Why is every republican candidate in heat to nuke iran besides ron paul.

[PLATO]

I think Iran is not just developing nukes as a self defense mechanism. So what then? Does everybody just wait for them to pop one and kill a few million innocent people before any action is taken?

It is not warmongering if you believe they have an offensive intent on building nukes. That's the hard part here. Trying to figure out their intent.

There is ample evidence to suggest that the Iranians may have an offensive intent. Statements by Iranian leadership that include, "Israel must be wiped off the map ...", "Don't be afraid of those Zionists. They are on the verge of death...", "We will witness the dismantling of the corrupt regime (Israel) in the very near future...", "With God's help, the countdown button for the destruction of the Zionist regime has been pushed ..."

Clearly these are threatening statements, but once again we have to look at the intent. Was it just to "fire up the masses" or are these actual statements of policy?

This is the dilema that the west faces. If the Iranians do act with an offensive nuclear weapon then is the blood of the innocents they kill on the hands of those who could have prevented it?

Very hard question.

[Hauldren Collider]

It's as if you've learned nothing, observed nothing, and haven't grown out of an immature and unsophisticated understanding of how military engagement and international politics work.

You don't attack Iran because it might (MIGHT) improve relations with every Sunni nation out there (and at that, you're just improving relations with the heads of state. You nuke Iran, you've enticed even more poor muslims into direct action in harming the US). That is the most short sighted angle on this.

And certainly don't attack them because you don't want to estrange the relationship we have with Europe any further than it already has been.

And you most definitely don't attack Iran because Israel is in danger.

Also, and this is probably beyond your comprehension and imagination - if we want to build better relations with the Arab world, why not bomb Israel? Street level Muslims wouldn't know what to do with themselves if that happened. But you know why I don't seriously consider that? Because it's ****ing insane to bomb people unprovoked and with a goal of garnering relationship boosts.

The worst part about you is the entirely cavalier attitude you have towards armed conflict. Is your mother or father in the military industry? You're basically doing an impression of Rumsfeld here.

WTF, MRT. Who's saying we would just indiscriminately bomb Iran? We would target their nuclear sites, because it's not okay to let genocidal maniacs get nukes. I'm talking about eliminating nuclear weapons, which is strictly a military target. The fact that it would make the Saudis happy is just a nice side benefit.

And who gives a flying **** about the Europeans? All they ever do is complain. They're not actually going to do anything. We don't need their approval.

And no, my dad works in employee benefits. Mom is a ski patroller.

[RGBVideo]

no they're creating trying to create a nuclear weapon because it will be a very effective deterrent to a US led invasion of iran. you can understand why the iranians are more than a little concerned about this, the US has invaded two of their neighbours in the last decade.

obvious to everyone but Americans

[MRT144]

WTF, MRT. Who's saying we would just indiscriminately bomb Iran? We would target their nuclear sites, because it's not okay to let genocidal maniacs get nukes. I'm talking about eliminating nuclear weapons, which is strictly a military target. The fact that it would make the Saudis happy is just a nice side benefit.

And who gives a flying **** about the Europeans? All they ever do is complain. They're not actually going to do anything. We don't need their approval.

And no, my dad works in employee benefits. Mom is a ski patroller.

Republican Candidates for President are saying that we nuke Iran, military site or otherwise as IF THERE IS NO UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE OF DOING SO.

The fact that the US can act unilaterally doesn't mean it's a good idea as far as diplomatic relations go. If you haven't thought about it yet, treating Europe like dog ****, especially to their face, is going to push them into the arms of China, India, etc. Israel already burned up any positive credit they had with Europe long ago by playing the unilateral card again and again.

And Iran is hardly in genocidal maniac territory. They are on par with Pakistan and Pakistan, despite having nuclear weapons hasn't used them.

[giblets]

Just think, HC is a relatively intelligent member of the Republican base.

[Hauldren Collider]

Wait, who the **** is suggesting we nuke iran? And Pakistan has nukes to use against India, which also has nukes. They're in their own mutually assured destruction stalemate. The same is not true of Iran and most if its rivals.

[C0ckney]

I doubt they'd have the means of delivery to get it to the US though...Israel is just a short hop away relatively speaking.

it's not about delivering it to the US. it's not about attacking israel either, who have nukes themselves, after all.

look at north korea, probably the only country in the world you could call totalitarian. their leadership is genuinely crazy and they have nuclear weapons. they haven't used them, because they know that if they did, it would be met with a response that would destroy their country completely. what the nukes do, however, is help ensure that US troops won't invade.

plato. it's not a hard question. anyone who spends a couple of minutes thinking about it can see that iran would never use nuclear weapons to attack israel. the israelis want an attack on iran (not by doing it themselves of course, they'd much prefer that american soldiers die to promote their foreign policy), because iran supports a lot of groups who are hostile to israel. the real question is why some political elements in america support using western blood and treasure to support israel's foreign policy.

[Hauldren Collider]

Also Israel didn't burn up credibility with Europe. Europe would hate Israel no matter what.

[Hauldren Collider]

it's not about delivering it to the US. it's not about attacking israel either, who have nukes themselves, after all.

look at north korea, probably the only country in the world you could call totalitarian. their leadership is genuinely crazy and they have nuclear weapons. they haven't used them, because they know that if they did, it would be met with a response that would destroy their country completely. what the nukes do, however, is help ensure that US troops won't invade.

plato. it's not a hard question. anyone who spends a couple of minutes thinking about it will that iran would never use nuclear weapons to attack israel. the israelis want an attack on iran (not by doing it themselves of course, they'd much prefer that american soldiers die to promote their foreign policy), because iran supports a lot of groups who are hostile to israel. the real question is why some political elements in america support using western blood and treasure to support israel's foreign policy.

No, Israel is legitimately worried Iran will nuke them. Furthermore, Iran funds Hamas and Hezbollah, which hurt both Israeli and American foreign policy. If not for Iran funding Hezbollah, Lebanon might not be such a ****hole. We're allies with the Jordanians, the Saudis, and until Mubarak was overthrown, the Egyptians (that's now up in the air). Iran is keeping Lebanon from joining our bloc.


Also At the North Koreans not using nukes. They have threatened to nuke our battle fleets. They do not give a **** how many of their people die for anything. Also, I read that it's not 100% clear if they detonated a nuclear device back in 2006? 2007? I forget. It could have been a ****load of TNT.

[kentonio]

And who gives a flying **** about the Europeans? All they ever do is complain. They're not actually going to do anything. We don't need their approval.

Wow, international diplomacy brought to you by Macaulay Culkin. Ok ****nuts, lets see how far your next international adventure gets when you don't have supply access through Europe any more, no intelligence support, logistics support, European troop support etc etc.

[C0ckney]

No, Israel is legitimately worried Iran will nuke them. Furthermore, Iran funds Hamas and Hezbollah, which hurt both Israeli and American foreign policy. If not for Iran funding Hezbollah, Lebanon might not be such a ****hole. We're allies with the Jordanians, the Saudis, and until Mubarak was overthrown, the Egyptians (that's now up in the air). Iran is keeping Lebanon from joining our bloc.

what does legitimately worried even mean? one look at north korea shows us how irrational that fear is.

iran does a lot of things which interfere with israeli foreign policy. they also oppose american policy in the region. in short they act like a regional power, which they are.

so if i understand your argument correctly you support attacking iran because of:

1) an irrational fear about israel getting nuked.
2) the fact that iran acts like a regional power in its region.

if i've not understood correctly, perhaps you could explain why you support attacking iran.

[Elok]

The main reason to be concerned about Iran developing nukes--and it isn't much of a concern--is the possibility that their government might fail and we'd wind up with bombs unaccounted for. I really doubt the mullahs are mad enough to actually use the things. Certainly not on Israel, which probably has nukes of its own to fight back with. Israel's just paranoid, though perhaps understandably so from living with neighbors who've wanted to destroy it for decades.

[MRT144]

Also Israel didn't burn up credibility with Europe. Europe would hate Israel no matter what.

Obviously Mossad stealing UK passports for operations was the highest form of flattery.

And your kind of thinking is the worst kind of thinking: "We can't do anything to engender better relations with anyone, ever. And anyone that thinks Israel is acting awfully is just a hater and always has been. So Israel can do whatever the hell they want and everyone else can die in a fire."

Was I born to hate Israel? Seriously?

[PLATO]

Irrational fear. On one hand people call religious extremists crazy and then on the other we are told that to fear their actions is irrational. That really doesn't make sense to me. What is needed is a rational fear of any state trying to acquire nuclear weapons and a serious look at the motivations for it.

To accept eithier that they are crazy and use nukes or to dismiss it out of hand as "irrational" is just plain dumb.

We need people who are going to look at the situation with a very concerned and realistic point of view.

[giblets]

Obviously Mossad stealing UK passports for operations was the highest form of flattery.

And your kind of thinking is the worst kind of thinking: "We can't do anything to engender better relations with anyone, ever. And anyone that thinks Israel is acting awfully is just a hater and always has been. So Israel can do whatever the hell they want and everyone else can die in a fire."

Was I born to hate Israel? Seriously?

Remember that relations with Israel matter much more than relations with the entire continent of Europe!