This could get very interesting for the Middle East.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/27/iran.fuel/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/27/iran.fuel/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
$.44/gal for Gas! How dare they?
- Thread starter Steve
- Start date
ptschram
Well-known member
21 gallons a month?!?!?!
I use that in a week.
"Sorry, boss. I can't come to work for the next 3 weeks, the government said I can't buy any more gas."
Yeah, that'll work.
I use that in a week.
"Sorry, boss. I can't come to work for the next 3 weeks, the government said I can't buy any more gas."
Yeah, that'll work.
ptschram
Well-known member
I remember once in Venezuala they raised the gas to .05 a gallon and they were rioting and I was thinking shit I see it fluctuate that much a liter day to day at home
This is what I was talking about months ago...Iran is going to take care of itself. They will implode nicely without any intervention or externally-applied ordnance on our part.
The country may be oil rich, but has to import much of its gasoline, as their refining capacity is crumbling with age. Now they get something like 50 billion a year from foreign oil sales. About half goes for domestic spending (including heavily subsidizing gas prices - up until now) and the other half gets 'exported' in the form of foreign aid to the likes of Hammas and other such Islamic/terrorist groups.
The burgeoning middle class and the large percentage of younger Iranians are going to demand more government services and continued cheap gas - which the government can't deliver without cutting foreign aid. Unrest is starting....
If this administration really wanted to ramp up the pressure on Iran, Bush would have his boss, Tricky Dick the Deuce, call up his bros over at Haliburton and tell 'em not to ship any spare parts or provide any oil field services. If other western oil companies did the same - and especially if we could get the Russians (or Chinese) on board - it's end of the road for Iran: they will simply run out of gas.
Ironic, is it not?
The country may be oil rich, but has to import much of its gasoline, as their refining capacity is crumbling with age. Now they get something like 50 billion a year from foreign oil sales. About half goes for domestic spending (including heavily subsidizing gas prices - up until now) and the other half gets 'exported' in the form of foreign aid to the likes of Hammas and other such Islamic/terrorist groups.
The burgeoning middle class and the large percentage of younger Iranians are going to demand more government services and continued cheap gas - which the government can't deliver without cutting foreign aid. Unrest is starting....
If this administration really wanted to ramp up the pressure on Iran, Bush would have his boss, Tricky Dick the Deuce, call up his bros over at Haliburton and tell 'em not to ship any spare parts or provide any oil field services. If other western oil companies did the same - and especially if we could get the Russians (or Chinese) on board - it's end of the road for Iran: they will simply run out of gas.
Ironic, is it not?
apg said:
I agree. I think the best way to put pressure on Iran is to start talking to them. Maybe not the regime itself, but the people. If our president/administration started saying things like "We love the Iranians! Student/visitor visas for all!" It would take away the key argument that the mullahs have which is "the US is evil and wants to kill Iran." Take away the fear factor, add a crumbling economy and suddenly the mullahs are under a lot of pressure. Very similar to the Soviet Union in the 80s. Regan was smart enough to see this developing. Iran is already feeling a lot of US military pressure considering we have armies massed on both sides of them (Iraq/Afganistan).
No need for nukes, just kill 'em with kindness.
A
Azdiscovery
Guest
--or wait for a couple of years for them to nuke themselves.....
-Hell just think what would happen if gas prices over there jumped a dollar.
-Hell just think what would happen if gas prices over there jumped a dollar.
While I think the internal pressures will cause problems for the mullahs, the outcome is far from predictable or even desirable. In order to distract the masses Irans leadership needs to dictate the tempo of the internal pschological war with their dissidents and also continue to enable ME chaos to serve their geo-political agenda. Yes, what you see in Iran, Lebanon, Gaza and Hezbollah is a coherent strategy when viewed from the perspective of Iran's leadership. The West views it as irrational and cannot come to grasp with a strategy to deal with irrantional leadership. We are entering a very dangerous period with Iran. They will instigate regional AND global conflict to maintain power. Chaos is their friend. Both in the ME and in our financial markets.
Does Iran understand the game it is playing?
Tigerhawk
followed by good discussion . . .
Does Iran understand the game it is playing?
Tigerhawk
The dovish case for emphasizing negotiation in the West's confrontation with Iran relies on the idea that the mullahs have a history of acting rationally, in the sense that they play the game of brinksmanship fairly well. The reason for that reliance is obvious, because if the other side does not ultimately act rationally you cannot negotiate with it with any assurance that it will respond predictably (this was the basis for the principle case for war against Saddam -- he had a long track record of behaving irrationally). Although I am not exactly a dove with regard to Iran, I generally believe that Iran acts rationally with regard to its self-interest, even if that self-interest is founded on divine revelation. . . .
followed by good discussion . . .
fucking dumbassses! I have an idea, since the supply of fuel is already short, lets all get together and burn the rest right there at the station! That will solve everything!
A
Azdiscovery
Guest
MarkP said:
To some extent, yes. But not internally. There are signs that this is going to get real bad PDQ for the powers-that-be in Iran. The state news agency has already enforced a total news blackout on any signs of civil unrest - or even photos of gas stations. There is an increasingly secular middle class in Iran that is not going to take kindly to gas rationing and other restrictions that are being currently being imposed.