Quiz Answers: Barack & HillaryStartingTheNextWarWithIran

Eric Lichtblau's "Bush's Law: The Remaking of American Justice" available from your local library or from Amazon.com for $17.79 + shipping OR by e-mailing "readingliberallyemaillist@johnkarls.com" with the subject = "book loan requested"
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johnkarls
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Quiz Answers: Barack & HillaryStartingTheNextWarWithIran

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Question 1.

What was the first attack on American sovereign soil after Pearl Harbor??? (Hint = it was NOT the first Al Qaida attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 during President Clinton's first year in office). Who was the leader of the pre-1993 attack on American soil???

Suggested Answer 1.

The 1979 attack by Iranian students on the American embassy in Tehran was the first governmentally-sanctioned attack on “U.S. sovereign soil” since Pearl Harbor. The students held the American embassy and the American diplomats for 444 days (1.25 years).

Under international law, embassies are the “sovereign soil” of the country that owns the embassy and, accordingly, the U.S. embassy in Tehran was as much a part of the United States as Salt Lake City.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the leader of the Iranian students in 1979 – today he is the President of Iran.

Although there may have been some doubt over whether the Iranian students could have captured the U.S. embassy in 1979 without the collusion of the Iranian government, there is no doubt that the refusal of the Iranian government to honor its obligations under international law to return the embassy and free the U.S. diplomats for 1.25 years did indeed constitute governmental collusion.

And there is no doubt that this disgrace was a major contributing factor in the defeat of President Jimmy Carter in his bid for re-election the following year.


Question 2.

Judging from one of Tom Hanks lines as Charlie Wilson in "Charlie Wilson's War" written by Aaron Sorkin (Hanks was the producer) on which we focused briefly for our Feb 14th discussion on "The Best Government Money Can Buy" (please see the Feb 14th reference materials on this bulletin board), what would Aaron Sorkin and Tom Hanks probably say was the reason why Barack Obama stated during the Pennsylvania debate: "our first step should be to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of Iranians...I will take NO OPTIONS off the table when it comes to preventing them from...obtaining nuclear weapons..."???


Suggested Answer 2.

The lines written by Aaron Sorkin of “West Wing” fame for “Charlie Wilson’s War” produced by Tom Hanks =

Tom Hanks (Congressman Charlie Wilson, protesting) -- “I’m elected by Jews.”

Julia Roberts – “How many Jews do you have in your district?”

Tom Hanks – “Seven, BUT POLITICIANS AREN’T ELECTED BY VOTERS, THEY’RE ELECTED BY CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTORS! Mine are located in New York, Florida and Hollywood!”

*****
There is posted on this bulletin board under “reference materials” an MSNBC story quoting the Associated Press about how Barack Obama took time out on April 16th from preparing for the Pennsylvania debate that evening to meet with Jewish leaders who were concerned over his lack of support for Israel.

Aaron Sorkin and Tom Hanks would probably say that Barack Obama’s statement during the Pennsylvania debate that evening that he would go to war with Iran to prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons was an attempt to demonstrate his support for Israel.

It should be noted that New York Senator Hillary Clinton (as well as New York’s Senior U.S. Senator Chuck Shumer, long-time Chair of the Senate Democrats’ Campaign Committee which selects and funds candidates, and Connecticut’s Senator Joe Lieberman) each of whom has been steadfast in her/his refusal to recant on their votes to authorize the use of force against Saddam Hussein, do not have similar problems with Jewish groups.


Question 3.

From our discussion of "Is War With Iran Inevitable" on December 13th, what is another just-as-important reason for the current "dust up" with Iran???

Suggested Answer 3.

Each of the “Gulf State Six” has indicated that they would feel threatened by an Iranian nuclear bomb and would immediately go nuclear themselves. The “Gulf State Six” are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Republic (UAE), Bahrain, Qatar and Oman.


Question 4.

How does this all relate to the Administration's revelation this past week of the Syrian uranium-enrichment facility built by the North Koreans (which, of course, subscribers to this newsletter already knew was destroyed by Israeli war planes back on September 6th - please see item 2 of the Dec. 13th topic description)???

Suggested Answer 4.

Each of the “Gulf State Six” would undoubtedly feel equally threatened by a Syrian nuclear bomb and go nuclear themselves.


Question 5.

MacNeil-Lehrer's initial report on the Administration's Syrian revelation mentions that 22 key Democratic and Republican Congressional leaders had been briefed last fall on this intelligence. Why do you think the Administration didn't limit this briefing to "The Gang of Eight" that is featured so prominently in Lichtblau's book that we are reading???


Suggested Answer 5.

A shrewd guess would be that the Bush Administration intended Congress to leak the information and, when it failed to do so, was forced to announce the information itself!!!


Question 6.

How many intelligence briefings did the "Gang of Eight" receive during the 15-month period between 9/11 and the famous Congressional resolution to authorize the use of force against Saddam Hussein???

Suggested Answer 6.

At least six.


Question 7.

Hillary has stated in the Pennsylvania debate that if Iran goes nuclear, we must put Israel and the "Gulf State Six" under America's nuclear umbrella. Several times in the past we have discussed in passing Pulitzer-Prize winner Seymour Hersh's “The Samson Option” which described (a) Israel’s nuclear-weapons program, (b) how prior to the 1973 attack by Egypt, Israel had a policy that if it ever had fewer than 24 hours to go until annihilation it would fire its nuclear missiles which incidentally were AIMED AT RUSSIAN CITIES RATHER THAN ARAB CAPITALS, (c) how the Israeli cabinet believed they were within 24 hours of annihilation by Syria during the 1973 war because Israel had been rationing its ammunition vis-à-vis which Henry Kissinger had been refusing to re-supply Israel for 12 months, and (d) how the Israeli cabinet decided to fire their nuclear missiles AFTER firing a telex to Kissinger giving him a “heads up” on what would be “going down” within a matter of minutes. Kissinger, according to Seymour Hersh, responded immediately that the Israelis should begin firing their conventional ammunition “as if there were no tomorrow” and that American re-supply planes would take off at dawn. The Israelis did, the Syrian lines stabilized, and Israel did not become the answer to a trivia question (What WAS Israel???). So if Israel followed the philosophy of General/President Charles de Gaulle when he withdrew France from NATO and developed his own nuclear weapons that America’s nuclear umbrella is NOT credible and only French nuclear weapons would stop Russian tanks from rolling to the Atlantic, what makes Hillary think that the “Gulf State Six” will be more gullible than the French and the Israelis???

Suggested Answer 7.

Who knows???

Using America’s “nuclear umbrella” used to be known as “Mutual Assured Destruction” or, as Democrats of an older generation used to like to call it – “MAD”!!!

Does Hillary really think she can convince the American people to face nuclear annihilation for Oman (one of the “Gulf State Six”)???

Does Hillary really think she can convince Oman that the American people are willing to face nuclear annihilation for Oman???

Does Hillary really think she can convince Iran that the American people are willing to face nuclear annihilation for Oman??? Especially if America was not willing to elect Barack Obama who promised “to take no options off the table when it comes to preventing them (Iran) from…obtaining nuclear weapons” (in other words, to go to war with Iran before Iran had nuclear weapons)???

America’s “nuclear umbrella” sounds great, until one stops to think how much it “sounds” like a “fig leaf”!!!


Question 8.

For history buffs who like to "scratch their heads" over the Jewish Bible prophecies regarding the "Battle of Armageddon" - (a) where is Armageddon??? (b) does the Jewish Bible description of the Battle of Armageddon (which it does not name but St. John does in writing about the Jewish prophecy in Revelations) have to involve a nuclear holocaust??? (c) does the prophecy appear likely, considering that we are soon likely to see Iran, Syria, and each of the "Gulf State Six" become nuclear powers in the near future???

Suggested Answer 8.

(a) Armageddon is a plain in Israel which most military experts believe would make an ideal battleground and which, indeed, did serve as a massive World War I battleground between the Brits and the Turks; (b) many experts think so; and (c) YES!!!



AND TWO TRIVIA QUESTIONS FOR EXTRA CREDIT –


Trivia Question 1.

Of the two most famous Harvard Law School professors (Laurence Tribe who, among other things, represented Al Gore in ALL THREE U.S. Supreme Court cases dealing with the 2000 Florida vote - and Alan Derschowitz who seems to pop up everywhere), for which did Barack Obama serve as a research assistant as a first-year student??? What was the reaction of the famous professor toward Barack's work???

Suggested Answer to Trivia Question 1.

Laurence Tribe, whose reaction is recorded as having been that he hoped to see Barack Obama elected President of the U.S. some day!!!


Trivia Question 2.

Of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's congregation of 8,000, who is even more famous than Barack Obama???

Suggested Answer to Trivia Question 2.

Oprah Winfrey, who featured 1.5 years ago Barack’s two autobiographies on her TV program and, at the same time, endorsed Barack for President thereby launching (unofficially) his campaign!!! (Which is why, during the period we took turns each month suggesting a book to read and then hosting our discussion, I proposed Barack’s two autobiographies for our Jan 2007 meeting 17 months ago.)

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