Conservative Wanderer

“A troubled and afflicted mankind looks to us, pleading for us to keep our rendezvous with destiny; that we will uphold the principles of self-reliance, self-discipline, morality, and, above all, responsible liberty for every individual that we will become that shining city on a hill.” — Ronald Wilson Reagan

Daily Archives: 4 December 2008

Israel Plans Iran Attack, Both With and Without US Cooperation

This is not good news.

The IDF [Israeli Defense Force] is drawing up options for a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities that do not include coordination with the United States, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

While its preference is to coordinate with the US, defense officials have said Israel is preparing a wide range of options for such an operation.

“It is always better to coordinate,” one top Defense Ministry official explained last week. “But we are also preparing options that do not include coordination.”

Israeli officials have said it would be difficult, but not impossible, to launch a strike against Iran without receiving codes from the US Air Force, which controls Iraqi airspace. Israel also asked for the codes in 1991 during the First Gulf War, but the US refused.

I can understand Israel’s desire to keep Iran from getting a nuke; after all, Israel would be one of the top targets, if not the top target. However, if they do perform a strike like that, all sorts of nastiness will break out in the Middle East, and it will probably spill over to the rest of the world.

Let’s hope that Obama and SecState Clinton can successfully defuse this ticking time bomb.

Hat Tip: Hot Air.

There’s a New Voice for Conservative Ethics in the House!

My fellow Americans, meet former Judge (20+ years on the bench) and current Representative John Carter (R-TX):

On Wednesday, Judge Carter, as he is affectionately called by his colleagues, sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) demanding answers for her recent behavior in relation to the ethics investigation into multiple incidence of questionable conduct by House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.). Speaker Pelosi last week issued a news release stating she had “assurances” that the Rangel investigation would conclude in early January, in spite of growing evidence of wrongdoing by Rangel.

In his letter to Pelosi, Carter said, “I was chagrined to learn that you issued a press release last week announcing that you ‘have been assured’ that the Ethics Committee’s investigation of Rep. Charles Rangel will be concluded by January 3, 2009. As a former member of the Ethics Committee, you are no doubt acutely aware that House rules expressly prohibit Members and staff of the Ethics Committee from discussing any aspect of an ongoing ethics investigation with individuals outside the committee.”

Of course, with her apparent assurance that Rangel won’t lose his Ways and Means chairmanship, we can assume that “integrity” isn’t as high a priority for Speaker Pelosi as it was in her first speech as Speaker.