hval, in re your little jest ...
If you think you can take it, come on and try.
Don't forget, once you have it, you have to try and make it run.
See how much fun that was for NATO in Former Yugoslavia, and UN in Somalia if you doubt my cynicism in re the UK taking over much of anything these days. Given what a mess y'all are making of your own affairs, I don't think you can handle something about six times bigger.
(Which of course makes one wonder how America expected to implant democracy into Iraq, given how indifferent American voters are ... about 1/3 never bother to vote ... )
Yes, it's a late response, but you get what you pay for.
In re Iran:
They are looking at cutting off oil for five years.
We'll see how that works out for them, given their balance of payments.
I seem to recall that when the Saudi King led the 1973 embargo, Shah of Iran kept happily pumping and selling as the price went up ...
Agree on the Libya supply being slight mitigation. But then, the price will move about, yet again, as things get less stable on the macro supply side .
Iran's foreign minister warned Arab neighbors on Thursday not to put themselves in a "dangerous position" by aligning themselves too closely with the United States in the escalating dispute over Tehran's nuclear activity.
As they are already "aligned" with the US, and have their own regional paranoia to deal with, I don't see this as anything but noise.
The Pentagon is rushing a “mothership” --
No, it isn't. From a news article reporting on the topic.
The ship could be ready in four to five months time, officials said.
You might with to put the word "rushing" in quotes as well.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that Tehran is ready to sit down with world powers for talks on its alleged nuclear ambitions as he downplayed the harmful effects of newly imposed sanctions. The other countries who have been involved in "talks" with Iran in the past say that when it comes to talks "Iran is willing to talk about anything but the nuclear issues".
How lovely. Their position appears to be:
"We'll talk about anything besides what you want to talk about."
Amazingly clever!
Why, it sounds like how the Israelis and Palestinians talk to each other -- about nearly everything except what the other side actually wants to see on the table.
Way to conform to the regional stupidity, lads! You'll keep us amused for a few more decades at this rate!