World War III Declared

Not with a bang, but a whimper from the worst President ever.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush said Wednesday that he had warned world leaders they must prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons "if you're interested in avoiding World War III."

"We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel," Bush said at a White House press conference after Russia cautioned against military action against Tehran's supect atomic program.

"So I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon," said Bush.

This is one of those Big Lies that's almost impossible to refute. First of all, a mid-sized country with severely limited offensive military capability is not a candidate for World War (unless you count Russia in that mix). Second, Ahmadinejad is not the leader of Iran. Third, he never actually said that Israel must be "wiped off the map." Fourth, Israel is not the 51st state, and is eminently capable of taking care of themselves, as we've seen recently (even if the Syrian airstrike may have taken out the scourge of Russian anti-aircraft batteries and not a nuclear facility). Fifth, and scariest, the goalposts have moved.

Note where Bush has placed the goalposts here. Not preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon. Preventing Iran from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon. I'm not sure what the significance of that switch is, but it seems significant.

Ygz updates to say that this has been stated policy for a while, yet it still seems significant. It was like how after the war, it suddenly went from Saddam having weapons to having weapons programs, and the next week I think it was he had a weapons book. "You can't let a madman have a weapons book! What if he reads it?"

Under the standards laid out in this press conference, World War III or VIII or XIV or whatever the warbloggers have chosen this time is inevitable. Iran is in the midst of building centifuges for what they say is peaceful civilian nuclear technology. In Bush's world that is already cause enough for war. Hell, staying relevant might be reason enough for an attack, in his mind. Maybe he'll realize that using the veto pen isn't all it's cracked up to be, and he'd feel better hopping into the flight suit with the codpiece again.

This is insanity and now is the time for the Congress to step up and do everything in their power to stop this man. Unfortunately, on national security issues they have shown themselves to be impotent beyond all reason. Maybe they AREN'T interested in preventing World War III.