Hawks have warplanes ready if the nuclear diplomacy fails

[johnnyBgood]

IT IS the option of last resort with consequences too hideous to contemplate. And yet, with diplomacy nearly exhausted, the use of military force to destroy Iran"™s nuclear programme is being actively considered by those grappling with one of the world"™s most pressing security problems.

For five years the West has used every diplomatic device at its disposal to entice Iran into complying with strict conditions that would prevent its nuclear programme being diverted to produce an atomic bomb.

Those efforts, however, are now faltering. US leaders are openly discussing the looming conflict. A recent poll showed that 57 per cent of Americans favoured military intervention to stop Iran building a bomb.

Tehran scoffs at threats by the West, has pledged to press on with its nuclear progamme and defend itself if attacked.

The military option may be the only means of halting a regime that has threatened to annihilate Israel from developing a bomb and triggering a regional nuclear arms race.

Experts agree that America has the military capability to destroy Iran"™s dozen known atomic sites. US forces virtually surround Iran with military air bases to the west in Afghanistan, to the east in Iraq, Turkey and Qatar and the south in Oman and Diego Garcia. The US Navy also has a carrier group in the Gulf, armed with attack aircraft and Tomahawk cruise missiles. B2 stealth bombers flying from mainland America could also be used.

The air campaign would not be easy. The Iranians have been preparing for an attack. Key sites are ringed with air defences and buried underground. Sensitive parts of the Natanz facility are concealed 18 metres (60ft) underground and protected by reinforced concrete two meters thick. Similar protection has been built around the uranium conversion site at Esfahan.

"œAmerican air strikes on Iran would vastly exceed the scope of the 1981 Israeli attack on the Osiraq centre in Iraq, and would more resemble the opening days of the 2003 air campaign against Iraq,"� said the Global Security consultantcy.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2027979,00.html

Looks like we going to be at war soon, Imagine even with all the riches and intelligents in the world we just cant resist war - Just getting to much,WAR. No amount of riches can satisfy greed.

[FroMan]

This is gonna go on for the rest of eternity. We go in, kill some of them, get out, go back 20 years later, kill some of them, leave, go back 20 years later...

My Grandpa was in Iran, my dad was in Iran, and here we are discussing it again.

We should kill em all, or just let em feel like a big man.

[johnnyBgood]

As crazy as it sounds the cartoon scandal has United tribal Moslems across the Middle East, the climate has changed, this is not the time for the US to attack another Middle Eastern country. It would not be inconceiveable to forsee all Middle Eastern countries banding not to sell a drop of oil to the US if Bush insists on this folly. Why are they so damned blind?

[Knightia]

Do the doves have there war planes ready tojohnny? Who is the blind?- i think those that will sit by & wring there hands& sing com-ba ya& think it will all go away by itself.( thats what happenedwhenthe silly mushstashed man adolph was left to do what he wanted)

War is not wanted by anyone& greed it not involed- because there would have to be something to gain in that case wouldnt there( see how that works?)

But of course Someones got to take care of the real bussiness of this world& it sure wont be the doves& bunny huggers& passifists whiners who willdowhat is needed.( they do seem to be good at going after the prez& hiding there heads in the sand) ( know what i mean?)

Its good to see we still have asome on the ball& ready& willing to do what needs to be done.

[kevin1]

The Israelis will do the job for us long before our polititians get off their collective hams to even think about it , they already have once , and to the very same country . I say let them , they can take the heat for a change . The Arabs and the Israelis are long overdue for an intertribal war anyway .

[Tazman]

Kevin I agree, more then likely it will be Isreal doing the butt kicking, and well they should. They would be the initial victim of an Iranian nuke. The Isrealies have already spoken out that they are capable of dealing with the hardened sites that Iran has their nuclear facilities in, they said it would not be easy like it was when they took out Iraqs nuclear facilities, but it is doable by them. I would be really surprised if we did it before they did. I am sure that there will be some behind the scenes help from the US that the public will not know about. The present iranian government is radical enough to give nukes to terrorist also.

[Alsatian]

It is not unthinkable to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities. What is unthinkable is to allow a nation with a penchant for granting absolute power to rogue rulers to obtain nuclear capability.

The history of the world revolves around war. I doubt that this will ever change. What are the reasons for war? How could I enumerate all the pretexts and causes for war? I would be willing to offer up my own guess -- economic competition among peoples and/or nations are behind all war. Aren't I a genius for discovering this?! No, Plato as much as spells this out in "The Republic," seems like book II. It is in the nature of people to want more and to want more than what another has. When the nature of people changes, maybe war will go away.

Given, however, that war is not going away anytime soon -- notwithstanding John Lennon's silly plea to "give peace a chance" -- it seems prudent and responsible to take measures to protect you and yours, in this case bombing Iran back into the stone age rather than let them develop nuclear weapons.

Just my $0.02.

[NCOutdoors]

Looks like we going to be at war soon, Imagine even with all the riches and intelligents in the world we just cant resist war - Just getting to much,WAR.Â* Â*No amount of riches can satisfy greed.

Johnny:

War may or may not be the only solution. Time will tell. But how long should we wait? What is your solution to deal with the Iranians?

The Israelis will do the job for us long before our polititians get off their collective hams to even think about it , they already have once , and to the very same country . I say let them , they can take the heat for a change . The Arabs and the Israelis are long overdue for an intertribal war anyway .

Anything the Israelis do to the Iranians, the United States will be seen as being complicit. Bush has already said that he will do anything to defend Israel. So if we aren't willing to do it ourselves, we'd better make sure it doesn't happen.

[cameronmclain]

ORIGINAL: johnnyBgood

As crazy as it sounds the cartoon scandal has United tribal Moslems across the Middle East, the climate has changed, this is not the time for the US to attack another Middle Eastern country. It would not be inconceiveable to forsee all Middle Eastern countries banding not to sell a drop of oil to the US if Bush insists on this folly. Why are they so damned blind?

Of course this discussion would be twisted by sick liberals into an "Oil Debate". Who cares about the oil right now? What about protecting the rest of the world from nukes?
You said yourself "For five years the West has used every diplomatic device at its disposal to entice Iran into complying...".
So when is enough enough? After they build one completely? After they launch one and kill a few hundred thousand people? If they've been trying to get Iran to comply for five years, then obviously they're not going to comply. You HAVE to stop them from building a nuke - any way that you can. I TOTALLY agree with diplomacy. Try it as many times as you can. But eventually, you have to do something to protect the rest of the world.

And then you say "Middle Eastern countries banding not to sell a drop of oil to the US if Bush insists". What happened to "Bush took over Iraq for the oil"? If Bush was in control of Iraq's oil, then it wouldn't matter would it? No it wouldn't. But that's not why THE U.S. (not just Bush) took over Iraq. You can't have two differring beliefs, especially when you're tripping over your own lies.

[burniegoeasily]

Who ever does it need to hurry before we end up with another Korea. Once they gottem, we will not touch them. Israel will most likely do it agian. Scarry thinking of a man who denies the holocaust and prays Hitler haveing these weapons. If I were Israel, Id be crapping my pants.