Think Progress

Kristol: Proper Response To Iran’s Kidnapping Of Soldiers Would Have Been Military Strikes

Fox News pundit Bill Kristol has been an unceasing proponent of war with Iran. In the past year, Kristol has repeatedly beat the war drums, stating for example that Bush “could easily build support” for an Iran attack “at the beginning of 2008.” He has also said: “I think we could be in a military confrontation with Iran much sooner than people expect.”

This morning, Kristol again promoted the concept of war with Iran. He said Iran’s kidnapping of the 15 British soldiers has brought the world closer to another war. “We came closer to war with Iran this week,” Kristol said, complaining that the U.S. was “very passive.”

Juan Williams then questioned, “Well, what was the alternative? To go in and strike them while the hostages were there?” Kristol said “yes.”

Watch it:

[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2007/04/kristwiliranwar.320.240.flv]

The Guardian reported this weekend that, “The US offered to take military action on behalf of the 15 British sailors and marines held by Iran, including buzzing Iranian Revolutionary Guard positions with warplanes.” The article added, “The British declined the offer and said the US could calm the situation by staying out of it.”

The British approach proved successful in resolving the crisis and led to the peaceful release of their soldiers. Hard right ideologues fail to understand that not every crisis requires a military solution.

Transcript:

KRISTOL: It’s a real humiliation for the British and, of course, the Europeans didn’t stand by them either. And it sent the signal to the worst forces in Iran. To me there are splits in the Iranian government. It has strengthened the worst forces in Iran by making them think they can push the West around. We came closer to war with Iran this week. The only way to avoid war is to have the Iranians believe the west is tough enough to threaten them with war and tighten the economic pressure. After the Germans refused to help the British, after the British refused to do anything, after we’ve been very passive, we’re closer to war with Iran — if either war or an Iran with nuclear weapons.

WILLIAMS: Well, what was the alternative? To go in and strike them while the hostages were there?

KRISTOL: yes.

WILLIAMS: I think that’s an overreaction. I think that would have prompted war. I don’t think we want war.



136 Responses to “Kristol: Proper Response To Iran’s Kidnapping Of Soldiers Would Have Been Military Strikes”

  1. Topper says:

    How condescending to offer to take military action for the British–as if the Brits don’t have their own planes? It must have infuriated them, with its assumption that only Big Brother American would know how to handle such a crisis.


  2. AboveTheClouds says:

    Kristol: Wrong, wrong, wrong.


  3. Lora says:

    Okay, Billy Boy, I’ll agree to military strikes if you take the lead in them, stupid chickenhawk!


  4. ohboy says:

    I’m all for launching a Cruise missle warning shot over Iran only if Kristol is strapped to it.


  5. smafdy says:

    Bill Kristol is a typical neocon pussy.


  6. helenahandbasket says:

    The wussy kristols of the right wing, who never fought, never bled and never lived the nightmare of war, but hide in their plush offices, bloviating ad naseum about being “tough”. Welcome to the 11th century Mr. kristol.


  7. firehead says:

    What part of his statement is wrong? We have to show Islamic facists we mean business. The British response was weak and pathetic. If we go to war with Iran, it will be their fault alone.


  8. helenahandbasket says:

    Yes, Eleventh Century.


  9. Norman Conquest says:

    We came closer to war with Iran this week. The only way to avoid war is to have the Iranians believe the west is tough enough to threaten them with war

    I’m in awe of the circumference of your reasoning, Bill.


  10. Hector Garcia says:

    Recently Fucks Noise channel has been parading and hosting people with all kinds of abnormalities and incurable mental diseases.

    OMG What’s next….these degenerates do not have any scruples


  11. helenahandbasket says:

    Come on firehead, enlist and go to Iran to fight the islamofascists, then continue and fight the one Billion remaining. Another right wing wussy.


  12. Attaturk says:

    There is no other way to describe this a F%#$ING INSANE!

    This guy should not be in polite society, let alone allowed to profit from such insanity.


  13. AboveTheClouds says:

    I’m watching Lieberman and Specter on CNN’s Late Edition and Lieberman is anti-Pelosi and Specter is pro-Pelosi?


  14. Norman Conquest says:

    I wish we had more Islamic facists…they’re so obsessed with their reflections they don’t have any time to blow up other people.


  15. Jason M. Hendler says:

    Try as I might, I cannot find a thread that talks about the first quarter fund raising results, so I will just quickly post this article, so that you can read that Dick Morris feels Hill’reh “lost” her do-or-die effort to appear to be the inevitable Democratic candidate.

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,264651,00.html

    This post may not last long, as TP HAS become a mouthpiece for Hill’reh.


  16. Marie says:

    The Chickenhawk speaks again. The warmongering coward who has been wrong on everything has again opened up his big bazoo, offering another wrong-headed opinion. Why is this moron given any credence at all?


  17. Briseadh_na_faire says:

    Think about this for a moment. Bill is so secure that the terrorists won’t follow us home that he makes these kind of comments. I’m sure he knows his speaches must infuriate Muslims and Arabs in general, Iraqis and Iranians in specific. Yet he continues, secure in the knowledge that no terrorists will ever gain access to American soil again.


  18. Its_Me_Ya_Krazy says:

    I say strap a rifle on his back, canteen under his arm and air drop his warmongering ass over iran….


  19. mparker says:

    Somebody hand this lying know nothing prick a rifle and send him on his merry masculine way.


  20. hit_escape says:

    The incident has been the Neocons re-ocurring wet dream for the last 4 years. Billy will have to go back to his Guns ‘n Ammo centerfolds for now.


  21. Gregor Samsa says:

    Interesting Kristol should characterise the capture of the British sailors as a “humiliation” to the West. It seems it is all a pissing contest to him: If someone takes any action that could be -perhaps, maybe, potentially- perceived as defiance, then the right course of action is to strike back. With violence, of course.

    Even more interestingly, he ignores that the conflict was resolved through diplomacy and not violent means. Once more he proves facts and reality are optional for the right-wingers.

    His blather also begs the question: Should Iran have considered an unilateral military strike in response to the capture of their diplomatic personnel in Iraq?

    Finally, I don’t even know why anyone, anywhere pays attention to this man: As a cheerleader of the Iraq war, he has no credibility left -assuming he ever had any: Imagine the law of the jungle we would have, if all nations viewed the world the way Kristol does.


  22. AboveTheClouds says:

    Jason, you had better steel yourself to the fact that Karl Rove’s “permanent Republican majority” won’t make it past November 2008. How can GOP candidates run supporting more and more Bush and neocon war, death, debt, and corruption? It won’t matter to America who the Dem candiate in 2008 is, as long as they can fix this Republican disaster. Are voters really going to buy the notion that another Republican can fix this Republican mess?


  23. unbelievable says:

    Did wittle Billy not get that pump action b-b gun as a child?

    Can we just buy the regressive juvenile a Red Rider and set up some targets (preferably the Bush cabinet’s mug shots) for him to release his aggressions upon?

    Might he shut up then?


  24. oldtree says:

    give it a pickle fork and send it to attack. whatever the result, it will be excellent coverage on Pox. hope this isn’t human, for it would be a shame


  25. JohnDWoodSr says:

    Rather than air strikes, I think that Kristol and the rest of the neocons should have been “volunteered” as suicide bombers in Iran.


  26. Badger says:

    In spite of their unfortunate status as captives, the Brits were perceived as being well treated by Iran. No Dogs..No electric wires…no naked piles of prisoners. I’d say Iran is winning the battle for world opinion. and they were all released safely, something that would not have happened if Bill Kristol had his way.


  27. Zooey says:

    The Guardian reported this weekend that, “The US offered to take military action on behalf of the 15 British sailors and marines held by Iran, including buzzing Iranian Revolutionary Guard positions with warplanes.” The article added, “The British declined the offer and said the US could calm the situation by staying out of it.”

    Wow. How embarrassing for the US. That was a hell of a smack down.

    #11 — Attaturk, that’s exactly what I’m thinking….Kristol needs a f*cking keeper.


  28. me to me says:

    The British approach proved successful in resolving the crisis and led to the peaceful release of their soldiers. Hard right ideologues fail to understand that not every crisis requires a military solution.

    in point of fact, the british solution WAS a military solution

    krystols solution was NOT a military solution since onbody with any military knowledge or training would have tried that before diplomacy

    the action krystol suggests are neither military nor a solution, they are moronic and mindless


  29. tarazan says:

    No surprise here with such statements coming from a PNAC author,who wants more wars on every country in the Middle East that is capable to question or confront Israel…


  30. unbelievable says:

    If we go to war with Iran, it will be their fault alone.
    Comment by firehead — April 8, 2007 @ 11:13 am

    How do you even manage to breathe? You don’t even have the sensibilities for that…

    Besides, It’s Sunday… Aren’t you forbidden from working today?


  31. unbelievable says:

    This post may not last long, as TP HAS become a mouthpiece for Hill’reh.
    Comment by Jason M. Hendler — April 8, 2007 @ 11:22 am

    Can you not read that the topic of the thread is your own party’s war-mongering and irrationality? Or do you just ignore giant elephants in the room to feel better about the fact that you helped put them there?


  32. Uncle Ho says:

    Kristol- a cowardly draft-dodging motherf*cking warmonger.

    prove me wrong michael, and KKK Rove will give you a BJ.


  33. CitizenE says:

    Please train this guy for 10 days in Special Ops and let him go into Iran himself.


  34. Briseadh_na_faire says:

    Much has been made by the British that the sailors were captured in Iraqi waters, and nothing about whether or not they had crossed into Iranian waters before their capture.

    But let’s take Kristol’s argument at face value. When a country “kidnaps” citizens of another, war, dropping bombs, firing missles, and invasion, is a proper response.

    If that’s the case, Iran should declare war on Iraq and the U.S. as we have kidnapped several Iranian diplomants a couple of months ago. And we are holding various nationals kidnapped from around the world in Guantanamo, where we are subjecting them to indefinite imprisonment and torture. Every one of those countries should be bombing the U.S. right now, according to Kristol. That would be the “proper” response.


  35. VerbalKint says:

    And people still listen to this freak why?


  36. Briseadh_na_faire says:

    Why is it America “apprehends” enemy combatants while Iran “kidnaps” sailors?


  37. Jim Source says:

    Yeah, just what we need, another war in the Middle East – since the GOP is doing such a fine job with the one they started in Iraq. Now that the Mahdi army has declared war on U.S. troops in Iraq, we may want to concentrate on one disaster at a time. Does Bush still think he can win this with a surge? Might want to consider drafting every war supporter. That 30 percent ought to be good for something, and they are used to following mindless orders.


  38. david woods says:

    Somebody audit this guy’s income statements to the IRS. If he isn’t gettting paid by the adminstration to spout this crap then he must certainly be crazy.


  39. David. O. says:

    Happy Passover/ Easter to you, too, billy. Nice to be all hostile-like when YOU are safe in your ivory tower with your other CHICKENHAWK, nom- serving, educated-idiot buddies, isn’t it?
    Launch the O.P.K.’s to fight “your wars”- (otherPeople’sKids)
    Maybe you could be right _just this once_, eh, loser?


  40. Zooey says:

    Please train this guy for 10 days in Special Ops and let him go into Iran himself.
    Comment by CitizenE

    C’mon, Kristol doesn’t need training, he already knows everything — civilian AND military.

    In fact, HE could train THEM.
    /sarcasm


  41. Raven says:

    I wonder who Kristol Meth’s ‘pusher’ is….


  42. Zooey says:

    Why is it America “apprehends” enemy combatants while Iran “kidnaps” sailors?
    Comment by Briseadh_na_faire

    It’s the same concept as the whites “finding” food in New Orleans, but the blacks were “looting.”


  43. CONservative says:

    What part of his statement is wrong? We have to show Islamic facists we mean business. The British response was weak and pathetic. If we go to war with Iran, it will be their fault alone.

    Comment by firehead

    As usual, fairyhead makes his one stupid moronic comment and runs off and hides, presumably under mommy’s skirt. I try not to use the word cause there’s already about 20 of us on here that do…but ignore the stupid troll.


  44. unbelievable says:

    give it a pickle fork and send it to attack.
    Comment by oldtree — April 8, 2007 @ 11:30 am

    That’s funny… I love the visual of that actually occuring…


  45. smafdy says:

    “…In spite of their unfortunate status as captives, the Brits were perceived as being well treated by Iran. No Dogs..No electric wires…no naked piles of prisoners. I’d say Iran is winning the battle for world opinion. and they were all released safely, something that would not have happened if Bill Kristol had his way…”

    Comment by Badger — April 8, 2007 @ 11:32 am

    EXACTLY.

    What have we become?


  46. earlofhuntingdon says:

    Mr. Kristol’s inadequacies notwithstanding, the function of war is not to prove that those who start it have more testosterone or larger dimensions than those they fight. Adults know that it is a tool of last resort, when what is at risk is worth the fight, worth the cost, and worth the prolonged consequences even the “winner” must contend with.

    Typically, after they were in crisis, the Brits did exactly the right thing. They kept their heads “when all about them were losing theirs”. They negotiated, traded and solved their problem with a minimum of loss and bloodshed. Everybody can go back to what they were doing, hopefully a little wiser, like Kennedy after the Cuban missile crisis. Had armchair idiots like Mr. Kristol and Mr. Cheney been in control when the Russians put missiles in Cuba, we’d all be dead.

    In spending national resources, these men mimic the typical bad CEO, who loves to fantasize that he carefully spends shareholder money as if it were his own. The reality is that he spends sharehohlder money with abandon because it’s not his own. George Bush, who has never had or earned a penny of his own, but who has lost plenty of other people’s, is doing the same thing. He spends with abandon other peoples things: their lives, laws, treasure and government. Time to send him home. Time to tell his parents that George isn’t allowed to play here any more; he breaks all the toys.


  47. GSD says:

    Well, Moqtada Al Sadr has called on Iraqi Shiites to stop working in conjunction with the US military.

    He’s also calling for them to focus their attacks on American troops.

    Heckuva job Chimpy and General Petreaus. How do you say Tet Offensive in Arabic?

    -GSD


  48. VerbalKint says:

    #5 Describing a cowardly, sniveling, lying Nazi like Kristol as a pussy is an offense against pussies the world over. This freak couldn’t rise to the level of pussy no matter how hard he tried.

    #14 Jason, does it really matter to you whether it is Clinton or some other Democrat that wins in 2008? I suggest crawling back into your hole and nursing your wounds from the last election. Come back out in 2016. The GOP might be able to rebuild itself by then.


  49. unbelievable says:

    Does Bush still think he can win this with a surge? Comment by Jim Source — April 8, 2007 @ 11:41 am

    Yep. Sad how he refuses to acknowldege reality on any andall levels.


  50. Del Capslock says:

    Few are as willing as Kristol to send other people’s children to war in order to advance an ideology. Could anything be more craven?


  51. Sharon says:

    Ah yes, on Easter sunday the moon faced, extreme reich winged radical, nut job is spouting war,,,,Some people and thing’s never change….Blessings


  52. Jo-Ann says:

    Bill Kristol should put his butt where his mouth is. Pick up a rifle and go to Iraq. He can throw tomatoes over the border in Iran, but we have enough blood being spent because of his insanity.


  53. Kate Henry says:

    “This morning, Kristol again promoted the concept of war with Iran. He said Iran’s kidnapping of the 15 British soldiers has brought the world closer to another war….” I guess by Kristol’s standards Iran should be attacking us since we kidnapped five of their diplomats and are probably torturing them right now. That’s why the US won’t let Iran talk to the hostages we are holding.

    Kristol is a fool. Attacking Iran would start something that would be very difficult to end and would most likely lead to World War III. Is that what he wants? Probably, perpetual war keeps the military industrial complex rich, and that’s what this is all about.


  54. unbelievable says:

    It’s the same concept as the whites “finding” food in New Orleans, but the blacks were “looting.”
    Comment by Zooey — April 8, 2007 @ 11:43 am

    And same as the neocons fighting for freedom in the name of their ‘loving’ god while the ‘evil doers’ are fighting for murder and evil in the name of their demons…



  55. Zooey says:

    EXACTLY.
    What have we become?
    Comment by smafdy

    Sends a shiver up the spine, doesn’t it?


  56. unbelievable says:

    What have we become?
    Comment by smafdy — April 8, 2007 @ 11:45 am

    Certainly not what the Founding Fathers had hoped for us to become…


  57. Mark says:

    I believe there is at least a 1% chance that Asshat Kristol and his fellow slime creatures have, are, and will continue to do damage to our once great country.

    When do we begin carpet bombing them?


  58. jeff says:

    I’m actually quite shocked Iran was not attacked. But I’m glad it turned out how it did.
    Remember “Ayatollah Assahola”? Or the shirt with Mickey Mouse on it flipping the finger at Iran? Might be b4 some of your time. It’s so EZ to take an aggressive stance against Muslim countries.


  59. tarazan says:

    According to Senator C. Hagel and statements made publicly by General Wesely Clark..,this administration asked ORIGINALLY for an authorization to have wars with all Middle Eastern countries.

    But the Congress approved Iraq only.

    NEOCONS like Kristol still working hard selling the idea from Fox network studios.

    Does he care about the lives of the British sailors…if we start bombing?

    What makes Kristol think that will do anything other than open another new big military front.

    Israel did that against Hizbullah last year …and their airforce is regarded is one of the best in the world…and after 36 days..they got nothing..167 Israelis got killed over 1800 wounded…yet ,they got no prisoners yet….The war cost Israel billions

    When it comes to military matters, Kristol should be the last to talk…


  60. Zooey says:

    It’s so EZ to take an aggressive stance against Muslim countries.
    Comment by jeff

    Just Muslim countries? That’s interesting….

    The kidnapped sailors were British. It was none of our business, unless asked for help by the British.


  61. Zep Tepi says:

    Morris is best known for managing Bill Clinton’s successful 1996 bid for re-election to the office of President of the United States.

    Dick Morris is just another politicial hack that will say whatever someone pays him too JMH.


  62. Juan C says:

    Certainly not what the Founding Fathers had hoped for us to become…
    Comment by unbelievable

    Not trying to be inflaming, but do you think so?

    Didnt Jefferson and John Quincy Adams talked about Cuba falling into US grasp as political gravity? Didnt they seek expansion from the beginning?


  63. Kay says:

    here we go, again.


  64. Zep Tepi says:

    It’s so EZ to take an aggressive stance against Muslim countries.
    Comment by jeff

    Naw, this is about Oil, the pro-war people like Kristol see America as the new Roman Empire instead of the leader of the free world.


  65. unbelievable says:

    Not trying to be inflaming, but do you think so?

    I don’t ever take you as inflaming Juan :)

    From everything I’ve read about them by non-biased authors, quotes and well, the Constitution – I do.

    I’m not unrealistic and staying they were perfect. They owned slaves, did mean ‘white men’ only in their proclamations and didn’t treat the Natives as well as they should have either, even though our Declaration of Independence is a virtual copy of the Iroquois’…

    Didnt Jefferson and John Quincy Adams talked about Cuba falling into US grasp as political gravity? Didnt they seek expansion from the beginning?
    Comment by Juan C — April 8, 2007 @ 12:14 pm

    Where’d you read that?


  66. Zep Tepi says:

    WILLIAMS: Well, what was the alternative? To go in and strike them while the hostages were there?

    KRISTOL: yes.

    It’s pretty apparent Kristol doesn’t care about the troops, he could care less if he killed those he was supposedly trying to save whick makes his argument about attacking them because of ‘kidnapped’ (another framing word) soldiers


  67. Juan C says:

    Where’d you read that?
    Comment by unbelievable

    Chomsky. Some new declassified documents of the History of US. I am at the lab now, but I will post them right in this thread when I get back to home.

    Again, Im not trying to be pushy and I admire some things that those people did for the new country, but I cant avoid myself from the fact that those founding fathers seek expansion, Manifest Destiny, Monroe Doctrine, etc…


  68. torque says:

    ….The war cost Israel billions
    Comment by tarazan

    Great post until the last statement.
    That war,in all probability,cost the U.S. billions.


  69. John the Elder says:

    A five pound bag of cement and a hose need to be shove down this slime’s throat to shut him up before some one decides to hit us again because of his stupid, cowardly rants. I agree to rockets but only if he is riding them. You are looking at a ghost of a human being devoid of a soul.


  70. Keith H. says:

    Fox newz = all-war all-the-time in a late nite telley kind of way.


  71. WORFEUS says:

    See?

    Even after we see that the Iranians generously released them (we know they were spying on Iran) the neocon chickenhawks want war.

    Here on Easter Sunday, the day that celebrates the ressurection of the Prince of Peace, the neocon christian right wing chickenhawks THIRST for blood.

    THIRST.


  72. WORFEUS says:

    One might say they’re “BloodThirsty”.


  73. Justin says:

    Hard right ideologues know that force doesn’t solve every problem but they don’t care. This is about control of the middle east resources not terrorism or some unfortunate British sailors.


  74. WORFEUS says:

    Whats insane about this Justin, is the Iranians ALREADY RELEASED the hostages!

    Why would anyone need to talk about missle strikes AFTER the fact.

    They are bloodthirsty, plain and simple.


  75. WORFEUS says:

    Easter Sunday, and the good God fearing Christians over at Fox News message to the world, is WAR.

    Happy Easter.


  76. unbelievable says:

    Chomsky. Some new declassified documents of the History of US. I am at the lab now, but I will post them right in this thread when I get back to home.

    Cool – thanks. I respect Chomsky. I’d like to see it.

    Again, Im not trying to be pushy and I admire some things that those people did for the new country, but I cant avoid myself from the fact that those founding fathers seek expansion, Manifest Destiny, Monroe Doctrine, etc…
    Comment by Juan C — April 8, 2007 @ 12:33 pm

    I suppose we all have the capacity to do both good and do harm. In fact, I know we all do. I no longer am surprised when people do both, even unintentionally. It’s the nature of the system to exist within the many shades of grey and not the absolutes of black and white…

    I suppose we then have to decide whether what they left us was something to use for good or for harm. I think their intentions were mostly good. And if any were not, then I certainly think that it’s to be expected. But to say that they would approve of what the American Empire has actually become, I just cannot… But if the evidence is there, then, unlike the religionists, I will change my mind.


  77. shane says:

    Comment by WORFEUS — April 8, 2007 @ 1:05 pm

    Great point – looks like they’re still looking for an excuse to tangle with Iran.


  78. Goebbels says:

    “Hard right ideologues fail to understand that not every crisis requires a military solution.”

    Hard right ideologues understand that if you want to take the country to war in order to stay in power, then you need a pretext to do so. The Brits just denied Bush and company the perfect excuse for them to start a war with Iran.


  79. jonny says:

    I’d like Kristol to experience war first hand. Let him s.hit his pants (literally) and then he’ll understand why intellectuals should keep their mouths shut! Experience the reality of war firsthand, Mr. Kristol, and then we’ll see if you’re so bloodthirsty.

    As Major General Smedley D. Butler, USMC [Retired] said:

    WAR is a racket. It always has been.

    It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.

    A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small “inside” group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.”


  80. clb72 says:

    To paraphrase Dwight Schrute:

    When I’m about to do something, I ask myself, would Bill Kristol do that? And if they would, then I do not do that thing.

    http://dunderball.com/?q=taxonomy/term/25


  81. Goebbels says:

    Kristol would have pushed JFK to invade Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis had he been a Cabinet member. He just loves his confrontations and the idea of Total War.


  82. Gerald Gibson Jr says:

    What part of his statement is wrong? We have to show Islamic facists we mean business. The British response was weak and pathetic. If we go to war with Iran, it will be their fault alone.

    Comment by firehead

    That same stupid way of opperating has brought how much human suffering? Wave your penis around in private not out in the face of other people… you will end up PROVOKING a war.


  83. kasinca says:

    Krystol is a chickenshit chickenhawk who has never worn a uniform for any military branch and professes to know what wars to choose. How has that deal in Iraq turned out there Billie? You fucking moron.


  84. WORFEUS says:

    Kristol needs a good asswhoopin.


  85. smafdy says:

    Thank God (?) for the internets tubes. Without them, we would be subject to the overwhelming marketing/propaganda force of traditional media. We have a voice and can make it heard.

    Juan C:

    Yes – American history (as well as the history of mankind) is replete with criminality and crimes against humanity (if one takes off one’s “patriot” glasses long enough to take an objective look at our history). It’s hard to believe that we currently debte apologizing for slavery. This country was built by uncompensated labor supplied by the slave states (we should have let them secede).

    I often laugh when reminded of what a “great” nation we are. Who wouldn’t do well with 9,629,091 square miles of untapped natural resources and a free source of labor?

    Yup.

    Great.

    We have some very good characteristics (on paper, but sadly, not in practice) – but then, no one and no thing is completely good or bad.

    We are at the point in our history where we need to stand for something greater than our own national or personal interests. We need to lead by example, and I don’t know if we are up to the task emotionally (in a meme or groupthink sense), or ethically (can we tell the truth about ourselves). Classic disfunctionality: we don’t have to deal with the truth if we refuse to recognize it.

    Apparently, when the going gets tough, the tough gloss things over and attack the weak and powerless.

    All of the above applies equally to “Christianity” or “Christian Nations” when compared to the teachings of Christ.

    Bottom line is what our moms taught us all: It takes more courage to be peaceful than it does to fight. (be ready to be called a whimp and to defend yourselves when applying this chestnut of wisdom). That said, I’d like to kick these “tough guy’s” asses.

    Life is confusing and difficult – ain’t it?


  86. JPark says:

    #14 This post may not last long, as TP HAS become a mouthpiece for Hill’reh

    If you actually want to cause a fight with that type of comment go over to MyDD. They actually do support Hillary. Don’t clutter TP threads with your blatant dishonesty.


  87. Tom says:

    Kristol: Proper Response To Iran’s Kidnapping Of Soldiers Would Have Been Military Strikes

    Me: Proper Response To Kristol’s Neocon Noble Lies To The American Public Is to Drop Him Inside Iran

    - Tom


  88. barfly says:

    Bloody Bill sang a slightly different tune back in April of ‘01. Then, as US servicemen were being held hostage by the Chinese, Kristol talked of sanctions, like denying them Most Favored Nations trading status, and selling weapons to Taiwan as an appropriate response:

    Needless to say, we do not seek war with China. That is what advocates of appeasement always say about those who argue for standing up to an international bully. But it is the appeasers who wind up leading us into war. We have been calling for the active containment of China for the past six years precisely because we think it is the only way to keep the peace. Whatever risks may accompany a policy of confrontation and containment, the risks of weakness are infinitely greater. China hands both inside and outside the administration will argue that this crisis needs to be put behind us so that the U.S.-China relationship can return to normal. It is past time for everyone to wake up to the fact that the Chinese behavior we have seen this past week is normal. We have glimpsed the future. The only question now is whether we have the wisdom and the strength to meet it.

    He was wrong then (as history has clearly shown), and he’s still firing blanks.


  89. WORFEUS says:

    Bottom line is what our moms taught us all: It takes more courage to be peaceful than it does to fight. (be ready to be called a whimp and to defend yourselves when applying this chestnut of wisdom). That said, I’d like to kick these “tough guy’s” asses.

    Life is confusing and difficult – ain’t it?

    Comment by smafdy — April 8, 2007 @ 1:32 pm

    I couldn’t have said it better myself.

    This post should be plastered throughout the world wide web.


  90. WORFEUS says:

    It takes more courage to be peaceful than it does to fight. (be ready to be called a whimp and to defend yourselves when applying this chestnut of wisdom).

    Comment by onesmartguy — April 8, 2007 @ 1:32 pm


  91. Jason Baddo says:

    Kristol the advocate of killing……


  92. Sandy says:

    Kristol PNAC-Klear: bomb Iran. But don’t send me. Or MY kids. You go. Do it for America. Do it for ISRAEL. And then watch what happens.

    What? Play it out. What would happen THEN?

    Israel is bombed by Iran? Thousands (more) of our soldiers in Iraq are killed instantly when Iran bombs Iraq? Play out the scenarios, you neo-con DELUSIONAL idiot! Bomb Iran. Is that your “Mission Accomplished” for Israel and the AIPAC? Neo-cons believe in continuous wars, right? With other people’s kids, right? Gee, now there’s a “cause”.

    Chicken-sh** windbag.

    The minute I saw your columns in TIME magazine I dropped my subscription forever. Bill Kristol and Joel Klein. Why read? I already know exactly what they believe….and push. No thanks.

    P.S. You and your other 4F cake-walk/greetwflowers/asliberators/lastthroes buddies have ZERO credibility. Fox is all you’ve got. And your 29% flat-earthers. Pathetic!


  93. tarazan says:

    #67 -torque ….with ref.to #58

    I agree with you…


  94. Briseadh_na_faire says:


    Israel did that against Hizbullah last year …and their airforce is regarded is one of the best in the world…and after 36 days..they got nothing..167 Israelis got killed over 1800 wounded…yet ,they got no prisoners yet….The war cost Israel billions

    When it comes to military matters, Kristol should be the last to talk…

    Comment by tarazan — April 8, 2007 @ 12:04 pm

    The war cost Israel billions.

    EXACTLY!!!

    And those billions went to line the pockets of the War Profiteers. You and I don’t matter to the likes of Kristol, only money. Kristol is the spokesperson for the Uberrich.


  95. Mr. Nice says:

    *

    It is way past time that Kristol and all the other lying, warmongering, filthy scumbag fifth-columnists slash zionist agents were rooted out and harshly dealt with.

    *


  96. Bruce Gorton says:

    Going on Kristol’s logic, SA should declare war on America.

    Some of our guys are missing too, and unlike a lot of these nations America is picking on, SA actually is fully capable of developing nukes within one year and using them (After all, we had nukes at a point, got rid of them, but we still have the blueprints.)

    Fortunately, stupid though Thabo is, as thick as Zuma is, we are not in a country run by madmen like Billy boy.


  97. goehl says:

    Goes to show how desperate these PNAC authors are to have their PNAC plan put in place.
    PNAC is dying, Kristol….


  98. Redleg says:

    It’s time for the pasty-faced chickenshit Bushsucker to enlist and volunteer for service in Iraq. Kristol and the rest of his soft but mouthy neocons need to STFU. The war in Iraq isn’t going well, what makes them think an attack on Iran will go any better?

    Fuckin’ idiots.


  99. Royston Vasey says:

    Who was a “hostage”? no-one
    Who was “kidnapped”? no-one

    The use of such language skews the perception of reality.

    The 15 British naval personnel were arrested and detained for border infractions of Iranain sovereign space.

    No mention of the 5 Iranian personnel arrested in Northern Iraq in January for the same offense – and now held somewhere as enemy combatants.

    British Government : Diplomacy, talking, understanding and then resolution
    US Government: To make the incident ‘Gulf Of Tonkin II’ as an excuse to attack Iran without a declaration of War.


  100. TruthinessOverAll says:

    Billy Boy is such as Chickenhawk. He wants ANY war in the Middle East…… as long as he doesn’t have to serve, AND he makes money!!!!

    U da man, Kristol!!!!


  101. Raymond Funamoto says:

    Kristol, YOU BOMBASTIC IMBECILE, WHAT THE F*CK IS GOING ON IN YOUR WARPED MIND WITH YOUR PUNY PEABRAIN RATTLING AROUND IN YOUR OTHERWISE EMPTY NOGGIN???? IS IT “THE RATTLE OF A SIMPLE MAN(tm)”???? THE ONLY RATTLE I’D LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU, Kristol, IS YOUR DEATH-RATTLE IN YOUR LYING THROAT!!!!! IS THAT YOUR SOLUTION TO EVERYTHING, YOU USELESS, FAILED-STRATEGY SPOUTING MISERABLE, COWARDLY, YELLOW-BELLIED SKUNK-VARMINT CHICHENHAWK neo-CON-man AND REPROBATE?????? TO BOMB Iran AND PLUNGE THE WHOLE ARAB WORLD INTO FULL-BLOWN WAR, LEAD TO WORLD WAR III AND ARMAGEDDON????? OH, I FORGOT, YOU’RE AN EMISSARY OF THE DEVIL AND A SATANIC COUNSELOR TO 666, THE GREAT BEAST CHIMPya W. Bush!!!!! WE KNOW YOUR DASTARDLY MACHINATIONS TOWARDS BULDING THE ONE WORLD ORDER—YOU SHOULD BE ONE OF THE FIRST THEY WILL LIQUIDATE FOR YOUR UNHINGED IDEAS, YOU SLIMY CREEP!!!!!


  102. circusfifthfloor says:

    This fool would attack Canada if the Stanley Cuo returned there…Little Bill loves the military..yea, he loves to see ‘em die. May turn out to be one the worst Americans ever.


  103. Mark C says:

    “Kristol: Wrong, wrong, wrong.

    Comment by AboveTheClouds ”

    So, so right. Billy is so consistently wrong that he should now and forever be known as “Mr. Wrong.”

    I was originally planning to post that because Mr. Wrong is so consistently and unerringly wrong about such a wide variety of issues that he should be given a place on TV so that we always know what not to do. But then I realized that his answers are so ridiculously predictable that there is really no need to bother.


  104. Fear and Voting in Las Americas « Fitness for the Occasion says:

    [...] mongering is hardly something new in American Politics.  However as we get closer and closer to a possible War with Iran, we need to take a step back and look at our motivations.  Sure, fear [...]


  105. Juan C says:

    UnB, if you are still around:

    Henry Steele Commager, ed., Documents of American History, Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., New York, 1958, p. 189.


  106. Yalda says:

    Hi TP readers !

    My name is Yalda.

    I am the Iranian girl who beat up William Kristol and took his lunch money back when we were both in the 1st Grade.

    I have recently been made aware of all of the belligerent things William has said, advocating the attack of Iran and so forth. Once I saw a few his old Fox News tapes, as well as this most recent show, I immediately knew where all of this was coming from.

    So, William, if you are reading this I just want to say that I am sorry for beating you up and taking your lunch money.

    I regret that getting beat up by an Iranian girl left such a deep scar on your psyche. I am told that you initially tried to “get even” by attacking a fictional female TV character named “Murphy Brown.”

    Oh, William …

    In the event that William Kristol does not read this, if anyone here knows him – tell him that Yalda is sorry for beating him up. It was just a youthful indiscretion. And tell him I am willing to pay back the lunch money I took from him with interest.

    Okay, that’s it.

    Bye !


  107. fuzzwald says:

    Welcome to the 11th century Mr. kristol. – helenahandbasket
    —————
    Kristol is a contemptible creature, a world-class coward.


  108. Lora says:

    #When it comes to military matters, Kristol should be the last to talk…
    Comment by tarazan — April 8, 2007 @ 12:04 pm

    Has Kristol ever been correct about anything? He should be the last to talk about most matters–except maybe what he had for breakfast, and I’m not even sure about that one.


  109. chefrad says:

    Another tireless recruiter— for the IDF.


  110. JessWonderin says:

    A Great chance to wade ashore leading the troops to Terhran, but foiled when the Brits pussied out used that old “diplomacy dodge” – damn !!! . . . I’m sure you had your bag fully packed and your weapon in hand . . . extended and ready to plunge deeply into the waiting battle . . . surging forward with Commander Cod Piece at your back . . .


  111. Ben says:

    There is no “should” in the real world, children. There’s no-one to give you good grades (you’re supposed to be atheists, no?). Every country is doing what it can get away with. Some do what they must, to survive. Others do what they want, to further their lunatic world-conquering genocidal fantasies. Take your pick.

    Choose, and bear responsibility for your choice.

    Would you kill a child to save a million others?


  112. unbelievable says:

    Henry Steele Commager, ed., Documents of American History, Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., New York, 1958, p. 189.
    Comment by Juan C — April 8, 2007 @ 7:31 pm

    Thanks… I’ll try to look it up and see if it produces anything on the net…


  113. Ben Dover says:

    This moron has not been right on a single thing he’s said regarding the Middle East since his crime cabal made their illegal invasion of Iraqnam. Now, after diplomacy worked with the Iran issue, the stupid bastard says that the “right” thing to do was a missile strike?? How much military experience does Billy Boy have to qualify him to say anything about anything in the Middle East?


  114. Triumph says:

    Re: #104 / from “ben”

    “you’re supposed to be atheists, no?”

    That would be a “no, I am not an athiest” Ben. While some of the frequent posters are atheist – you are wasting your time trying to categorize all of the TP posters on this thread as either believers or non-believers.

    Happy Easter.


  115. Jackie Rawlings says:

    Kristol was scared to join the military but is more then willing to send our troops to invade any countries. I noticed all the GOP people pushing for war never served in the United States Military during the time of need like Vietnam. Maybe Bill should have been a good American and joined the Military when the United States needed his help. Bush was scared and his Daddy got him out, Cheney had 5 deferments to skip out, Rummy stayed safe on US soil because he was scared, Mitt wimped out with his Daddy’s help, Rudy never served your guess why? Now if these cowards had to go in combat they would be talking different. As for McCain he only wants to be President as was promised when Bush bitch slapped him in 2000.


  116. Martin Gifford says:

    Wanting war is sick. I saw a rerun of and Oprah show that had a casualty from Iraq on. His face has been melted off and he’s had many operations. Sick stuff.

    I find it hard to believe that Bush will attack Iran. Bush had political capital to attack Afganistan and Iraq, but he has none now.

    But last night I had the most vivid dream imaginable that America was attacking Iran.

    Attacking Iran would be unbelievably reckless. Is Bush and co that desperate or crazy?

    Martin Gifford.


  117. junior birdman says:

    is kristol a jew ?

    just wondering.


  118. the republic of stupdity says:

    Is it possible to strap a parachute on “Ole Bullet Bill”, load him up w/ guns and ammo, and then kick his F*#kin’ ass out of an airplane over Iran, so he can personally go fight the good fight he wants so badly? I mean, Geez, I’m kind of suprised (and disappointed, I might add) that he’s not already over there, charging over sand dunes with knive clamped firmly between his teeth, spraying hot lead all over the place in the name of JC and W.


  119. anonymoustroll says:

    Flase Flags are passe… even if they’re self-inflicted.


  120. Royston Vasey says:

    The decision to seize the Britons was taken locally, and was not part of a grander scheme cooked up in Tehran.
    There is also general agreement in London and Tehran that once the crisis had been triggered it took nearly two weeks to untangle, because their release had to be agreed by all the key players in the perpetual poker game that passes for government in Tehran.
    But those players could not be reached because they were scattered around the country for the No Rouz (New Year) holiday.
    By the time the Iranian leaders got back from the holiday on Tuesday, the phone was ringing off the hook, including from people they didn’t expect, calling on them to release the captives quickly.
    These callers included the Syrians and the Pope.

    A missle attack on Iran would of escalated in to the conflict that Kristol so badly wants (the Tonkin Incident ruse).
    I find it interesting that the Syrians urged the Iranians to release the captives. Whose been at their ear recently?


  121. Hu Jintao says:

    Absolutely, fucking “A” man!!!! — Fight them, fight them!! Fight them towel heads and camel jockeys! Pleazzse fight them. please stay in Iraq, please use torture, pleazzze stay in Iraq.

    Fight the world’s 1 billion muslims, pleazzzzzeeee!!!

    Pleeeeze stay in Iraq and be deadenders- pleazze!

    Please mess up the middle east further, please please support torture.

    Please please don’t update your infrastructure, please please don’t tackle your social problems or poverty or build better schools.

    Please become more militaristic and dominated by Isreal!!!


  122. Hu Jintao says:

    Please attack Iran too. Kill them towelheads and camel jockeys!


  123. proxywar says:

    Kristol is a reliable Israel-lobby flak who agitates in whatever way he can to promote the “war of civilizations” and get the USA to fight Israel’s wars. This latest statement is nothing new in that regard.

    The real problem is: the corporate media give almost unlimited airtime to people like him, and little or none to opposing points of view. The whole spectrum of opinion in the corporate media runs from: attack Iran immediately to “all options on the table” (i.e. attack Iran later).


  124. Billy Saul Yurock says:

    Maybe we can pool our money together and buy Billy one of them new Ford hybrid SUVs. You know, the one with that plug-in thingy. Heck, I’ll even show him how to plug it in(then run like hell). He’d do us all a favor if he blowed up good, blowed up real good.


  125. V LaRoche says:

    Kristol’s just running out the game clock, in ‘good faith,’ of course. He has nothing to lose in any way. Whether he’s reviled or revered, he’ll never miss a meal and he’ll always have some other person cleaning up after him. And that’s really all that matters, as well as a sinecure at AEI and phone privileges Tom Friedman might envy.

    Bill’s a friend of Dick, and that’s all he needs. It’s carte blanche.


  126. www.buzzflash.net says:

    Nixon Youth Bill Kristol ignores peaceful solution to sailor incident; thinks Iran should have been bombed….

    Neo-Con moron Bill Kristol thinks that the proper response to the Iran capture of 15 British sailors should have been bombs….


  127. Ticktock says:

    Bomb Bill Kristol.


  128. Dean says:

    If these Republicans are so ready to fight, how come the cowards aren’t enlisting?


  129. Sam says:

    Another tough talking right winger, anyone want to bet that anyone from his family will ever wear the uniform of this country, I would love to see him and all the other neo-cons put there money where their mouths are but we all know they would piss themselves if they were ever shot at, same goes for Linbaugh, Hannity, Cheney, Savage…….. no one is this country except for the military and their families have been asked to contribute zip to this war, we have borrowed every cent to pay for it, I don’t know if the country will survive two more years with Bush in charge. I have never been more discusted with our government in my 53 years, I served our country for 26 years and yes, Krystal has the right to voice his opinion but God help him if I ever meet him in person, He can take it to the bank that I will wipe that dorky smile off of his face, will be well worth the jail time,


  130. cal says:

    Since an air strike may have sealed the fate of the 15 hostages; I wonder if Kristol would like to explain his reasoning to their families.


  131. ha ha says:

    some of you stupid slugs are waking up

    you need to rise up


  132. Richard J. Palmer says:

    Kristol and his neocon buddiess are gutlesss armchair warriors who bear responsibility for or entering into Iraq. They beat the war drums then and they are doing it again, this time against Iran. Bombing to them is merely a way of offing the enemy as if one were to click on delete and poof, they are gone. He is a repugnant individual whose pasty face appears too oKften on television. As some of the bloggers have already said, let him go in the front ranks of the attackers in these wars. He has two to chose from now and he will have three if our idiot pinhead president follows his advice. Of course, shit for brains Bush is tuned in directly to God so he really doesn’t need the Neocons anymore. He is now the Decider, Commander in Chief of all that he doth survey. Damn his pictures.


  133. findingavoice says:

    It is worth noting amidst all the threatening language and war-mongering of the Bill Kristols in our world that one of the hostages taken in Iran during the Carter administration has said he will be forever grateful that Carter didn’t take precipitous military action because if he had the hostages would never have made it our of Iran alive.


  134. Ronda says:

    Well what the hell?? Do you want the U.S. to get hit with an EMP?? Knock out our power and destruct our country?? Then what?? What are you idiots going to do then?? Can’t use your computer, can’t keep food good, there goes the telephone, no tvs, no NOTHING. All because we had to go fucking around again and trying to look like hardasses. Get a clue.


  135. Aeon says:

    PLEASE IDENTIFY KRISTOL as he is…EACH and EVERY TIME his EVIL NAME COMES UP.

    ORIGINAL NEO-CON Architect of these OCCUPATIONS!

    Original WAR PROFITEER who held mtgs with R members of Congress BEFORE WAR to help “assist” them with making their own personal PROFIT off these RICH MAN WARs FOR OIL.



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