Iran Touts Itself As a Nuclear Power

[Sorina S]

Considering the current state of affairs our military is engaged in this probably isn't the best time for knee jerk reactionism. Mindia is correct, it's a dog and pony show. You can't see it clearly here but behind the Irainian president is a graphic that says something like "We are proud to join the atomic club" yadda yadda yadda, death to America, etc ....IN ENGLISH...



Let's see now, last week they test a multi warhead missile, then early this week they test a missile that does 200kts underwater. Then they declare themselves a nuclear power because they've enriched uranium to 3.5%...Somethin don't smell right.

I've seen experts talk about this and their best estimate is that Iran is 10 years from developing weapons grade plutonium. There's no fire here just smoke and mirrors. Iran wants a deal, a good deal.

I've said before that Iran will most likely become a nuclear power, and I mean weapons. I stand by that belief, unless. Deal, or no deal? In my estimation the Iranians chose the right time to pull the psyc on us, we're in no shape to put the hammer down. So we'll deal, you'll see. They just want to put themselves in the same class as the DPRK. Hey, don't blame me, I didn't call em the axis of evil...

[KaiineTN]

What's the big deal about Iran having nuclear capabilities? Does that scare you? Perhaps we should focus on not pissing them off and getting along for mutual interests for once? Or hey, no, let's intrude in their business and demand they stop technological advancements and stay well behind all the non-Muslim countries. That's surely our best option. They'd never attempt to retaliate!

[Arlos]

What did you all expect? The difference in the way Bush & Co treated Iraq vs how they treated North Korea was extremely edifying for all of the minor countries out there. Kim Jong Il is easily as bad, or worse of a dictator than Saddam ever was (at least in Iraq, they never had millions of people starve to death, on top of state-sanctioned mass-slaughters). Yet, apparently because North Korea demonstrably had nukes, Bush & Co. treated them with complete kid gloves. Hell, we even had better rationale to go to war here, as technically a state of war still exists between North and South Korea, so we wouldn't be starting a new war. Of course, there's no oil in North Korea, so the odds of us going there were much smaller, but that's another issue.

Iraq obviously had no nuclear weapons, and we pounded them flat. Instant lesson: If you're opposed to the US, get nuclear weapons, ASAP, or risk getting pounded flat, especially if (like Iran & Iraq), you're sitting on a natural resource the US wants.

As a result, it is NO surprise to me whatsoever that Iran wants to go ahead full bore at getting nukes. They have plenty of reason to hate the US, going back to our support for the Shah, who was a brutal, repressive dictator, who, just like Saddam, had a secret police, torture chambers, murdered dissidents, etc. etc. Because the Shah hopped to the tune of Big Oil, the US supported him, and when revolution happened and tossed him out, the US protected him and refused to turn him over to the country for trial for crimes against humanity. That's actually why Iran took the embassy workers hostage back in the end of the 70s, they wanted us to return the Shah for trial.

So, lets review, shall we? They hate us for supporting a brutal dictator, and not turning him over to them for trial, among numerous other reasons. They're sitting on tons of oil, just like Iraq. They saw how we acted vs Iraq (who did not have nukes) vs North Korea (who does). They also heard Bush's Axis of Evil speech, and know damn welll they're on his hit list. So, they're quite capable of adding 2 and 2 and getting 4, and the obvious conclusion is: Get Nukes, fast, and the US will leave you alone, don't get them, and risk getting obliterated.

-Arlos

[Ginzburgh]

What's the big deal about Iran having nuclear capabilities? Does that scare you? Perhaps we should focus on not pissing them off and getting along for mutual interests for once? Or hey, no, let's intrude in their business and demand they stop technological advancements and stay well behind all the non-Muslim countries. That's surely our best option. They'd never attempt to retaliate!

It's the amount of uranium they are producing that's bugs people out. They are planning on making it on such a large scale it doesn't fit with their "we're using it just for power" story.

[Markarado]

He included North Korea in the 'Axis of Evil.' The reason we have to tip toe around North Korea more than we do the Middle East is simply because NK is a much larger threat. They actually have a military that would cause serious damage to those that went against it. It is something that needs to be dealt with, but it needs to be handled much differently. When we go to war with them we'll need China's and Russia's support to effectively terminate the problem.

[Minrott]

You think China would back us against NK? On what planet?