Israel

Escalation Of War With Iran: The Challenge Of A Nation Very Large In Land Area And Population!

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President Donald Trump has escalated the rhetoric and the military action against Iran, after one week of a war provoked by him and Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.

So as the US engages in a war which Trump now claims could have “boots on the ground”, a horrifying scenario, it is time to examine the challenge of a massive war against Iran, with its large land area and large population.

So some numbers and statistics, which will make clear the massive challenge American troops might face, is in order.

Iran is the 17th largest nation in land area in the world, and is about one-sixth the size of the United States, one sixth the size of all of Europe, and one sixth the size of Canada.

Iran is one-fifth the size of Australia; about half the size of India; four times larger than Iraq; and 80 times the size of Israel.

Iran is about as large as the largest American state, Alaska; more than twice the size of Texas; and the areas of Texas, California, Montana and Illinois combined equal the area of Iran.

Also, the East Coast of the United States from Maine down to Florida is approximately equal to the land area of Iran.

Iran has about 92 million people, approximately one fourth of the population of the United States.

Iran is the 17th most populated country, along with being the 17th largest in land area.

Iran is a highly literate, highly educated nation which has more than doubled in population since the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

It is the ninth largest oil producer and third largest natural gas producer.

It is 77 percent urban and 23 percent rural, with much of the nation being subtropical in climate. It also has its capital, Teheran, which has about 9.6 million people, about one million more than America’s largest city, New York City.

For America to be at war with Iran is a massive challenge, and will not be easily resolved, and could be a war of long duration!

Dire Threat Of War With Iran, As Donald Trump Displays Again His Reckless Side!

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Donald Trump ran for the Presidency in 2016 as a critic of the Iraq War and Afghanistan War under George W. Bush, and dragging on beyond Bush’s time in office.

Trump was clearly sounding like an isolationist, but now he is displaying an imperialist, aggressive foreign policy, totally opposite of what he professed ten years ago.

Trump has enjoyed showing his ability to bomb countries; invade and overthrow the leader of Venezuela; and side with dictators around the world.

Now, he is flirting dangerously with inciting war with Iran, even though his own military leadership is reported to be highly doubtful that such a military invasion would work out any better than it was with Iraq and Afghanistan.

For a person who evaded the draft based on “Bone Spurs”, he is acting a lot like Vladimir Putin of Russia.

And there seems to be no desire to have Congress play a role in such a military adventure, and therefore, to ignore the War Powers Act of 1973, which admittedly, has not been able to control Presidents when they decide to intervene overseas.

It will be interesting to see what Donald Trump says, or does not say, about Iran tonight in the State of the Union Address.

However, it seems clear that America is about to embark on a very reckless mission, not realizing that the size of the area and population of Iran, four times larger than Iraq, is a danger zone, and could escalate into a massive Middle East War with Arab nations drawn into it, as well as Israel.

America could end up involved in a morass that will last years, and while Iran is a problem with the potential for nuclear military development, it is seen by many as a “fool’s errand” to engage in what could be a long, drawn out war, with heavy casualties and major effects on the national debt over many years.

Donald Trump Trying To Bully Senate Into Submission On Appointments!

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Donald Trump is clearly working to bully the Republican majority in the US Senate into submission regarding his many controversial Cabinet and other appointments, and stripping the Senate’s power of “advise and consent” on Presidential appointments.

Trump’s aim is to make the US Senate lose its status as a co-equal branch of government, along with the House of Representatives, part of his plot to establish an authoritarian executive branch, uncontrolled by the legislative branch.

In so doing, he is working to undermine the Constitution, rule of law, and American democracy.

This, despite the reality that his victory was NOT a massive one, and that he has not won a majority of all votes cast by the American people, while defeating Kamala Harris by less than a two point margin.

Trump is causing our closest allies, including the United Kingdom, France, Israel, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to consider NOT sharing intelligence information.

Such an eventuality undermines American national security, and puts America in danger from its adversary nations, including Russia, North Korea, China, and Iran, among others.

College Campuses And The Israel-Hamas War

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The Israel-Hamas War in the Gaza Strip in the past seven months has led to the deaths of more than 34,000 Palestinians, including approximately two thirds being women and children.

It has become the biggest controversy on college campuses in many decades, and has led to massive demonstrations and occupations of many campuses by protesters, and by outside agitators not connected to the universities.

The ugly situation has many tones of antisemitism, endangering Jewish students, advocating violence, and calling for destruction of Israel.

Freedom of speech and the right to protest are basic constitutional rights, but it does not include the right to interfere with normal operation of educational institutions.

One can disagree with the strategy and tactics of the Israeli government, and yet also understand that a nation has the right to exist and to defend itself after the horrific massacre of about 1,200 people on October 7, 2023 by the extremist Hamas terrorist group.

One can also condemn right wing MAGA Republicans, led by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, Ohio Senator J D Vance, and other extremists, who want to employ military force to end the protests.

It is also disturbing that college students often have little knowledge and information, as they rely on social media, rather than established news sources, for their view of the world.

Colleges are supposed to be places for debates, education, empathy, and understanding, not for occupation and calls for genocide against an entire nation and people. To allow a small percentage of students and outside agitators to shut down a campus and threaten those who are opposed to their tactics is reprehensible.

These disturbances on college campuses are undermining the future of universities in the public mind, as extremism, violence, and occupation by many students and outsiders endanger public support for higher education.

It is also making more likely that many commencement ceremonies around the nation will be canceled, and this for students, who in many cases, did not have a high school graduation ceremony due to the COVID 19 Pandemic in the Spring of 2020.

Many of these demonstrators are destroying their education, as many will be suspended or expelled, will face possible criminal charges, and many corporations will be unwilling to hire people involved in civil disobedience without any conclusion.

Young people have a right to their beliefs, but not to stop the operations of universities, as many of these individuals will regret long term their youthful emotions that will not be good for their long term futures.

Every effort must be utilized to end the Israel-Hamas War and to free the remaining hostages, and Joe Biden has a major challenge ahead of him to convince Benjamin Netanyahu to change his strategy that has endangered the international community’s view of the conflict.

This issue could affect the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, bringing back memories of the disastrous Chicago Democratic convention in 1968, that led to the defeat of Hubert Humphrey and the Presidency of Richard Nixon.

Joe Biden At Age 81—Physically Fit, Solid Record Of Accomplishment, Safe For Future!

Ronald 16 Comments

President Joe Biden is 81 years of age today, and on this birthday, we wish the President all the best.

Despite his age, Joe Biden is physically fit, has a solid record of accomplishment, and is a safe, competent choice for the next four years.

The likely Republican opponent, Donald Trump, is none of the above, and is a danger to the nation and the international community, with his raving and threats to establish an authoritarian Fascist government if he ends up in the White House!

Joe Biden has accomplished more in domestic affairs than any President since Lyndon B. Johnson, and has provided strong international leadership, solidifying NATO, and backing Ukraine and Israel, two crucial situations that will affect the future of world affairs.

Biden has always been underrated, and faces strong headwinds in the upcoming Presidential Election of 2024, but he represents the survival and stability of American democracy and international stability!

Let all decent people wish Joe Biden a Happy Birthday, and support this decent, compassionate man as he faces challenges greater than any President since World War II!

Vivek Ramaswamy: An Arrogant, Cocky, Scary Amateur Running For President!

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Vivek Ramaswamy, the son of Hindu immigrants, who is estimated at age 38 to be a billionaire from his biotechnology industry investments, is an arrogant, cocky, scary amateur running for President, and has succeeded in gaining enough support in public opinion polls to be on the stage tonight at the Republican Presidential debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

A graduate of Harvard University and Yale University Law School, he is an extreme right wing candidate, working to be more extreme than Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and promising he would pardon Donald Trump on Day One if he was elected President.

He describes himself as an “anti woke activist”, meaning he looks down upon those who have compassion, empathy, decency, sincerity, and concern for those who are not privileged as he is!

Ramaswamy is utterly brash, cocky, and has tremendous hubris, who thinks he is supremely qualified to be President. He is the person to watch tonight, and it is believed that Ron DeSantis is ready to apply the hatchet to him, at the same time that Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson are also ready to go after DeSantis, who is fast deteriorating as a serious candidate for the Presidency.

Ramaswamy is running as Trump 2.0, and his foreign policy beliefs are totally scary and shocking, as he would reduce or end aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan; and allow Russia to keep the area of Ukraine that he controls at the moment, and prevent Ukraine from being part of NATO.

Domestically, he would work against transgender rights; environmental concerns; dealing with COVID 19’s continued threat even today; is supportive of the National Rifle Assocation; extremely anti abortion; calls to abolish the Department of Education, the FBI, and the IRS; wants to expand presidential power, pledging to rule by executive fiat; and wants to raise the voting age to 25 by constitutional amendment!

If Ramaswamy somehow was elected President, one can imagine as the youngest President that he would wish to remain in power for life, rather than leave office in his mid 40s.

He can be seen as a younger generation Fascist authoritarian, who would be a threat to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, and he should not be ignored, and needs to be observed closely both tonight and in future months, as his fortune and self support means he is not going to withdraw at any point before the battle is over for the Republican nomination.

And even more scary and terrifying is his statement that he would consider lunatic Robert F. Kennedy, Jr as his Vice Presidential running mate!

Donald Trump Stoops Yet Lower: Dinner With Kanye West And Nick Fuentes At Mar a Lago!

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Donald Trump has committed every outrage imaginable in word and action in his life, particularly since he announced his Presidential candidacy in June 2015.

But now he has managed to stoop even lower, by having dinner at Mar a Lago with anti semites Kanye West and Nick Fuentes, who is also a white supremacist!

Clearly, Donald Trump is mentally ill, that he cannot realize how having dinner with these pieces of trash, undermines his reputation yet further!

How, one wonders, does Kanye West associate with Nick Fuentes and his white supremacy beliefs, with Fuentes also proclaiming denial of the Holocaust, and how does Donald Trump associate with two antisemites, while proclaiming his love of Israel?

And Fuentes himself is Mexican-American on his father’s side, so being a white supremacist is a sign of self hate on his part!

Donald Trump’s son in law, Jared Kushner, is Jewish, and his daughter converted to Judaism, and yet, Trump associates with these characters!

One wonders how any Jewish person could continue to support and believe in Donald Trump!

Infuriating Attack Of Mike Pompeo On Randi Weingarten And Teaching Profession!

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There are many outrageous, irritating utterances that emanate from Republicans and conservatives about all kinds of issues and individuals.

But the attack of former Secretary of State and former CIA Director, and future Republican Presidential contender Mike Pompeo against Randi Weingarten and the American Federation of Teachers is the most infuriating statement imaginable.

Pompeo, insanely, termed Weingarten the most dangerous person in the world, more than Kim Jong Un of North Korea, Chinese President Xi Jinping, or Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Pompeo must be considered totally crazy with such an utterance, and should be disqualified from running for or winning the Oval Office.

This is not just a personal attack on a woman who has dedicated her life to education, as head of the United Federation of Teachers from 1998-2008, and as head of the American Federation of Teachers from 2008 to the present. Weingarten has devoted herself to promoting the rights and conditions of the teaching profession.

This is a field in which we are losing more teachers than replacing them, due to the effects of the COVID 19 Pandemic. But also there is the outrageous interference of right wing groups and ignorant parents who think they know more about what the curriculum should be in science, history, literature than educators who are trained to promote knowledge, truth, facts instead of myths, and to promote empathy, compassion and tolerance of others who are different than any of us.

Pompeo, like many right wing extremists, does not want students to learn about the truth of American history, the mistreatment of native Americans, African Americans, and other marginalized groups, but he is promoting narrow mindedness and intolerance, a threat to future harmony in this multi racial, multi ethnic society.

He is also, for sure, attacking Weingarten because of her liberal Jewish heritage and promoting Christian nationalism, which sees Jews as a group that should be proselytized to convert to Christianity. His pro Israel advocacy is phony, and he is supportive of the extremism in Israeli society, which has now led to Benjamin Netanyahu coming back as Prime Minister, while under criminal indictment. One can be pro Israel and support its right to exist, but does not require that all Jews or other decent people must accept the injustices represented by Netanyahu and his Orthodox extremists who look at Arabs as subhuman.

There is also an element of misogyny and homophobia that is part of Pompeo’s mantra, as Weingarten is a lesbian, and married to a Reform woman rabbi.

So all of the ugly elements–anti intellectual, Christian nationalism, misogyny, homophobia—of Mike Pompeo are to be condemned as horrendous.

And by attacking Weingarten, Pompeo also endangers her life and safety, and likely will cause threats that will require security, totally beyond the pale.

Biden’s Upcoming Trip To The Middle East

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President Biden is making a trip to the Middle East this week, with emphasis on his visit to Saudi Arabia and to Israel.

Both nations are a major problem for Biden, as he has to back off on his condemnation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s promotion of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, and has to deal with an unstable situation in Israel, which will soon have its fifth election in two years, with the possibility of the return of Benjmain Netanyahu to the Prime Ministership.

Human Rights remains a Biden concern, but sadly, other issues and concerns, including the price and availability of oil supplies, must be considered.

Both nations are crucial allies, but with governments that are highly controversial in their policies, and Joe Biden has to manage a very difficult diplomatic situation, that no matter what evolves, will lead to criticism!

The problem of the Palestinians, and also of Iran and the Nuclear Deal controversy, will be the center of attention in both nations.

Joe Biden’s Foreign Policy Challenges In Year Two Of His Presidency

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In addition to the uncertainty and tensions domestically, surrounding the danger of Donald Trump and the Republicans striving to end American democracy, Joe Biden faces massive foreign policy challenges in year two of his Presidency.

The Russian Federation and Vladamir Putin seem poised to invade Ukraine, with NATO and the US determined to punish Russia with harsh economic sanctions if that horrible event occurs.

China seems poised to invade Taiwan at some point, with the US stating it would come to the defense of that island, without being specific, but with the reality that a direct military intervention seems unlikely or manageable.

Iran seems resistant to resuming the 2015 nuclear agreement that Donald Trump destroyed during his Presidency, and there is the danger of a Iran-Israel War on the horizon.

North Korea and Kim Jong Un continue to test nuclear weapons, and therefore, represent a clear and present danger to US interests and neighboring nations in Asia.

Other nations have become more autocratic, including Hungary, Poland, Turkey, and Egypt in recent years, and democracy seems clearly to be on the defensive.

How much America can have an impact on these “hot spots” is hard to imagine, but that is not saying that Donald Trump or any other potential President would have any more fortune in world affairs!