It is becoming more difficult to ignore the threat of Iran and its long-range (see UPDATE at bottom) missile program. Yesterday they fired 9 missiles  and I heard 4* more overnight. I found the reaction of the candidates to this eyeopening.

Launch Brings Different Reactions: 

Tehran's testing of long-range missiles Wednesday drew  markedly different responses from U.S. presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, as Iran develops into a defining issue for the campaign.

Sen. Obama cited the test as further evidence of why the U.S. must engage in direct diplomacy with Tehran, while his Republican opponent called for more forceful responses, such as the development of a missile-defense system to protect U.S. allies.

"History shows us that when nations are embarked on paths that can jeopardize the security of the region...other actions besides diplomacy have to be contemplated and taken," Sen. McCain ... 

From US News, Iran Tests Missiles Able To Reach Israel:

McCain Warns Against "Second Holocaust" The CBS Evening News interviewed Sen. John McCain, "The Iranians are testing these missiles not because of action on the part of the Israelis, in my view. This is part of a calculated plan, developing nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them."

McCain told NBC Nightly News, "Hopefully, this event, it will serve as a catalyst that will finally gel all of the different factors that have been out there that will allow us then to act with our friends and allies in a most effective fashion and modify Iranian behavior, but we cannot allow a second Holocaust."

Obama Calls For "Direct Negotiations" ABC World News reported Sen. Barack Obama said in reaction to the missile tests, "The United States has to gather up others in the region, as well as internationally, to apply pressure on Iran. But it's very difficult for us to do so when we haven't shown a willingness to engage in the sort of direct negotiations with Iran that would give them carrots and sticks for a change in behavior." The CBS Evening News reported Obama "said what is needed is direct diplomacy and the threat of tougher sanctions to persuade Iran to drop its nuclear program."

Obama wants to talk. Talk to a nation that says the Holocaust never happened and that has set their sites on eliminating Israel.

Neville Chamberlain thought he could talk the madman Hitler out of his designs to rule all of Europe and the United States too. We know how that worked out for Neville.

*Was it 3 or 4? Seeing is not believing. Check out Michelle Malkin's Fauxtography-fest 2008! and see for yourself. (H/T Fairly Conservative)

UPDATE: Test exhibits no long-range rocket 'Same old Boring Shahab 3'. Not only were the pictures not what they seemed, but the Iranians' story too! Be sure to read all of the linked article. Here are some highlights:

Iran's missile test last week did not demonstrate any new capabilities, said a U.S. official familiar with the intelligence, and the test may not have included one of the longer-range missiles Iran claims was among those launched.

Iranian officials said the tests Wednesday and Thursday demonstrated a new variant of the Shahab missile that had a range of 1,250 miles. Such a missile would put Iran in striking distance of much of the Middle East, including Israel - as close as 650 miles from Iran - as well as Turkey, Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.

... Unless the Iranians built a larger missile with the same length-to-width ratio, dramatically improved the thrust of the rocket or decreased its internal structural mass, the missile could not achieve the range Iran claimed it did. Otherwise, it is the same knockoff of North Korea's Nodong-1, according to the blog.

..."Iran frequently exaggerates the capability of its missiles, and it appears it is continuing that tradition with [last] week's tests," said David Wright, co-director of the Union's Global Security Program.

..."We don't believe this exercise to have been an illusion," he [Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell] said Friday. Still, he added, "They were not testing new technologies or capabilities, but rather firing off old equipment in an attempt to intimidate their neighbors and escalate tension in the region. That is not the way to win the trust and confidence of the international community."

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