Iran

[sgeeeee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eriter I have a solution for the whole mess--bomb Israel.* Why not do like the Italians in WWII and switch sides?* Think about it, no more Middle-East conflict, the US could immediately come home from Iraq, and we would be heros to the rest of the arab countries. The only drawback I see is that we would be killing our friends and allies.* Well, I don't suppose any plan is perfect.** :P

We wouldn't have to bomb Israel, just stop supporting them. The country is not viable economically without US military support dollars. They would wither and be overrun.

And what was it that makes Israel our friends?

[retire@40]

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Originally Posted by ((^+^)) SG And what was it that makes Israel our friends?*

It may be more like the enemy of our enemy is our friend definition. In this case our enemy is Iran, Syria, etc.

[eriter]

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And what was it that makes Israel our friends?

I think they share many of our ideals and values--much more so than their neighbors, who share almost none.

Barry Goldwater had an interesting solution for the Middle-East problem a number of years ago--transport all the Israelis to the US and carve out a new state for them in Arizona-New Mexico. *He felt that as an industrious people they would make good citizens and could help develop that uninhabited area.

That made sense to me, but there are too many extraneous factors involved for it to work--mainly religion and nationalism

[MRGALT2U]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eriter I think they share many of our ideals and values--much more so than their neighbors, who share almost none. Barry Goldwater had an interesting solution for the Middle-East problem a number of years ago--transport all the Israelis to the US and carve out a new state for them in Arizona-New Mexico. *He felt that as an industrious people they would make good citizens and could help develop that uninhabited area. That made sense to me, but there are too many extraneous factors involved for it to work--mainly religion and nationalism

Stop the presses! Arizona and New Mexico are "uninhabited" Man, I must have missed some major news while I've been away.

JG

[MRGALT2U]

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Originally Posted by dylar A wierd place to delurk on this board but holy crap. For what reason do you think Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons? (Hint: it starts with an R and ends in egime change) It is the stated policy of the United States to overthrow the government of Iran. If they weren't trying to develop the only way to keep us off their ass I'd be amazed.* We have 130000 odd troops in Iraq, another 30000 in Afghanistan, we own Musharraf in Pakistan, bases in Uzbekistan, Kyrgizstan, maybe soon Turkmenistan, across the water in Saudi Arabia, Qatar (home of our central command), Kuwait etc. And half of our fleet off their southern coast. I'd be real scared and looking for the only way to survive if I were them. Then you throw in the fact that we installed a hideous dictator that they overthrew, then supported Iraq and Saddam Hussein in a war that killed 300000 of their citizens, blew up a civilian airliner "accidentally" and so on. They have every reason to hate us and fear us. What have they done to us? They did take hostages at our embassy. That's not a nice thing to do. Too bad we rewarded them by selling them weapons, but Reagan needed to get elected. Don't get me wrong, I think the Iranian government is a disgrace. But they're no threat to us.

This is a good post. I agree that what Iran appears to be doing makes perfect sense to me.

JG

[eriter]

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Stop the presses!* Arizona and New Mexico are "uninhabited"* Man, I must have missed some major news while I've been away.

The last time I drove through NM I thought the whole state was uninhabited, but apparently there are some people who live there:

2000 census report--inhabitants per square mile:

NY* * * * * * * * * * * *409
CA* * * * * * * * * * * *217
USA average* * *** * *80
NM* * * * * * * * * * * * 19
ALASKA* * * * * * * * *1.1

[Marshac]

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Originally Posted by eriter ALASKA* * * * * * * * *1.1

Looks like an annual $1k check from the state isn't even enough to get people to live there Too bad new residents aren't eligible anymore...

[F-One]

Worry - Yes, but we (US citizens) can't change anything. The US is pretty ignorant of the area and have for years done a poor job of learning about the area. We always focused on communist Russia.
Should Israel attack Iran, only if you want WWIII. Not to mention the impact on the global economy, ie oil prices. Also, Iran learned from the Israeli raid on Iraqi nuclear program to build it under ground and divide it so it would take a number of attacks. This would only make the region worst and from what I've read the best estimate of delay to Iran's nuclear program if attack was successful (which is very doubtful) was only 5 years.
Question that must be answered is what does Iran want and can another option be agreed upon? I believe it is a return of the days of Persian Empire type unification of the Middle East.
Do you have any faith that the current US administration could help resolve this? I don't.

[Rustic23]

When dealing with the Middle East you should always keep in mind the statement made about the Ayatollah Khomeini:

If man talks to God, you can reason with him, I man believes God talks to him no power on earth can change his mind.

Presently there are many of the Middle East leader that talk to God, however, there are some who believe God is talking to them. Our problem is which or which and Is he?

[just_hatched]

Quote from F-One:
"Also, Iran learned from the Israeli raid on Iraqi nuclear program to build it under ground and divide it so it would take a number of attacks"

From looking at Wikipedia, I never realized it took so many attacks to destroy a nuclear site.
I wonder how the Israelis did it in one strike?

From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osirak
-----
When tensions in the Persian Gulf flared up in September 1990, following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the Iraqi government made efforts to recover components from the site. During the Gulf War several months later, the Iraqi nuclear program was put into high gear in order to create a weapon by using radioactive fuel. The site was then targeted by Coalition forces on January 17, 1991, halting the weapons program. Three days into the Desert Storm air raids, 56 F-16s attacked the facility followed by F-117 raids three days later. The facility, one of Iraq's most fortified targets, was not fully destroyed until another raid, when 48 F-117s targeted the facility 7 more times for over a month as well as 17 F-111Fs weeks later. Only 19 days into the strikes did the US Defense Intelligence Agency, find the site to be "severely degraded".

[Marshac]

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Originally Posted by Rustic23 When dealing with the Middle East you should always keep in mind the statement made about the Ayatollah* Khomeini: If man talks to God, you can reason with him, I man believes* God talks to him no power on earth can change his mind. Presently there are many of the Middle East leader that talk to God, however, there are some who believe God is talking to them. Our problem is which or which and Is he?

Our president believes that God talks to him as well.

[MRGALT2U]

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Originally Posted by Marshac My Iran fears- We go to war, or Israel conducts a unilateral preemptive-strike on Iran's nuclear assets (as they did in 1981 with Iraq). This would be like pouring gasoline on a smoldering fire, and conflict would consume the region. Instability would cause oil production to precipitously drop, severely damaging the world economy, and almost certainly would push us into a global recession which would have repercussions of its own.

Conflict is "consuming the region" now. I can't recall when it was not. Anyway, I agree
with you about Iran (or any country) wanting nuclear capability. To me it seems like
we say..............
"it's okay for us to have them" but now no one else should. And, because we don't
like your allies, policies, leaders, religious bent, rhetoric, etc. we say you can't join the club.

JG

[MRGALT2U]

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Originally Posted by Marshac Our president believes that God talks to him as well.

Odd....I don't recall ever speaking with him.

JG

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Please note that god would neither be interested in hearing himself speak, or in his post count...

[MJ]

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Originally Posted by MRGALT2U Odd....I don't recall ever speaking with him. JG

That's because when he speaks to you,
you're too self-absorbed to bother listening and therefore don't respond.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

[HFWR]

"I know you smoke, I know you drink that brew.
I just can't abide a sinner like you.
You know that God can't either, that's why I know it to be true, that
Jesus loves me, but he can't stand you..."

Austin Lounge Lizards

[MRGALT2U]

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Originally Posted by MJ That's because when he speaks to you, you're too self-absorbed to bother listening and therefore don't respond.*

Could be.

JG