Iran. Action or inaction?

Question

I am interested to know the views of the people here.
FACT: Iran is going nuclear.
FACT: Iran are supporters of terrorism.
FACT: Iran has promised to wipe Israel of the face of the earth.
VERY PROBABLE: Iran would like to develop nuclear weapons of some kind.
What should we do?

Wait for them to develop nuclear weapons, then attack or UN?

Wait for them to attack Israel, then attack or UN?

Wait for a nuclear device to go off by terrorists in either Israel, London or New York, then attack or UN?

My question really is what is the level of risk we are prepared to accept and when and how should we respond?

My own view is that we should act sooner rather than later and if the UN can not handle it, we do the job ourselves.

Olli. I tend to agree with you.
But heres the problem as I see it.

How do you get that evidence?
Is it not by then to late?

What if its less clear than that? I mean what if they just supply the matiral to terrorist groups? By then it is definitely to late.

Is not a statement of intent enough for us to act on? Are the risks not just so great that we can not afford to wait when dealing with a regime such as this?

Redunicorn. In a nut shell, yes.
What are the other options?
Appeasement?

WAR CRIMES????
Ohhh lets not go here again. Every nation has the right to take whatever action they see fit if they feel threatened or beleave an attack is iminunt.

Unfortunatly, the rules have changed. As terroism on a mass scale is now the perffered option of our enemys. We will need to adapot. So, if Iran gets nuclear matrial is it possable that they would pass this on to terrosit groups. YES. There is the threat and that gives us or Israel the right to act.

Answer 1

Inaction. So what Iran is going nuclear. Pakistan and North Korea went nuclear. China and India did that too. These countries were all worry about get it for the security of having it. Those bombs are useless as real weapons if we consider that we have more than 100 fold what they have. It would be stupid for them to use one on anybody because we then have a good excuse to bomb them with one 10 times the power.

Israel most likely has nuclear too. Let Israel worries about it. Let UN worries about it. We have our CIA and other agencies watching Iran. We should worry more about whether those agencies are doing their jobs.

Have you looked at our pocket book lately? The rest of our country is really suffering from the war spending. Go learn what is going on at home and ask how real people rank the Iran issue.

Answer 2

So what are you proposing that a war be started with Iran. If you thought Iraq is a mess what would happen in Iran. Are you proposing that a preemptive nuclear or conventional bombing or Iran take place. Talk about war crimes. Do not forget that Israel is also a nuclear power and any attack from Iran would be answered by a rightful and decisive response from Israel. There may be some dialogue with Iran that can be tryed.

Answer 3

Jeez, Now seeing a question like this you'd really have to worry about where the world is going.
Let's Look at some facts shall we? Its important to have some background to this

FACT: Israel has Nuclear Weapons
FACT: Israel used Depleted Uranium Shells in the recent bombing of Lebanon - Check the Newswires out -
FACT: Israel continues to build illegal settlements on the West Bank.
FACT: The biggest holder of arms in the world is the US.
FACT: The largest recipient of foreign aid from the US is Israel.
FACT: The US used Depleted uranium and white phosphorus in Iraq.
FACT: The US were supporters of terrorists -1) The Mujahedin in Afghanistan - when it was occupied by The soviets. 2) The contras in Nicaragua and many others.
FACT - The US has sponsored coups around the world - Chile, Cuba to name but two.

Y'see here's my beef with the tone of all this - The tacit acceptance is that the "good guys", Wolfowitz, Bush, Cheney and the rest of that rabble are going to save poor little israel (who have nukes) by bombing the hell out of more people in the middle east because they might have the technology to put them on the same footing as the main armed force in the area in 20 years time?
NOT a recipe for peace of any sort. It would breed more fundamentalism. Your enemies don't need nuclear weapons - plane served the purpose- who knows what it will be next time. One thing is for sure - Invading / bombing Iran would be the stupidest thing Bush could ever do, and that includes all the stupid things he's done up to now.
The entire middle east would rise up in a mass movement - And then god help everyone.

I really hope that the american people aren't as hawkish as you.

Now, what can be done? Attempts can be made to correct much of the wrongs that have been done to the Arab world. The building of the Apartheid wall in Palestine could halt. Rights of displaced Palestinians could be affirmed. Proper negotiations could take place with Iran, syria etc to bring a real peace within the middle east. Money that is spent on fighting the war could better be spent on infrastructure, undercutting the causes of fundamentalism.

"we can bomb the world to pieces, but we can't bomb it into peace" M Franti.

Answer 4

As soon as there is substantial evidence that they definately intend to detonate a nuke against any country, thats when to take action: the action must be swift and with great force: usually a declaration of war against that country IF they do go ahead is enough to make them think twice: the world against Iran would be a one-sided fight: i think Iran would be intelligent enough to work that out.

Answer 5

With all due respect to the men and women currently in the US Armed Forces and to those retired for that matter. Im not going to lie and try to pretend I know exactly what is currently going on with this because I dont. I dont spend multiple hours a day studying current events, reading the paper, and watching the news because I believe these things help to promote fear. However, I do pay attention to BIG issues that will affect me or my family. I've heard about Bush possibly attacking Iran without approval from congress and such and that is completely up to him and his selected officials. Indeed our voice can influence the government, but the decision is in Bush's hands.
I am completely against war at this point, however I do believe in self-defense and the art of intercepting the enemy before he is able to land something devestating. Like I said earlier, I dont know EXACTLY what is happening, but I sortof get the idea. At this point I think alot of diplomacy and negotiation talks are necessary, and a ****ing declaration of war should be an absolute last resort and shouldn't be a preliminary action the US takes before we or our allies have been hit. There is ALWAYS something that we can see eye to eye on for we are all intelligent human beings.
An important thing is comprehension and understanding of the enemys way. Not necessarily so you can defeat them, but to help further negotiations if the opportunity is there. It is easy for you people on the internet and the politicians to quickly decide on sending other people to die in warfare. But for many citizens, a war is a time of tragedy and fear. Fear is not included in a free spirit, and freedom is suppossed to be what this country stands for.
The border lines of the USA is comprised of a few walls and even more illusion. If you can break the conditioning of your mind you might be able to understand that the land on this planet isnt your land or my land, that is an illusion. It is all gods land, or the land of the tao, or whatever word or concept your prefer. The key is totality. The earth alone is only a small part of a much larger piece. Massive amounts of energy weaving in and out of existence for an infinity amount of time most likely..
With a more complete perspective you will have a much different influence on your loved ones around you as well as the potential enemy in the distance. A level of understanding towards individuals of any religion or any race may have a seriously positive impact on what they think of you, and how they express themselves in their daily actions. Obviously there is a wrong time for some things, and an expression of friendship towards a group of black hooded Iraqi terrorrists while they are preparing to severr your head off after they've captured you may not change their mind. But for the American CIA agent with a free mind working right next to the office of an undercover terrorist working hard to feed American intelligence directly back to his squad in preparation for a terrorist attack... Who knows. With the correct attitude and expression of energy, maybe the CIA agent can unknowingly convince the terrorist to disobey his orders which will thwart a serious terrorist operation.
Should we attack Iran? **** NO. There is still room for diplomacy. People there is always going to be some sort of threat out there. If the president is going to strike, he obviously needs to convince the American public through the media that his actions are at least half way justified. The more the US continues to try and police the world and pick at other countries, the sooner our country will probably fall. Its also hard to tell other countries not to make nukes, when we ourselves have plenty of them. We need to continue to attempt heartfelt negotiation without becomming too soft on the idea of self-defense. I believe we have warhead targetting systems as well.

Answer 6

There is a saying, within any military of the world. "Never underestimate the enemy". Israel, in the case of Iran is though very power full, but yet an arrogant wrong move against Iran by the Israelis can cause the end of the land of Milk and honey.

Answer 7

The UN officials as well as influential French, German and Russian politicos who were taking bribes from Saddam are no doubt back in the pink with bribes from Iran. So scratch the UN as a solution.

If the democrats take power, they will probably negotiate just like they did with North Korea. We will then resurrect the MAD strategy that was so enjoyable back in the good ol' days of the cold war.

That will hold until we loose a few cities through terrorist activities After that, it depends on how many Americans still have a backbone.

Answer 8

I say inaction. Lets a miracles like a major earthquake with more than 10 Richter scale rock Iran that can wipe out the Nuke plants and the Palace

Answer 9

Action,action,action,every time,we should go in there now and sort the problem out once and for all,but rather against the state of Israel.This Jewish outpost,this pathetic ex-British Mandate of a country has been a pain in the region since well before 1948.The Jews used terrorism to gain independence from the British by blowing up the the King David Hotel.And the Iranians i believe are even worse.Sort out both of them in one go.

Answer 10

Israel and Europe can protect themselves. The United States is not body guard and protector to all nations. No matter what Ahmadinejad says I doubt he or his country is brave enough to attack the US...or any country that has the ability to flatten them in minutes