It is basic negotiating strategy not to make empty threats. It is also a foolish diplomatic strategy to address hypotheticals. Far better to keep your mouth shut and your options open. There is little we can do to stop an Iranian nuke, short of total war. We can delay it with a military strike, but the costs will be enormous. We have tried to rachet up the costs for Iran, eg through boycotts, etc, but they don't care.
I wonder what effect assassinating ImADegenerate and the Ayatollah would make on stopping their nuke program? Oh, that's right - we don't assassinate people.
Gotta put you on Ignore. We've got standards here and require an IQ of at least 47 for a member to be able to post. Nothing personal. I doubt that the US is preparing to attack Iran overtly. My gut tells me this is all more in the realm of sanctions leading to some kind of multi-national blockade. I believe that in the long run Iran gets nuclear weapons regardless of what the world does to stop it. Personally I've come to doubt that humanity survives the nuclear era.
It's sort of like the bird flu. Even without the scientists making it more deadly for us, eventually it will evolve on its own and spell the end for many of us. In regard to nukes, there is no stopping the proliferation. There is bound to be nuclear war. It's not "If", it's "when". The same with the big rock from space and the Yellowstone caldera explosion. It's not "If", it's "when". But those "whens" are probably thousands of year away, unlike the other two that are probably within our lifetimes.
Yup. Except, in that case, the nuke hits Israel, and Israel dumps 24 of their undeclared nukes on Iran. I'd support that. As would Ron Paul. See, FOX news and the Republican Establishment are desperate to characterize Paul and his base as anti-war pussies. We're not. We're against invasion and wars of aggression. We do believe in self-defense.
Ditto! America has the firepower and the world knows it. We should withdraw from all of our senseless warring abroad and let the world fight their own battles. Nobody is going to threaten us in any meaningful way... unless they're stupid enough to risk the desruction of mankind... not likely. Even the dumbasses know, "Mess with the hound, you get the tooth".
^ Exactly. All this talk of the United States being legitimately threatened by men in caves, and Mullahs in a third world country, is abject paranoia. From what I've heard, the US Military is about 4 GENERATIONS AHEAD the nearest rival, with an annual budget that eclipses the world, over! There is no outside threat that can touch America. NONE. Maybe a rouge nuke or dirty bomb gets through, and that Country is toast. That's it. The real threat is the one inside the Country: the constant push for total war from the war-mongering Right (and Left); the refusal to close down non-detectable entry points into the Country (the border); and the all-out assault against the Constitution to militarize the Reichland in the name of fighting Emmanuel Goldstein, who he, and his leadership, are long since dead. But take heart! So long as we continue to stir-up shit around the globe and bomb wedding parties instead of terrorists, new "Al Queda" like groups - like the new, shadowy "Haquani Network" in Pakistan - will pop up and we can justify perpetual war forever ! Long live the brave struggle against Eurasia! Look closely! There's a resemblance!
No need to worry about nukes... the danish and their killer viruses are the anonymous mass weapons of destruction to worry about. Military warfare changed when the english cried foul when our patriots fighting gorilla style. We've been hit with the same change in tactics aka terrorists. Who knows what the Chinese are up to. A anonymous renegade group letting loose killer viruses in NYC's subway or in airports creates a unidentifiable adversary.