Zakaria: Iran is weak and getting weaker

Zakaria: Iran is weak and getting weaker

globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com

There's not much foreign policy talk on the campaign trail except for one issue - Iran. Everyone is talking about Iran's new strength and assertiveness - its missile tests, its progress on the nuclear program, its moves in Iraq. Mitt Romney, the Republican front-runner, describes Iran as "the greatest threat that the world faces over the next decade." Newt Gingrich has compared the Iranian challenge to the rise of Hitler’s Germany. More measured commentators also see Iran’s rising influence and power across the Middle East.

In fact, the real story on the ground is that Iran is weak and getting weaker. Sanctions have pushed the economy into a nose-dive. The political system is fractured and fragmenting. Abroad, its closest ally and the regime of which it is almost the sole supporter - Syria - is itself crumbling. The Persian Gulf monarchies have banded together against Iran and shored up their relations with Washington. Last week, Saudi Arabia closed its largest-ever purchase of U.S. weaponry.

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Watched this on CNN this morning. Very well laid out article and commentary by the, IMO, most intelligent and straight investigative news anchor in TV today. Fareed Zacharia.



Also, read:

Why the Strait of Hormuz matters

Why is Iran’s threat to shut down the Strait of Hormuz attracting so much attention? Because as the chart above shows, the strait really is a choke point when it come to the transportation of oil. Only the Strait of Malacca, which runs between Indonesia and Malaysia, comes close in its importance to world shipping.

Nearly sixteen million barrels of oil move through the Strait of Hormuz each day. That translates to nearly twenty percent of all the oil moved daily.

Now for the good news. The odds that Tehran could shut down the strait are close to nil. Iran’s naval capabilities are mediocre at best, blocking a twenty-mile wide stretch of navigable waters is hard, oil tankers don’t burn or sink easily, and the U.S. Navy has enormous capabilities to keep the strait open. And in the highly unlikely scenario in which the Iranians succeeded in shutting down the strait, they would be the biggest losers. They depend on oil exports to keep their economy running. What the Iranians can accomplish with their saber rattling is to make the markets nervous, drive up the price of oil, and test Washington’s will.

globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com...



globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

CNN, ok, I will wait for further conformation on this issue, looks like more Iran bashing to me. Do you have any other sources than cough,cough, CNN?

My only concern is that if Iran is that weak that it's mentality might be, what have we got to lose?
If they are that bad why not try to ruin everyones day while going out in a blaze!!

An animals natural instinct when cornered is to attack.

The reason the political pundits (who claim it is strong) get away with it, and will continue to, is because by sanctioning the country, the will force some desperate act from it. The act will make Iran look like much more of a contender than it really is, to the rest of the world.

reply to post by CALGARIAN


Iran hass been weak this entire time, the U.S. has been gassing up Iran's power status to give it a reason to go their invade, and take all of their oil. So many of these politicians on CNN never learn that there are people out there in the world who will not believe in their lies.

Originally posted by DaarkSyde2012

CNN, ok, I will wait for further conformation on this issue, looks like more Iran bashing to me. Do you have any other sources than cough,cough, CNN?

Fareed, regardless of the broadcasting station, has always gone against the typical grain of CNN... IMO

Originally posted by CALGARIAN

Originally posted by DaarkSyde2012

CNN, ok, I will wait for further conformation on this issue, looks like more Iran bashing to me. Do you have any other sources than cough,cough, CNN?

Fareed, regardless of the broadcasting station, has always gone against the typical grain of CNN... IMO

He is still supporting the actions of the sanctions though. Yeah, he is going against the current political banter, but at the same time saying that the sanctions are working.

Then there is a political candidate who goes against the grain on both sides, "no sanctions, Iran not a primary cause of worry."

Not many people agree with him though.

zakaria is their token muslim.

it looks less racist to have another muslim bash and incite war and hatred against other muslims than say piers morgan.

this guy can't even leave america, because he'll end up in an al qaeda decapitation video.

the way he has that bugged out blank look on his face makes me believe he is under mk ultra control.
he never blinks either.
one time we played a drinking game during his show. one shot of jack for every time he blinks. 3 hrs later we were stone sober.

that guy is possessed, and it doesn't look like anything good. he doesn't even look real. i bet they film his segment and he just vanishes.

i believe the reptilians haven't mastered cloning humans other than white.

nothing he says can be taken as truth. he is a propaganda tool.

reply to post by randomname


Did you post that knowing how bigoted it is and do not care, or do you truly not realize?

Fareed has become my favorite on CNN. He is a straight shooter, and calls it as he's sees it. He also has a variety of interesting guests he interviews. For example, he interviewed a Republican party member today who commented on how ridiculous it is for the GOP to continue to intrude into people's personal lives by trying to pass laws concerning abortion and sexual preference. So true, as he indicated the GOP is supposedly so
BIG on reducing government intervention, and yet here they insist on involving themselves in the most private areas of people's lives. He's right. It doesn't make sense anymore.

I agree the MSM is making Iran appear stronger than it is. I fear the good citizens of Iran may begin to suffer because of it. There was a time when some people in the ME had never seen an orange, because of our sanctions. I would hate to see that happening again.

I buy this report, i don't think Iran is near the threat the poloticians are making them out to be. Although Fareed seems solid to me i must admit he bores me sometimes but that's just me.

Originally posted by randomname
zakaria is their token muslim.

it looks less racist to have another muslim bash and incite war and hatred against other muslims than say piers morgan.

this guy can't even leave america, because he'll end up in an al qaeda decapitation video.

the way he has that bugged out blank look on his face makes me believe he is under mk ultra control.
he never blinks either.
one time we played a drinking game during his show. one shot of jack for every time he blinks. 3 hrs later we were stone sober.

that guy is possessed, and it doesn't look like anything good. he doesn't even look real. i bet they film his segment and he just vanishes.

i believe the reptilians haven't mastered cloning humans other than white.

nothing he says can be taken as truth. he is a propaganda tool.

edit on 8-1-2012 by randomname because: (no reason given)

I possibly agree with your last sentence...... The rest is, well... :-/

Originally posted by angeldoll
?

Fareed has become my favorite on CNN. He is a straight shooter, and calls it as he's sees it. He also has a variety of interesting guests he interviews. For example, he interviewed a Republican party member today who commented on how ridiculous it is for the GOP to continue to intrude into people's personal lives by trying to pass laws concerning abortion and sexual preference. So true, as he indicated the GOP is supposedly so
BIG on reducing government intervention, and yet here they insist on involving themselves in the most private areas of people's lives. He's right. It doesn't make sense anymore.

Thank you. =)