Watch out! It's Iran!

      I'm going to take a look at Iran for this update! I know it has been a while since the last update, please forgive me as I have been VERY busy. I don't think that Iran will bomb Israel seeing as the world is growing weary of Iran's antics; quickly. With that said though, the leaders of Iran have been sponsoring terrorism and attack America (and Saudi Arabia) whenever it can. If we keep that in mind Iran could close the Strait of Hormuz or start a wave of terrorism the likes of which we have never seen. With the new attacks on Israeli diplomats in India and the attempted attack in Georgia the situation doesn't seem to be getting better.

  

     Iran isn't as suicidal the Arabs are, they will blow themselves up but they have a well organized and equipped military which reduces the need to blow themselves up (as much). Iranians ARE NOT Arabs nor are they SUNNIS they are Shiites and hate the Arab world more than the Jews (possibly). The people of Iran are Persian and speak Farsi and their culture is similar to Arabia but not of it you can't treat or think of them as Arabs they are a unique people who need a unique solution.

    

      We need to remember that the Iranian people don't want to be under their current government. But an attack by the West would unify everyone in Iran against those who attacked. If somebody attacks your country you are going to fight back, what we should be doing is helping to instill revolution in Iran at breakneck speed; Obama really missed his chance in the "Green Revolution" in 2009. If Obama had rallied the international community as the US, France, and the UK did against Libya something may have come out of it. This happened in Libya and is starting to happen in Syria, Iran's only ally in the Middle East, cut off this ally and start closing in on Iran. Though it should be noted that Libya and Syria are part of the Arab Legate; Iran isn't.

     What many people may not know is that the Arab nations are scared of Iran; they liked having Saddam as a bulwark against Iran. Especially the Revolutionary Guard units which are more than likely the best trained and best equipped in the region. Though with that said they can't take on the whole of the Middle East, their navy and air force isn't as capable as the rest of the Gulf states, which focus on a strong air force for defensive purposes. 

     A question that is being asked in the international community is, how would Israel attack Iran or vice versa? The shortest and easiest route is to go through Iraq and Syria and invade Israel, for Iran. But the Iraqis actually consenting to this; not about to happen after they fought a war against each other and general animosity. Or they simply invade Iraq also, which leads to war with Iraq; so this is off the table. Israel would do whatever it needed to attack Iranian nuclear sites; possibly flying over other nations, without warning or just warn the government of said nations. If they did warn the leaders of these nations the leaders would have a hard case to sell to their people; another air force just invaded our air space. 

     
     Arab leaders are cheering for Israel to attack Iran, behind the scenes of course. They would publicly make noise how Israel shouldn't have done what it did, but the Arab world doesn't want Iran to have nuclear weapons. They can't attack Iran because their people would see it as an attack on fellow Muslims, a move that would look like siding with the Jews. Given the current state of affairs in Syria, the chances of Syrian forces actually being able to stop Israeli attack squadrons over their air space is pretty low. The Iraqis are still not capable of protecting their air space well enough to be a major concern, they are still rebuilding their military.
 
     Iran has said that it will make a major announcement tomorrow (Feb 15th) about the current crisis, no telling what it could be at this point. IF the Israelis attack and that seems more possible everyday, especially after recent assassinations attempts; their time to do it seems like its getting closer. I think that action will be taken against Iran if they keep going the way they are, but their economy also grows weaker every day. If Iran gets nuclear weapons IT WILL set off a nuclear arms race in the most unstable part of the world. Will the world allow a country to own nuclear weapons when it calls for the destruction of another country? We shall see...

The Story so Far...

 

     Three are out and only four are left in the race! Rick Perry quit and endorsed Newt while Huntsman dropped out and endorsed Romney. I think that Perry may be trying to get a position in the administration if Newt wins, the same goes for Huntsman is Romney wins. Huntsman and Perry both seemed to get along with the man they endorsed, while Newt and Mitt seem to almost detest each other. Michelle Bachmann also dropped out after losing in her home state in last...if you don't count Huntsman who wasn't even in the state.

     

     As everyone knows the Iowa caucus has taken place and Mitt Romney lost to Rick Santorum but only by 34 votes. The Iowa caucus isn't a real primary, it's more of a popularity contest and its record for picking winners is 50/50. It was originally thought Romney won, but that was a mistake and I think that since he lost but such a low number it's pretty much a tie. Ron Paul came in second with Newt Gingrich coming in "third". The rest don't matter since they aren't in the race!

     Man what a shocker that Santorum won Iowa, well kinda, like I said it's a popularity contest. But the New Hampshire Primary isn't just a popularity contest...it's a PRIMARY! Romney won with a large part of the votes, about 40% of the votes with Paul once again in second place. Third was Huntsman, but he doesn't matter anymore. Then comes ole' Newt with just under 10% of the votes in fourth place! Santorum came in at about 10% as well so effectively they tied for fourth position.

     Now onto the interesting part of the story... the South Carolina primary. Newt came in with 40% of the votes! What?! Something that has never happened before happened when he won, somebody different won the Iowa caucus, New Hampshire primary, and the South Carolina primary! This means that as of now...the race is open to Santorum, Newt, and Romney; Paul can't and won't win. Then Romney came in with 27% a whopping 13 points behind Newt! Santorum and Paul came in rounding out the last positions with 17% and 13%, respectively.

     Something to keep in mind is that South Carolina is a very conservative state while New Hampshire is a moderate-left of center type of state. What does that mean? Romney is a moderate Republican; some would say to moderate for the Republican Party. Newt is very conservative and has an excellent track record in the debates; I would say that he was won all of them. But Santorum is also very conservative, so why didn't he win? It may be because he doesn't excite people like Newt can, he can be very much a lightening rod. Paul will always have his supporters, if nothing else they are loyal to their candidate.

 

     The question will come down to Florida in the end I believe. Who will win and come in second. Florida isn't as conservative or religious as South Carolina; the population is also about four times larger. Florida has about 19 million people while South Carolina sits right under 5 million people. I think that Santorum will come in third and Paul last, though I could be very surprised, since a large portion of Florida's voters are senior citizens; who always vote. Senior citizens are generally conservative when it comes to social issues and finical laws and regulations.  I think that Romney will come in first or a close second, if Newt doesn't push things to hard. But since this race has been so crazy so far...Ron Paul might win! If Santorum doesn't place well then I see him drogping out of the race.

If nothing else they can enjoy the sun as this lady is!

This post has been updated above.

 

I'll be writing up a new post about how the Republican primaries have gone and the debates as well! And the major changes that could come to the race!

Who do you want for President of the United States?!

So y'all, it's that time again, not Friday for partying, but time for voting! The question is who do YOU want?! I'll take a VERY QUICK look at Obama, Newt, Santorum, and Romney. So I'll link you their election web site to help you out ;).

Do you want President Obama to keep doing what he's doing? He's been in office over 3 years now...are you better off now than you were four years ago? (famous line by Reagan)

- He killed Osama.
- Passed Health care Reform Bill (half of the US doesn't want it, but that's only half).
- We are out of Iraq. He did deliver on this promise.
- More Illegal aliens have been arrested and deported during his administration.
- The catastrophe that is "Fast-and-Furious" took place while in office.
- 9% unemployment (no president since FDR has been re-elected with that).
- Federal government and debt has grown a great deal under him.
- Link to Obama's reelection campaign, http://www.barackobama.com/

Or do you want Newt?! He has experience in Washington and knows how the game works. He has done fantastic in the debates while others have done OK, messed up horribly, or just embarrassed themselves (Perry). But he has a LOT of baggage from his past!

- Headed the GOP when it reduced the federal debt and gave the American people a surplus.
- He worked with Clinton, which shows he can reach across the isle to get work done.
- He wants to greatly reduce the Dep. of Education and give the states the power to do pretty much as they please.
- Wants to completely revamp the tax policy and he also wants to reform health care in some ways.
- He has flipped on somethings (global warming hes doing a 180 lately).
- Has a LOT of ideas, some good (finical reforms) and some that worry me like making judges answer why they ruled why they did, I'm on the fence about it. <---should make people really think about what could happen if that became law.
- Here is a link to is election campaign, http://www.newt.org/

And for everybody's favorite professional looking candidate, Romney! He's been running for office since 2008 and is considered to be the eventual GOP candidate. He has flip-flopped a lot also. Has been a Governor and is a self made millionaire (knows business) and is ready to step into the role, but he still looks to polished and acts to robotic to many.

- Flip-flops, more than an actual pair of flip-flops
- Has business experience
- Is a moderate, and is only pandering to the far right for the primaries.
- His plans come off "bland" to some
- Some of his ideas are thought to be very threatening to America, currency wars with China and starting a war with Iran.
- Has experience in public and private sector, understands how a business operates and knows to to run large corporations.
- Link to his website! http://www.mittromney.com/

Finally we come to Rick Santorum. Hes been low on the totem poll the entire time, but he has been a consistent candidate and has also been a senator and knows how Washington works. He sticks by what he says and doesn't back down. I chose him because he has a strong following and has good ideas. If he does well in Iowa he will stick around for the primaries.

- Wants to repeal ObamaCare and reform it a different way.
- Supports gun rights.
- Against gay marriage.
- Against all forms of abortion, he's taken a lot of hits for that stance. Many Americans support it in cases of rape or incest.
- He isn't one who wants to compromise. At all it would seem from how he speaks.
- And the link to his election site! http://www.ricksantorum.com/

I didn't bother with Paul, Huntsman, or Bachmann. Paul would be too isolationist and his views are considered very radical. Huntsman doesn't appeal enough to many voters and has consistently been low on most polls. Bachmann appeal to independents and is very unwilling to compromise.