--- In [email protected], [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > In a message dated 7/30/06 5:07:17 P.M. Central Daylight Time, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > With the economic clout and diplomatic reach of the US, there are a > huge amount of alternatives to using nuclear weapons, or even > conventional weapons. > > I heard a great talk yesterday between Tim Russert and Thomas > Friedman, in which Friedman was making the point that Libya > abandoned its nuclear weapons program not because of the US invasion > of Iraq, but because behind the scenes we provided them with a > security assurance that if they stopped pursuing that [nuclear > weapons] direction, we promised not to attack them. > > > > Iran has been offered and continues to be offered all kinds of deals like > that, but they refuse them. They insist having nukes is their right. > Could be.
I just can't paint their geopolitical reality as black and white though. Imagine watching Bush go after your neighbor, one that the US supported against you in a war. Bush going after your neighbor, unprovoked. I think what the current leader of Iran says in terms of rhetoric to rally his political base (hmmmm...sounds familiar...), and the desire for nukes are two separate desires of Iran's. The desire for nukes I see as a lot more defensive and widely supported than the statements the leader makes as anti-Israel. Just as I saw with the Soviet Union and China when they were our enemies, any country that we declare as an enemy are scared to death of us, which we then conveniently misinterpret as offensiveness on their part. We spend more on weaponry than the next 25 war budgets combined. Every other country that is not our ally is going to do everything they can to appear as big a risk as possible to any thought of invasion from us. Hence the mad dash to get nukes. After all, what our reaction has thus far shown is that if you have nukes, we won't bother you. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
