Second Short Quiz

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johnkarls
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Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:43 pm

Second Short Quiz

Post by johnkarls »

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[Editorial Note = once each quarter there is a 5-week gap between meetings; when this occurs we have a Second Short Quiz.]

1. Has the New York Times speculated, based on Obama Administration sources, that Iran already has nuclear weapons?

2. If Iran already has nuclear weapons, aren’t they already deliverable by suitcase, if not soon by missile?

3. According to our author who quotes extensively from public speeches by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is the Ayatollah fond of preaching that anyone as stupid as Colonel Qaddafi of Libya who gave up his nuclear-weapons program in fright over the second American invasion of Iraq in 2003, deserves to be overthrown by America like Colonel Qaddafi was?

4. Does our author provide any reason to believe (or not believe) that Ayatollah Khamenei intends to dominate the entire Middle East starting with the Persian Gulf which produces approximately one third of the world’s oil (think fertilizer, not just fuel), if America creates a vacuum by withdrawing either physically or in terms of seriousness of purpose?

5. After all, doesn’t Ayatollah Khamenei talk frequently if not weekly about, in addition to destroying Israel with a nuclear weapon (calling Israel a “one bomb state”), dominating all Middle Eastern countries -- even though our author doesn’t quote any of those speeches?

6. And, after all, isn’t Ayatollah Khamenei already engaged in a “proxy war” with the Gulf State Six (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman) in Syria -- even though our author doesn’t quote any of the Ayatollah’s speeches dealing with Syria?

7. And according to news reports, hasn’t Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime been recently rescued and kept in power by fighters from Iran’s Hezbollah from Lebanon?

8. What was the effect on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his predecessor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of the invasion by Iraq’s Saddam Hussein on 9/22/1980, which lasted for eight years until August 1988?

9. Was Saddam Hussein invented and installed in Iraq by the first George Bush when he was the Director of the CIA?

10. Did Saddam start his 8-year war with Iran shortly after the Shah of Iran was deposed on 1/16/1979?

11. Did Saddam start his 8-year war while President Carter was still in office and while Iranian students still held for 444 days the American Embassy in Tehran including 52 American hostages?

12. Does our author report that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei often says that the reason why the Iranian students were permitted by his predecessor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to continue to hold the Embassy and the 52 Americans for 444 days was that neither of them had any fear of America?

13. But don’t the facts contradict Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s frequent claim because they immediately surrendered the Embassy and American hostages on 1/20/1981 because that was the day Ronald Reagan was sworn in as U.S. President and they didn’t want to give him any excuse to overthrow their regime?

14. Does Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to our author, firmly believe to this day that America’s policy toward Iran is regime change?

15. Why does Ayatollah Khamenei, according to his speeches quoted by our author, believe that America accomplished its goal of regime change with respect to the Soviet Union but that unlike the Soviet Union’s communism, Iran’s Islam cannot be overthrown by America?

16. Does our author recommend that America negotiate an accommodation with Iran?

17. Does the accommodation recommended by our author appear to outline an abandonment by the U.S. of the Gulf State Six (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman), if not the remainder of the Middle East including Egypt and Turkey?

18. How soon, with natural gas fracking, is the U.S. expected to become energy independent?

19. Is crude oil fungible?

20. Accordingly, even though American “talking heads” are fond of focusing on how little crude oil America imports from the Middle East as opposed to other sources, wouldn’t America have to compete until it is completely energy independent for its non-Middle Eastern oil sources if Middle East oil became unavailable?

21. Even following American energy independence in 2040, would America be wise to become isolationist and let the rest of the world worry about, and perhaps even engage in wars over, the oil supplies of the rest of the world?

22. How would such isolationism be similar to, and dissimilar from, the American isolationism that led to World War II?

23. Since the Gulf State Six (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman), if not Egypt and Turkey, have already long-since announced that they will go nuclear as soon as Iran goes nuclear, has our author demonstrated that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is rational enough despite his rants on domination of the entire Middle East and his rants on destroying Israel, that a stable nuclear balance can be reached in perpetuity and that there can be avoided the starving of half the world’s population if the 50% of the world’s oil supplies that originate in the Persian Gulf or downwind from the Persian Gulf suddenly become radioactive?

24. What are the terms, if any, on which the U.S. should be willing to reach a deal with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?

25. What action, if any, should the U.S. be willing to take in the absence of a deal with Ayatollah Khamenei?

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