There are so many moves at play here, I understand it's hard for you to keep up. Sometimes, circumstances change. They can even change very quickly. It is inevitable that IF they want a weapon, they most likely will achieve it. Why would he negotiate even if they weren't working on one? To make sure it's as hard as possible for them TO get one. IF that's really what they're doing.
And thirdly, I don't know. Maybe because they're a sovereign nation and don't like being treated like a child? Do we have inspectors rummaging around our nuclear sites? Your lack of ability to see a situation from any side but your own is staggering. Do I want them to get a bomb? Of course not, but throwing a tantrum and acting like a goddamned petulant child isn't going to get us anywhere. Let them develop their civilian nuclear energy program. Continue to monitor them. Let them know this is a one-strike scenario. First time they fuck up, put the hammer down. And make them aware of that last fact.
Originally Posted by UnderConstruction
The big problem with this senario is once they get a viable Nuclear Weapon, which by all accounts would be a 20/30 kiloton device, "putting the hammer down", as you say, becomes much more complicated. All they have to do is threaten to turn Jeruselum into a cinder, and the entire World will demand that we take a pause.
No doubt, we could turn Iran into a wasteland with just a couple of Nuclear Subs. Do the religious Thugs that run Iran care? Do they really mean it when they say that dying in the name of their Prophet Muhammad is the ultimate expression of their faith?
The rules change when you are dealing with Religious Zealots. So that is why I say it is imperative that we never allow them to aquire the means to carry out their ultimate expression of their dedication to their God.
The argument can be made that everyday Iranians could care less about all of these issues, that it is the Country's Leaders who are hell bent on a course leading to an ultimate showdown with the infidels. But just as millions of German and Japanese civilians died in a previous conflict when their Leaders took to a ill advised course that lead to total defeat and destruction, millions of Iranians would perish if the US was forced to use it's full destructive might.