Time-Line

UPDATE below

Then: John F. Kennedy, January 20, 1961--

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

Now: MSNBC, July 20, 2007--

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Thursday the United States cannot use its military to solve humanitarian problems and that preventing a potential genocide in Iraq isn’t a good enough reason to keep U.S. forces there.

Next Year: Ace, July 20, 2007--

The only people who benefit in a state of violent chaos are the lunatic murderous thugs and the leaders who control them in order to achieve power. The decent people -- those who have an interest in stability and peace -- lose in such a situation, because even though they'd prefer to not have a civil war, they simply don't have an army of their own. They're too busy minding their shops and raising their families to join an army, by and large.

Well, they do have one army in the country that is also interested in peace, order, stability, and prosperity-engendering political moderation. An army not consisting of murderous, largely stupid thugs and economic losers whose only path to wealth lies in killing people, but rather a well-educated, professional army who fights only for justice and peace.

Unfortunately, that army is the US military, the very army Obama and friends wish to withdraw from Iraq.

Two Years Hence: The Economist, July 19, 2007--

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog, Iran could have 3,000 centrifuges hooked up by the end of this month. The Iranians say their next aim is to scale up to 54,000 centrifuges. Figuring out how to put the fuel into a usable weapon will also take time—perhaps a year or more. But for would-be bomb-builders, making the fuel is by far the hardest part. The upshot, say Israel and some American experts, is that Iran may have a bomb by the end of 2009. Mohammed ElBaradei, the IAEA's director-general, is more cautious. But even he says that if Iran really wants a bomb it could now build one within three to eight years.

What Iran is doing at Natanz is entirely illegal. It has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and says its nuclear aims are peaceful. But having spent decades deceiving nuclear inspectors, it is disbelieved even by its friends. A year ago this month Russia and China therefore joined the rest of the UN Security Council in ordering Iran to stop. It carried on regardless. The Security Council followed up with two resolutions, in December 2006 and March this year, repeating its demands and applying sanctions. The centrifuges spin defiantly on.

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Aaron at Lifelike Pundits:

Oh the irony of the man running to be the second black president of the United States, who would have sat by and watched almost a million Rwandans slaughtered like the first black president did.