how do we propose preventing Iran from developing a bomb?

[mopaul]

forget the fact that we get to decide who can and can't have nukes, exactly how does kkkondi propose that we make them desist from making a defensive nuke?

i assume it involves bombing the fuck out of them?

[wtmusic]

1. invasive inspections

which Ahmadinejad will never agree to (look what good it did Saddam).

[BushOut06]

2. We could actually try talking to them

You know, that one thing that we haven't actually done yet? Seriously, it's amazing what a little respect might do.

[bryant69]

I don't know if they would respond to this

At least with Bush in power. Why would they trust the administration that put them in an Axis of Evil? At any rate, Europe has been trying to negotiate with them for quite some time.

I'm not saying i'm in favor of invading; just not sure the answer is as simple as this.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[BushOut06]

14. True, Bushie sure has a way with foreign policy, doesn't he?

Yeppers - instead of trying to "work" with your enemies - like every other president prior to him has done - just paint them into a corner.

[leftstreet]

9. Condi Rice: "There's not much to talk about."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060118/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iran_1

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday brushed aside suggestions about a possible resumption of negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program.

"There's not much to talk about," Rice said during a photo session at the State Department with the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana.

Rice noted that Iran recently broke a suspension on research into atomic activities.

Solana agreed that "there is not much point" in resuming talks if there is "nothing new on the table."

[TahitiNut]

10. Sure. Bolton/Condi can offer 'em a carpet of gold or a carpet of bombs.

Isn't that how 'we' talk? :eyes:

[GrpCaptMandrake]

24. Nah, the thugs at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue don't talk

They shoot first and ask questions later, remember? 'Cuz Gawd is on their side.

That crazy little bastard in the White House is gonna get a bunch more of us killed. Deity knows, he's trying!

[SidDithers]

3. Can we convert them to Pastafarianism?...

After all, linguine with clam sauce and nuclear weapons just don't go together.

ramen

Sid

[atomic-fly]

4. stop selling them the technology for one.....

[kentuck]

5. Iran is Russia's buffer.....

Russia is very concerned about the American expansionism around its borders. They have been arming Iran with nuclear weapons and other materials for several years, if the truth be known. The CIA and the White House could vouch for the discussions between Bush and Putin about Iran. With the invasion of Iraq, Russia was convinced of America's aims and began steps to defend itself against the American aggressors.

[firefox]

6. Israel would do it

Saudi Arabia put up a billion for an Iraqi nuclear power plant and Israel bombed it.

Here is BBC story on the 1981 bombing- http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/7/newsid_3014000/3014623.stm

[mopaul]

7. that's the most likely scenario

and we supply both sides so we' clean up!

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

8. uh, who are we to decide?

and who cares?

[ProfessorGAC]

16. That's A Question I Wonder About, Too!

M.A.D. worked for 45 years against an "enemy" we were told was the evil empire, bent upon world domination and the destruction of freedom. Well, that's exactly the same rhetoric used about terrorists and islamofascists.

The terrorists aren't afraid to die? Well, 30 million Soviets died in WWII fighting Hitler, so apparently they're not afraid to die either.

You can't reason with the islamofasicsts? Well, if we could have reasoned with the hard core Soviet leadership, we wouldn't have needed nukes, and a cold war, and detente 25 years after the fact.

So, if they get nukes, and we make sure they know that if they use them, retaliation will be total and swift, why wouldn't that be the strategy? That's strictly defensive, doesn't require any pre-emption, and it's a proven strategy. Yet, somehow, we need to invade other countries to stop them from being a threat, when we held back the Soviet threat doing the exact opposite.

And, these folks want us to accept that Reagan won the cold war, yet we never fired a shot. So, apparently they think REAGAN DID IT WRONG!

Hmmm.
The Professor

[lectrobyte]

18. Given that Israel already has a bunch of nukes, it's only reasonable

to assume that their neighbors would want to be similarly equipped. Who are we to say who can and can't have nukes? Sure, makes it harder for us to control their oil if they have some nukes, but the sooner we start thinking about other plans for our energy future, the better off we'll all be.

[ProfessorGAC]

19. But, Nukes That Can't Be Used. . .

. . .except as a deterrent are useless. So, the deterrent of being bombed into a pangaeal crater would make their nukes deterrent only!

So, i say, let them have them. They won't use them. We aren't going to use ours offensively. We have had nukes that make Hiroshima look like a cap pistol and never have. Neither did the Soviets, neither did China, or France, or England, or. . . .

We shouldn't tell them what they can't and can have. We should find a way to make them not want to spend that money on building them.
The Professor

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

21. I always like to point out, the only ones who HAVE

used them is us.

So, who to trust?

[ProfessorGAC]

23. We Agree (eom)

The Professor

[ixion]

11. we could stop acting like rabid barbarians and talk

I mean, if it weren't so obvious that the US is gearing up for a "It's Our World, You're Just Living in it" tour, it would probably make them less nervous about perfecting their own defense.

Ever play Age of Empires? There's nothing more disconcerting to be the country with inferior technology in the midst of a bunch of nuclear powers, even if they claim to be your allies.

[RaleighNCDUer]

17. Age of Empire? Funny, I was just thinking that this administration

must have learned its diplomacy skills by playing Civilization.

Enough talk! War!

[mikeytherat]

22. More likely, they played "Supremacy"

One of my fave college memories:

Me: Dude, you can't do that! We have a treaty!
Frat Bro: F**k it! I'm going rogue! I'm going rogue!

mikey_the_rat

[mtnester]

12. The only way to do it is to convince Putin to sell them out...

and that AIN'T gonna happen.

Everyone better get ready for another nuclear member in this global community.

[sasha031]

13. I don't believe for 1 minute it's about a bomb!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x185570

The Proposed Iranian Oil Bourse

[leftofthedial]

15. makes it harder to invade

the phony "war" a la Iraq might turn into the real thing. If we preemptively precipitate what turns into a nuclear war, the rest fo the world won't stand for it.

[Oversea Visitor]

20. Has Iran ever being a threat to US?

Gee noone want to pick a fight with the US.
I guess all just want to ensure that they do not get bombed back to the stone age by the US.

BIG BOOGEY MAN all this.
Why use nuke with today tech wont it be easier to use biological warfare.
Nuke just for big show to avoid invasion just a major insurance against big bad boy.

Well you can definately bomb the fuck out of Iran
One is one more permanent enemies for US.
Dont make no different you already got too many.

What a miserable way to live
Like living in a same house and making enemies out of all your housemates.
Why the need for that?

[RaleighNCDUer]

27. This administration NEEDS Iran to be an enemy, because

if we should become friends eventually someone over there is going to spill the beans about how the Iranians cut a deal with Reagan to hold the hostages to guarantee that Carter was defeated in the election in '80. The back-channel negotiatiions that Bush Sr's CIA crowd did was the first step in the slow-moving coup that culminated in the 2000 elections. Of course, the Iranians couldn't predict the ultimate results of their agreement, but only it as a way to really mess with the US, taking some of the pressure off themselves as they settled into their new revolutionary government and dealt with the threat from Iraq.

I would bet everything I own that there is evidence in Iran that Reagan's people used the hostages as a weapon against Carter, and that they would have been released months earlier without Pappy Bush's interference.

[BiggJawn]

25. Stop shaking our thermonuclear dick at them.

Bush calls them the "Axis of EEEE-VUL", Condomsleazy threatens them with "consequences", and the rest of the world is surprised that they want to build a weapon?

[lectrobyte]

26. and looking at what we've already done to a relatively unarmed

country like Iraq, they'd be stupid not to exercise their second amendment rights and acquire a big stick or two to wave back.

[BiggJawn]

28. Exactly.

"Diplomacy", to this bunch, means "Oh, we made a show of 'negotiating', but what we really wanna do is test these news tactics and systems..."

Any nation that's been "fingered" by the BFEE would be foolish not to try and build a defense. Would *WE* do any differently, if some madman was threatening *US*, and I DO mean threaten, as in actively. Smacking us once, then sitting back and watching us self-destruct into a Police State doesn't count.