give them to my grandchildren"
"I'll start a draft"
"Well, I'll draft little children and oldsters, and use them to clear minefields."


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 1:17 PM
horizontal rule
24

I put my face on the line for you people and this is the thanks I get?

Well, what the hell do you expect from a facial? Ponies?

But in 2006 Iran launched a missle days after the United States carried out a training exercise for blocking transport of materiel to Iran; today's test comes maybe two weeks after Israel conducted whatever military exercise it was they conducted.

Translation: "Why yes, you Americans can park a large army next to our country and threaten us, and the Israelis can practice attacking us, so we just wanted to let you know that we can drop lots and lots of missles on Israeli cities, American bases and American aircraft carriers. Have a nice day assholes!"

max
['It ain't no hypothetical future cold war, it's a right now cold war.']


Posted by: max | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 1:29 PM
horizontal rule
25

23: Did you ever see the episode of WKRP where the station's owner does exactly that? The idea that McCain is trying to throw the election fits the evidence.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 1:30 PM
horizontal rule
26

23 is genius and, as Walt says, fits the facts (for McCain, at least). Obama probably just wants to win so he can secure reparations for Negroes via executive order. Then he'll quit and turn the reins over to Vice President Cheney.


Posted by: ari | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 1:36 PM
horizontal rule
27

Vice President Cheney

You joke, but did you know that David Addington has proved that the Constitution includes no provision that would force the Vice President to leave office without his consent? The previous 40-odd guys were all suckers!


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 1:43 PM
horizontal rule
28

Obama & McCain spend the month of October each trying to to lose the election.

Sort of The Candidate meets The Producers? That's good, baby, real good.


Posted by: Populuxe | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 1:47 PM
horizontal rule
29

23 is indeed excellent.


Posted by: Katherine | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 1:59 PM
horizontal rule
30

It was mentioned on another thread, but check out Sy Hersh on Bush's covert ops in Iran if you haven't yet. Not that covert ops are news, per se, but this details the ops and the pushback from the military.


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 2:03 PM
horizontal rule
31

The thing I love about Saiselgy is that he has a flair for mocking the Republicans:


McCain's just the sort of candidate who's too awesome to be quoted accurately lest the public understand his agenda, something we must be shielded from at all costs by war stories and vague stuff about patriotism and reform.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 2:07 PM
horizontal rule
32

Also, All the Shah's Men by Stephen Kinzer about the CIA coup in 1953 is excellent reading. Compelling storytelling and short, too. Give it to the next person you hear say something stupid about the threat Iran poses to the Civilized World.


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 2:09 PM
horizontal rule
33

Those people arent concerned with facts, Sir Kraab.


Posted by: Will | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 2:20 PM
horizontal rule
34

"Well, I'll draft little children and oldsters, and use them to clear minefields."

My Iranian buddy used to tell stories about when he was conscripted into the army during the Iran-Iraq war in the early 1980s. He spent most of his tour of duty finding ways to avoid participating in the human wave attacks in which teenage Iranian cannon fodder would go running through the Iraqi minefields trying to overwhelm the numerically inferior Iraqi defenders. My friend said that he quickly learned to Stay the Fuck Away from anyone under the age of 18 or anyone who clutched a Koran, because they tended to be True Believers who were willing or eager to gain admission to paradise by doing something stupidly heroic in the face of enemy fire.


Posted by: Knecht Ruprecht | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 2:21 PM
horizontal rule
35

Knecht!


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 2:24 PM
horizontal rule
36

33: Generally speaking, sure. But I do think that learning this kind of history does move some people who genuinely don't know why our relations with Iran are what they are. A lot more people have some perspective on the Sunni/Shi'ia split these days than 5 years ago.

I'm not talking about people who, for reasons of ideology or non-critical thinking, aren't going to believe and/or be moved by the facts, but there are plenty of people with decent instincts who believe things like Iranians are just congenitally anti-U.S. terrorists because they've never learned anything different.

Michelle Malkin is not my target audience.


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 2:29 PM
horizontal rule
37

I was just the other day wondering whether there are translated memoirs from Iranian conscripts. Was heroin as popular then in Iran as it is now, does your friend know?


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 2:32 PM
horizontal rule
38

Awww, Knecht! How cute! I have an Iranian buddy too!

Thanks for the book recommendation, Kraab.


Posted by: Will | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 2:37 PM
horizontal rule
39

De nada.

That reminds me that Henry at Crooked Timber has asked for book recommendations on American politics. Some good suggestions in the comments. (It's the top post on CT.)


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 2:41 PM
horizontal rule
40

In related news, McCain was in town today, and he said some minor stuff about Iran. The real reason to check out the story is to see the utterly awful pic of Cindy. It's just one of those snapshot things - lids half-closed, etc. - but she looks very Cruella. If anyone wants to use it for scurrilous purposes (cough*prescriptiondrugscandal*cough), it's a good one.


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 2:47 PM
horizontal rule
41

My Iranian buddy used to tell stories about when he was conscripted into the army during the Iran-Iraq war in the early 1980s.

Dude, wasn't ogged like 10 years old? Khomeini truly was a monster.


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 2:48 PM
horizontal rule
42

If you put enough weight on a ten year old, he can clear minefields. Otherwise the joke is on the heavier soldiers who follow behind them.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 3:13 PM
horizontal rule
43

there are a lot of stupid jokes about chapaev and pet'ka, just recalled it ot
so chapaev and pet'ka were captured by white russians and were subjected to torture
first was chapaev's turn and he was tortured awfully and didn't tell anything
when he was brought back to the dungeon, pet'ka was really scared and admired: you are a real hero!
to which chapaev, scornfully: i told you to write down our plan but you were like let's memorize, let's memorize


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 3:51 PM
horizontal rule
44

Meaning, he wished he could have remembered, because then the torture would stop? That's funny.


Posted by: Counterfly | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 4:12 PM
horizontal rule
45

#40. On the one hand, having a First Bad Mommy in the White House does have a certain appeal; on the other hand, no one who uses the word "impactful" should ever be permitted to hold the highest office in the land.


Posted by: Populuxe | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 4:30 PM
horizontal rule
46

44 meaning that, yes
it's funny b/c Chapaev was like a national hero, a very popular general during their civil war
also one of the first classic soviet movies was 'Chapaev'
all those C&P jokes are derived from that movie
scorn maybe too strong a word, disapprovingly maybe


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 4:57 PM
horizontal rule
47

IOZ is awesome on Iran today. I mean, kittens today.


Posted by: Wrongshore | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 5:09 PM
horizontal rule
48

35: Hey, someone noticed my absence!

I was off on a family pilgrimage to the ancestral estates of the Ruprecht family in Deep Redstatia. As luck would have it, the county authorities had taken the local internet connection off line to patch some leaks and clean out some varmint nests. The backup diesel-powered internet had been deployed to Iraq with the National Guard, and the only available SysAdmins had previous commitments teaching Vacation Bible School.

FWIW, I saw one and only one yard sign for a federal election, and it was for Obama.


Posted by: Knecht Ruprecht | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 5:43 PM
horizontal rule
49

I love pipetting.


Posted by: Gaijin Biker | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 7:28 PM
horizontal rule
50

49: Presumably taking a cue from these guys.


Posted by: Otto von Bisquick | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 8:06 PM
horizontal rule
51

I used to love pipetting, for real. PCR, too. I was good at that stuff! Don't automate!


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 8:09 PM
horizontal rule
52

I missed you too, KR!


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 8:22 PM
horizontal rule
53

49: "Baby, let me massage that sore pipetting palm for you."


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 8:22 PM
horizontal rule
54

49, 50: I've been so missing out on this new trend in obscure lab machinery music videos. Tell me more!


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 8:58 PM
horizontal rule
55

#50: Wow, that is a really well-done parody, right down to the styles of the individual singers. The Springsteenesque dude was particularly good.


Posted by: Gaijin Biker | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 9:56 PM
horizontal rule
56

49: That may actually be the funniest shit I've ever seen.


Posted by: cerebrocrat | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 11:50 PM
horizontal rule
57

49 and 50 totally made my day. Closest thing I can add to lab machinery music videos is "Collider" by Les Horribles Cernettes.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 07- 9-08 11:51 PM
horizontal rule
58

49: Very good. Very sad. Steve Reich is weeping.


Posted by: Tripp the Crazed | Link to this comment | 07-10-08 10:21 AM
horizontal rule
59

It's worse than we thought: they're photoshop missiles!


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 07-10-08 12:23 PM
horizontal rule
60

59: Being a PR flack for the Revolutionary Guard sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me. There's pretty much no way to make Iran more of a pariah state, so all you have to do is irritate people more. Missile program doing well? Show it in all its glory and get everyone riled up. Missiles not up to expectations? Doctor the photographs and take some of the heat off. You can't lose!


Posted by: minneapolitan | Link to this comment | 07-10-08 7:28 PM
horizontal rule
61

FUCK IRAN--the evilest country in the world!


Posted by: 007tnt | Link to this comment | 07-13-08 10:59 PM
horizontal rule
62

I'm gonna totally do it to Iran, all slow and gentle. Yeah. Mm, yeah.


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 07-13-08 11:01 PM
horizontal rule