The question is who's threatening who? I believe Israel and the US are threatening Iran much more than Iran is threatening them. We've already discussed Ahmadenijad's "wipe Israel off the map" comment which has been poorly translated and later clarified by the man himself. The fact is there's no evidence Iran is developing nuclear weapons. Would anyone care to show me the evidence?

I say no too. The best way to encourage Iran to develop nukes is to keep threatening it.

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What would you suggest? Perhaps an ICBM armed with multiple warheads flying towards Tel Aviv?


I see, just ignore them and they will voluntarily suspend their weapons programs. I think not.

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Which would be a possible scenario when western states make it clear that they are going to invade Iran first.

I believe there may be other courses of action you are overlooking in your "ignore them" or "bomb them" scenario.

That reminds me of Condi Rice's admonition that we didn't want the smoking gun of Saddam's nuclear program to come in the form of a mushroom cloud.

Of course we do not want Iran to get a nuke, but there are costs associated with assuming the worst about our adversaries. If you don't believe me, check out Iraq.That is also like Condi Rice. In lieu of offering evidence in support of your claims against Iran, put phony arguments in the mouths of those who disagree with you.

Who said anything about ignoring Iran?

Saddam's nuclear program virtually ended after the first gulf war. There was no real threat after that.

If you think ICBMs with multiple nuclear warheads are phony claims, you haven't been paying attention. Do you really think Iran's nuclear program and ballistic missile program aren't related? In my mind 1+1 still equals 2.

Sure the associated costs are high, but underestimating our adversaries determination and intentions would be foolish. [/QUOTE]

What effective proposals do you suggest that would deter Iran from accomplishing these goals in the next few years? How much time are you willing to spend negotiating with Iran before the threat becomes a reality?

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I was just responding to the part where you suggested that DieselAddict was calling for us to ignore Iran's nuclear program. I don't see where he said any such thing.I have no idea, but I can think of a few things I wouldn't do. I wouldn't invade Iran, as John Bolton and others have suggested (although the other day he seems to have denied making that suggestion).

Maybe this is a good approach: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/07/15/iran.nuclear.talks.ap/index.html

On the other hand, inclusion in the "axis of evil" was as clear a threat as it gets.

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1 gone, 1 changing dramatically and 1 still causing problems.

Let's not forget the Libyan lagniappe.

B

iRan is the only country left on the "axis of evil".

That movie has been in my Netflix queue for some time now. I'll probably see it next week.

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Being in Iraq is what's forcing us to ignore the region. There's no significant threat in Iraq, nor was there prior to our latest adventure.

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Who is ignoring the region?

Congress and the President thought there was a serious threat from Iraq in 2002. In hindsight they were wrong. Oopsie. As a result of that error, the people of Iraq no longer have a tyrant throwing dissidents into wood-chippers and gassing innocent villagers and invading neighbors. Instead, they have an emerging democracy in a region beset by religious fanaticism and military dictatorships and absolute monarchies. And they're sitting atop huge oil reserves. Good for Iraq.

B

Tell that to the 10's of thousands of dead Iraqis and millions who were displaced.

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No. The west in general has always ignored the region. Iraq is part of the region. Being in Iraq is a tacit acceptance that the region can no longer be ignored wether or not it's directly related to OBL and his gang.

- Peter.

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Being in Iraq is taking away resources from the pursuit of the real threat which is Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Being in Iraq is mostly about providing American war profiteers with good income.

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