Semantics, it would be either WWIV or V, III was the Cold War. You could make a good argument that GWOT was IV. Of course, for those that got or are going to get killed, is a moot point.

El Coqui on September 24, 2012 at 2:12 PM

Who started that assumption anyway? I’m sorry, but one or two pundits applying the “WWIII” label to the Cold War does not mean we have to all accept that definition, in my opinion.

I’m pretty sure there would have to be many full-scale blood-and-bullets military conflicts in many parts of the globe, all sharing a common objective, for it to qualify as a “world war”.

{^_^}

The thing is, we kind of are at war. Sabotage, killings of scientists, cyberwarfare. It might be a semi-cold war, but it’s clear that we are already fighting.

It’d almost be worth taking an attack from Iran just so we could collectively spit in the faces of every paleocon crank.

MadisonConservative on September 24, 2012 at 3:56 PM

IMO, it would be ENTIRELY worth it for our nation to declare all-out war, including rationing and the draft.

Either one of two things would happen:
—Neocons would get what they thought they wanted and go “Hey wait a minute! This sucks!”
—The rest of the nation would be infuriated at having to directly and undeniably pay for the Neocon agenda*, and rise up as one to vote you out of power for the next 50 years.
*Instead of indirectly, semi-invisibly paying with normal taxes only.

But frankly, I don’t know a single politician with the guts to push for such a thing. They’d rather have the half-baked mess we’ve got now because the media blackout basically relieves them of any responsibility. Start a full-scale war and their flowery keisters might just be held responsible by voters when Jamel Crackhead got his draft notice and Wahneysha Welfare got her check cut to bare-subsistence levels.

Will someone explain how Iran thinks that a pre-emptive attack on US interests doesn’t amount to starting a war?

Of course if he’s talking about pre-emptively attacking Israel Obama will think we should wait until we’re sure it wasn’t an accident before we do anything.

katiejane on September 24, 2012 at 4:05 PM

Can you explain how our actions against Iran over the past 30 years doesn’t amount to war?

Hey, don’t worry about a “senior commander” of the Revolutionary Guard threatening to start a war with Israel and the US.

Yeah! Don’t they know only America can act on its imperial desires and attack nations that haven’t attacked us! They need to just sit back and accept our war actions.

How dare they!

You know, dead bodies are just bumps in the road. Don’t roll over them too fast though or you’ll lose control of your vehicle bus.

NotCoach on September 24, 2012 at 2:21 PM

FIFY.

/Dante

“Iran will not start any war but it could launch a pre-emptive attack if it was sure that the enemies are putting the final touches to attack it,”

Will someone explain how Iran thinks that a pre-emptive attack on US interests doesn’t amount to starting a war?

Of course if he’s talking about pre-emptively attacking Israel Obama will think we should wait until we’re sure it wasn’t an accident before we do anything.

“In that case, unpredictable and unmanageable things would happen and it could turn into a World War Three.”

It would probably just solve a few foreign policy issues for us, actually. Fix a few sticky wickets. Unless QE∞ has made it impossible to fly aeroplanes and we’re reduced to sticks.

rbj on September 24, 2012 at 2:18 PM

I’ve been thinking along the same lines.

America can absorb a few attacks from Iran
-B. Hussein Obama pbuh

tom daschle concerned on September 24, 2012 at 2:12 PM

Aw, dammit.

*Check before posting, not after…*

Apologies.

*deep bow*

However, his policy of appeasing the mullahs during the ill-fated 2009 Green Revolution and his refusal to specify any red lines on Iranian action suggest less of a commitment to prevention over containment and more of a policy of hedging one’s bets.

If the video of Neda coughing up blood after being shot in the chest wasn’t enough to spark a guy to give a wet sh!t about what is going on in Iran, then nothing is. Life matters not to this guy—liberty matters less, and freedom….eh..…it’s a punchline.

He should be fired.

Oh boy. A strike on a US base. The world could use more green glass. That is, if Barry has tbe guts to issue the order.

Philly on September 24, 2012 at 2:46 PM

As dreadful as this is to say, if there were ever a time for an “Oops! You actually said do NOT fire? I’m so sorry…” incident to happen, that would be the hour.

But that would require a heroic sacrifice worse than death from the persons responsible, as everyone from Muslim apologists to the Coward-in-Chief would want their hides. They’d be hunted men and/or women with hardly anywhere safe on the planet for them.

I’m not completely sure I could ask that from our armed forces.

I’m not completely sure I’d have the guts to do it myself.

color me skeptical

To say the least

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WVTSHeL6Xo