Iran appears to be a somewhat rational player, meaning they respond to incentives and punishment the way any other nation might. The hate speech of their leader has not been seriously challenged, and that has caused the fear most have of what he and the mullahs want to do.

The problem is that there is little direct action we can take to limit Iran’s nuclear expansion without causing a broader conflict. There are some indirect actions that might be used, though.

With Russia’s actions in Georgia, it would seem that the Russians would not want us, the Europeans or Israelis to arm the Georgians with advanced weapons to fight them with. Perhaps this can be used to help convince the Russians to end their support of Iran’s nuclear program.

Would have to wonder, though, what the reaction would be if the Russians destroy the Georgian pipeline and what it would to oil prices.

Where’s the Goracle with our solution, dammit?

The crappy governance and wars of the middle east would get the same mehpage 3 treatment that Africa now receives.

Considering the topic, this thread is amazingly free of nutjob and wingnut comments.

Perhaps this is where McCain and Obama agree the most – we should get ourselves off the foreign oil asap. The sooner we stop paying those that loathe us, the better.

But if they were all atheist how would they distinguish between each other? By their football jerseys or by whether they were Ford or Chevy owners?

We men are so stupid we could probably start a nuclear war over who had the best tennis racket so I guess we have to expect men to fight over who has the best imaginary friend as the comedian Carlin said.

Sorry… bad joke.

Both sides may use religion to justify their cause, but they would still be fighting over the land even if they were both atheists. The root cause is two groups that want to occupy the same plot of land, and neither one wants to be ruled over by the other.

A severely damaged or defeated Iran would leave an vast power vacumm in the middle-east that Russia, China, and Indian can NOT allow to happen for their own national interst. This poses a very big problem with a standing USA army already deployed in the region.

With that said Iran has a big incentive to “push the issue” if they are attacked. The more chaos in the M.E. the better for them and the worse for the USA. Right now I am sure that the Iranians are selling this point of view to the other world powers and when you consider the facts the Chinese and Russians have every reason to prop up and support the Iranians for as long as necessary (until the US civilain population crys uncle).
Going to war with Iran would mean one of either two things; mass killings on our part to decide the issue quickly (which would not go well on the world stage) or a drawn out war of attrition that drain what little bit of treasure the US has left in the bank, not including lives (soldiers that will need to acquired somehow, draft maybe???)
Remember Isreal’s goal might be to eliminate a nuclear threat but the Iran’s goal will be to drag the region into the turmoil that it will blame on the the USA and Isreal.
The Isrealis and their US supporters appear to be looking for success on the battlefield but the Iranians know that their real weapon will be “economic chaos” that will hurt our daily lives and bank accounts.

So when I see folks here make silly, simplistic claims that Isreal should move quickly and get it over with I have to say, Put down your G.I.Joes and pick up a good read on world politics.

An airstirke on Iran by Isreal would NOT end there it would mean WAR between these two countries which would end up involving the better part of the entire middle-east.

The only FOOLS that think this course of action has any chance of success are the same dummies that thought invading Iraq was going to be a cakewalk.

If Isreal and Iran were to go to war IRAQ will be the main battlefield with those 100,000 US soldiers, countless contactors, and the millions of Iraqi civilians in the middle of the mess.

DO NOT underestimate Iran! They might not be as powerful as the USA or Isreal in terms of military technology but they do know how to fight and this IS their home turf. In other words Iran with or without Nukes has the ability to do an enormous amount of damage to the region, oil production, and the billions of dollars in infrstructure that WE (the American Taxpayer) have already paid for.

So if America is having a hard time dealing with the lose of about 4000+ troops in 6 years how do you think the country will react if the US were to see 2000 to 4000 casualties with a week or two?

The truth of the matter is no one can successfully perdict what the outcome of a WAR (intiated by Isreal) in the middle east would be. It is a given that if Iran is attacked they will retalite against US forces in the region. So an Isreal strike against Iran would open up a war for us. Now how would the rest of the Arab world respond to a joint US/ Isreali military action in the middle-east that will undoubtedly kill many, many Muslims Shite or Sunni?

Well, yes, they probably do. But that would be really messy.

qwerty: “A simple strike of the sort that Israel could carry out would not be effective. The asset that Iran is developing that is valuable is not the machinery; it’s the knowledge of how to build the machinery.”

Which suggests a two-pronged approach: a bombing and a wave of assassinations. How good is Israel’s intel inside Iran?

I wouldn’t be suprised if the Iranians were constantly adding more layers to their nuclear sites bunkers as we speak. I’m not even sure the Israelis have anything that can penetrate them.

They would probably concentrate their firepower on the centerfuges, located way out in the open desert. At least that would minimize casualties.

As an Iranian, I wouldn’t be suprised if the Iraians were doing this out of their belief they are a first world country and should have all the technology of one. From space industry to stealth aircraft, they want what we have.

And please, stop it with the “Ahmadenejad is a madman.” The man is a clown in a Members Only jacket who couldn’t bend over and tie his shoes without Khamenaei’s permission.

Excuse me, what did you expect? You have war, oil, Iran, Israel, gas prices all mixed together… all of them sensible matter. When you mix those ingredients… BOOM

It’s mostly a “political” topic… at least I see it like that.

As guyincognito said… it’s been very civil.

You forgot to add also… Venezuela, your 4th largest oil supplier.

So it’ll get real FUGLY if they get attacked.

I don’t want that to happen, tt will fuck my country: economically and possibly militarily. We live from oil, also have a lot of business ties with that people.

With this topic??? I’d say its been very civil. In any case its definetly worth discussing as this is a very real possibility.

I fall in the camp of believing Isreal has no option but to do all it can to prevent Iran from acquiring Nuclear weapons. No question the fallout is going to be ugly.

The only reason the surge in Iraq is “working” is the deal that was made with Sadr. Iran has laid the groundwork for retaliation in Iraq. If Iran is attacked then Iraq turns into a clusterfuck.

Iran also has a good chance of sinking U.S. warships in the Gulf with anti-ship missiles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-zoPgv_nYg

Oh, sorry, that’s right. This kind of information is rarely in the lame-stream media in the western sillivization of America or Europe.

Probably too scary for the populace.

Wish I could find the link with the story.

Doesn’t much matter. Just read Ezekiel Chapter 38 in the Bible.

Go read it for yourself. Then feel free to thank God that you aren’t Russian, “Persian” (Iranian) or living in any of the shitty little hate filled states surrounding Israel, or living in Europe, for that matter. On the other hand, this guy’s interpretation calls Canada, Australia, NZ, and even the United States as the Little Lions – part of the attack against Israel in the last days. So nobody wins against their attack against Israel (and God). This, so the whole of the world knows that God is.

http://www.clanrossi.com/Ezekiel%2038.htm

and ‘If Americans Knew’ what it’s like to have missiles launched into their cities targeting nothing but civilians… and ‘If Americans Knew’ what it’s like to have a de-facto doomsday cult plotting their demise, bombing wouldn’t even be a question.

The Russians already have the right idea… Israel and many Americans do too. As I said before, my only real concern is with the civilians involved… not the theocrats who deserve to be toe-tagged with 72 chickens in paradise.

If the bombing happens, the spike will take place regardless. If Iran block the Strait of Hormuz you’ll have a delay that may push prices further. Either way it won’t be a big deal because Iran isn’t considered Arab at all (Persians consider themselves Aryans), and a lot of Sunnis consider Shiites to be heretics… which is sad for both sides of that discussion.

He really hates Bush and doesn’t trust him to leave quietly.

I remember 20 years ago some other mid east country thinking they could cripple Iran with airstrikes. I wonder how that ever turned out for them…

Huh? Israel has and does target Palestinian civilians and did the same to civilians in Lebanon. Destroying over 18,000 Palestinian homes is not a military action.

http://ifamericansknew.org/

Seymour Hirsh has written that Cheney supports an attack, but thinks Bush won’t support it, so he (Cheney) has been encouraging Israel to do it between the election and Jan. 20. Nuts. Afghanistan is chaotic, Pakistan is heading toward chaos, and India seems to nuking up.